[Ex3] Why Gods Need the Exigence

[The Hanged Man]

Is that something we've been told? I was under the impression it was up to the God (player/ST) designing the new Exaltation if they wanted it to be a permanent thing or not...

Holden mentioned that the overwhelming majority of Exigents are one-shot deals, in response to a post where I was speculating about different methods of transmission. I'll try to track it down, but I think it may have been on the old forum.

[The Hanged Man]

Found it! Unfortunately, the post he's responding to is on the old forum, and he didn't quote it, but I guess it's clear enough.

[HaplessWithDice]

Based on the Strawmaiden Janest fiction, gods need to pray to the Unconquered Sun to be able to use the Exigence. I assume the decay of the Exigence has to do with the Unconquered Sun turning away from Creation. Now that the Solars are back, the Unconquered Sun is paying attention again and the Exigence is more accessible. It could also be that the Exigence was part of the collateral damage of the Usurpation, or was tied to the Jade Prison somehow.

Or maybe it'll never be explained.

This might be something I alter in my version of creation, The demands upon anything less than a celestial incarni will be too great for anything more than 1 or 2 sparks but definitely something they would want. What with the thousand god revolt against the Rose Empress and the Phoenix Empress it seems to make sense they would want this power for themselves, and not want to have to wait for UCS to rubber stamp their application.

[Tiresias]

That's what Black Market Exaltations are for! It's not like prohibition ever stopped people from getting their hands on delicious illegal swag.

Wait.

Divine Al Capone selling Black Market Exaltations.

Chejop Kejack is Sean Connery.

Yeeeeeesssssssssss.

[Gaius]

This might be something I alter in my version of creation, The demands upon anything less than a celestial incarni will be too great for anything more than 1 or 2 sparks but definitely something they would want. What with the thousand god revolt against the Rose Empress and the Phoenix Empress it seems to make sense they would want this power for themselves, and not want to have to wait for UCS to rubber stamp their application.

No clue about the Rose Empress and Phoenix Empress in your Creation (wouldn't mind details, since they sound neat), but it's also worth noting that not every god who would want to have an Exalt of its own will be willing to pay the price of using the Exigence, even were access unlimited. Ten Sheaves died in the act of Exalting Janest, and while not all gods perish in using the Exigence, all dev remarks point to it always taking some non-trivial toll. Aside from that, as Tiresias points out, if gods without the Sun's sanction do want it, that's what the so-called Black Market Exaltations are for: a deity is granted access to the Exigence, and for whatever reason doesn't use it, that access passing over time to a god who has not sought the Sun's approval making use of it.

Beginning by pointing out it's only my opinion, I might also caution against a flat "1-2 sparks." Partly because there's a broad spectrum of power for gods that I feel it neglects, but mostly because it seems to carry the implicit assumption that all Exigents function basically like Celestial Exalted. The devs really do mean it when they say each Exigent is its own new type of Exalt. I mean, players and STs making Exigents will likely consider the general Solar/Lunar* Exalt mold as the default, but I feel it cuts off too many possibilities to treat it as the only one.

* i.e. The Exaltation just goes to someone meeting the god's standards after the old bearer croaks.

[HaplessWithDice]

No clue about the Rose Empress and Phoenix Empress in your Creation (wouldn't mind details, since they sound neat), Beginning by pointing out it's only my opinion, I might also caution against a flat "1-2 sparks." Partly because there's a broad spectrum of power for gods that I feel it neglects, but mostly because it seems to carry the implicit assumption that all Exigents function basically like Celestial Exalted. The devs really do mean it when they say each Exigent is its own new type of Exalt. I mean, players and STs making Exigents will likely consider the general Solar/Lunar* Exalt mold as the default, but I feel it cuts off too many possibilities to treat it as the only one. * i.e. The Exaltation just goes to someone meeting the god's standards after the old bearer croaks.

It's not a flat 1 or 2 just that most terrestrial gods will only want to invest in that many. In my creation it's 10 years after the "return of the Scarlet Empress. Due to circumstances she made Tepet Evaja her successor in a hurried decision. She became the Rose Empress. The Phoenix Empress is Menmon's name and she has taken the north, and northern East from Rose. Her fledgling empire and it's war against the Rose sparked the terrestrial God's rebellion. Which started with the bloody salt battle.

[Sleepinin]

Write something...

That's what Black Market Exaltations are for! It's not like prohibition ever stopped people from getting their hands on delicious illegal swag.

Wait.

Divine Al Capone selling Black Market Exaltations.

Chejop Kejack is Sean Connery.

Yeeeeeesssssssssss.

"He pulls a daiklave, you pull an Essence Cannon. He sends one of yours to the hospice, you send one of his to the UNDERWORLD. That's the Yu-Shan way, and that's how you get Rakan Thulio!"

[Tiresias]

Argenthonios, God of Silver

Argenthonios' purview is silver and he gains much of his power from the prominence of the Guild's silver standard. Potential threats to his purview include:
- An Infernal Guildsman is trying to introduce a new currency to Creation. This brass standard is impossible to counterfeit and is the sole currency accepted by certain demonic cartels that have begun an aggressive expansion into Creation. If the Infernal is not dealt with, all of Creation's wealth will fall under the control of Hell.
- One of the Great Houses as engineered a fad of silver art and jewelry. The value of silver has increased drastically, but it is becoming impractical as a form of currency. The jade standard is rapidly gaining ground, and it's only a matter of time before the silver fad ends.
- A Solar has carved a nation out for herself and abolished all forms of currency. Her arguments are so compelling that her people are glad to labour without reward and the power of her sorcery allows her subjects to live at a much higher standard of living than they normally would. If other nations follow her example, or if she floods the market with her nation's goods, the value of the silver standard might plummet.

[Tiresias]

Siakal, Goddess of Western War, Slaughter and Sharks

Siakal's purview includes naval warfare, wholesale slaughter and sharks. Potential threats to her purview include:
- A shark-totem Lunar has set himself up as a god-king in the western archipelagos and demands to be worshiped as the God of Sharks, undermining Siakal's influence over the animals. She requires an Exalted champion of her own to remind the west who commands the ocean's most ruthless predators.
- A Deathknight in the service of the Silver Prince commands fleets of immortal zombies and specters. This dread fleet swells with victory after victory, and the blood of the dead does not satisfy the thirst of Siakal. The Deathknight must be stopped before bloodless warfare dominates the West.
- A Solar privateer of the Eclipse Caste has taken up a crusade against piracy, and pirates have become rarer and more timid. Worse, the Solar does not sacrifice her foes to the ocean, but presses them into legitimate service within her own fleet. The Chosen of Siakal must slaughter the Solar and all her followers to return western warfare to its proper state.

[Gayo]

The first Exigent I'm likely to do is Zhuzhiao, whom you may recall is sort of a "dragon hoard" octopus god of shipwrecks and the lightless depths. He jealously guards sunken treasure and will only trade for something of greater value. The default recommended hook for this exigent, I think, if you don't have anything in mind, is just "someone stole something really valuable from Zhuzhiao, and he has little idea where they took it, and in any event it's likely on land where his power is diminished," because this is a pretty straightforway to get that Exigent to any part of the world.


On the whole, I think it's more fun to come up with game-relevant stuff that might require an Exigent Exaltation, then figure out what type of Exigent it would create. So far the only thing I've come up with in this vein is an Exigent of Thorns, which I also like enough that I will probably give it a go when the book is out.

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Argenthonios, God of Silver

- A Solar has carved a nation out for herself and abolished all forms of currency. Her arguments are so compelling that her people are glad to labour without reward and the power of her sorcery allows her subjects to live at a much higher standard of living than they normally would. If other nations follow her example, or if she floods the market with her nation's goods, the value of the silver standard might plummet.

This is an idea that's practically dancing and singing in my head right now. Exigents have positively thrilled me since day one and this is one of the most plainly fun ideas for one of our spunky God-Champions we've seen yet. That, and Siakal's Aquaman.

[God_of_Awesome]

The first Exigent I'm likely to do is Zhuzhiao, whom you may recall is sort of a "dragon hoard" octopus god of shipwrecks and the lightless depths. He jealously guards sunken treasure and will only trade for something of greater value. The default recommended hook for this exigent, I think, if you don't have anything in mind, is just "someone stole something really valuable from Zhuzhiao, and he has little idea where they took it, and in any event it's likely on land where his power is diminished," because this is a pretty straightforway to get that Exigent to any part of the world.


On the whole, I think it's more fun to come up with game-relevant stuff that might require an Exigent Exaltation, then figure out what type of Exigent it would create. So far the only thing I've come up with in this vein is an Exigent of Thorns, which I also like enough that I will probably give it a go when the book is out.

Or perhaps one of the treasure Zhuzhiao holds IS an Exigence, hopped up full of his power. Anyone can trade him for it if they can present something of sufficient value to him for it.

[Tiresias]

Plentimon of the Dice, God of Gambling

Plentimon is the god of gambling and gamblers. Threats to his purview include:
- An Abyssal gambler created an artifact deck of soulsteel cards which entraps the souls of those who gamble with it and lose. The Deathknight has used this artifact to capture the souls of mortals as well as the essence of spirits... including Plentimon himself. Before his essence was sealed, the God of Gambling was able to send a portion of it out to Exalt a champion capable of outwitting the Deathknight and releasing his trapped souls.
- A Night Caste gambler lost a fortune at the Diving Sea Snake Casino and skipped town before paying his debts. Plentimon has charged the Chosen of Gambling with tracking the Solar down and settling the debt for Plentimon's honour.
- Plentimon keeps a ledger of his casino's wealthiest regular guests. The ledger was stolen by a Lunar looking for targets to impersonate, but Plentimon cannot disclose the theft without undermining his own reputation. He requires and Exalted champion to quietly protect the clients and recover the ledger before the Lunar cannibalizes one of them.

[Valles]

[SIZE=14px]Plentimon of the Dice, God of Gambling

Plentimon is the god of gambling and gamblers. Threats to his purview include:
- An Abyssal gambler created an artifact deck of soulsteel cards which entraps the souls of those who gamble with it and lose. The Deathknight has used this artifact to capture the souls of mortals as well as the essence of spirits... including Plentimon himself. Before his essence was sealed, the God of Gambling was able to send a portion of it out to Exalt a champion capable of outwitting the Deathknight and releasing his trapped souls.

...And now I'm not sure if I want to play a Deadlands Huckster or a Persona protagonist, but either way the card thing is a hella cool hook for a spellcaster type.

[ThatSmellyGoblin]

I myself have some Exigent character ideas.

Ahlat, Southern God of War and Cattle

In the First Age when the Sun started his whispers of rebellion against Those Before, Ahlat was smart, he started strife in the South among the mortals and so steeled them for the hard times to come. In war heroes are born and so many Solars exalted in the south from the flames of the wars started by Ahlat. Now in the Age of Sorrows hard times are on the way again and Ahlat like many others see it coming and have his own plans to prepare it.

Ahlat has many fanatic followers among the southern people of Harborhead. Among these, the Brides of Ahlat are the most notable. He has previously championed a daughter among them that did grand things and with Exigence has the opportunity to do this again. One must gather his people against the rule of the Realm.


Burning Feather, The Lady of Intoxicants

The White Lady always have been known to go to lesser extremes to reach her personal goals. Take mortal lovers for as long as seasons so that enlightened children may help her further her plans, possess mortals as to stay outside the eyes of heaven. Things such as blackmail and the like is a daily endavour.

Now what if something really big happened to her. Such as the drug fields of Great Forks was burned to the ground or the Realm suddenly putting a heavy ban on all intoxicants in the Riverlands? A simple godblooded child would not suffice here, and her own actions be too limited by the laws of Yu-Shan. She would need something more. Someone who can move freely and make a difference beyond mortal capabilities.