Inaol walked, ever-southward, though she had no sense of how many miles she’d gone or how
many hours she spent trudging through the snow. Her coal was gone, lost when the aughdeighe
threw her, and the only warmth she had came from exertion. Steppe gave way to scrubland, though
Inaol was sure she couldn’t have covered so much ground so quickly. Though she spotted no tracks
or signs of human passage, Inaol kept an ear to the wind. Should she see someone moving through
the trees, she’d shout for help.
Only, when she finally heard someone else, they were the ones calling for aid.
Inaol followed the thin voice to a rocky outcropping and stopped. An old man stood before it,
wringing his hands and calling Help, oh, help me! He wore no coat, no heavy boots, no gloves, and
his clothing was better suited to Resplendent Fire than the dead of winter. Sometimes, Inaol could
see through him to the rocks behind.
A ghost, then. Though she’d never encountered one, children in her village were taught from an
early age that you offered succor to the dead when it was within your power. Inaol approached
cautiously, but the man didn’t move from his spot. He saw her, though. His eyes tracked her every
step.
“Help me,” he said. “Oh, please, help me!”
“How can I be of aid, honored one?”
“My bones lie beneath the snow. Uncover them,” he said, “that my family may find them.”
The work will warm me up, she thought. And perhaps I’ll find a flint among his remains. Inaol set to
digging, doing her best to ignore the ache in her frozen left hand and the throb in her seared right
palm. The old man watched. Was it just her exhaustion, or was there a hunger in his eyes?
Though she dug deep, she found no bones. The only thing Inaol uncovered was an Icewalker’s
spear. It couldn’t have been here long: the wooden shaft remained sturdy, and the rawhide strips at
the end were still supple.
“My bones lie beneath the snow. Uncover them,” the ghost said, “that my family may find them.”
“You already said that,” Inaol muttered.
Beneath her, the ground rumbled.
Inaol snatched up the spear and backed away, just as the monster erupted from the earth. The old
man’s ghost rose with it, dangling from a fleshy line attached to the creature’s head to dance in front
of a maw of jagged teeth. The rest of the horror resembled a sickly-pale worm.
It dove for Inaol.
She screamed and held the spear aloft. The weapon drove through the ghost and bit deep into the
worm’s soft palate. It let out an unearthly roar and pulled back. Inaol stabbed again. And again. If
she were to die, she refused to be an easy morsel. Her throat was raw from screaming.
The ghostfisher slithered back and dove below ground. Inaol knew it wasn’t defeated, merely finding
a better place to attack from.
I have to run.
The ground shook as she fled. Inaol didn’t dare look back, for fear she’d see nothing but the
monster’s mouth descending.
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Chapter Two
The Dead
5 Resplendent Water
I have been inside this house for three days and four hours, and still I have yet to find the exit again. It
must sound mad — shouldn’t I simply go back down the stairs the way I came? But this house is no unliv-
ing thing. It is a dead thing, a spirit that mourns and rages and thirsts for vengeance as any hungry ghost
might. If only I knew the secret to sending a collection of chipped stones and rotted wood to Lethe…
Ankou
As Calibration comes to a close, an anticipatory hush falls prey, and so it overlooks these thefts to appease them.
over Northern graveyards. The only sounds are those of Some Liminals try to bargain with it: Someone on its list
old harness bells jingling, the slow plod of ancient hooves, might have a body part worth taking, and that’s worth
and wheels turning creakily on a rickety cart. In the last suffering the Ankou’s disapproval.
moments of darkness, even those sounds cease. A mo-
ment later, as Luna peeks through her fingers at the start Essence: 2; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 4 dice
of a new year, the creaks and hoofbeats resume. The hors- Personal Motes: 40
es’ gait grows livelier; the bells sound nearly new. The old Health Levels: −0x2/−1x3/−2x3/−4/Incap.
Ankou has gone, and a new one taken its place. Intimacies: Defining: “These souls are my charges,
and I will do right by them.”; Major: Liminal Exalted
The Ankou is born from the first dead soul of the year, (Disgust); Minor: My Home Village (Fondness)
a creature living in the balance between life and death. Actions: Bargain: 6 dice; Read Intentions: 5 dice;
It’s been an old woman, dead after a long life; a soldier Ride: 7 dice; Senses: 5 dice; Threaten: 6 dice
felled by his enemy’s daiklave; or even a child lost to fe- Appearance 2, Resolve 4, Guile 2
ver. The Ankou keeps its stature from its last days: tall or COMBAT
child-sized, straight-backed or bent. Dark robes swath Attack (Cart Trample): 8 dice (Damage 12)
the Ankou; a cowl hides its face. Only its hands peek out, Attack (Staff): 7 dice (Damage 7)
the skin and muscle melted away to bone. Combat Movement: 4 dice (on foot); 7 dice
(driving cart)
The Ankou knows the name of every person in the Evasion 2, Parry 3
North who will die over the coming year, and where Soak/Hardness: 3/0
each will meet his fate. It drives its cart to collect those SPECIAL ABILITIES
newly-dead. A pair of gaunt, bone-white horses draws it Massive Charge: If the Ankou moves at least one
along. Some souls resist collection, and the Ankou gives range band toward a target and makes a decisive
chase. As the year progresses, the cart fills with riders. attack against it on the same turn, the attack gains the
Where they’re bound is unclear: The Ankou doesn’t de- Smashing tag (Exalted, p. 586).
liver them until Calibration. MERITS
Death Knell: The Ankou knows who will die in the
The Liminal Exalted and the Ankou regard one anoth- North over the coming year, and where those people
er with unease. To the Ankou, the unnatural Children of will be.
the Soil steal essential pieces of the soul when they take
body parts from the dead. However, the Ankou fears the
Liminals might decide to hunt it like their other ghostly
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MOBILITY CHARMS allows petitioners to converse with a soul it carries in its
Drover’s Swiftness (5m, 1wp; Simple; One cart. It remembers what it was like to be human — to
scene; Essence 1): The Ankou drives its horses as love and grieve, and wish for one last conversation with
though Ankou and steeds are one. Choose a target. the departed. It responds favorably to social influence
Gain two bonus successes on Ride rolls when chasing actions that invoke those emotions. It sees little harm
or following that target, ignoring difficult terrain. in divulging the date of someone’s death — everything
SOCIAL CHARMS dies eventually. If a person somehow thwarts her death
Pallbearer’s Solemnity (5m; Reflexive; Instant; this time, the Ankou will be waiting when she inevitably
Essence 2): The Ankou fulfills its duty with the utmost succumbs.
gravity, and resists attempts to sway it from its course.
Apply a +2 Resolve bonus to social influence rolls op- Should someone try to take a soul away, the Ankou fights
posing its Defining Intimacy. to retrieve its charge. It rides down opponents, steering
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS the cart and commanding the horses like weapons.
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): The Ankou fades away and vanishes on its next The Ankou ultimately takes the souls to a quiet skerry of
turn, returning to its cart and horses. the Underworld. Learning its whereabouts takes months
of research, and requires a Lore roll against difficulty 4.
Storyteller Tactics The Ankou flees when it suffers damage to its third –4
The Ankou prefers to collect its souls and be on its way, health level.
but it pauses to speak with those who seek it out, and
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HUNDRED DEVILS NIGHT PARADE
Barrow Hound
On the outskirts of Arjuf, where the last scents of sea air legends suggest they sniff out the names of future prey
fade away, lie the hunting grounds of the Lady’s loyal in the entrails of a shadowland’s dead.
hounds. The Lady herself is long gone. No one knows who
she was — perhaps a daimyo before the Great Contagion, a Essence: 3; Willpower: 7; Join Battle: 9 dice
spirit whose influence faded into obscurity, or something Personal Motes: 40
returned from the grave for some dread purpose. Creation Health Levels: −0x5/−1x6/−2x6/−4x3/Incap.
might have forgotten her centuries ago, but for her deathly Actions: Feats of Strength: 6 dice (may attempt
hunting dogs, who remain to protect her lands — not from Strength 3 feats); Threaten: 8 dice; Senses: 9 dice (see
the living, but from ghosts who refuse to rest quietly. Keen Nose, Spirit Hunter); Stealth: 6 dice; Tracking:
10 dice (see Dread Omens Augury, Ghost Tracking)
Barrow hounds, found anywhere the lonely roam, are cor- Appearance 3 (Hideous), Resolve 3, Guile 1
poreal creatures, neither quite living nor quite dead, with COMBAT
coats of mottled grey and red eyes that glow faintly in the Attack (Bite): 10 dice (Damage 14)
shadows. They stand of a height with great jungle cats. Attack (Grapple): 8 dice (10 to control)
Travelers hear sounds of something crashing through the Combat Movement: 10 dice
forest in the distance, or panting and slavering just outside Evasion 4, Parry 2
their campfire circles late at night. The hounds’ baying can Soak/Hardness: 4/0
be heard for miles. Spotting one on the road at night is an SPECIAL ABILITIES
oft-rumored sign that a loved one will die soon. Harry: If a hound moves into close range with
an enemy and deals 5+ damage to them with a
Some say the hounds read death omens in the
Underworld’s stars, or perhaps foresee a satrap’s im-
pending demise in the Neverborn’s dreams. Other
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withering attack on the same turn, that enemy Charm crashes a victim, she suffers a Major Paranoia
cannot disengage or withdraw on their next turn. Derangement (Exalted, p. 169) for one full session.
Infectious Bite: The hounds’ saliva carries the tinge MOBILITY CHARMS
of the grave. If its bite deals damage with a decisive Labyrinth-Striding Step (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
attack to a living target, they suffer an infected wound Essence 3): Once per scene, a hound can step into the Un-
(Exalted, p. 235) with virulence 3, morbidity 1, and derworld from Creation or vice versa as long as it’s night-
interval one day. Even the Exalted suffer this infection. time. It can use the restrain/drag action during a grapple
Pack Hunting: Add one success to attack rolls for to pull a victim along with it. This Charm resets if the hound
each allied deathly creature or Exalt within close range (or its master) discorporates a non-trivial ghost. Charac-
of the enemy, up to three successes. The hound may ters who travel between realms this way end up anywhere
also pay a Willpower to add that many dice to the raw the Storyteller desires, whether it’s a place that resonates
damage of a decisive attack, as its allies join in. thematically with the situation or a place the hound feels
comfortable. Those who don’t return via hound must find
MERITS a shadowland to get back, and may end up miles — or
Ghost Tracking: Add three successes to any Senses hundreds of miles — from where they began.
or Tracking roll to notice or find ghosts. Double 7s on MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
these rolls if the hound marked the ghost for death with Dread Omens Augury (8m; Simple; Indefinite;
Malignant Portent Pose. Essence 2): The hound spends an hour in the Underworld
Keen Nose: Double 9s on scent-based Senses rolls. gazing at the sky, sitting with one ear cocked to the Never-
born’s murmurings, or consuming the corpse of someone
OFFENSIVE CHARMS it (or its master) killed. Afterward, it gains the scent of a
Chilling Barghest Howl (5m, 1wp; Simple; living target likely to die soon, and can track them unerr-
Instant; Eclipse; Essence 2): A hound bays to alert its ingly unless they use perfect concealment magic.
allies and warn its prey. The sound is terrifying, start- Scent of Dead Memories (4m, 1wp; Simple; One
ing from a bass rumble in the bones and climbing to a night; Essence 1): By pulling an unearthly scent from
high, clear note that evokes the wind whistling over a something that belonged to a ghostly target when
burial ground. Roll Threaten (Eclipse Castes use [Cha- they were alive, such as a scrap of clothing, the hound
risma + Presence]) against each enemy who hears it. can track that ghost without scenting it directly.
It spooks those who succumb; they suffer a −4 penalty
on all rolls except combat actions or actions to flee Storyteller Tactics
the barrow hound for one scene. Victims may pay one Barrow hounds roam freely between the Underworld
Willpower to become immune for the scene. and Creation, hunting ghosts that haunt their territo-
Ghost Hunter (1m, 1wp; Reflexive; One scene; ries and stalking shadowlands. They range farther afield
Essence 1): A barrow hound can sense and attack when omens set them on a trail. A barrow hound hunts
immaterial ghosts. much like its mundane counterpart: harrying its prey,
cornering it, then snarling and biting until it’s dead or
DEFENSIVE CHARMS discorporated. A wild hound flees once it takes damage
Malignant Portent Pose (15m, 1wp; Simple; One to any of its last three −2 health levels.
scene; Eclipse, Psyche, Stackable; Essence 3): The hound
creates a baleful, incorporeal copy of itself, manifested Barrow hounds feel compelled to track down their Dread
from its doom-laden Essence, within long range of its Omens Augury’s living targets. They don’t kill these peo-
current position. Each activation of the Charm creates a ple themselves, but use their Chilling Barghest Howl and
new copy. Copies can move independently of the hound, Malignant Portent Pose to spook them and mark them
and persist for the duration regardless of how far from it for death. Storytellers can use this to create tension,
they roam. The copy seems like the original to anyone who kicking off stories in which the marked character tries
fails a (Perception + Integrity) roll, opposed by the hound’s to determine how they’re supposed to die and prevent it;
Threaten, when they first see it. Characters who fail suffer a or against Storyteller characters the players care about
premonition of doom upon seeing the malevolent harbin- and wish to protect. If the hound is a familiar, use this to
ger the hound has sent, losing one temporary Willpower, point characters toward story hooks.
and are marked for death until a year has passed.
In combat, a victim also loses three Initiative upon failing A barrow hound is a 3-dot Familiar. Ghosts are its natural
her roll (which the hound doesn’t gain). Any attack she prey, making it an excellent companion for the Liminal
makes on the hound or a copy for the Charm’s dura- Exalted in particular.
tion increases its target number by one (Exalted, p.
184), as she can’t tell reality from illusion. No combina-
tion of effects can raise target numbers above 9. If this
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HUNDRED DEVILS NIGHT PARADE
Bloodworm
At sites of great, bloody battles and other places where COMBAT
loss of life is staggering, the undead bloodworms Attack (Bite): 10 dice (Damage 12)
emerge. Bloodworms form from the blood of the slain Attack (Grapple): 9 dice (7 to control)
seeping into the dust and leeching necrotic Essence Combat Movement: 5 dice
from corpses rotting below the surface. Bloodworms Evasion 3, Parry 0
range from the size of an earthworm to that of a large Soak/Hardness: 3/0
snake, or even monstrously huge if they persist long
enough. They range in color from dark red to black. SPECIAL ABILITIES
With their leech-like mouths, they latch onto fresh- Drain: A bloodworm attaches to its victim and
ly dead bodies or the wounded living, sensing spilled drinks their blood. Add two automatic successes to
blood from a mile away. When they’re hungry enough, attacks against grappled foes. If the victim has any
they feed on healthy prey that crosses their paths too, lethal damage in her health track, a decisive sav-
all for the promise of blood. aging attack attaches the worm to the open wound,
inflicting one additional lethal damage level, or two
Essence: 1; Willpower: 3; Join Battle: 4 dice if the worm has at least twice its original health levels
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap. (see Storyteller Tactics). The worm’s mouth secretes a
Actions: Resist Disease/Poison: 4 dice; Senses: fluid that keeps blood flowing and numbs the skin; the
4 dice; Stealth: 8 dice; Tracking: 5 dice (see Blood victim loses one Initiative automatically each turn the
Scent) grapple persists, and if the grapple gambit is unex-
Resolve 1, Guile 4 pected, the victim suffers a −2 penalty to further at-
tempts to notice the worm while it controls the grapple.
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MERITS say the blood within the worm remembers, driving the
Blood Scent: Bloodworms detect blood in the soil creature to the surface to find and feast upon the foes of
and on the air. Add three successes on Senses rolls one whose blood it devoured.
to notice or track spilled blood or open wounds, up
to a mile away. When tracking a bleeding charac- Older bloodworms are larger and more powerful; rep-
ter, add an additional die for each level of wound resent this by adding health levels, taking away the Tiny
penalty the character suffers as well. Creature Merit, and — at their most ancient — adding
Tiny Creature: Gain +2 Evasion against foes the Legendary Size Merit. A bloodworm’s grappled vic-
larger than a housecat. Characters of that size sub- tim doesn’t suffer penalties to attack rolls or Defense and
tract two successes from Awareness rolls to notice can still move and flurry normally unless the bloodworm
the bloodworm. has at least twice its original health levels.
Storyteller Tactics A bloodworm flees when it’s taken damage to its first −4
Bloodworms follow their feeding urge regardless of on health level, burrowing deep into the earth to withdraw
which side of a battle their prey fought. However, stories or go to ground.
Doppelgänger
Long ago, the sea lords of Azure conquered the Auspice COMBAT
Isles and claimed the people as chattel. One enslaved Attack (Unarmed): 7 dice (Damage 10)
Auspicene priest used curses, trickery, and poison to Attack (Grapple): 3 dice (4 to control)
work such subtle revenge on his new masters that many Combat Movement: 7 dice
died before they discovered him and executed him in Evasion 4, Parry 2
the Kraken’s Pool. He continued his revenge even af- Soak/Hardness: 5/0 (or 11/0; see Monstrous
ter death, until the Azurite ancestors drove him from Mien)
their shores. Western mortals call him the Blue Shadow.
He has mastered the art of moliation — the shaping of MERITS
ghostly flesh — to copy others’ countenances. Making Cult 0-2: Mortals who fear the depredations of
himself visible to mortals, he uses false faces to gain doppelgängers and other actively malicious ghosts
their confidence and plays on their passions with clev- often propitiate them.
er lies. Murder alone no longer satisfies him; he relies
on seduction, treachery, and deceit to induce his victims OFFENSIVE CHARMS
to destroy themselves and those around them. He also Monstrous Mien (8m, 1wp; Simple; One scene;
practices the nemissary arts, stealing the bodies of the Essence 2): In an instant, the doppelgänger’s body
freshly dead for more tangible charades. expands into a horrid shape. His skin grows scaly,
his visage bestial, his limbs long and bandy and
He has become a doppelgänger. Like all of his kind, his tipped by vicious claws. This transformation grants
name is lost to history, as is his old shape. Should magic the ghost the Hideous Merit (Exalted Third
tear his false faces from him, his visage is as blank and Edition, p. 162) for its duration, doubles 8s on
featureless as the moon. unarmed attack rolls and threaten rolls, and grants
+6 soak.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 6 dice Soul-Thieving Method (1wp; Supplemental;
Personal Motes: 70 Instant; Withering-only; Essence 2): The doppel-
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap. gänger does not receive any Initiative from the
Actions: Disguise: 12 dice; Lockpicking/Pick- unarmed withering attack this Charm supplements.
pocketing: 8 dice; Read Intentions: 10 dice; Senses: Instead, for each point of Initiative he would have re-
7 dice; Social Influence: 14 dice ceived, he removes a mote from his enemy’s Essence
Appearance 3, Resolve 3, Guile 7 pools and adds it to his own.
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MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS Storyteller Tactics
A doppelgänger is vicious and pitiless, but subtle. He
Apparition (1m; Simple; One scene; Essence 1): The prefers never to reveal himself to his victims, keeping up
doppelgänger becomes visible, but not corporeal. a given ruse only until it’s no longer useful for turning his
False Face (8m; Simple; Instant, Essence 2): Ghostly victims against one another. He only fights directly when
flesh flows beneath his fingers like clay as the dop- cornered or absolutely certain of his victory. He with-
pelgänger alters his appearance to assume the guise draws from combat or scares opponents away whenever
of a living human or another ghost, negating all pen- possible if it looks like he’s in danger of discorporation.
alties and doubling 9s on disguise rolls to imitate a
specific character. False Face doesn’t work on dead A doppelgänger chooses victims out of spite and ven-
flesh possessed via Nemissary’s Ride, and its disguise geance. Although his memories of the life he once had
bonus is only compatible with Monstrous Mien if the are dim and twisted, he can recognize someone who
doppelgänger imitates a similarly monstrous creature. did him wrong when he walked in the flesh, along with
Nemissary’s Ride (20m, 1wp; Simple; Indefi- their friends and family, and has a nose for finding their
nite; Essence 1): The doppelgänger moves into a descendants too. Failing that, he preys on anyone who
human corpse, animating it. He uses the physical lives in places or circumstances that remind him of his
Attributes, soak, and health track of the corpse’s past.
former life in place of his own, but otherwise retains
his own traits. If the body is freshly dead or expertly Doppelgängers lie well, but some mimicry is beyond
embalmed, this imposes a −1 die penalty to dis- their ken. Characters may become suspicious if some-
guise actions; more advanced decay increases the one who ought to be a master swordsman chooses to
penalty or makes disguise impossible. The posses- fight with his fists, for instance. Clever manipulation of
sor is ejected if the animated corpse runs out of a situation can force his hand. Each doppelgänger re-
health levels. Attacks capable of striking the imma- tains different skills from his living days, so each such
terial damage both the corpse’s health track and situation requires an investigator’s careful attention.
the possessing ghost’s.
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The Drowned
Storms and pirates claim scores of victims on the seas, COMBAT
even supernatural beings like Exalts, god-blooded, and Attack (Grapple): 6 dice (9 to control)
Fair Folk. Many of their deaths go unreported, and if Attack (Knife): 8 dice (Damage 10)
they have families that might make an offering to ap- Combat Movement: 3 dice
pease their ghosts, it comes too late. The drowned rise Evasion 3, Parry 2
from wrecks and soft sands, fish-bitten and barnacled, Soak/Hardness: 3/10
and turn their faces toward the sun brightening the wa- MERITS
ters above. Flash of Recognition: A familiar sight jogs loose a
long-forgotten fact about the drowned’s former self.
The drowned half-remember their lives on the surface. When this happens, immediately gain a Minor Intima-
Some recognize the flags their murderers flew. Others cy related to that memory.
see their family’s mon flying and know it meant some- OFFENSIVE CHARMS
thing, once. They pursue, seeking vengeance or a spark Battle Memory Meditation (10m; Simple;
of memory. The drowned who are even further gone Instant; Essence 2): The drowned draws upon the
simply know prey is aboard, and they’re ravenous. Essence buried in her bones and recalls how she once
moved. For the rest of the scene, she may use up to
Like hungry ghosts, the drowned spend daylight hours three Charms she knew in life. When the scene ends,
asleep, their spirits resting in their corpses. But as the she forgets them.
years pass, salt water, fish, and other factors wear away DEFENSIVE CHARMS
their physical remains. Memories grow fainter as their Riptide’s Flow (5m; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 1):
bodies decay, but the sea never truly destroys everything: When fighting in water, the drowned moves with the
coral winds through their ribcages. Crabs inhabit their current, floating one range band away from its opponent.
skulls. Thus, the ghosts of the drowned are near-eternal, MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
and it torments them. Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): The drowned fades away and vanishes on its next
Sailors passing through waters where the drowned swim turn, returning to where its ship went down, even if the
toss offerings over the side: coins and carvings, food and wreck disintegrated long ago.
wine. They hope to appease the drowned, or at least dis- Materialize (35m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1):
tract them while the ship sails safely out of range. When The scents of rot and brine accompany the drowned
passing over a known wreck, some vessels fly false colors. as it takes physical form. Salt water footsteps follow
Lintha families leave buoys at the site of their victories, so along its path.
their ships can tack wide and avoid victims’ ghosts.
Storyteller Tactics
Many sailors bargain with the drowned, and those with
enough remaining faculties act as emissaries between The drowned’s grudges long outlive his memories and,
the living, other sentient beings beneath the waves, and usually, his murderers. A ship may change hands sever-
Underworld citizens. al times, but one of the drowned rarely knows or cares
whether the current captain and crew are the same
Essence: 2; Willpower: 3; Join Battle: 4 dice ones who killed him. He enters the vessel in ghostly
Personal Motes: 40 form, materializes, and pulls his killers into the water
Health Levels: −0x2/−1x4/−2x2/−4x2/Incap. to drown them. Those drowned whose ships went down
Intimacies: Defining: “I must remember what I’ve in a storm or due to a kraken’s wrath have no drive for
lost.”; Major: Those Who Sank Them (Vengeance); vengeance. They become emissaries for the living, nego-
Minor: “May my travels carry me to memory’s shore.” tiating deals in exchange for information about their lost
Actions: Bargain: 5 dice; Feats of Strength: 6 dice selves. Some vengeful drowned can be reasoned with as
(may attempt Strength 3 feats); Swim: 7 dice, Threat- well, but only if their opponent offers a path toward see-
en: 6 dice; Tracking: 5 dice ing justice served.
Appearance 3 (Hideous), Resolve 3, Guile 1
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Bargaining with the drowned can be difficult, due to supernatural being they used to be for use with Battle
their single-mindedness. If a petitioner has no informa- Memory Meditation.
tion or leads for him, the drowned receives a +3 Resolve
bonus against social influence actions. The drowned flees when he suffers damage to his sec-
ond –2 health level. Because their remains are scattered
The Storyteller should add one or two more Intimacies throughout the seas, the drowned are nearly indestruc-
based on the individual drowned’s past life and per- tible. Only spirit-killing magic puts one of their number
sonality, and choose three Charms from the type of permanently to rest.
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The Forlorn Manor
On a hill overlooking a city sits a house. The road below places from one moment to the next. Navigating to
bustles with caravans and wandering monks. Legions any specific destination inside the house requires
marching to a nearby outpost stir up the dust. On the a (Wits + Survival) extended action (or Strength +
horizon, ships fly the flags of Peleps, or Lookshy, or Athletics, to smash directly through walls), difficulty
Cherak. The sprawling house is three grand stories tall. 4, with goal number 10 and interval five minutes. If
Large windows reflect the sunset; terraces catch the cool the manor wins, the character still gets there but the
breeze. But paint has faded and chipped, and the house house anticipates them, gaining double 8s on all
sags in the middle. Peering through the windows reveals rolls to oppose or influence them when they arrive.
once-opulent furniture blanketed in dust, and once-ma- If the character botches a roll, the house traps them
jestic stairways with missing railings and broken treads. in a room without exits, a never-ending stairwell, or
another impossible area, requiring creative solutions
Five hundred years ago, this enormous estate was the to escape. Each character must roll individually, as
multigenerational dwelling of the wealthy Dutan family. failure leads the house to separate them.
Then, disaster struck. Everyone who entered the house Something’s Watching: Double 9s on sight- and
succumbed to sudden, inexplicable death. Even the few hearing-based Senses rolls.
members of the household away on business fell to the MERITS
same doom once they returned. The house itself declined Unforgiving Terror House: Any part of the manor
rapidly, within days appearing decades abandoned. Now, or object that was present when the house became a
Dutan Manor is a ghost, still in mourning for the family ghost rebuilds itself again completely one round after
that loved it. But in the lonely years since their deaths, it’s destroyed, except its heart. The manor itself has
the manor has gone from melancholy to malevolent. no health levels and can’t engage in combat. In its
deepest bowels pulses its dead heart, within a pitch-
It traps trespassers within, the rooms ever-shifting, dark chamber, protected by a half-digested mass of
whether they come seeking lost riches or a simple night’s rotted sinew and dry bone. The heart may produce
shelter. It spurs them to anger and fear, makes the weak- any number of zombies (Exalted, p. 502) from the
willed turn against companions, and leads even the most mass at a time, as a combat action, for either five
clear-headed down tortured hallways into impossible motes or three health levels per zombie. A character
rooms, until they collapse from exhaustion or starvation, can destroy the heart by attacking it directly, which
or kill each other. also destroys the ghost itself, but it can’t take deci-
sive damage and doesn’t suffer Initiative Crash until it
Essence: 4; Willpower: 8; Join Battle: 11 dice has no zombie guardians left; withering attacks still
(heart only) award the attacker their full Initiative.
Personal Motes: 90 OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Health Levels: −0x10/−1x15/−2x15/−4x10/ Crushing Despair (8m; Simple; One scene;
Incap. (heart only) Essence 2): The room hides the exit and shrinks the
Intimacies: Defining: The Dutan Family (Mourning); distance between its walls. This is an environmental
“Everything within these walls is mine, including you.”; hazard (Exalted, p. 230) with difficulty 5, dealing
Major: “I will show you what it means to despair.” two bashing damage per round and granting the
Actions: Bargain: 8 dice; Lore: 5 dice; Persuade: manor Initiative per round equal to the number of char-
7 dice; Read Intentions: 7 dice; Senses: 7 dice (see acters who took damage that round, to a maximum of
Something’s Watching); Threaten: 12 dice five Initiative. Characters may resist the hazard with
Appearance 3, Resolve 5, Guile 3 (Strength + Athletics) to hold the walls at bay; (Percep-
COMBAT tion + Awareness) to find the exit; and either a feat of
Soak/Hardness: 10/10 (heart only) strength or (Dexterity + Larceny) to open it.
SPECIAL ABILITIES DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Endless Hallway, Shifting Staircase: Dead Hundred Chambers Maze (8m; Reflexive; One
ends replace intersections. Nonsensical stairways scene; Eclipse; Essence 3): Change any portal’s des-
appear and disappear. Doors open onto different tination, including external windows and doors, to
any other portal’s destination on the manor’s grounds.
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Eclipses may use this Charm in any building, but both up at its hill from below. See Exalted, p. 510, for full
target and destination portals must be within medium materialization rules.
range of the Eclipse.
Foundation of Bones (5m; Simple; Instant; Deci- Storyteller Tactics
sive-only; Essence 3): The manor instantly consumes Because the forlorn manor only occasionally materializes,
one corpse (inanimate or otherwise) anywhere on the locals don’t agree on whether it really exists. No specific
grounds to heal three health levels or regain five Initiative. location is given here for the manor, so the Storyteller can
SOCIAL CHARMS place it wherever she needs to for her game.
Ember-Stoking Delusion (8m, 1wp; Simple;
One scene; Psyche; Essence 4): On a successful The manor lets trespassers get comfortable at first, until
threaten action, the manor convinces a character they think the stories were just that, passed down by the
within its walls that one of her companions secretly family’s heirs to scare off scavengers. Then it shifts rooms
plots against her and unearths long-buried conflicts. and increases paranoia until the intruders become hope-
The target temporarily develops a negative Major Tie lessly lost and turn on each other. It reserves Crushing
toward her companion and temporarily loses the ben- Despair for when characters come too close to finding its
efits of any positive Tie toward him. Interactions with heart. It uses items its owners and sundry trespassers left
him prompt her to physically attack unless she spends behind as tools for social influence. A book falls from a
one Willpower to hold back for one round, or one shelf, opening to the exact page that conveys the manor’s
minute outside combat. Exalts end the effect early by message. Quills scratch out names and broken sentences
spending four Willpower this way; mortals have no on old parchment. Faded dolls with smiling faces turn up
such recourse. unexpectedly, suggesting approval or smug triumph.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Materialize (45m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence Characters can bargain with the manor if they take the
1): The forlorn manor can materialize whenever it time to unlock its secrets and earn its trust. The truth
senses someone approaching its territory or looking of why its family met its grisly end and what caused it
is buried deep in the past; solving that mystery would
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let the manor rest at last. Although it’s hostile and takes The house’s victims may also find hints to how to destroy
pleasure in watching victims murder each other, it also it by investigating evidence left behind by previous un-
wants to rest, so it subconsciously leaves clues lying fortunate visitors — messages left half-written, recent
around for savvy investigators to pick up — a charcoal corpses not yet consumed, and so on. Once they learn
scribble on a wall reading Where’s Samandra??, or a about the heart and find it, the house spawns as many
drawer that opens at an opportune time containing spe- zombies as it can afford to protect itself, balancing motes,
cific documents, for instance. Characters can find some zombies, and health levels to survive as long as possible.
clues inside the house itself, but must investigate in the It uses Ember-Stoking Delusion liberally if it starts to
city as well or find another way to learn the full story. lose, or makes Bargain or Persuade actions to convince
its assailants to help it solve the family’s mystery instead.
Ghostfisher
Out in the gray wilds of the Underworld, travelers may MERITS
encounter a seemingly benign ghost requesting aid, such Legendary Size: A ghostfisher suffers no onslaught
as a child chained to a stone or an old man trapped be- penalties from attacks from smaller opponents, unless
neath a fallen log. This ghost is merely a simulacrum, they’re magically inflicted. Withering attacks from
a lure maintained by the dreaded ghostfisher. Come smaller enemies cannot Crash it unless they have at
too close and the monster’s true form — an enormous least 10 post-soak damage dice, although attackers
worm, massive as a redwood, its striated flesh gleaming still gain the full amount of Initiative damage dealt.
fish-belly white — bursts from the barren Underworld Decisive attacks from smaller enemies cannot deal
soil to feed. The ghost lure, now shriveled as a prune, more than (3 + attacker’s Strength) levels of damage
dangles above a gigantic many-fanged maw. to it, not counting levels added by Charms or other
magic.
Ghostfisher burrows form vast three-dimensional lab- Tunneling: The ghostfisher burrows through earth
yrinths. Ghosts occasionally use these tunnel networks and stone. It can establish stealth in combat by rolling
— which intersect with other corridors and chambers its Combat Movement pool to dig down into the
of diverse origins — as shortcuts to other Underworld earth, and does not need to make new rolls to remain
realms. Such journeys are perilous, as the traveler risks concealed while moving underground.
encountering ghostfishers or even worse creatures down
below. OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Quaking Slam (10m, 1wp; Simple; Wither-
Essence: 2; Willpower: 4; Join Battle: 4 dice ing-only; Instant; Essence 1): The ghostfisher slams
Personal Motes: 70 its massive bulk downward with such force that the
Health Levels: −0/−1x5/−2x10/−4x15/Incap. earth trembles. It makes an unblockable wither-
Actions: Disguise: 8 dice; Feats of Strength: 11 dice ing bash attack against each earthbound character
(may attempt Strength 7 feats); Read Intentions: 5 within medium range, rolling once and applying each
dice; Senses: 5 dice; Social Influence: 6 dice (lure character’s Evasion separately. Each character it hits
only) falls prone and loses Initiative equal to (3 + threshold
Appearance 2 for lure, 4 (Hideous) for the ghostfish- successes), but the ghostfisher only gains this Initiative
er; Resolve 4, Guile 4 from one target, plus one Initiative per additional hit
COMBAT target. This is usable once per scene, unless reset by
Attack (Bash): 8 dice (Damage 18) going three turns above ground without either taking
Attack (Grapple): 8 dice (12 to control) a movement action or suffering decisive damage.
Combat Movement: 7 dice Enemies who lose more Initiative than their (Stamina +
Evasion 2, Parry 1 Resistance) tumble one range band toward the ghost-
Soak/Hardness: 16/4 fisher, as the earth cracks beneath their feet.
Spectral Lure (1m; Simple; Indefinite; Essence 1):
Like an anglerfish, the ghostfisher extends an alluring
organ from its snout to attract prey while the rest of
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its body remains concealed. The lure, taking the form Even then, they contend with Defense 2 and its full
of any ghost the monster has ever consumed, is only soak and Hardness. The ghostfisher can only swallow
semi-intelligent; it becomes confused if conversation another human-sized character if its previous meals
diverges from a simple script. If a character touches are Incapacitated or dead.
the spectral lure, the ghostfisher may pay a Willpower
to emerge from the ground and ambush him with a Storyteller Tactics
grapple gambit. The ghostfisher makes a disguise roll Ghostfishers lay their traps and wait — often for days at
when it creates the simulacrum to determine its quality. a time — for someone to take the bait. Fellow ghosts are
Characters who overcome it with one or two threshold their usual prey, but they’ll eat anything. They are also
successes notice the lure is strange without spotting the clever: In shadowlands and other haunted areas, ghost-
submerged monster; three or more threshold success- fishers set their lures near places where other ghosts
es make the ghostfisher’s subterranean presence ap- regularly appear and mimic their forms, tricking mortals
parent. who come to aid ancestor spirits or learn from spectral
Swallow Whole (15m; Reflexive; Decisive-on- tutors.
ly; Instant; Essence 2): After dealing 3+ levels of
damage to a grappled enemy with a decisive sav- Ghostfishers prefer to hunt alone, though adventurers
aging attack, the ghostfisher may swallow them alive. who dare to travel via ghostfisher burrows learn that
Within the beast’s gullet, they contend with its diges- the giant worms act in concert to defend their territory.
tive acids, an environmental hazard with damage They’ll block off passages with their bulks, or collapse
3L/round and difficulty 5. A swallowed enemy may tunnels on intruders’ heads with feats of strength.
cut his way free with a difficulty 5 gambit, but cannot
otherwise attack it from inside without a relevant stunt. A ghostfisher flees when it takes damage in any of its last
eight −4 health levels.
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Grave Messenger
While some families are content to tend to their loved necromancer can summon one to his location with a spell.
ones’ graves and hope their ghosts are sufficiently ap- Grave messengers serve as couriers and carriers in Stygia,
peased, others require a more substantial communica- and are part of a deathknight’s entourage. Clothing the
tions with the departed. Dwelling in graveyards, near messengers in any type of regalia is futile: Within days,
ancient ancestral tombs, or wandering the edges of shad- colors fade to gray and the cloth grows grimy with grave
owlands, grave messengers carry missives between the dirt and bone dust.
living and the dead.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 6 dice
The messengers are squat and child-sized, with bony hands Personal Motes: 25
and leathery wings, and clothe themselves in grave shrouds Health Levels: −0x2/−1x3/−2x3/−4x3/Incap.
gone to rot. They speak in rusty, raspy voices. If a ghost ex- Intimacies: Defining: “The dead are not gone
ists, and isn’t magically concealed, the grave messenger will forever.”; Major: “I will keep their secrets.”; Minor:
locate her by the third sunrise after it sets out, and bring Ghosts (Duty)
the response to the petitioner by that following sunset. The Actions: Bargain: 5 dice; Cover Tracks: 7 dice; Et-
messages may be written or verbal, according to the peti- iquette: 6 dice; Persuade: 3 dice; Read Intentions: 5
tioner’s needs. Grave messengers also transport objects and dice; Senses: 4 dice; Stealth: 6 dice; Threaten: 3 dice;
even ferry people: They’re equally adept at reuniting lovers Tracking: 7 dice
or bringing a transgressor before an angry deathknight. Appearance 2, Resolve 4, Guile 1
To call upon a messenger, the petitioner finds the grave-
yard it calls home, offers a prayer, and states his request. A
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COMBAT for the ears of its intended recipient, and therefore it
Attack (Claw): 6 dice (Damage 6) takes pains not to be followed. Once per round, the
Combat Movement: 4 dice messenger may roll to cover its tracks or disengage as
Evasion 3, Parry 2 an extra action.
Soak/Hardness: 2/0 MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
SPECIAL ABILITIES 1): The grave messenger fades away and vanishes on
Ghost Tracking: The grave messenger can find any its next turn, returning to its home graveyard.
dead entity that has a presence in Creation or the
Underworld. Upon receiving its task, the messenger Storyteller Tactics
knows in which direction its target lies, how far away Spies and politicians employ grave messengers to funnel
it is, and which shadowland will bring it closest to that information, secrets, and bribes through their own — or
place. No matter where the ghost it seeks is located, even their rivals’ — ancestors. Some go to great lengths
the messenger reaches it within three days of receiving to cover up those interactions, building private shrines
its mission. or carving out hidden passages in the cemeteries where
If the ghost is magically hidden, the messenger senses grave messengers reside.
its direction or its distance, but not both. It must rely on
intuition and investigation to find its quarry. Grave messengers may only leave their home burial site
when they’re on a mission, which makes them eager to
MERITS take work that lets them roam. Some attempt to convince
Steadfast Courier: The grave messenger doesn’t mourners to send messages, asking the bereaved about
stop to rest or eat. If something tries to make it pause, things left unsaid or hinting at hidden riches the depart-
it doubles 9s on rolls to resist. ed left behind. Messengers are quick, careful, and secre-
Utmost Discretion: Grave messengers in service to tive. Few are combative by nature, but once provoked,
the Underworld’s gentry know the value of being un- they fiercely defend both their ghostly charges and the
obtrusive. Add one automatic success to a Socialize missives they carry. Some messengers, if they feel out-
roll when the messenger must deliver sensitive infor- matched, lead their pursuers to the nearest graveyard to
mation in front of observers. enlist other messengers’ help.
MOBILITY CHARMS Grave messengers flee when they suffer damage to their
Ghostly Passage (5m; Reflexive; One scene; first −4 health level.
Essence 2): The grave messenger’s message is only
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Haunt
Merchants cross Harden Ford only when the sun is high, Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap.
and camp far from the site. Hundreds have died here Intimacies: Defining: “I’m alive, no matter what you
over the centuries in wars and raids — soldiers, traders, say.”; Major: “I must finish what I’ve started.”
herders, pilgrims. Each night, their ghosts rise to re-en- Actions: Senses: 4 dice; Social Influence: 6 dice
act the battles and the slaughter. Appearance 1, Resolve 5, Guile 1
Sadly, all too many of those slain at Harden Ford defined COMBAT
themselves through bloodshed. The passage of the liv- Attack (Short sword): 6 dice (Damage 12,
ing draws their eyes and their ire. Taking on substance, minimum 2)
these haunts eagerly turn their spectral blades on pass- Attack (Shield bash): 5 dice (Damage 12)
ers-by, darkening the ford’s waters with blood. Combat Movement: 4 dice
Evasion 2, Parry 3
Haunts — also called “echoes” or “drones” — are as shad- Soak/Hardness: 8/0 (ghostly hauberk)
ows even among ghosts. Lost in death, they can do nothing
but repeat their last moments over and over. Only those MERITS
things that were important to them in life stir a spark of One-Track Mind: A haunt treats all influence unre-
awareness. Confronted by the face of a lover or the banner lated to its dying moments or perpetual labor as unac-
of a hated foe, a haunt turns its attention from the recur- ceptable. Add +1 Resolve when a character’s influence
ring tableau of its death to act in the living world. is related but would keep it from playing out its vignette.
A character trying to convince the haunt it’s dead must
Essence: 1; Willpower: 1; Join Battle: 4 dice use instill actions to erode its Defining Intimacies com-
Personal Motes: 60 pletely. If successful, the ghost passes into Lethe.
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MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS past’s narrative, calling them by old opponents’ names
Apparition (1m; Simple; One scene; Essence 1): and forcing them to retrace former enemies’ steps. At
The haunt becomes visible, but not corporeal. Incapacitated, the haunt fades away until the next eve-
Material Intrusion (15m; Reflexive; One round; ning, when it begins its toils anew.
Essence 1): The haunt materializes for one round. It
may only use this Charm while taking an action nec- Haunts may have additional dice pools and/or different
essary to act out its post-mortem “script,” such as attacks, relating to their actions when they died. The
hacking at an intruder. best are six dice; others are four or five. Given combat
Undeniable History (20m; Simple; One round; traits assume a haunt that died in battle or by violence.
Essence 1): The haunt’s unshakeable belief sweeps its Those who didn’t usually can’t deviate from their morbid
target into its delusion. The target character sees the routines to fight, though they might bargain or threat-
area as it was at the time of the haunt’s death. en if faced with something important from their lives.
Storytellers should also add another defining Intimacy
Storyteller Tactics based on the haunt’s life.
Even fighting the living, a haunt attempts to re-enact the
moment of its death. It weaves its current foes into its
Keregost the
Hundred-Handed
Keregost the Hundred-Handed stands guard at the top behemoth they sent to fight on their behalf fell to the in-
of a steep, spiraling stair. It has waited in that place for vading army’s might. At last, the city’s sorcerers recovered
thousands of years, since the First Age, tasked with pre- the behemoth’s corpse and proposed a desperate, horri-
venting anyone from venturing down…and keeping the fying plan. Fifty brave warriors gave their lives and their
horrors that live at the bottom from climbing up. strength, and Keregost the Hundred-Handed was born.
The massive guardian stands twenty feet tall, visible from Keregost’s hundred hands hold a variety of weapons,
far across the plain where the stairway lies. Keregost has each the preferred armaments of those hands’ former
a hundred arms and fifty faces. No two faces are alike, owners: daiklaves and bows, hook swords and bare
spanning many ages and genders, and reflecting physical hands, all skilled and deadly.
traits from all regions of Creation. The sorcery that cre-
ated this behemoth is long forgotten, unless perhaps one Essence: 4; Willpower: 7; Join Battle: 11 dice
of Keregost’s many faces belongs to its maker. Few have Personal Motes: 90
ever gotten close enough to ask, and Keregost is rarely Health Levels: −0x5/−1x10/−2x10/−4x3/
interested in talking. Incap.
Intimacies: Defining: “None may pass.”; Major:
The plain once held a city; its name, like its structures, The City’s Ruins (Protective Zeal); Minor: Honorable
was lost to the chaos that reigned after the Usurpation. Battle (Pride)
Some of its legends remain, passed down by the mem- Actions: Feats of Strength: 12 dice (may attempt
bers of Keregost’s cults. They speak of the city’s leaders Strength 7 feats); Read Intentions: 7 dice; Strategy: 8
carving out a stairway over the course of centuries, dig- dice; Threaten: 10 dice; Underworld Lore: 9 dice
ging down and down until they met a group tunneling Appearance 3 (Hideous), Resolve 5, Guile 3
their way up. This second party, from their perspectives, COMBAT
had also dug down and down. As soon as the way was Attack (Grand daiklave): 9 dice (Damage 19)
open, denizens of that other land surged forth. Attack (Grapple): 9 dice (12 to control)
Attack (Hook sword): 9 dice (Damage 14)
The defenders fought to stem the unceasing tide of mon-
sters, but the sheer numbers overwhelmed them. Even the
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Attack (Longbow): 8 dice (Damage 14) to it, not counting any levels of damage added by
Attack (Unarmed): 5 dice (Damage 7) Charms or other magic.
Combat Movement: 9 dice
Evasion 4, Parry 4 OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Soak/Hardness: 16/10 Harmonious Attack Method (15m, 1wp; Simple;
Instant; Uniform; Essence 3): Keregost’s heads and
MERITS arms work in perfect sync. The giant attacks with some
of its hands and defends with others. Keregost may
Cult 2: Mortals from the surrounding lands view Ker- perform two attack actions and one Parry without suf-
egost as their guardian, protecting them from what- fering any flurry penalties this round. It gains Initiative
ever might rise up out of the spiral stair, and prevent- as normal from the attack that deals the higher amount
ing would-be adventurers from venturing down. The of damage, and no more than 5 Initiative from the
giant’s followers worship from a safe distance, leaving lesser attack. It may use this Charm once per scene.
offerings of livestock and wine. Over the centuries, the Hundred-Handed Army (30m, 1 wp; Simple;
cult has made a small fortune from selling the finely One scene; Stackable; Essence 3): Several pairs of
wrought armor and artifact weapons left behind by Keregost’s arms detach from its body and spread out to
those who challenged Keregost and lost. attack its opponents. They act as an elite-quality battle
Legendary Size: Keregost suffers no onslaught group with Size 2 and Might 1. Stacking this Charm’s
penalties from attacks made by smaller opponents, effects allows Keregost to either increase an existing
unless they’re magically inflicted. Withering attacks group’s Size by 2 and Might by 1, or create a new,
from smaller enemies cannot Crash it unless they have separate battle group, with each activation. While at
at least 10 post-soak damage dice, although attack- least one such battle group exists, Keregost reduces all
ers still gain the full amount of Initiative damage dealt. withering and decisive damage by half.
Decisive attacks from smaller enemies cannot deal Many-Throated Roar (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
more than (3 + attacker’s Strength) levels of damage Withering-only; Essence 3): Keregost’s fifty heads let
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out one great, unison war cry as the giant attacks, Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence
paralyzing enemies as far out as long range with fear. 1): Keregost takes the measure of anyone who ap-
Opponents must spend two Willpower or their Initia- proaches the spiral stairway.
tive drops to 0 for one round, as though they are in
Initiative Crash. At the start of the next round, it returns Storyteller Tactics
to its prior value. Keregost has been protecting the spiral stair since its in-
DEFENSIVE CHARMS ception. It attempts to warn away interlopers, but once
Ever-Watchful Guardian (5m; Reflexive; Instant; it’s clear that its opponents are determined to pass, it
Uniform; Essence 2): Keregost has a hundred eyes, attacks, paying special attention to those closest to the
constantly assessing the field of battle and its enemies’ stairway.
movements. A single unexpected attack fails automat-
ically unless supplemented by a Charm or magical Keregost is an army unto itself, capable of fighting as
effect. one massive, many-armed entity, or dividing into small-
Shield of Arms (5m, 1i; Reflexive; Instant; With- er units to cover more ground. The warriors who gave
ering-only; Essence 2) Keregost uses several sets of their lives to create the creature were hardened fighters
hands to shield itself, interlacing its many fingers or and cunning strategists; those traits remained with the
locking its wrists together. Gain +3 soak against a hekatonkhire through the ages. Its attacks are a mix of
single withering attack. brute force and clever gambits, keeping enemies from
MOBILITY CHARMS ever truly anticipating its next move.
Intruder-Repelling Technique (10m; Supple-
mental; Instant; Dual; Essence 3): Keregost defines Stories exist of the guardian allowing a scant handful of
itself by one overarching drive: Let none pass. Ker- people to traverse the stairway, though Keregost’s condi-
egost throws a grappled enemy up to a medium tions are monumental, demanding payment for passage in
range distance away, and deals withering or de- the form of a nephwrack’s desiccated heart, or the chains
cisive damage. from a powerful rantai. Though the city it protected is
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS long forgotten, Keregost’s loyalty has never waned. Fifty
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence brave souls created the giant; their descendants still roam
5): Keregost fades away and vanishes on its next the world. Keregost will also stay its hand — for a brief
turn, drawn instantly back to the top of the stairway time — to hear the petitions of one of its long-lost kin.
it guards.
Keregost doesn’t flee under any circumstances.
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Nameless Wretch
She doesn’t know how long she’s been dead.
Some passing army’s hooves woke her, churned up the
earth and pulled her from death’s slumber. Grave dirt
clings beneath what’s left of her fingernails. She doesn’t
know her name, has only a scrap of rotted silk for a clue,
its pattern faded. Someone must know her, somewhere.
She just has to find them.
Nameless wretches are walking corpses that rise when
unmarked mass graves are disturbed. They’ve forgotten
who they once were, and the need to remember drives
them to begging, to violence, or worse.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 3; Join Battle: 5 dice
Personal Motes: 70
Health Levels: −0x2/−1x4/−2x2/−4/Incap.
Intimacies: Defining: “I must learn who I was.”;
Major: “I must find peace.”; Minor: The Feeling of
Home (Nostalgia)
Actions: Feats of Strength: 7 dice (may attempt
Strength 5 feats); Read Intentions: 5 dice; Senses: 6
dice; Social Influence: 6 dice; Stealth: 4 dice
Appearance 3 (Hideous), Resolve 3, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 7 dice (Damage 12)
Attack (Sword): 10 dice (Damage 14)
Combat Movement: 3 dice
Evasion 2, Parry 2
Soak/Hardness: 2/0
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Anguish of the Flesh: When a wretch spends a
Willpower to add a success to an attack against an
enemy she is using violence to coerce into helping
her, add that enemy’s current wound penalty in bonus
dice to the roll also.
SOCIAL CHARMS
Piteous Plea (10m; Supplemental; Instant; Essence
2): The wretch appeals to her target’s own deathly
fears. Add one automatic success to a persuade roll,
and reroll 6s until none appear.
Storyteller Tactics
Buried in a nameless wretch’s mind is a guttering spark of
memory: Presented with her true name and history, she
recognizes it, and knows it to be real. Clever characters
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can trick or convince her to accept new ones, though, if disturbed, their bodies ravaged by rot, memories gone.
for instance finding her original identity is impossible, Should their targets prove hard-hearted or unwilling
or terrible actions in her past would prevent her from to help, they have barely enough grasp of language and
resting peacefully if she discovered them. skill to demand — at sword-point, if necessary — a prop-
er burial under their rightful name, alongside their kin.
When approaching someone for aid in discovering their Reunited with her memories and laid to rest properly,
identities and those of their loved ones from life, name- the wretch’s body collapses, its spirit departed to Lethe.
less wretches rely on their pitiable states: their graves
Rantai
From a distance, a rantai resembles a tangle of scarlet MERITS
ribbon drifting on the breeze. Closer, it resolves into an Wind-Whipping Apparition: The rantai whips
airborne mass of blood-drenched chains, each link a through the air at devilish speed, ignoring all penalties
barbed loop of bone. Dozens of ghosts writhe on these on movement actions as long as it isn’t crashed.
hooks, their shrieks a cacophony of woe.
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
The rantai collect ghosts for inscrutable reasons. Ghost-Gaoler’s Leash (3m per ghost; Simple;
Hundreds dangle from the barbs of the most ancient Instant; Essence 2): The rantai sends a bound war
of their breed. The spirits’ agony only ends if another ghost (Exalted, p. 504) to fight on its behalf, or a
Underworld predator snatches them away and devours specific ghost with separate traits, which automati-
them — or if violence or parley frees them. Though ran- cally materializes. It cannot send more ghosts than its
tai cannot speak, they compel bound ghosts to reveal current temporary Willpower, although it never needs
their wishes. They demand peculiar terms to release a to retract any. A character capable of striking the im-
prisoner — a test of skill against the ghost to be freed, material may attempt a difficulty 4 gambit against a
planting a living tree in Underworld soil, or the right to leashed ghost to sever the chain. Success frees the
name a first-born child. ghost and deals 1 lethal damage to the rantai, ignor-
ing Hardness.
Rantai also imperil the living. Wounded rantai seek Impaling Barbs (4m, 1wp; Supplemental; Until
shadowlands that mortals inhabit and strip out their released; Essence 2): Enhance a grapple as follows:
skeletons, reshaping them into new rings of bloody bone • Double threshold successes to determine rounds
to replace those they have lost.
of control
Essence: 3; Willpower: 8; Join Battle: 10 dice • Take no Defense penalty
Personal Motes: 80 • Attacks that deal no damage don’t reduce rounds
Health Levels: −0x3/−1x6/−2x6/−4/Incap.
Intimacies: Defining: “Ghosts belong to me.”; of control
Major: “Everything comes at a price.” • +2 damage to decisive savaging attacks; +5 to
Actions: Feats of Strength: 7 dice (may attempt
Strength 3 feats); Fly: 10 dice; Senses: 8 dice; withering ones
Social Influence: 8 dice; Underworld Lore: 8 dice • Capture a ghost who becomes Incapacitated or
Appearance 5 (Hideous), Resolve 5, Guile 3
COMBAT crashed while grappled
Attack (Chain lash): 11 dice (Damage 12) Skeletonize (8m; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 3):
Attack (Grapple): 12 dice (11 to control) A decisive attack that kills a non-trivial living crea-
Combat Movement: 10 dice ture strips out its skeleton to make new links to repair
Evasion 2, Parry 5 the chains, healing one health level. Against a battle
Soak/Hardness: 11/3 group of such creatures, it heals one level per point
of Magnitude the group loses. The rantai can gain
up to three temporary health levels this way if it isn’t
damaged; these vanish at the end of the scene.
Symphony of Woe (5m, 1wp; Supplemental;
Scene; Eclipse; Essence 3): Treat the rantai’s Join
Battle roll as an inspire action to create terror, grief,
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or dread against all enemies. This influence costs one leverage. Characters can bargain to free a ghost or ac-
Willpower and three Initiative to resist. Enemies who quire Underworld knowledge, though it tries to intimi-
don’t resist lose two Initiative at the end of each round. date them into unfavorable deals.
SOCIAL CHARMS
Stolen Voice (6m, 1wp; Supplemental; One action; A rantai that loses at least half its bound ghosts flees or
Eclipse; Essence 3): The rantai forces a ghost from its bargains for its unlife. Choose a total number of ghosts it
collection who resembles one of its opponent’s Ties possesses, or represent it thus: at the end of each round
that it knows to treat with her. Gain double 8s and +3 in which the characters destroy or free any ghosts, the
dice on a bargain action. An Eclipse subtly shifts her rantai loses a Willpower point. When it runs out of
appearance to resemble the Tie instead. Willpower, it flees. Older rantai are larger and more
powerful; represent this by adding health levels and, at
Storyteller Tactics their most ancient, the Legendary Size Merit (Exalted,
In battle, the rantai goes on the offensive, relying on its p. 522).
fearsome appearance to weaken its enemies’ resolve.
It takes threaten and bargain actions often to chase or Bound ghosts with Essence 3 or less die when the ran-
buy off a stronger foe, while making its ghosts run in- tai does; players can make a difficulty 3 Intelligence +
terference. It isn’t above parleying to learn its enemies’ Occult roll to determine this.
Intimacies, then trying to murder those Intimacies
to strengthen itself and capture their ghosts for
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Scavenger
Bony avian skeletons draped in blackened cobwebs and Attack (Talons): 8 dice (Damage 12)
torn funerary silks circle their prey. The Underworld’s Attack (Grapple): 8 dice (8 to control)
vultures harry the living and the dead alike, sweeping Combat Movement: 7 dice
from the air to tear their prey apart and scavenge what’s Evasion 3, Parry 1
left. They devour their victims’ flesh and adorn them- Soak/Hardness: 4/0
selves and their nests with trophies from their kills.
Driven by the emotional weight of the Underworld, scav- SPECIAL ABILITIES
engers collect items with sentimental significance to their
victims, pleasant or upsetting, such as a locket gifted by an Grisly Trophies: Whenever a scavenger kills its
ex-lover, a favored sword, wedding rings, and so on. target, it claims something of importance to the victim
which it then either wears as a bauble or keeps stashed
Essence: 1; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 5 dice in its gullet for displaying later. When it prizes an item,
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap. the scavenger seizes it from the target’s still-living
Actions: Disease/Poison: 8 dice; Fly: 8 dice; Intimi- hands by making a snatch gambit (Difficulty 3).
date: 7 dice; Senses: 7 dice (see Keen Nose); Track- Wicked Rending Talons: The scavenger’s de-
ing: 8 dice cisive talon attacks add two bonus successes to
Resolve 2, Guile 1 damage against enemies that have not yet acted this
COMBAT turn, so long as it has not taken any other actions (in-
Attack (Beak): 8 dice (Damage 14) cluding reflexive movement actions).
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MERITS Anyone who kills a scavenger can claim all the memen-
Carrion Hunter: Add three bonus successes to any tos the creature has stolen, which may include baubles
Senses roll to detect, locate, or track the scent of dead and trinkets with value up to Resources 3. A scavenger
flesh. This bonus also applies on rolls to identify dis- steals anything with emotional value that it can feasibly
eased carrion. pick up and carry away — from as small as a lucky coin to
Eagle Wing Rush: A scavenger may rush enemies as large as a daiklave. Characters may snatch them back,
from long range above them, as long as the horizon- requiring a gambit of Difficulty 3 in battle, or a Larceny
tal distance between them is still at short range. roll opposed by the scavenger’s Senses outside combat.
Keen Nose: Double 9s on scent-based Senses rolls.
Scavengers first target any character with wound penal-
Storyteller Tactics ties or suffering from a disease or poison. They flee com-
Investigators pursuing murder cases search scaven- bat they did not initiate after taking damage to their first
ger nests for clues among their stolen trinkets — many –2 health level, but will fight for an item until they’ve
a murder weapon ends up in the birds’ nests. Similarly, taken damage to their –4 health level.
finding an important belonging in a scavenger nest can
change the course of a missing person case.
Susurrus
Ghosts are not immortal. Some surrender to Lethe Minor: My Haunting Place (Familiarity)
and rebirth, while others are consumed by oblivion or Actions: Read Intentions: 5 dice; Senses: 6 dice;
forged into soulsteel. Others endure terrible forces, from Social Influence: 5 dice; Stealth: 8 dice; Tracking: 7
earth-shattering sorcery to a hekatonkhire’s jaws, that dice
tear them asunder. Most such ghosts are too badly dis- Appearance 5 (Hideous), Resolve 5, Guile 2
membered to recover, but when many are riven apart
at once, their surviving fragments can come together to COMBAT
form a patchwork whole — a susurrus. Attack (Rend): 12 dice (Damage 17, minimum 3)
Combat Movement: 6 dice
A susurrus at rest spreads itself thinly across its haunting Evasion 1, Parry 4
place, manifesting as whispering voices and a chill in the Soak/Hardness:10/3
air. Provoked, it coheres into a tattered mass of shadows,
faces, and wisps of spectral flesh fluttering like banners OFFENSIVE CHARMS
in the wind. Hungry to be whole, a susurrus thrusts its Patchwork Possession (30m, 1wp; Simple; In-
sprawling piecemeal bulk into a human body to possess definite; Decisive-only; Essence 2): A susurrus cannot
her, its fractured mind driving the victim to erratic bouts materialize, but it may possess a living character,
of elation, sorrow, lust, shame, homicidal rage, and sui- pouring itself through her orifices and overwhelming
cidal melancholy. her mind. This is a gambit with a difficulty equal to
the higher of (target’s Resolve or Willpower). If suc-
The dead have even more to fear. A susurrus rips ghosts cessful, the susurrus takes control of the victim’s body,
to fragments that it incorporates into its own piebald using her physical Attributes and health track in place
frame. The more ghosts a susurrus consumes, the larg- of its own. Attacks capable of striking the immaterial
er and more powerful it becomes. Ancestral spirits beg damage both the victim’s health track and the ghost’s.
Exalted descendants to free shadowlands from a susur- The susurrus cannot use any of the host’s magic, but it
rus’ hunger. may pull knowledge from her mind with a read inten-
tions action.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 3; Join Battle: 6 dice At the end of each scene in which the host is present,
Personal Motes: 70 she may roll (Wits + Integrity), difficulty 3, as one in-
Health Levels: −0/−1x5/−2x5/−4/Incap. terval of an extended action with terminus 3 and goal
Intimacies: Defining: “I must become whole.”; number 10 to expel it. She may also roll whenever
Major: “We are no one and everyone. We are you.”; the ghost tries to force her to act against an Intimacy,
adding the Intimacy’s rating in bonus dice.
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DEFENSIVE CHARMS it; it careens from one extreme to another, to another,
Devour the Dead (1m, 1wp; Reflexive; Instant; sometimes over the course of a single conversation. On
Essence 2): When a ghost is destroyed or discorpo- the hunt, its malleable form lets it squeeze through small
rated within short range, the susurrus can absorb the spaces and cut its prey off from escape.
disintegrating remnants of the corpus, rolling the vic-
tim’s Essence as a dice pool and healing one level of A susurrus that devours large numbers of ghosts grows
damage per success. in size and gains additional health levels. This typical-
The susurrus can also do this when damage is dealt ly occurs over long periods, but a susurrus that tears
to a battle group made of ghosts within short range, into a ghostly battle group may grow mid-combat, gain-
rolling dice equal to (Magnitude lost + group’s Might). ing a new −1 or −2 health level (whichever it has fewer
This Charm doesn’t permanently destroy discorporat- of ) whenever it uses Devour the Dead. At 10 additional
ed ghosts. health levels, a susurrus gains a dot of Essence and the
Legendary Size Merit.
Storyteller Tactics
A susurrus will never be whole, no matter how many A susurrus of legendary size may use Patchwork
ghosts it consumes or how many people it possesses. It Possession to take control of a human’s body via an ec-
never learns, though, and is always just as desperate to do toplasmic pseudopod at close range, without having to
both as ever. Its patchwork nature means only the stron- physically merge. Only the cost of the Charm limits the
gest emotions from its many constituent minds drive number of humans it may control this way.
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Walkure
Born of death-dreams on Northern battlefields, the walkuren appear as ghastly, majestic syntheses of divine warrior
and carrion bird. Some manifest as winged and clawed avatars of battle; others are terrible women and men soaring
astride black-plumed hippogriffs, their swords bright as pain, their hauberks red as blood. All dwell at the border-
lands between life and death, prowling battlefields and shadowlands — alone or in flocks — in search of ghostly prey.
And if all they find are the living, they can always make new ghosts.
Although it isn’t a ghost itself, a walkure’s armaments evoke those of the battlefield from which it is born, making a
walkure from Icehome visibly different from one who rose near Ascension. Yet the legends surrounding them are
similar throughout the North. For example, many tribes believe that hearing a walkure’s wail away from a battlefield
is a death omen.
Frarithi strikes more subtly than many of its ilk. Tall and gaunt, swathed in furled black wings resembling
a hooded feather cloak, it leans on its spear like an old man with a staff. But it moves swift as
death on its stilt-like bird’s legs, while its horrid, shifting face is that of a killer seen
through the eyes of a fever-struck child.
Most walkuren bring captured ghosts to their larders
to assuage their own weird hungers. But Frarithi
serves a mighty master, and it carries its victims aloft
to that dark monarch’s citadel.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 9 dice
Personal Motes: 70
Health Levels: −0/−1x3/−2x3/−4/Incap.
Actions: Fly: 9 dice; Senses: 8 dice; Threaten:
7 dice; Tracking: 6 dice
Appearance 4 (Hideous), Resolve 4, Guile 2
COMBAT
Attack (Long spear/straight sword): 9 dice
(Damage 14)
Attack (Grapple): 9 dice (9 to control)
Combat Movement: 9 dice, or 11 while
flying/mounted
Evasion 2, Parry 3
Soak/Hardness: 9/0 (Spectral hauberk)
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Horrific Wail (5m; Supplemental; Instant;
Essence 1): If a walkure successfully threatens an
enemy, the enemy loses three Initiative, as terror over-
whelms even the steeliest nerves.
Sky-Catch Talons (6m, 4i; Simple; Instant; Per-
ilous; Essence 2): The walkure reflexively swoops
down up to three range bands from above to ini-
tiate a grapple gambit; this Charm doesn’t work
if the walkure can’t dive downward at least one
range band toward the target. Add one bonus
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HUNDRED DEVILS NIGHT PARADE
success to the grapple control roll. Whether the clinch one’s ghost a delicacy and a trophy once won. In combat,
is successful or not, the walkure may reflexively move a walkure uses its wail strategically to enact sudden turn-
one range band in any direction; if it is successful, the arounds when foes have the advantage or crash opponents
walkure pulls the grappled target along, without re- just after they reset to base Initiative. Then, it carries prey
quiring a drag action. This is usable once per scene, high into the air, either to drag ghosts off to its lair or to
unless reset by spending two consecutive turns moving dash the living to the ground below. A walkure flees after
upwards to build altitude. taking damage to its first −2 health level.
DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Shadow-Veiled Deflection (3m, 1i; Reflexive; Despite its voracious appetites, a walkure doesn’t always
Instant; Perilous; Essence 1): Streaming shadows immediately consume its prey as soon as it returns to its
behind its spear, the walkure gains +1 Parry against nest, keeping a stash for lean times. Bereaved loved ones
a single attack, or +2 if the attacker is at close range. and surviving members of Sworn Kinships might still be
able to lay their fallen friends to rest, if they can track
Storyteller Tactics the walkure to its sanctum. Some walkuren are willing to
Walkuren haunt shadowlands and battlefields seeking strike up a bargain if the living offer a worthy exchange
ghostly prey. They prefer the ghosts of soldiers and war- for its lost meal. Others only view the living as extra stew
riors, but any will do in a pinch. When a walkure comes meat for the pot. Those Frarithi takes face not only that
to a place where no ghosts walk, it targets living cham- horrifying walkure, but also the perils of its master’s
pions who display fighting prowess, considering such a citadel.
White Robe
As echoes of professional mourners such as Sijan’s famed against that character’s Resolve. If it succeeds, she’s
sorrowers, white robes are empty garments that radiate impassioned with grief and suffers a −3 penalty to all
grief and endlessly wander in a funeral procession to no- non-reflexive actions for the scene, unless she spends
where. The vast burden living mourners carry creates 1 Willpower to resist. Any given character only needs
powerful emotional imprints from which white robes to resist any white robe’s Weeping Aura once per
spawn. These sublime, hollow robes are inscribed with scene. Ghosts this aura successfully affects instead
beautiful, ever-changing symbols in gray and bronze; succumb to Lethe unless they spend 1 Willpower.
those who can decipher the writings learn secrets from MERITS
the Underworld’s forgotten reaches. Though pale and Echoes of Grief: White robes gain +3 dice and
ethereal, white robes are plasmic creations of sentiment double 8s on read intentions actions to discover In-
and dead Essence, not ghosts. timacies with contexts of grief, sorrow, loss, despair,
or similar.
Essence: 1; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 5 dice Incorporeal: White robes are immaterial but always
Personal Motes: 30 visible, even in Creation. Only attacks capable of
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap. harming immaterial beings, such as Spirit-Cutting
Actions: Inspire: 10 dice; Instill: 10 dice; Navigation: Attack (Exalted, p. 354), can target them.
6 dice; Read Intentions: 8 dice; Senses: 6 dice SOCIAL CHARMS
Resolve 4, Guile 2 Incite the Grieving Tide (5m; Reflexive; Instant;
COMBAT Psyche; Essence 1): The white robe sings a dirge, stir-
Combat Movement: 8 dice ring its target’s heart. Double 9s on one instill action
Evasion 4, Parry 1 to create or increase the intensity of any Intimacy to
Soak/Hardness: 4/0 which Echoes of Grief would apply. If two or more
SPECIAL ABILITIES white robes target the same character with this Charm
Weeping Aura: Mere proximity to a white robe at the same time, she suffers a −1 to Resolve against
is enough to drive even strong-willed warriors to that action per two participating white robes.
tears. The first time in each scene a given character
comes within short range, roll the white robe’s Inspire Storyteller Tactics
White robes wander the Underworld and Creation,
mourning not specific deaths, but all death as their
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raison d’être. They travel in solemn processions of GRIEFBEES
four to 10, and though they rarely stray from their
intended path, their presence alone is enough to The Underworld’s bees glow the sickly gray-green of Conta-
overcome onlookers with grief. White robes don’t gion ghosts and bear ashen stripes. They feed on emotion, pre-
speak or respond to much, even when threatened, ferring the vibrant emotions of the living to the dulled ones of
focusing almost exclusively on their procession; the dead, and the weeping honey they produce imparts strong
they flee if attacked, and although they don’t com- feelings to those who taste it. When a griefbee feeds upon pow-
municate directly, they do sometimes sing hymns erful emotion, it emits a soft greenish-white light, illuminating
or dirges as they float eerily along inches above its surroundings out to short range. That light makes corpses
the ground. They read intentions to discover grief- within its radius glow, granting +3 dice to find them if they’re
based Intimacies and use Incite the Grieving Tide hidden or identify them if they’re disguised or disfigured. If the
instinctively, rather than as any kind of ploy or de- person died as a result of anyone’s intense feeling — for exam-
liberate provocation. This attracts griefbees that ple, they were killed in a rage or took their own life in despair
follow them around to feed on the ambient emotion — the glow shifts to lurid orange and also grants investigators
the white robes produce in passersby (see sidebar). +3 dice to determine how they died and other details about the
circumstances surrounding the death.
As white robes move along their unending funer-
al march, the symbols upon their bodies shift and Characters are more likely to encounter griefbee honey than the
change. A character can decipher the writing with bees themselves unless they run across a procession of white
an extended Intelligence + (Linguistics or Occult) robes or come within a mile of a griefbee hive in the Underworld
roll, with difficulty 3, goal number 20, and inter- and experience powerful emotions. Griefbees do not attack un-
val ten minutes. The scripture reveals ancient less threatened or the hive is endangered. When provoked, they
and forgotten secrets of the Underworld, of the attack as a battle group swarm with Size 1, Poor Drill, and Might
Storyteller’s choice; they may include paeans to 1. They have the following traits: Join Battle: 6 dice, Magnitude
forgotten gods that could summon or entreat such 4, the Tiny Creature Merit, Attack (Sting): 12 dice (Damage 1L;
entities, the location of a deathknight’s hidden lair, 12L against foes with Tiny Creature or Minuscule Size, can’t deal
teachings of the Dark Mother that might lead char- decisive damage to larger enemies), and Evasion 3.
acters to a Liminal Exalt, necromantic initiations or
deathly thaumaturgical rituals, and so on. A hive of griefbees makes a pint of weeping honey in a day,
which is a Resources 3 purchase, or Resources 2 in the Un-
derworld.
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The Wreck of
the Ruby Wren
The Ruby Wren was a trading ship, low-bellied and full- Ever since, others sailing in the area swear they’ve seen
sailed. The crew was practiced and competent, the cap- the Ruby Wren’s flags flying on moonless nights when
tain brave but not foolhardy. They steered safely through the seas are still. The ghost ship glides across the waves,
terrible storms. They survived encounters with Lintha seeking vengeance.
pirates and hungry siaka. They outpaced enemy ships
and always delivered passengers to their destinations. Essence: 4; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 7 dice
The Ruby Wren was famous for its hardiness, which Personal Motes: 100
made it a tempting target. Actions (Ruby Wren): Broadside: 10 dice (Cost: 5
momentum); Naval Maneuvers (12 dice); Positioning
Some time ago, the Ruby Wren sank. No one claimed re- (10 dice); Ram: 10 dice (Cost:7 momentum)
sponsibility. The column of smoke that rose as the sails Actions (Drowned): Feats of Strength: 6 dice (may
burned could be seen for miles around, making witness- attempt Strength 3 feats); Swim: 7 dice, Threaten: 8
es rule out an attack from a behemoth lurking beneath dice; Tracking: 5 dice
the waves. COMBAT
But the Ruby Wren and its ghostly crew remember. The RUBY WREN
ship went down fast, the great gaping holes in its hull Attack: 10 dice (Damage 15; see Living Vessel)
letting the whole sea fill it in. The few who made it to Attack (Grapple): 15 dice (15 to control; see
lifeboats couldn’t row away fast enough to escape the Living Vessel)
suction as the bigger ship went down. No one survived, Soak/Hardness: 5/10
and the ship settled on the ocean floor.
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DROWNED automatic successes to the Wren’s damage on
Attack (Grapple): 6 dice (9 to control) successful Ramming actions.
Attack (Knife): 8 dice (Damage 10) • Silent Running (Cost: 2 Momentum): The
Combat Movement: 3 dice Ruby Wren makes no sound as it glides over the
Evasion 3, Parry 2 waves. Add 2 dice to Concealment stratagem
Soak/Hardness: 3/10 pools.
CHARMS
SPECIAL ABILITIES Ocean Father’s Will (30m per 1 Momentum;
Simple; Instant; Eclipse; Essence 4): The Ruby Wren
Living Vessel: Every rope and plank aboard the gains up to 3 Momentum as the ocean itself fuels its
Wren moves at the ship’s command. When it enters vengeance.
regular combat, it joins its dead crew in attacking its
enemies with these abilities: Storyteller Tactics
• Keelhaul: When the Wren controls a grapple, The Ruby Wren flanks and ambushes any ship it comes
across, using the cover of darkness to glide silently
it drags its target beneath the boat from bow to through the water. Once within range, the Wren fires its
stern and makes a decisive attack roll against cannons and speeds closer. It rams the other ship and
its enemy. One of the drowned in control of a the drowned send lines across, tying the two ships to-
grapple may also use this ability. gether and swarming aboard. The Wren despises being
• Plank Walk: The Wren abhors being boarded. boarded and uses its Living Vessel abilities when it en-
Sails’ booms swing about. Hatches open sudden- ters regular combat.
ly. The very timbers shift beneath enemies’ feet.
Boarders suffer a –3 difficult terrain penalty to A crew of the drowned (p. 59) is always aboard and may
combat actions. act as individuals or as a battle group with Size 2, elite
• Tangled Rigging: The ship’s rigging snakes Drill, and Might 2. Any drowned who move farther than
out and snares its enemy. The Wren can perform long range from the ship vanish reflexively and reappear
grapple gambits at up to medium range. belowdecks on the Wren. When the Ruby Wren discor-
• Waterlogged Wail: Wind whistling through porates, the ghosts aboard discorporate along with it.
the hull’s gaping holes creates a terrifying keen
that serves as a threaten action against everyone Storytellers should tailor the Ruby Wren’s backstory to
aboard and anyone within boarding range of best fit their game. Perhaps the characters tangled with
the ship. The Wren rolls 8 dice once against the the vessel in a past incarnation. Maybe it was a Peleps
Resolve of each target separately. Those who fail ship sunk by a V’Neef character’s ancestor, or it might
quail in fear and lose 1 Initiative. have ferried treacherous Fair Folk over the waters of the
Dreaming Sea. Storytellers may wish to let players the-
MERITS orize about the ship’s origins based on their current ad-
ventures and use elements of those theories that support
Scourge of the Seas: The Ruby Wren can partici- their plans.
pate in naval combat. It has Hull −0/−1x2/−2x2/–
4/Incap., Maneuverability 1, and Speed +4. Use its Destroying the Ruby Wren is only a temporary victory.
Naval Maneuvers pool for stratagem rolls. In addition The ship coalesces again with full Essence and Health
to common stratagems, it can perform the following at the next new moon and single-mindedly seeks those
maneuvers: who sent it beneath the waves. The ship is patient, its
• Becalm (Cost: 5 Momentum): The Ruby wrath as deep as the seas themselves, and it never gives
up. To permanently destroy it, characters must success-
Wren’s presence calms the waters and winds fully board, kill all of the drowned with spirit-killing
around the enemies’ ship. The Wren’s target loses magic, and then do the same to the empty vessel.
2 Momentum on its next turn.
• Cannonfire (Cost: 5 Momentum): The Unless pursuing vengeance against those who have de-
Wren fires at the enemy ship, inflicting one Hull stroyed it previously, the Ruby Wren flees when it suffers
damage point. damage to its –4 Hull level.
• Heavy Cargo (Cost: 7 Momentum): Some
goods that were in the cargo hold when the Ruby
Wren sank still remain. Their weight adds two
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Mist swirled about Inaol’s feet, and soon the ground stopped rumbling. Not because she’d
outpaced the monster, but because she no longer walked on the earth.
Beneath her, the ghostfisher burst from the ground and snapped at where she’d stood not a
moment gone. Now it peered up at her, confused and confounded, denied its meal.
“Fortunate for you,” said a voice in her ear, “I took notice of your plight.”
The mist had followed her into the air and now took on a human shape. The being was cloudspun.
Everything about her was gauzy and pale. Cirrus wisps drifted from her arms as she gestured.
Her long, long hair drifted and danced on unseen air currents.
“Thank you,” said Inaol. “But... how...?” She gestured at herself and her companion smiled.
“You fought valiantly. I gave you my blessing.” The sun shone through the cloud person’s smile.
“Come. I’ll show you my home until the beast forgets your scent and returns to its dank tunnels.”
They rose, higher and higher, until everything below shrank to pinpoints and the forest’s
canopy was nothing more than a carpet of mottled greens and browns. Higher still, through
thunderheads’ heavy gray bases, until they burst into sunlit skies above, and the cloud city spread
before them.
Inaol gaped. Lofty towers climbed so high they scraped night’s indigo belly. Silvery roads led
between soaring candy-floss structures, and all along them drifted the diaphanous figures of the
cloud people. Her host tugged her along, showing her off to acquaintances as one might a favored
pet. The others greeted Inaol with indifference; she suspected they forgot her as soon as they
moved on.
Up here, away from the snow and cold, feeling crept back into her fingers and the tip of her nose.
The cloud person laid out a feast, pressed rainbow-colored breezes to Inaol’s lips and filled her
glass with rushing winds. They visited vast libraries, where the stacks rose high as mountains
and wispy figures argued philosophy for hours on end. Her host showed Inaol star charts she
couldn’t comprehend, and pointed out constellations she’d never spotted from the ground.
Sometimes, rather than walking, she found herself drifting like the cloud people themselves.
She wasn’t the only human here, though others were rare sights. They hardly spared her a glance
as they listened to their patrons’ intense debates.
I could stay here, too, Inaol thought, watching an older man carry an armload of texts to a spindly-
legged table.
But then a look of dismay pinched the man’s face, and to Inaol’s horror, he crumbled away to dust
before her. The texts rustled softly to the tabletop.
“What... what happened to him?” she whispered.
Her host shrugged. “He stayed too long. It happens sometimes. Your kind should know better.”
Suddenly, Inaol was cold again. “I should go home,” she said. “How do I do that?”
“My blessing will fade soon,” said the cloud person, already bored. “If you don’t wish for me to
renew it, I recommend you take yourself close to the ground and renounce my boon. It would be a
shame if you fell all that way.”
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Chapter Three
Spirits
12 Ascending Wood
Last night, I dreamed of a young man who offered me treasures beyond imagining. In re-
turn, he said, all he wanted was for me to bear his sigil on my flesh as a token of his fa-
vor. How was I to know what it meant? But now, it’s become all too clear…
ELEMENTALS
The following spirits are elementals — beings born from the Essence of
Creation’s own five elements: air, earth, fire, water, and wood.
Ahesh the Forgotten
Ahesh doesn’t recall the first form she took, back when others beg her to take away memories of the awful things
the world was new. Perhaps she was a fish, a seashell, or they’ve seen and done, happy for the peace forgetting
a bird with blazing wings. She knows she’s been a mir- brings.
ror-still pond in the Lap, a rainstorm that traveled from
Champoor to Palanquin in a day, and a wall of ice moving Though Ahesh tends toward caution, setting herself up
inexorably toward Tusk. She once rode in a stoppered where people will seek out her blessing, or where no
crystal vial in the Scarlet Empress’ pocket. one will miss the memories she steals, she is capable of
frightening shows of power. As the First Age died, the
Ahesh isn’t bound to any form. Sometimes she swirls in people of the island of Desat drained a lake sacred to
river waters, her droplets indistinguishable from those Ahesh and her worshipers. In revenge, she gathered her-
in which she swims. Other times, the water elemental self into a massive stormcloud and unleashed her deluge
takes whichever form pleases the people whose worship over all Creation. No memories remain of once-proud
she hopes to garner: a maiden with ice blue eyes and pale Desat.
blue skin, a large fish speaking with a god’s voice, a crys-
talline face peering out from a wall of ice. Ahesh gains followers wherever she goes. Some come
from the local human populace. Others are spirits or
Her memories are brief as the flash of sunlight on water, water elementals who offer her protection — though
and few of them are her own. Ahesh inhabits bodies of what they were supposed to receive in exchange, they’ve
water, flowing with them, drifting on their currents. She forgotten.
gathers memories from those she encounters: from the
pilgrim quenching her thirst at the river’s edge, to the Essence: 3; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 8 dice
prince trailing a hand over the side of a pleasure barge. Personal Motes: 80
She craves human experiences, taking them from her vic- Health Levels: −0x3/−1x5/−2x4/−4x2/Incap.
tims and leaving half-remembered glimpses in their place. Intimacies: Defining: “I want to live all the lives I
can.”; Major: “Letting go brings peace.”; Minor: My
Ahesh is a creature of need and whim, malice-free and Acolytes (Fondness)
curiosity-driven. Though some find her thievery cruel,
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Actions: Disguise: 5 dice; Eavesdrop: 8 dice; El- comes up 1 on the attack roll subtracts a success from
emental Lore: 10 dice; Read Intentions: 10 dice; both the attack and damage rolls.
Senses: 4 dice; Social Influence: 7 dice; Steal Memo- SOCIAL CHARMS
ries: 14 dice; Stealth: 7 dice Astute Insight Meditation (15m; Supplemen-
Appearance 5, Resolve 3, Guile 2 tal; Instant; Essence 2): Ahesh looks into her target’s
eyes and learns their heart’s desire. She gains three
COMBAT automatic successes on a read intentions action, and
Attack (Grapple): 10 dice (10 to control) determines the target’s strongest or most relevant Inti-
Attack (Ice dagger): 12 dice (Damage 16/3) macy. For the rest of the scene, she gains a temporary
Combat Movement: 8 dice Intimacy mirroring her target’s. This begins at Minor in-
Evasion 5, Parry 3 tensity, but Ahesh may raise it higher for 5m per level.
Soak/Hardness: 6/0 Memory Siphon (50m; Simple; Instant; Psyche;
Cult 2: Ahesh has worshipers all across Creation, Essence 3): Ahesh takes her target’s memories for her
both people who have received her blessing and own. The target must use Charms or magic in order
those who hope to feel her cool touch on their brow. to resist.
She keeps a dozen such followers near her at all times Roll Ahesh’s Steal Memories vs. the target’s Resolve.
for protection from those who object to her practices. For each threshold success, she steals one distinct
Stolen Dagger Style (10m, 1i; Supplemental; One memory related to Intimacies that have come up within
round; Essence 3): Ahesh’s fighting prowess comes the scene. For example, she may take the memory of
from her victims’ accumulated memories. Double 9s a time his rival betrayed him or his last sparring match
on attack rolls for the Charm’s duration. If Ahesh has with his mentor.
used Memory Siphon on her target within the past The Storyteller should discuss with the player which
day, their fighting style — including their weaknesses memories she took, and how it affects the victim.
— is familiar to her; double 8s instead. Killing Ahesh return the victim’s stolen memories.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
DEFENSIVE CHARMS Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
Flowing Body Dispersal (4m, 2i; Reflexive; 1): Ahesh fades away and vanishes on her next turn,
Instant; Dual; Essence 3): Ahesh’s body becomes drawn away to the nearest body of water. This may
liquid, letting attacks pass through her. Every die that
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include clouds, the baths in a Dynast’s mansion, or and she’s usually willing to make a deal. She prefers
containers of water in a desert caravan. persuade and inspire actions to bargaining, assuring the
Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence target that giving her certain memories will help him or
1): Ahesh takes the measure of anyone who comes someone he cares about.
to her seeking to forget an event, or anyone whose
memories she stole. She’s not fond of fighting, but does so if provoked or if
a target refuses to part with memories Ahesh strongly
Storyteller Tactics desires. Her form hardens into ice as she attacks. Ahesh
doesn’t fight to kill. Instead, she wears down and sub-
Ahesh calls on her stolen memories to aid her in so- dues her target so she can use Memory Siphon.
cial interactions with humans. She uses Astute Insight
Meditation and shapes herself after her target’s Her acolytes join the fray if she is threatened, forming a
Intimacies, such as wearing a face resembling his lover’s battle group with Size 1, average Drill, and Might 2.
or adopting an accent that reminds him of home. Her
goal is to convince her guest to part with his memories,
Charnavrix the Unyielding,
the Sleeper in the Grove, Lesser Elemental Dragon of Wood
Millennia ago, a Solar Exalt and an elemental spirit of wood The Solar’s essence was locked away in the jade prison,
fell in love. Where Three Branches Twine was mirthful and and centuries passed by. Without Three Branches Twine’s
quick, and willing to bend in the face of change, Charnavrix company to make him pliable, Charnavrix instead gave in
more closely embodied the hard woods of the cherry groves to his nature. He forgot his human form. His dragon scales
he protected. Three Branches Twine loved Charnavrix in hardened until they were more like stone than bark.
all his forms: as a human with night-black hair and thin,
soft hands perfect for holding; and as the snarling, sinuous, Now he sleeps, guarding Three Branches Twine’s tomb
bark-scaled dragon who carried him into battle. in the Valley of the Ancients. The cherry grove is long
gone, and the sounds of Dynasts making their chang-
When Three Branches Twine at last grew old and passed es to the Valley sometimes seep in through his dreams.
away in Charnavrix’ grove, the trees shed their blossoms in He stirred once, when the Solars returned; the ripples
mourning. Charnavrix commissioned his tomb in the or- were felt all through Numinous Rolling Wave Dominion.
chard in which he’d expired. Then he curled around his love’s Those Princes of the Earth who suspect a dragon slum-
resting place, and waited. Surely Three Branches Twine bers beneath them fear his wrath if he should wake.
would return to him, his old soul in a new body, and they’d
be reunited. And they were! Many times through the eras, a Essence: 4; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 10 dice
pilgrim came to the shrine, and the Solar’s soul called to the Personal Motes: 90
dragon’s own. Again and again, they rekindled their love. Health Levels: −0x7/−1x6/−2x6/−4x5/Incap.
Intimacies: Defining: “I am whole when my love is
Until the Usurpation. near.”; Major: The Terrestrial Exalted (Hatred); Minor:
“In my love’s absence, I will protect his memory.”
When the Terrestrials rose up and slew the Solar Speed Bonus: +5
Exalted, Three Branches Twine and Charnavrix were Actions: Feats of Strength: 10 dice (may attempt
far apart. The dragon searched for his love, tried to Strength 6 feats); Fly: 15 dice; Read Intentions: 8 dice;
bring his bones home to rest, but he couldn’t find the Senses: 8 dice; Social Influence: 6 dice
body. He unleashed his grief and rage on the murder- Appearance 4, Resolve 3, Guile 2
ers, cutting a swathe across Creation and destroying COMBAT
countless Dragon-Blooded and their allies. Devastated, Attack (Bite): 12 dice (Damage 15)
Charnavrix returned to the grove, in the hopes that soon Attack (Claw): 12 dice (Damage 18/3)
enough Three Branches Twine would appear with his
new face and new name.
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Attack (Grapple): 10 dice (10 to control) Raging Dragon Strike (12m; Supplemental;
Attack (Tail Swipe): 15 dice (Damage 20/5) Instant; Uniform; Essence 4): Charnavrix adds his
Combat Movement: 6 dice current temporary Willpower to an attack roll, and
Evasion 4, Parry 4 doubles 9s on the damage roll. At Initiative 20+, he
Soak/Hardness: 15/10 adds 10 dice to attack and doubles 8s on damage
instead.
MERITS DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Legendary Size: Charnavrix suffers no onslaught Sword-Stealing Skin (10m; Reflexive; Instant;
penalties from attacks made by smaller opponents, Essence 3): Bladed weapons get stuck fast in Char-
unless they’re magically inflicted. Withering attacks navrix’ scales; the tough wood making it difficult
from smaller enemies cannot Crash him unless they for their bearers to pull free. Once per scene, when
have at least 10 post-soak damage dice, although Charnavrix receives damage from a decisive attack
attackers still gain the full amount of Initiative damage with a bladed weapon, he twists away and takes the
dealt. Decisive attacks from smaller enemies cannot weapon with him without rolling to disarm.
deal more than (3 + attacker’s Strength) levels of SOCIAL CHARMS
damage to it, not counting any levels of damage Impenetrable Will Meditation (20m; Simple;
added by Charms or other magic. Instant; Essence 3): Charnavrix’ will is as strong as his pet-
Soaring Dragon Flight: Charnavrix can travel rified scales, inspiring others. By speaking with his target,
up to five hundred miles an hour through the sky or Charnavrix reinforces one of their Intimacies against at-
through wood. In combat, he doubles 9s on move- tempts to weaken it. For the scene, the target gains +2
ment rolls and may rush enemies on the ground from Resolve against actions regarding that Intimacy.
two range bands above them while flying. MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
OFFENSIVE CHARMS 1): Charnavrix fades away and vanishes on his next
Bone Shattering Swipe (10m; Simple; Instant; turn, drawn instantly to Three Branches Twine’s tomb.
Uniform; Essence 3): Charnavrix’ segmented tail acts Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence
like a whip, hitting anyone at its tip with tremendous 1): Charnavrix can take the measure of anyone who
force. He doubles 9s on the damage roll. If the total comes to him seeking information on a lost loved one.
damage inflicted is 10 or greater, his opponent’s Ini-
tiative drops to 0 immediately.
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Storyteller Tactics A party attempting to rob or alter the tomb of Three
Branches Twine receives no quarter.
Woe to anyone who awakens Charnavrix without
knowledge of Three Branches Twine’s whereabouts. He In battle, Charnavrix relies on his powerful tail to lay
listens to petitioners, especially if they have information waste to enemies in its range. He rarely dodges direct at-
to trade. Though his personality is as unyielding as his tacks, letting his petrified wood scales turn weapons aside.
hide, he respects reason and logic. Attempts to deceive He flees when he suffers damage to his last –4 health lev-
him or hide one’s meaning in flowery speeches only raise el, returning to the tomb. If he reunites with his beloved’s
his ire. reincarnation, Charnavrix’s Essence would return to 6.
Cloud Person
Hedonistic and aloof, the cloud people spend their age- COMBAT
less lives in aerial cities — masses of filmy structures Attack (Unarmed): 7 dice (Damage 8)
built upon the largest clouds. There they indulge in airy Combat Movement: 5 dice
luxuries, while away the hours amid philosophy and rev- Evasion 3, Parry 2
elry, and study the movements of the upper air and the Soak/Hardness: 1/0
stars. Concerning oneself with the lands beneath — or MERITS
with the affairs of the spirit courts of air — is gauche. Libraries of the Cloud Cities: The aerial cities hold
libraries of countless books and star charts written on
But for all their condescension toward the mortal world, pages of mist, unreadable to all but cloudfolk eyes.
cloud people feel a strong pull toward Creation’s eva- With access to these, add three dice to Knowledge
nescent beauty. Lovely youths, freshly blooming flow- rolls to introduce a fact (Exalted, p. 237), including
ers, opulent jewels, and the clamor of battle can draw with Sky-Hidden Secrets.
them down to the earth below. Though they quickly tire OFFENSIVE CHARMS
of mortal affairs, they often bring home keepsakes or Wind-Whistling Trick (5m; Simple; Instant;
guests, infusing them with airy Essence that they may Eclipse; Essence 2): Cloud people call up small
hover with the cloud people in their gauzy cities. Sadly, breezes or powerful gusts of wind to do their
anything — or anyone — infused thus for more than one bidding. In combat, these gusts extend to medium
month per year dissolves into dust. range, rolling eight dice with 12 base withering
damage. Conjured winds cannot execute damag-
Cloud people resemble slender mortals made of white ing decisive attacks, but can perform all manner
cloudstuff, often mistaken for patches of mist. Their eyes of gambits. They can also perform non-combat
are large and bright, their nebulous hair dozens of feet feats such as lifting small objects with a pillar of
long, their voices faint and bemused. With their impal- air, blowing books from shelves, or overturning a
pable bodies, cloud people can assume any form (though banquet table, all with eight dice; the Storyteller
they always remain diaphanous and cloud-pale) and ride sets the difficulty. Eclipses pay five motes and one
effortlessly on the wind. Their foodstuffs are equally in- Willpower instead, and roll (Perception + Occult)
substantial, consisting of scents, breezes, and flickers of with a base damage of (9 + Intelligence).
color. DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Dissolving Mist Body (10m, 4i; Reflexive; Instant;
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 5 dice Dual; Essence 2): A cloud person dissolves and
Personal Motes: 70 reforms around a physical attack, adding +2 Evasion.
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap. Even if the attack hits, subtract two dice from a with-
Actions: Debate/Persuade: 6 dice; Fly: 6 dice; Phil- ering attack’s post-soak damage or a decisive at-
osophical, Occult, and Astrological Knowledge: 8 tack’s raw damage. Against a grapple, instead sub-
dice (see Libraries of the Cloud Cities); Read Inten- tract five successes from her enemy’s control roll; she
tions: 6 dice; Senses: 6 dice; Stealth: 5 dice; Weather escapes the grapple immediately if this reduces him to
Prediction: 7 dice; Writing: 7 dice zero successes.
Appearance 4, Resolve 3, Guile 3
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MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Cloud-Body Shapeshifting (10m, 1wp; Simple;
Instant; Essence 2): A cloud person can transform her va-
porous body into any number of shapes. She can seep
under a door as a thin sheet of mist, hang in the sky as a
cloud to spy on those below, or expand her body into a
fog bank that conceals her summoner. Only supernatural
senses such as Keen Sight Technique (Exalted, p. 267)
can discern a transformed cloud person, with a difficulty
5 (Perception + Awareness) roll. This Charm can’t enhance
Defense. Reverting to humanoid form is free and reflexive.
Cloud Feather Blessing (1m per person or object, 1wp;
Simple; One month; Essence 2): Cloud people may enchant
willing people or objects up to human size with Air Essence,
making them light enough to walk in the aerial cities, or for
a cloud person to carry in flight. Being almost weightless
has no mechanical effects, but stunts can exploit it. Nothing
can endure this blessing longer than one month per year
— if the elemental attempts to maintain it further or bestow
it again before a year has passed, the recipient crumbles
to dust. Sapient subjects instinctively know how much time
remains, with an increasing sense of overpowering dread
as the deadline approaches even if they don’t know what
it means. They may reject the blessing at any time, though
they fall as normal if they do so on a cloud.
Downward Glance (5m; Supplemental; Instant;
Essence 2): Cloud people take no penalties on Awareness
rolls to see things from miles above. Add one bonus success
on rolls to make out minute details, such as identifying who’s
meeting with a courtier behind a teahouse. Add three suc-
cesses instead on rolls to make out large-scale details, such
as an army’s movements.
Sky-Hidden Secrets (30m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
Essence 2): Through a combination of natural prescient gifts
and immaculate star charts, the cloud people are adept
at prophecy. Roll Knowledge to introduce a relevant fact
about something that will happen up to a season in the
future, rather than something about the present or past. Treat
the introduced fact as likely to happen if the roll succeeds;
but cloud oracles are fallible, due to the intrinsic instability
of prophecy, inescapable minor errors in star charts, and
unfamiliarity with the ways of the world below. This Charm
is only usable once per story.
Storyteller Tactics
Cloud people prefer to spar with words rather than weapons.
They’re fond of debate, but their arguments trend toward the
arcane and oblique — they like to think they operate on an
entirely different level than the material people they deign to
engage. A sorcerer or savant who can keep up with their ram-
bling dialogues, gleaning droplets of brilliance from clouds
of obfuscation, delights them. Cloud people make exception-
al consultants on occult matters, especially astrology, over
which they frequently obsess. They make passable assistants
in other matters, but they’re extremely recalcitrant if their
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accommodations and surroundings don’t match their When they do, they prefer hit-and-fade tactics, due
standards. Give each cloud person their own Intimacies. partially to their delicate physical bodies and partially
to their flightiness. Anything they find attractive easily
Cloud people disdain those who would press them into distracts them, prompting them to try persuading the
combat, but betimes even they descend to such actions. object of desire to accept their Cloud Feather Blessing.
Flickerfeather
A common sight in Eastern rivers and lakes, a flicker- immediately drags enemies grappled at short range
feather isn’t an animal as many think, but a water el- to close range.
emental. It resembles an overlarge cuttlefish, with a DEFENSIVE CHARMS
mantle over a meter long limned with small, waterproof Ink Clone (5m; Simple; Three rounds; Eclipse;
feathers that change color rapidly as it swims — hence Essence 1): The flickerfeather vents a cloud of ink that,
the name. While clumsy and sluggish on land, able to even in the air, coalesces into the shape of another,
do little more than drag itself along, a flickerfeather can identical flickerfeather, changing color in a slow cycle.
respire air. It must do so to use its peculiar talent for Onlookers must succeed at a difficulty 3 (Perception
mimicking voices, which it uses to lure humans to play + (Awareness or Survival)) roll to distinguish the clone
with. Its tentacles appear proportionate to its body, but from the original. The false flickerfeather is not alive,
can deform radically, extending out to several meters to nor can it act other than to take reflexive move actions
snatch people up. on the real flickerfeather’s turn. It moves realistically,
but it’s simply a decoy, and dissolves when the Charm
Essence: 1; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 8 dice ends or when an attack deals any damage to it.
Personal Motes: 60 Strobe (4m; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 1): The flick-
Health Levels: −0x1/−1x2/−2x2/−4x1/Incap. erfeather rapidly cycles its feathers through every
Intimacies: Defining: “I love to play!”; Major: “My possible hue, hard to focus on. It gains +2 Evasion
curiosity about the unknown knows no bounds.” against a single attack, but it can’t use this Charm
Actions: Deception/Disguise: 6 dice; Leaping: 5 while Chromatoflage (see below) is active.
dice; Read Intentions: 4 dice; Senses: 6 dice; Stealth: MOBILITY CHARMS
8 dice; Swim: 8 dice Fluid Is Fluid (10m; Simple; One scene; Wither-
Appearance 3, Resolve 1, Guile 1 ing-only; Essence 1): Exuding watery Essence, the
COMBAT flickerfeather saturates the air around it as it moves.
Attack (Bite): 4 dice (Damage 6) It can swim through the air as though it were under-
Attack (Tentacle): 6 dice (Damage 4) water. Opponents within close range treat the area
Attack (Grapple): 7 dice (9 to control) as difficult terrain, unless they could normally move
Combat Movement: 7 dice freely underwater. The flickerfeather doubles its soak
Evasion 4, Parry 2 against withering ranged attacks.
Soak/Hardness: 5/0 MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
SPECIAL ABILITIES Chromatoflage (7m, 1wp; Simple; Indefinite;
Perfect Mimicry: Flickerfeathers can mimic any Eclipse, Perilous; Essence 1): The flickerfeather
individual sound and are intelligent enough to form changes its colors to fool onlookers into thinking it’s
short sentences from words they have learned by some false feature of the environment no bigger than
mimicking others. A (Wits + Awareness) roll, difficulty itself, such as a stepping stone or an underwater
3, is required to realize a flickerfeather’s mimicry isn’t treasure. This functions as normal concealment, but
the real thing. doesn’t require adequate coverage. Observers can
MERITS make a (Perception + Awareness) roll, opposed by
Deceptive Reach: The flickerfeather’s tentacle the flickerfeather’s Stealth (or an Eclipse’s (Appear-
and grapple attacks can reach to short range; it ance + Stealth)), to pierce the deception. If the flick-
erfeather moves, takes any action, or takes damage,
this Charm immediately ends.
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Storyteller Tactics playmate inevitably drowns, it gets upset and takes it out
on the next person it sees.
Flickerfeathers are simple spirits that do what more
powerful elementals tell them when pressed, but other- About as clever as a toddler, flickerfeathers take direc-
wise exist to amuse themselves and play pranks on un- tion well. Sorcerers and other savants who live by the
suspecting passersby. They normally only attack to harm water keep flickerfeathers as guardians, and their talent
if threatened, but they like to engage in combat just to for mimicry makes them ideal spies — stalking a target,
play keep-away, lead someone on a merry chase, or grab learning what it says, and coming home to repeat it is
new playmates so they don’t leave and end the game. barely work for them. They grow bored easily, howev-
Flickerfeathers don’t understand the idea that some er, and the wise provide them with means to entertain
creatures can’t survive without air, so they have an un- themselves, such as elaborate puzzles or opportunities
fortunate tendency to drag people underwater and hold to trick others, lest the elementals decide to make their
them captive there. When a flickerfeather’s unwilling own fun.
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Heartflame
When first conjured, a heartflame doesn’t look impres- ignoring Hardness. The heartflame gains three Will-
sive. Little more than an ambulatory flame, no brighter power points that can exceed its usual maximum. The
than a guttering candle, it wants for shelter against even explosion can ignite secondary fires, at Storyteller
the slightest breeze. Many such creatures prefer to take discretion.
up residence in lamps or lanterns. A heartflame doesn’t Fire’s Nature: Anything flammable that strikes a
grow when fed tinder, and can barely start a fire; the hu- heartflame with Essence 3 or higher catches on fire,
man heart is its only fuel. When its light falls upon a sa- including people.
pient being, the effect is so profound it can kill. Inspiration: Certain actions, events, or situations
grant Willpower points that can exceed a heart-
The heartflame stokes the passions of all who look upon flame’s usual maximum, noted where relevant. When
it, driving them to ever more extreme actions in service it has 10 Willpower points, increase its Essence trait
to their ideals. But the mortal heart can only sustain so by one dot; it loses all Willpower points beyond 3.
much passion. If not allowed to cool, it detonates in a Heartflames grow larger as their Essence increases,
fiery display, leaving a smoking hole in the victim’s from a candle flame at Essence 1 to a torch flame,
chest. Then, the heartflame burns a little stronger, a lit- then a small campfire, then a roaring bonfire, and
tle brighter. Fed on enough hearts, it grows from ember finally to a massive pillar of living fire at Essence 5. At
to hearthfire, to bonfire, and eventually to a towering Essence 4, the heartflame gains the Legendary Size
conflagration that can consume an entire city — not in Merit (Exalted, p. 573); a summoned heartflame
flames but in holy war. can’t increase its Essence beyond 3, but still gains
Legendary Size.. At Essence 5, it can grow no larger,
Essence: 1 (see Inspiration); Willpower: 3; Join but can still spend its extra Willpower. The larger the
Battle: 5 heartflame, the farther it sheds its light; without ob-
Personal Motes: 60 struction, an Essence 5 heartflame can easily be seen
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Extinguished for miles.
Intimacies: Defining: “Inflame the passions of
others.”; “Bask in the brilliance of the human heart.” OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Actions: Instill: 10 dice; Inspire: 8 dice; Read Inten- Enkindling Gaze (8m; Supplemental; Instant;
tions: 8 dice; Senses: 7 dice Psyche; Essence 1): This Charm enhances an inspire
Appearance 4, Resolve 4, Guile 2 action. If it’s successful, the target’s passions are both
COMBAT figuratively and literally inflamed. He suffers one lethal
Flare: 10 dice damage per threshold success, subject to Hardness.
Combat Movement: 6 dice The heartflame must be within the target’s line of sight.
Evasion 4, Parry 0 At Essence 5, if a character dies from this Charm’s
Soak/Hardness: 6/0 effects, the detonation of her heart spawns a new
MERITS Essence 1 heartflame.
Ashes of Feeling: The heartflame loses one Will-
power for each day it doesn’t gain any. If it runs out, SOCIAL CHARMS
lower its Essence trait by one and restore 3 Willpower. Faith’s Own Tinder (20m; Simple; One scene;
If this would take it to Essence 0, the heartflame dies. Psyche; Essence 3): The heartflame’s warm glow
Burning Hearts: If any emotion-based effect a brightens, casting an aura of light over everyone
heartflame creates reduces a non-combatant or within short range of it that imposes a penalty of −
trivial character to Incapacitated, the subject’s heart (heartflame’s Essence) to their Resolve rolls to defend
explodes from the sheer pressure of fiery Essence against its instill and inspire actions. The first time in
roiling within, killing him instantly; each non-trivial a scene that anyone affected by this aura acts on
character within close range of the explosion takes an Intimacy the heartflame creates or enhances, or
(heartflame’s Essence) dice of aggravated damage, acts to pursue a passion it inflames, the heartflame
gains three Willpower points that can exceed its usual
maximum.
Spread the Flames (7m; Supplemental; Instant;
Eclipse; Essence 3): With one instill action, the
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C h a p te r T h r ee : S p i r its
heartflame targets a Defining Intimacy in one person Every heartflame is born at Essence 1, without access
and instills an identical Minor Intimacy in another. The to more powerful Charms. The process of cultivating a
newly instilled Intimacy cannot be eroded for (heart- heartflame is initially slow, with Willpower won bit by
flame’s Essence at the time of Charm activation) days. bit through judicious use of Stoke the Furnace and the
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS Burning Hearts Merit; using Enkindling Gaze is a gam-
Stoke the Furnace (5m; Supplemental; Instant; ble, but against a weakened target can potentially result
Essence 1): When the heartflame successfully instills or in a net gain of Willpower. Once a heartflame reaches
strengthens an Intimacy in someone else, it gains one Essence 3, gaining access to Faith’s Own Tinder and
Willpower point that can exceed its usual maximum. Spread the Flames, it grows rapidly.
Storyteller Tactics Storytellers introducing a heartflame to a scene may
choose to set it at any Essence rating. At Essence 3+, the
Heartflames are spirits of passion more than of mun- effects on any nearby communities should be noticeable,
dane flame. They don’t speak in words but through pure providing leads for investigation into the cause of unnat-
emotion, breathing fleeting feelings into others’ hearts. ural passions and spontaneous combustions.
Conceiving of everything in terms of fervent desires,
they care nothing for logic or morality, and act on raw
instinct without explicit instructions. Uncontrolled, a
heartflame runs rampant, not because it enjoys burning
hearts to ash, but simply because that’s its nature.
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HUNDRED DEVILS NIGHT PARADE
Huraka
The huraka serve the lesser elemental dragons of Air The hurakas’ strength and unquestioning obedience makes
known as the Wind Masters. Huraka have a mostly ur- them desirable targets for sorcerers’ attentions: a sum-
sine shape, growing as tall as twelve to fourteen feet, moned huraka can haul massive loads, or direct a favorable
with sharp teeth and soft pelts. However, their talons wind for the duration of a ritual. A huraka will fight or de-
are more avian, and are spiked with thistles and thorns. fend its commander as well, though summoners use them
A huraka’s cloud-soft fur matches the color of the Wind for this purpose with caution. Abusing a summoned huraka
Master it serves: Blue Skulking Bear in the North, risks angering the Wind Masters, who may try to free the
Green Frowning Bear in the East, Black Grinning Bear newly created elemental from its summoner.
in the West, Red Stalking Bear in the South, and White
Venerable Bear at the center of the world. Their breath Essence: 2; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 5 dice
steams constantly, even in humid air. Personal Motes: 70
Health Levels: −0x4/−1x4/−2x3/−4/Incap.
As the Wind Masters are responsible for Creation’s five Actions: Control Winds: 7 dice; Feats of Strength: 8
cardinal winds, the huraka are wind-herders as well, dice (may attempt Strength 5 feats); Fly: 5 dice; Intim-
tasked with managing steady breezes over hundreds of idate: 7 dice; Senses: 4 dice; Threaten: 6 dice
square miles. They’re single-minded beings, focusing al- Resolve 2, Guile 1
most exclusively on the job at hand. While their duties
mainly entail guiding the winds, the Wind Masters also
use huraka as fighters, pitting them against their water
elemental enemies.
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C h a p te r T h r ee : S p i r its
COMBAT MOBILITY CHARMS
Attack (Bite): 9 dice (Damage 14) Graceful Updraft Movement (5m; Simple;
Attack (Claw): 9 dice (Damage 12) Instant; Essence 2): The huraka relies on the winds it
Attack (Grapple): 8 dice (8 to control) controls to aid its movement and carry it over obsta-
Combat Movement: 5 dice cles, allowing it to ignore movement penalties or dif-
Evasion 4, Parry 3 ficult terrain.
Soak/Hardness: 12/4 MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Wind Master’s Roar (15m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
MERITS Decisive-only; Essence 2): The huraka roars with its
Berserker: Wound penalties that would apply master’s might: a blizzard-force breath from the north,
to the huraka’s attack rolls are instead converted to a searing wave of heat from the south, etc. This is a de-
bonus dice. cisive attack with a pool of 10 dice against an enemy
Favored of the Masters: Though Wind Masters within long range. If it deals damage, the target falls
tend to leave huraka to their own devices, they are prone. The huraka can flurry this Charm with a bite or
fiercely protective of their servants. A huraka in need claw attack.
can call upon its master for help to remove it from a Storyteller Tactics
situation, allowing it to disengage without a roll. The Huraka aren’t combative creatures by nature, content to
huraka catches a favorable current and moves one guide the winds and stay out of human conflicts as best
range band away in the direction the wind is blowing. they can. However, when called upon, they’re fierce and
graceful fighters, using the swirling winds to enhance
OFFENSIVE CHARMS their attacks. A huraka follows its summoner’s direc-
Slicing Wind Technique (5m; Supplemental; tives, provided they’re simple and direct. It isn’t capable
Instant; Decisive-only; Essence 2): The huraka’s talons of advanced battle tactics, relying on straightforward at-
cut through the air so swiftly, the wind in their wake tacks and defenses.
becomes a weapon. When the huraka makes a de-
cisive claw attack, add two automatic successes to A huraka flees when it suffers damage to its last –2 health
the damage roll. level.
Rothopper
Easily visible even to the least attentive travelers in the Intimacies: Defining: Deadly Toxins (Hunger);
East, rothoppers are enormous elemental frogs, bright- Major: “Take the path of least resistance.”
ly colored and the size of large dogs. They have nothing Actions: Feats of Strength: 7 dice (may perform
to fear from predation, as they’re likely to be the most Strength 3 feats); Jump: 8 dice; Social Influence: 7
poisonous thing for miles. Immune to any toxin, they dice; Swim: 6 dice; Senses: 5 dice; Stealth: 4 dice;
consume other poisons and concentrate them in their Tracking: 5 dice
Essence, growing increasingly noxious. Appearance 2, Resolve 3, Guile 2
A rothopper’s easygoing nature keeps it from wander- COMBAT
ing far, and its poison slowly seeps into the area where it Attack (Tongue): 8 dice (Damage 0 and poison
dwells, transforming it into a fetid swamp. When it does when decisive, damage 2i/round (L in crash), dura-
move on, life explodes in its wake. In this way, rothop- tion two rounds, –2 penalty)
pers help to slowly rejuvenate the wild, felling old and Attack (Tongue grapple): 6 dice (5 to control)
tired forests to make way for new growth. Combat Movement: 7 dice
Evasion 3, Parry 1
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 7
Personal Motes: 70 MERITS
Health Levels: −0x1/−1x1/−2x2/−4x1/Incap. Far-Snatching Tongue: Tongue attacks can reach
out to short range and have the flexible tag.
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HUNDRED DEVILS NIGHT PARADE
Poison Immunity: Rothoppers are completely a decisive, unblockable attack with 8 dice; success
immune to all poisons and venoms, mundane and su- deals no damage but poisons the attacker.
pernatural.
Toxin Tracker: Double 9s on all rolls involving de- MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
tecting or tracking the sources of poisons. Adder’s Tongue (10m, 1wp; Simple; One scene;
OFFENSIVE CHARMS Essence 2): The rothopper may combine the effects of
Toxic Cloud (5m, 2i; Simple; Five turns; Eclipse; up to (Essence) unique poisons it has ingested within
Essence 2): The rothopper exudes a thick, spread- the last week, and use the new substance in any of its
ing cloud of poison, with the same traits as its usual attacks or Charms for this Charm’s duration. This new
poison but with an inhalation vector. On the first turn, it admixture uses the highest of its component poisons’
affects anyone within short range; on the second turn, damage/interval, duration, and penalty values. The
it extends to medium range. On the sixth turn, it con- Storyteller may adjust those values to fit the story or
denses as the Charm ends, covering the ground and mitigate the poison’s potency as needed. Addition-
any exposed surfaces with the poison. These surfaces ally, the poison may inflict unique effects on those
remain a touch vector (limited to open wounds or in- exposed to it, such as a creeping cold as the victim’s
gestion) for the scene. blood slowly freezes, or hallucinations from a demon
DEFENSIVE CHARMS spider’s venom.
Stinging Riposte (2m; Reflexive; Instant; Coun- Unveiling the Scorpion (3m, 1wp; Simple;
terattack, Decisive-Only; Essence 1): When struck Instant; Essence 1): Like calls to like; the rothopper
with any attack at close or short range, the rothop- frees poisons from their carriers. This could make the
per exhales a miasma of poison that clings to its at- poison in a drink separate out into a clearly visible
tacker, with its usual poison traits and an inhalation layer, or make a poisoned victim literally sweat the
vector. Before damage is rolled, the rothopper makes deadly substance out, which reduces its duration by
one interval.
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C h a p te r T h r ee : S p i r its
Storyteller Tactics muddy water to disguise their bright hides until close
enough to reach prey with their tongues, though the
Rothoppers are mostly dangerous thanks to their poi- steady death of nearby vegetation is a sign to the wary.
son, especially if they’re well-fed. They’re not usually A rothopper flees when it takes damage to its first –2
aggressive unless low on poisonous sustenance and ac- health level.
tively hunting for new toxins, or directed by a sorcerer
to attack; in both cases, they lurk beneath the surface of
Steel Eater
Beneath Southern sands, a patient opportunist with a Steel eaters hatch from burnished iron eggs, beginning
gleaming metal shell awaits. The steel eater is an insec- their lives as juveniles the size of a large dog. Younger
tile earth elemental, beetle-like but with a long, flexible ones live in groups of three to five; fully grown ones are
neck, that eats metals, digesting them to layer upon its more solitary and spend most of their lives about the size
exoskeleton. It grows until it rivals the yeddim in size, of a horse, until just before their chrysalis. Then, they
and then its shell warps into an enormous cocoon. From become ravenous and gorge themselves until they grow
this cocoon emerges a giant lacewing that lays 100 eggs large enough to metamorphose.
and expires soon after. This fly’s chitin and the cocoon it
leaves behind are of the strongest alloys, made from all Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 6 dice
the metals it has consumed. In quieter times, steel eaters Personal Motes: 70
were content to find their repast deep beneath the earth, Health Levels: −0x3/−1x3/−2x3/−4x2/Incap.
but in the war-torn Time of Tumult, they dig pits and Intimacies: Defining: “All metal is rightfully a part of
hide at the bottom, waiting for armor-girded humans to me.”; Major: Exalts (Jealousy)
stumble in.
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HUNDRED DEVILS NIGHT PARADE
Actions: Bargain: 6 dice; Climb Earth/Stone: 12 OFFENSIVE CHARMS
dice; Senses: 7 dice (see Metal Scent); Stealth: 7 Patient Hunter’s Sandtrap (8m, 1wp; Simple;
dice; Track Metal: 10 dice (see Metal Scent) One scene; Eclipse, Perilous; Essence 2): The steel
Appearance 2, Resolve 4, Guile 2 eater burrows beneath sand or soil, forming a trap
that extends out to short range from the elemental,
COMBAT horizontally and vertically. The topmost layer appears
Attack (Bite): 8 dice (Damage 10) undisturbed, but when trod upon it immediately col-
Combat Movement: 5 dice (6 underground) lapses into a swirling vortex of earth. Observers may
Evasion 1, Parry 2 notice the trap with a (Perception + Awareness) roll,
Soak/Hardness: 10/8 (see Implacable Hunter’s opposed by the steel eater’s Stealth (or an Eclipse’s
Aegis) (Stamina + Stealth)). When the trap collapses, it
creates an environmental hazard that deals 3i/
MERITS round, with difficulty 3. The interior is difficult terrain
Burrow: The steel eater burrows underground and and imposes a −2 visibility penalty to actions that rely
must move to a specific target’s position, up to one on sight. It requires a successful (Strength + Athlet-
full range band away, with a reflexive move action, ics) climbing action, difficulty 4, to escape without a
ignoring difficult terrain. It can burrow through sand rescue from above.
and soil, including packed dirt, but not through stone DEFENSIVE CHARMS
or other solid barriers. Unexpected attacks it makes Implacable Hunter’s Aegis (7m, 1i; Reflex-
after this movement in the same turn add two automat- ive; Instant; Perilous; Essence 2): Gain +5 Hardness
ic successes to the damage roll. against a single decisive attack. Any 1s rolled on the
Metal Scent: Add three successes on Senses and attacker’s damage roll subtract from successes.
Track Metal rolls to notice or find any kind of metal, Storyteller Tactics
up to a mile away. Steel eaters are tough, stubborn, and patient. They rarely
Ravenous Hunter’s Banquet: For each mundane act rashly or attack without putting their prey at some
metal object smaller than a great sword the steel eater disadvantage, like trapping them in a sand pit, ambush-
consumes, it regains a mote of Essence, to its usual ing from under the earth, or disarming them. Exalts with
maximum; larger such objects grant three motes each their panoplies draw steel eaters like moths to flame and
instead. A steel eater can’t digest or bite through ar- the elementals are jealous of the Exalted ability to work
tifacts, but it can swallow them whole, gaining motes magical materials, but careful negotiations can create
equal to the artifact’s rating. Characters can cut the profitable situations for both parties. Individual steel
steel eater open, or force or cajole it to vomit up its eaters have one or two unique Intimacies in addition to
latest meal, to recover their wonders (or someone the Defining one they all share.
else’s). The steel eater must succeed at a disarm
gambit before eating something another character Juvenile steel eaters are Essence 1, while adults are
holds, wears, or wields. Essence 2. Those close to chrysalis are even larger and
Vibration Sense: Steel eaters have no eyes and more powerful; represent this by adding health levels
don’t rely on sight. Instead, they feel vibrations on the and, at their largest, the Legendary Size Merit (Exalted,
wind and through the ground. They take no penalties p. 522) and Essence 4. A steel eater flees combat when it
from poor lighting, and double 9s on Senses rolls takes damage in its first −4 health level.
whenever vibrations are present.
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C h a p te r T h r ee : S p i r its
Storm Serpent
Born of the fury of a thunderstorm, storm serpents Actions: Feats of Destruction: 12 dice (can attempt
are wild, terrifying expressions of elemental might. Strength 7 feats); Fly: 10 dice; Resist Disease/Poison:
Draconic in form, they can stretch for more than 100 me- 8 dice; Senses: 9 dice; Stealth: 7 dice
ters. Their iron-hard scales are the color of storm clouds, Appearance 4, Resolve 5, Guile 2
letting them blend in exceptionally well with their na-
tive habitat and strike without warning. Like lightning, COMBAT
they lash out at the tallest targets first; unlike lightning, Attack (Tail strike): 11 dice (Damage 10)
they are vindictive, even petty, fixating on a single indi- Attack (Bite): 9 dice (Damage 8)
vidual and tormenting him with lightning strikes like a Attack (Claw): 12 dice (Damage 6)
cat playing with its prey. However, for all their power, Combat Movement: 12 dice
storm serpents are short-lived: They expire with the end Evasion 4, Parry 4
of the storm. As they shatter, they precipitate a white Soak/Hardness: 14/12
dust valued by savants for its curative properties.
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Essence: 4; Willpower: 7; Join Battle: 9 Fulminating Blast (11m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
Personal Motes: 90 Decisive-only; Essence 3): The storm serpent gathers
Health Levels: −0x4/−1x4/−2x4/−4x2/Incap. Essence in a crackle of electricity, then lets fly with
Intimacies: Defining: “Strike! Smash! Destroy!”; a tremendous lightning bolt. Roll 12 dice for this un-
Major: That Which Will Outlive Me (Jealous Fury); “I blockable decisive attack that can travel up to long
despise trickery!” range, which adds up to 8 bonus threshold successes
on the attack roll as dice of damage.
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