Your Headcanon II

[JohnDoe244]

The white veil society was started as an effort by a Lunar to weaken the realm by having dynasts assassinate one another, it has long since spiraled out control.

My headcanon is much the same, only the Scarlet Empress started it as a way to weaken the Realm by having Dynasts assassinate each other (so that they'd always be dependent on her being at the top, and that any uppity newcomer can die screaming).

The current state of affairs is a bit like Fight Club.

"Didn't you start that one?"
"No, I thought you did!"

It's thoroughly out of control and may well be why she's missing.

[shkspr1048]

If you look hard enough in the Deep Underground, you will find Fraggles eating the works of the Mountain Folk, which are the same as the Doozers, and yes, their relative sizes to each other are the same.

[slovorg]

The Tarpan wastes do not exist as a result of failing solar magic.

It is true that solar magic was what made the Tarpan Wastes pleasant and fertile once long ago. But the chosen of elements, especially wood, should not be incapable of ecological restoration and manipulation. They are more manual about it than their celestial counterparts. But the Dragon-bloods are in no way incompetent in the ways of magic.

It's also true that the solar magic failed. But dragon-blood built their own solutions to keep the fields going. However, a lunar circle of the silver pact had managed to copy a dragonline schematic of the Tarpan jungle and practiced a few spells and theorized a way to change the aspect of the manses and destroying a large part of the blessed isle.

They snuck in and put their plan into action but were detected when the elemental energies started behaving strangely and the dynasts came to stop them. The Lunars were desperate and instead of taking the chance to flee they chose to finish the ritual early. The manse detonated, as well as several more as a result of the cascading dragon-lines. Almost every manse within the wastes changed element and the energies are still very messed up to this day.

But the work to restore the wastes were going along well during the empress reign. An Imperial sponsored restoration project kept House Mnemon, Nellens and Ledaal busy to work on making the area pleasantly liveable once again. This project was among the first to be abandoned when the empress disappeared. But during the two decades since the Tarpan catastrophe House of bells has had the area as a testing ground for last year students against the mutants, crazy elementals and few remaining beastfolk that survived the destruction.

This is part of a setting headcanon project to make solars less present in the setting several millennia after their disappearence. Make the other celestial more present, but most importantly, not have the Dragon-blooded as incompetent or sadistic.

[Accelerator]

*points upwards*

I like that one. Generally speaking I change a bit on how the setting views the DBs and the Celestials. Remember. DBs are exalted too. Solar-effecting magic is truly few and far between, with a whole lot of jury-rigging, repurposing, and frankly speaking paving over of the previous era's achievements and monuments. And also, DBs have a lot of boosts to making smaller, weaker artifacts. They just... spam them. (Yeah, I know this contradicts 3e).

Edit: And by that, I mean that they certainly can't make powerful evocations, but if you're a DB-level stuff, you can get a pack of assistants and crank out Artifact 2s or 3s at a respectable rate.

[slovorg]

Exactly. I'm also annoyed at how reading certain books it seems like every solar was a Solar circle crafting twilight and every cool thing was made by them. It lessens everyone. Especially Dragon-blooded. I've yet to get to the lunar dominions yet in my writetrough, but there's (presumably) some incredible things done with lunar workings, millennia of animal husbandry and places in mirror realms and shadow terretories.

[Shapechanger]

Alright, I'll write mine.

There is a way to infuse magical powers inside people in otherwise non-magical people. Normally, that's something that can only be accomplished by an Exaltation or, in a very limited way, by having a spirit of some kind bless you (side note, it's also my headcanon that there are a lot of X-blooded that are not really X-blooded as X-blessed, particularly the weaker ones). However, you can do something like that by working with Elemental Essence, which is far easier than using any other type of Essence since Elemental Essence is by far the more 'attuned' to mortals (you can do it with other types of Essence but you have to be a sorcerer or a Celestial Exalt to do something like that). It's still a laborious process that requires harmonization between the would-be empowered receiver and an Elemental. The results are likely minor unless you're particularly skilled, lucky, or working with a very powerful Elemental, but you can end up with something that vaguely resembles an element-themed God-blood.

The problem is that you require a powerful (Essence 4 or 5) Dragon-blooded as a mediator between the two different Essences, and an Elemental willing to help (coercion works but it's inadvisable). Both are actually quite rare since Dragonblooded would not like to have people with powers similar to theirs around and Elementals don't actually gain anything from this exchange and it's very taxing for them.

It's also possible to use this 'ritual' on non-Dragonblooded Exalted, which give them some minor elemental power (in the form of Spirit Charms), but the requirements are even more strict, like having both the Dragon-blooded and the Elemental have Essence higher than the Exalted in question.

An even more rare variant of the rituals can, theoretically, be used to empower a Dragonblooded, with very different results compared to the mortal or Exalted one. The effects are more relative to making their Essence equally attuned to every element, with every harmonization reducing the cost of their Charms and getting them extra power to their Excellencies... but the problem with this particular procedure is that it requires a Dragon-blooded to have reached the absolute peak of spiritual enlightenment and the Elemental be even more powerful (so Essence 5 and 6 respectively). Needless to say, the conditions make it very unlikely a Dragonblood is ever going to be able to even attempt this ritual, never mind doing it four times to achieve perfect harmonization with all elements... but if one was able to, the reward would be worth it.

[Accelerator]

Exactly. I'm also annoyed at how reading certain books it seems like every solar was a Solar circle crafting twilight and every cool thing was made by them. It lessens everyone. Especially Dragon-blooded. I've yet to get to the lunar dominions yet in my writetrough, but there's (presumably) some incredible things done with lunar workings, millennia of animal husbandry and places in mirror realms and shadow terretories.

Actually you know what? I have a problem with... the entire thing in general. I think I've seen too much Mage the Ascension but for some reason I'm irked that there's this focus on Twilights. Let's expand this shit. Mage generally just had 'five' powers, and was much more detached from common sense and reality than Exalted, which is a feat in and of itself. Adding to that their powerset is a whole lot more flexible than Exalted and capable of doing so much more... I think not everyone needs to do make an equivalent, but I still think that there's space for setting-warping and changing things that *don't* need to make sorcery or artifice.

The Eternal Army: An army of dour, grey soldiery, meant to protect a local Solar's dominions from the many depradations of the Fae and the Lunar that lead them. The mutual kill lead to the dissolving of the Dead's army and the protection of the lands... for now. But the Wyld stayed, and the Fae still had those who were more intelligent than most, and so, the war continued on. The Eternal Army is an army specially trained by the Solar in anti-fae tactics, specializing in murdering supernatural opponents and living in harsh conditions. Those who join the Eternal Army find that they learn the anti-Fae martial arts easier, and that they are as comfortable in a swamp as they are in a bedroom.

One Day, a Hero Shall Rise: A set of stories and social conventions and cultural mores a storyteller, permanently affecting a set of cultures. The stories call for a specific set of qualities, whether in ordinary humans or gods or kings. And when those qualities are broken and widespread damage is done, whether a king who worships a demon or a god that is selling his people to the Fae, a Hero rises up to defeat him. The Hero has bonuses, increased stats, and custom merits to help him defeat the foe he faces. And he is also the exemplar of the qualities required of the stories. There is nothing obvious about this, seemingly to the naked eye a natural cycle and cultural consequence. Only the Sidereals and those with Essence Sight even have a hope of figuring out what is happening.

Glory to the State: First there was Man. And then, Man created the State. A specially created government bureaucracy ruling a kingdom in the Far Reaches. A set of rituals, customs, prayers, and specially designed buildings and organizations according to geomantic and arcane principles. The bureaucracy has several bonuses, especially when fighting off enemies and helping the people under the control of the State, as long as they work according to the First Founder's Principles. And when they do not, their power slackens, weakens, and they are overthrown. Only for their predecessors to slowly be molded by chance and cultural drift to resemble their predecessors, but without the corruption.

So on and so forth. Ordinary martial artists can start schools. Exalted Martial artists can, with sufficient effort, create martial arts schools with special powers or blessings. Ordinary men can write books. Exalted writers can make stories that shake the world, and can have effects beyond the written word.

[slovorg]

For me, I'm pretty sure the reason is that when the books portray cool effects that remain for several ages only the crafting and sorcerous workings remain. All the work of dawn castes, zeniths and eclipses are forgotten. The nights are kind of forgotten by design. That limits character concepts gained from reading.
Why would you want to play the greatest and kindest king when it's portrayed time and time again that the nation will crumble the second you die of age? Why would you want to play a general when usurpation teaches that solars were beaten by their own troops? And so on. But the casters, their buildings, artefacts, spells and legacies remain. Sometimes reading the realm it seems as if a twilight long dead(I doubt all twilights were solar circle crafters) has more of a say in how the Blessed isle is shaped than some entire Great Houses. This is part of the reason for the setting rewrite to make all exalted matter. Each idea on it's own is great, but there's too much of it.

But I really like your ideas Accelerator. Well thought out. Might use them as inspiration in my setting. Thank you.


And to keep things on topic:

The Imperial road started falling into disrepair during the shogunate and during the Great Contagion and the Balorian invasion the last few bits of the magic was destroyed by 3 sidereals (1 battle, 1 endings and 1 journey) that were alive to delay the invading armies. They had spotted a thin hope that the fey armies could be stopped, but more time was needed. Without this action it was unclear if the Empress could have breached the imperial manse in time.

Later during the Empress reign history records of the old Imperial road surfaced and the help it could have posed to the invaders. An edict was put forward to the masons of the Blessed Isle to make a road that outdid the Imperial road. Mnemon did so after discussing some startlingly difficult crafting techniques with a yellow-eyed assistant. House Nellens, Cynis, Ragara and Iselsi negotiated with Mnemon to release the schematic to the Heptagram so the knowledge would not die if House Menmon did. Each Prefecture is mandated to maintain their roads with prayers, sacrifices of granite and bellflowers and a respectful military presence. Variations of granite and local bellflowers makes each prefecture imperial road slightly different. The road in Lord's Crossings Dominion is nicknamed the Blue Steps and the similar name in Eagle Prefecture is Water's Run. The first one since it gains a slightly blue sheen, and Eagle Prefecture as it has become a tradition to pick the flowers in the early season of water as a marathon contest, giving the name to both the contest and the road.

[Accelerator]

There is a certain platonic ideal within Exalted. An Exalted with a bow and arrow is just as good with a plasma cannon or a flintlock rifle or whatever.....

Same thing for tools. A smith-god with a hammer and forge can easily transform them into a 3D printer, CNC machine, a lathe... but it doesn't matter, it just needs a concept of a 'creation tool'. Same thing for a war god. Spears can work. So can flintlock rifles, or machine guns, or gatling guns, or a telescoping sword composed out of shapeshifting metal alloys and a disintegration field.

The weapons of the gods change with the times, and also dependent on who precisely is looking at them, and their own view of the world. The symbols change, but the meaning is the same. 'That which brings death to others' or 'this person is wealthy' or 'the wearer is knowledgeable'.

[HalfTangible]

Beast-blooded are descended from a Lunar that held their beast's totem. This is not to say that all Lunar children are clearly beast-blooded, or that it's impossible for beastmen to arise in another fashion, but that it is the most common method of their creation.

Occasionally, a beast-blooded will be born to otherwise human parents. This is usually because a Lunar of that totem (or another beast-blood) is present somewhere in the humans' ancestral line. In that way, it is similar to the Dragon's blood, something that Lunars are fully aware of and are incredibly uncomfortable with. In fact, Such beastblooded are looked at somewhat askance, as if their existence cheapens the "true" beast-blooded. The irony of treating these 'men-born' the same manner that the Realm treats Outcastes is lost on most Lunars.

There are rumors that Lunars must engage in bestiality to produce beast-blooded for obvious reasons, but this is Immaculate propaganda.

[Accelerator]

There's a certain type of fish in the western oceans, near heavily aspected earth demenses. The fish are shiny, silvery scales, and a large fat body. Some eat it, deciding that they look delicious. Those who are more clever don't. The fish have a powerful tendency to absorb from their surroundings... including heavy metals. Yes, that includes mercury. Any fish in the sea contains a higher amount of heavy metals than any other fish, and this is especially true for demense heavy areas.

The fish are from a shogunate breeding project which attempts to harvest micro-sized precious magical materials and gold from the ocean, using the fish as methods to concentate them. However, genetic drift has caused the mechanism to take in all metals, not just a select few. A specialized breeding program can narrow it down again, letting men harvest fish for gold.

[Blaque]

Kind of based on stuff from the recent novella The Silence of Our Ancestors, some things on stars came ot mind.

Mostly I kind of imagine that while most htings move East-to-West, and mostly on the ecliptic, they don't do so as a fixed dome like we usually see on Earth. INstead there's "layers" to them, with the different constellations being relatively fixed as they move over the night, but they move at different speeds in relation to one-another without crossing. They all take 24 hours to go around, but do so at slightly off form one-another, and there's a bit of delay here and htere that allows them to at times be in relaion to eacohter. The planets kind of do this too, and so it creates this 30-bodied mess that helps inform how astrology works.

[Chejop Kejak]

I'm almost certain that back in the day, Savage Seas established that Creation's sky was a lot more chaotic than that of Earth, presumably to give some credence to the idea of using them to divine anything.

[Blaque]

I'm almost certain that back in the day, Savage Seas established that Creation's sky was a lot more chaotic than that of Earth, presumably to give some credence to the idea of using them to divine anything.

The basic image I like to use is an orrery like you can see on Chejob Kejak's desk in his chapter ficiton in the orignal 1e corebook. To me rather than the just the planets, one probably could make one with more bands that represen thte constellations and plaents and sun and moon. And you'd probably have a disk in the middle instead of a sphere like we see usually on Earth ones. It's a neat image to me that I think helps explain how I'm see this I guess <_<

[LostLight]

While I don't know if or how they plan to integrate the four "Getimian asteroids" as entities, in the case that they won't be presented as such (that is, being referenced only through the Caste Marks), that's how I'll play it-

When the Getimians were created, Sacheverell and Oramus divided the price of Exaltation between them, and leaving their mark over their Essence. Sacheverell, being passive and unmoving, embodies the Still Essence, creating the "cold seasons Castes". Oramus, being active and expanding, embodies the Flowing Essence, creating the "hot seasons Castes". However, the process of Exaltation also melded their Essence together, creating a balance between opposites, and giving a rise to strange entities within them. The Flowing within the Still which is the mark of Oramus upon Sacheverell is Ceres of the Autumn Caste. The Still within the Still which is Sacheverell at his purest is Vesta of the Winter Caste. The Still within the Flowing which is the mark of Sacheverell upon Oramus is Juno of the Spring Caste. Finally, The Flowing within the Flowing which is Oramus at his purest is Pallas of the Summer Caste. Those changes within their Essence, as well as the form that their Exaltation have taken, was what terrified those ancient and caused them to seal the Getimian Exaltation, attempting to silence the strange voices which they never intended to create.

(I'm not sure if those were revaled to be the canon associations between asteroids and seasons, but if not just change them accordingly)