#Reaper Daiklave

[electron-sutra]

The Razor Which Cuts Through Self-Deception

Artifact ••••: The Razor Which Cuts Through Self-Deception (Black Jade Reaper Daiklave)

Master Iron Breather is a widely-respected scholar from the Littoral tradition of Immaculacy -- the Pure Way and its fellows. Known for his unusual teaching style focused on humor, subversion, and deprecation, Master Iron Breather is often called the Great Wise Monkey of Kamthahar or Old Master Bastard.

In his youth, Master Iron Breather defeated a mighty spirit with his bare hands, and took the spirit's mighty sword. For the rest of his life, the Great Wise Monkey of Kamthahar wielded it not as a weapon, but as a razor for his bald head and a knife for his bread -- a final insult to the spirit's arrogance that its legendary sword was put to mundane use.

Master Iron Breather was said to use the sword to cut the hair of his students into embarrassing haircuts to teach them humility. Legends say that once a prince of a mighty Prasadi family came to him and boasted that she was wiser and stronger than the old, bright-eyed monk. Without looking up from his meal, Iron Breather unsheathed the sword and threw it at her head; as it sliced through her hair, a fingernail's breadth from her skull, it embedded itself in the wall behind her, it sliced through her arrogance and she fell down crying, humbled for the first time. It is said that she bore a slice in her hair down the middle of her head for the rest of her life.

Iron Breather's sword is now known as the Razor Which Slices Through Self-Deception. Today, it is known to be wielded by a hero who styles themselves as the monkeylike reincarnation of Old Master Bastard: an itinerant warrior and self-styled monk who uses its edge to bring justice to bandits and criminals. It is said that the Great Wise Monkey's laughter can be heard echoing in the hero's shimmering slices.

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Exalted Secret Santa 2K24

back at it again with Sidereals this time

Killing-in-Mercy Cantata (or "Killian" for short). 45, she/her, Chosen of Endings exalted under the Crow. Killian was born in Pneuma, now lives in Yu-Shan, and is currently* stationed in Champoor as part of an undercover operation to take down the Court of Secrets. In addition to her Bureau work, she has a very successful musical career in Yu-Shan, and incorporates her primary instrument (the violin) into a variant of Silver-Voiced Nightingale Style. Nicer than she looks; has a lot of empathy for the younger members of her Convention, and frequently serves as a mentor figure.

Killian's anima banner is extremely dark purple at the center and lightens towards the edge. Her iconic anima depicts the Nail of Pneuma, which shrouds her in its lengthy shadow regardless of light source.

Likes include conducting Sidereal prophecy, martial arts training montages, avant-garde experimental music, and smoking cigarettes on balconies while staring pensively at the night sky.

The variant headshots on the left are a few of her current Resplendent Destinies. From top to bottom: Circus performer Empress Star Eye (the Musician), warrior-cultist Nereb Da'in (the Gauntlet), and hard-drinking dockworker Enec Thaan (the Mast).

(*5 years before the narrative present, just a few months after the Scarlet Empress's disappearance)

Ledaal Dutiful Crane (or "Crane" for short). 22, she/her, Chosen of Serenity exalted under the Peacock. A (formerly) mortal child of an obscure noble offshoot, arranged to be married to a disgraced Dynast before her Exaltation. Now that she's been freed from all mortal obligations, it is time to party, and she will always party hard--to the extent that some of her Bureau superiors are kind of worried about her. She does take her Bureau duties seriously, though--in particular, her training in Violet Bier of Sorrows Style.

Crane's anima banner matches her hair. Her iconic anima depicts an actual crane spreading its wings behind her; its feathers sharpen into sword-like points during particularly tense moments.

Likes include surfing on Yu-Shan's quicksilver canals, her girlfriend, her boyfriend, doing shots, and mercilessly severing threads of fate with a reaper daiklave.

Resplendent Destinies (from top to bottom): Circus acrobat Spurious Stork (the Ewer), honest carpenter Dust of Humility (the Messenger), and cold-hearted assassin Tear of Lost Pearls (the Haywain).

Oracle Bones Foretell the Empire's Fall (or "Madame Fall" for short). 25, she/her, Moonshadow Caste Abyssal. The former Amapka Angutasdottir was born in a minor principality of the Haslanti League, and served as the village oracle before her sudden and expected death. She later returned in the service of the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears, dispensing baleful fortunes to anyone unlucky enough to cross her path. She's currently serving as a liaison to the Silver Prince in order to maintain good relations between the two deathlords.

Fall is a necromancer of the Ivory Circle. She is a keeper of the Skull Diary, and her control spell is Seat of Deadly Splendor. Her iconic anima depicts a spinning "roulette wheel" of bones, each carved with transcripts of the Neverborn's endless whispering.

Likes include skulls, fortune-telling, sharing upsetting fun facts, being the Neverborn's specialest prettiest princess, and Moray Darktide.

Note that Fall is fat. Please keep this in mind if you plan on selecting her.

--

okay that's all from me, have funnnnnnn <3

[probably-unreliable]

An Orichalcum reaper daiklave, it was originally uses as a divine instrument in purification rituals and thus has developed a taste for smiting evil and warding against curse, so the spirit within is very very into drowning Creature of Darkness in a sea of heavenly lotuses.

[vaultsofthefirstage]

Jade Dew (Green Jade Reaper Daiklave ****)

When mothers tell their children of a sacred grove whose sole tree blooms only once each lifetime, the sole guardian changes with each and every telling. It is a beast with claws that crush intruders; it is a demon that lures men in to eat their flesh; she is a woman, as elegant as a flower and deadly as nightshade with emerald eyes and cloven hooves. It is she who wields Jade Dew. It is her grove, 100 miles from any mortal city, that inspires the legend.

In ages past, Solars often sought the nature of her grove and she struck them down with crippling blows. Gods and spirits alike avoided the region marked by sorcerous borderlines. Lunars have theorized she is a Fair Folk drawing on tales of a sword that was forged before her conception. Others see her as an elemental whose sole duty is to protect the tree. The few cults who revere her see her as an incarnation of Mara, the Shadow Lover. She does not speak an answer if any have asked her.

The grove is always shaded, the sun just below the treeline, with grass as deep green as jade. One look reveals its beauty, a second look reveals that throughout the perfect circle of the grove, a single blade of grass is sewed in and out of the ground to mark the edge of the domain where nothing grows except for it, the single tree in the center of the enclosed wood, and the swordswoman with her blade. Those who step beyond the boundaries are intoxicated, but the emerald eyes glare at them and the guardians hand drops to her blade. She allows no trespassers.

Attunement: 5m Type: Medium (+3 ACC, +12 DMG, +1 DEF, OVW 5) Tags: Lethal, Melee, Balanced Hearthstone slots: 2 Era: War of the Gods

Evocations of Jade Dew

When the wielder of Jade Dew faces someone with an addiction, they add bonus dice to their attack rolls equal to the intimacy representing that addiction. If the character lacks a relevant intimacy but has the addiction flaw, add +2 dice as if it were Minor. If the character suffers from Sweet Sapling Blight, calculate this bonus with the Intensity of the disease instead (+2 for Minor, +3 for Major, +4 for Defining).

Jade Dew resonates with the guardian of the grove, regardless of the Storyteller’s choice of who or what she is.

Dew-Eyed Guardian

Cost 2m; Mins: Essence 1

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Dissonant

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: None

The scent of intoxication becomes visible as the wielders eyes briefly flicker the color of her sword. When she rolls Join Battle with an Awareness based roll, activating this charm allows her to apply her result against the Guile of all enemies in the scene as a Profile Character action, immediately learning if any of them suffer from an addiction. If they do, she gains a point of initiative and her base initiative becomes one higher for the scene.

Special Activation Rules: As long as she is not dissonant with Jade, the Exalt unlocks this evocation as soon as she attunes to Jade Dew.

Sweet Sapling Blight

Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Decisive-Only, Dissonant, Resonant

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: Dew-Eyed Guardian

Her blade long and deep green, verdant with wild essence, deadly with nature’s bounty. Its cuts remind trespassers of their failings and drive them wild for them. As long as a Decisive attack supplemented by this evocation deals at least one level of lethal damage, her target suffers withdrawal no matter how recently he has indulged his habit and is exposed to Sweet Sapling Blight, a supernatural disease with the following rules:

Sweet Sapling Blight:  Virulence (3+highest addiction intimacy), Morbidity (3), Interval (One Week) Anyone who does not have an addiction is immune to Sweet Sapling Blight

It is resisted with Stamina + Integrity and only magically-enhanced medical treatment can prove effective.

Minor: As all minor disease, but the character also suffers from withdrawal (-1 penalty to all actions) unless he is able to indulge his addiction each day.

Major: As all major diseases, but the character suffers from withdrawal unless he indulges his addiction each hour. In addition, anytime that he is able to acquire his addiction in a scene, he must roll current temporary Willpower against the Morbidity to indulge unless he spends a 1wp to resist.

Defining: As all defining disease, but the character suffers from withdrawal unless he indulges his addiction each scene. In addition, any time he is able to acquire his addiction in a scene, he must spend 1wp and then roll current temporary Willpower against the Morbidity to indulge unless he spends an additional Willpower to resist.

Dissonant: The Exalt’s enemies only suffer withdrawal if they contract Sweet Sapling Blight.

Resonant: Each 1 and 2 rolled in the Virulence and Morbidity rolls (and any rolls to treat the disease) subtracts one success from the end result.

Bleeding Poppy Reaping

Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Decisive-Only, Resonant, Dissonant 

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: Sweet Sapling Blight

When a poppy is cut, it bleeds out its sweet addicting nectar. The blood of the addicted is merely Jade Dew returning the favor. A decisive attack supplemented by this evocation rolls only half the Exalt’s initiative, rounded down, as damage. It however increases their intimacy towards their addiction by one step or decreases the same intimacy by one step. An intimacy cannot be raised above defining, but a character with a Minor (or no relevant intimacy) can instead be cured of their addiction.

This evocation can only be used once per scene per target and cannot be reset by the Dawn caste anima power.

An Essence 3+ repurchase allows a character to cause an infected character damaged to immediately make a Morbidity check against Sweet Sapling Blight.

Dissonant: A dissonant character cannot repurchase this evocation.

Toxin Rooting Flow

Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Resonant

Duration: Indefinite

Prerequisite: Bleeding Poppy Reaping

Expelling what is impure, Jade Dew soaks in the taint like a root in toxic soil. Whenever the Exalt succeeds on a roll to resist a poison or addictive substance that she has ingested or inhaled, she roots the toxin through her weapon. By releasing the commitment to this charm’s motes she can cause her blade to drip with the substance as a reflexive action at the start of her turn. Her next decisive attack, if it hits, will cause her victim to suffer the same poison or substance.

Resonant: The Exalt gains one non-charm success on the roll to resist ingested and inhaled poisons and addictive substances, even if she does not plan on using this evocation to hold them.

Guardian Lion’s Temperance

Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3

Type: Permanent

Keywords: None

Duration: Permanent

Prerequisite: Toxin Rooting Flow, Righteous Lion Defense

The grove’s guardian protects the grove without ever falling for its addictive charms. This evocation causes any social influence aimed at indulging in an addicting activity to be treated as unacceptable influence as if protected by Righteous Lion Defense.

The Solar may choose (or be forced) to indulge in taking drugs, addicting substances, or be exposed to the Wyld’s taint, but never talked into doing so. If she does become a victim of such things, this evocation causes her to roll twice to resist and take the higher result or for the effect to roll twice and apply the lower result - whichever is applicable at the time. 

Indulgent Battlefield Delusions

Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 3

Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Dual, Dissonant

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: Bleeding Poppy Reaping

Those who fight in the grove of the guardian falter as their senses lure them away from the battle, but into the edge of her daiklave. A withering damage roll supplemented by this evocation doubles 9s against a character suffering from a Minor addiction or Sweet Sapling Blight intensity, doubles 8s against a character suffering a Major addiction or intensity, or doubles 7s against a character with a Defining addiction or intensity. A decisive attack supplemented by this doubles up to (1+steps of intensity) dice of damage.

Dissonant: A character dissonant with Jade cannot double more than (Essence) damage with this evocation.

Special Activation Rules: This evocation can only be used once per scene unless reset by increasing Sweet Sapling Blight’s intensity with a use of Bleeding Poppy Reaping.

Heart-Pleasing Razor

Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 3

Type: Simple

Keywords: Resonant, Dissonant

Duration: One scene

Prerequisite: Indulgent Battlefield Delusions

The groves beauty is a taint that touches her sword and as the blade is sheathed and drawn, her enemies feel their minds fog. The wielder makes a simple action of sheathing and drawing her sword, when she does, she rolls (Manipulation+Presence) against the resolve of any enemies who she has struck. On a success, enemies find themselves addicted to her blade and being cut by it. They must spend a point of temporary Willpower in order to apply their defense to the swordsman’s attacks, but need only pay this price once per scene. Even if they do, they take a -1 penalty to their defense for the remainder of the scene. This evocation can only be used once per scene.

Resonant: The addicted opponents take a penalty to their Resolve equal to the steps that Sweet Sapling Blight has progressed

Dissonant: Wielders dissonant with Jade cannot awaken this evocation.

Reaper of Intemperate Weeds

Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3

Type: Reflexive

Keywords: Decisive-Only, Perilous, Resonant

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite: Heart-Pleasing Razor

The guardian is also reaper and harvester - anything that flowers in her grove is hers to cut. Only a wielder Resonant with Jade can awaken Reaper of Intemperate Weeds.

As soon as an opponent who holds an addiction to her sword moves within Close range of her, she may make an immediate decisive attack against them, even if she has already acted this round. Her opponent cannot clash this attack. This decisive attack has a base damage of (Essence) plus a bonus equal to the current level of their addiction or Sweet Sapling Blight intensity, whichever is higher (+2 for Minor, +3 for Major, +4 for Defining) and benefits from the effects of Indulgent Battlefield Delusions even if the wielder has already used that charm this scene.

[shinjisama013-blog]

My Exalted Secret Santa

Exalted Secret Santa characters

Ashlynn Firemane is Dawn Caste Reistant Supernal Solar. She is from the South with medium/dark skin, golden eyes and fire red hair. Her body is muscular and toned but covered in scars with a pirate brand on her right buttock and a large symbol on her back. She normally wears a custom set of lamellar armor/reinforced breast plate. She wields a reaper Daiklave and Sunflash. The picture on the left is by Sani on the Forge of Wonders discord of the custom armor- minus the wings. I didn't do a terrible job of conveying or showing it in the example picture but her hair is meant to be slicked back some, yet flowing like flames. ^_^;

Radiant Silver Dream, a Fenghuang or Ho Oh inspired lunar. She has rainbow colored hair, and a coat of many colors resembling a ho ohs multicolored feathers. She wields Wierdflame and practitions Righteous Devil Style.

And finally Momotarou Hanazakura. A yet undecided animal form Lunar. She is a female sumo wrestler, grappler martial artist who uses Falcon Style. She is heavier set than the others and more muscular. She has short bob cutish style pink hair, tan skin and wears a pink flowery styled happi or kimono. Feel free to go with whichever one strikes yoyr fancy the most. Dont feel obliged to do all three, these are just probably my three fave ocs ive made thus far.

[moe-d-puff]

exalted secret santa journals

fourth year running, so four characters. God help me.

Character 1: Crimson Horizon Tsubaki

Tsubaki is an Eclipse-caste Solar hailing from the Scavenger Lands. White-haired with red eyes, Tsubaki is generally impeccably dressed, preferring poofy skirts but practical riding boots. Her hair is usually tied up in a long ponytail, using a red-and-gold ribbon, and most of her clothes use red, gold and black, save for her earrings which are blue to match her sister’s color scheme.

Tsubaki has traveled up the river from great forks and has gone as far north as Rubylak, and tends to incoporate some elements of those fashions somewhere in her clothes, be it military collars or some fur lining in her boots. Being an archer, she always wears an arm guard on her left arm, and her right hand usually has some ink stains, no matter how vigilantly she washes. Tsubaki is outwardly cheerful and works hard at being adorable, although she’s less boisterous and more sweet, in her affect. Underneath the act is a girl who really like fire and chases thunderstorms every chance she gets.

Tsubaki is a sorceress, with her control spell being Beckoning That Which Stirs the Sky, and her other go-to spells being Flight of the Brilliant Raptor and Thunder Wolf Howl. She and her sister rely on a storm theming, and Tsubaki in particularly wears metallic rings that’ll look like they spark when she’s shaping. Otherwise, Tsubaki’s dresses sometimes have camellias embroidered in them!

References can be found here, here, here, and here (with credit to the darling @rukafais ) with additional costume inspiration/reference here.  Old reference here, this years reference here!

Character 2: Sarnai Narangerel

Picture reference here and here. Sarnai is a Dawn caste, currently worshipped as a goddess of war and justice, Sarnai is athletic and largely unscarred, save for a scar across her face and one on her lip. Her chest is on the smaller size but her hips and posterior more than make up for this. She dresses largely in lighter colors, with some blue and red sprinkled throughout. She prefers pants but can be talked into a dress and finery with some effort. She always wears a pair of earrings with large, red spheres with her own feathers attached. Her wings (which when fully extended should come about a headspace longer than her arms, and when folded should come to about her butt. They are patterned similarly to an osprey. (Reference 1 2)

She carries with her at all times the sword Tizona, which is an orichalcum and blue jade reaper daiklave. Tizona most resembles a cross between a schiavona and a calvary saber, but as long as it’s gold with some hints of blue in the blade or hilt, it’s probably fine. :)

New Reference is here.

Character 3: Xetian Alazne

A Gold-Faction Serenities who may or may not be sleeping with a high-ranking member of the Bronze faction, and master of multiple martial arts, notably Dreaming Pearl and Obsidian Shard.

Alazne dresses like a femme fatale, always displaying her legs (and the thigh high starmetal boots upon them) and letting her long red hair remain loose and wavy. She wears very little jewelry or adornment but her clothes are of the highest quality and often of fabrics that shimmer or are iridescent in nature. She favors blues over other colors, naturally. A picture reference is here.

Character 4: Haruhi

A chosen of Secrets who keeps even his faction loyalty shrouded in mystery, Haruhi is a tired caffeine addict who may not have slept since his exaltation. Bearing a long smoke pipe and usually some form of paperwork, Haruhi has a habit of turning up when it’s both most helpful and most irritating to other sidereals.

Haruhi dresses in layers, a haori over loose robes, often too big for his thin frame. He leaves his long hair either loose or tied in a loose ponytail or braid, and wears a pair of spectacles for reading at all times. Haruhi is as inconspicuous as possible, and has a tendency to blend into the scenery, especially while he’s reading, which he almost always is. He has an irritating habit of speaking as though he knows something you don’t, and a permanent and imminently punchable smirk. Picture reference here.

[galahadwilder]

Exalted Artifact: Kubo, Perfected Songblade

Kubo was made in the First Age for a master of the Silver-Voiced Nightingale Style, a originally a wandering storyteller before he grew indolent, retreated into his luxurious manse, and subsequently disappeared from history (probably getting murdered by one of his Sidereal advisors). Kubo vanished as well, only to be recovered from an unmarked First Age barrow a few months ago by Ledaal Tai, Solar of the Zenith Caste.

Kubo is two artifacts in one, linked by a connection through Elsewhere. In its hidden form, Kubo appears to be an Unsurpassed Sanxian with one difference: when an attuned wielder plays Kubo while using Phantom-Conjuring Performance, they can conjure actual illusions and deceptions. However, these illusions can only be seen by parties who can hear the sanxian, and as soon as the wielder stops playing, they vanish. Additionally, the strings of the sanxian will cut if it is ever used in combat and must be replaced with silver.

At the beginning of combat, the wielder can spend a few motes of essence to activate Kubo’s Elsewhere Engine to swap the sanxian and the Nightingale Blade. Both cannot exist in Creation at the same time, and both cannot be sent into Elsewhere—any attempt to store the sanxian in Elsewhere summons the blade, and vice versa. Summoning the blade takes several seconds, and cannot be sped up.

Kubo the blade is a reaper daiklave with a number of holes drilled into the length. When swung at various speeds and angles, Kubo makes musical tones; a skilled enough wielder can play music in the air simply by using the blade. The wielder of Kubo, if they are proficient in Silver-Voiced Nightingale Style, can add their Performance to their Melee attacks and the sword’s statistics to their long-distance Martial Arts attacks.

Kubo cannot remain in sword form for longer than a single scene, and automatically reverts to sanxian form at the end of combat.

(Yes, Kubo is named after Kubo and the Two Strings.)

[zukleton]

[darksillykitty]

Day 5 - Gremlin Infernal

For this I had to draw my Infernal Exalted Rena. I tried to give her a kind of cute but creepy look. Cause I mean, she’s evil. But she looks cute to make people underestimate her. Between her bunny bombs and her Reaper Daiklave Cleaver, she’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s earned nicknames such as ‘bitch with the bunny’, ‘little shit’ and ‘gremlin’.

[khancrackers]

Ashllach, the Perfect Kingdom of the Dead

Of all the rivers in the River Province, few are as feared as the Sti-Zu, the red river of souls, the major border of the glorious and tranquil Kingdom of the Wheel, or Ashllach.

Unless you’re one of those weirdo anathema corpse-fuckers, dragons forbid. And even then.

The passage from Underworld to shadowland to Creation proper tends to be difficult, expensive, dangerous, and far too often, all three. Ashllach is one of the more welcoming locales, by royal policy. Ghosts from far and wide come to socialize, trade, and mingle, for the patrols of the Husband Kings are vigilant, and the taxes aren’t too bad.

One king is called the Perfected Chakravartin of Vampire Worlds, or “the Perfect.” The other is named Forever and Always Void Faithful Sovereign, or “the Forever.” And they are truly, deeply, in love. Generous, magnanimous, caring, and utterly devoted to the cause of the Neverborn, the Husband Kings do what no other deathlord would do; share power with a peer.

Perfected Chakravartin of Vampire Worlds serves as the shaman and lawmaker of Ashllach. Garbed in soulsteel and white jade, the Perfect passes laws for gods of death and mortals alike. His spouse, the Forever and Always Void Faithful Sovereign, is the sorcerer and diplomat of the pair. Always seen in robes of black jade and bone chain mail, the Forever crafted, designed, and acquired the resources for many of Ashllach’s necromantic creations.

Bastion Ashllach sits in the middle of a “natural” ashstone formation, tall slender rocks like swords rising out of the ground like a stone forest. The Sti-Zu River cuts through it, a mere five hundred feet, dividing the region in two districts, the sun-touched and the shadowland. Lost souls are carried on the red rapids, only to be caught by soulsteel nets, diverted into the fortress, and ground into metallic dust by the jade grindstone known as the White Wheel. What powers that, connected by black jade gears, is a great soulsteel paddlewheel named the Black Wheel, turning the current of the Sti-Zu into kinetic force.

While the two Husband Kings have thrones from which to receive guests, it is upon the slow-turning White Wheel and its table that the monarchs hold court and command their deathknights. Each deathknight is seated before their own monstrance, slotted beneath that white jade table, proof of the trust the Kings place in their champions. Thrust into the hub of the White Wheel is the personal weapon of the Perfect, the grand daiklave named Reaper Whirlwind. Slotted into the hub of the Black is the direlance/daiklave crafted for the Forever’s hand, known as the Mourningstar.

Unbeknownst to their deathknights but suspected by their Neverborn masters, the Husband Kings hold a terrible, secret hypocrisy; they love life too much to destroy it entirely. While their coffers overflow with grave riches, their connections and networks stretch across the world, and their champions raise jet-black blades in sincere homage, the two dead men care too much for their subjects and each other to submit to oblivion’s cause with all their hearts. Even unlife, for all its hollowness, is still a life, is still beautiful.

This perfect kingdom shall fall, one way or another. The only question is, which way?

The Table of the White Wheel seats twenty-five, but as of now only ten monstrances are mounted beneath it. One of the major ambitions of the Husband Kings is to see a full table of monstances and deathknights, the rest taken from rival deathlords and/or crafted anew. A full half of their deathknights are assigned to the band known as the Dragonkillers, commanders of their planned war against the Scarlet Empire.

Deathknights of the Wheel - The Dragonkillers Band

Flag Blues: All Dead Atop Their Poles. Dusk Caste. Of the five, Flag has the greatest grievance against the Scarlet Dynasty, and his goal is none other than the total annihilation of that empire. Like the shining black arrows he looses with unerring accuracy, Flag is the sharp and unsubtle weapon against the Dragonblooded host, a living pincushion of broken arrows and crossbow bolts.

These Are Truly The Last Days. Midnight Caste. Chief Chaplain of the Ashllach armies, Last Days is their spiritual and moral leader, protector of Ashllach’s own brand of death-centered faith. She urges her flock to pray to the Neverborn, contemplate Oblivion through austerity, emulate the saints of death, and let that divine darkness seep through into the world. Hers is the catechism of apocalypse and ruin.

Great Machine Bleeding To Death. Daybreak Caste. Look upon this world that the Scarlets have made. Magical wonders made for agriculture were used to slay, and destructive weapons were used to make. Madness. It’s no wonder everything deserves to die. Machine is the craftsperson of the band, creator of their Resonators, combination weapon/communication devices as well as portable shrines that transmit information keyed to the very specific frequencies of the Dragonkillers’ anima, tuned through the Oblivion phenomenon. (roughly as fast as a telegraph)

Addicted To So Much. Day Caste. As their not-name declares, entire populations are chained to life by mood-altering substances. Even the Dragonblooded autocrats poison themselves with opium to get through the day. But Addict is no liberator. This spy hides amongst the drugged throngs as a partaker, sells and makes hallucinogenic substances to get connections. There are all kinds of chivalry, and his is succor to those that suffer.

Wallets Full Of Blood. idk capitalism

Misc

Other Deathknights of the Wheel include Open Mouth Mocks God, Red Shirt Over A Dead Man, and Kill Absolutely Everything.

Reaper Whirlwind (get it, ‘reap the whirlwind’) is a big old greatsword with a revolver mechanism in the pommel. Firing the mechanism wreaths the sword in ash, blood, bone, ghost/pyre flame, prayer, or void energy.

Mourningstar looks kinda like the Staff of Parthalan from Dragon Age 2, except it can collapse into a regular-sized daiklave. Still thinking it over.

I really don’t know how to do chivalry in capitalism.

[getimianapologist]

tell us all about your character ideas.

Well, since you asked~

Avedon- pretentious fashion designer/artist that is 100% extra. He’s all about that New Wave aesthetic - He has the classic Flock of Seagulls haircut, for example. Not sure if he’s a sidereal or exigent, but his charmset/ martial art style revolves around photography (which is the homebrew martial arts that I want to draw up anyhow.) Regardless, it’s kind of like Obsidian Shards of Infinity Style, but more about hold the world as a static image, and then warping it- that sort of thing. Anyhow, Avedon is a practitioner/exalt of this style, and is driven to perfect his art and understanding thereof, but finds that the images that he grabs have less and less humanity- opening the door for a good ol’ tortured artist storyline.

Nero Fallon- Man with No Name type wanderer from the south. Endless series of misadventures and weird experiences under the belt- so much so that traveling partners start doubting which of his stories are true and which aren’t. Did he unlock his essence before ever exalting by winning a kilo of celestial cocaine off one of Plenimon’s exigents in a restricted poker game in the depths of Gem? Was he a member of the Seventh Legion for three months before his commanding officer realized he was an Anathema? Did he really exalt after impressing a Western god of Popular Music because he wandered into their concert while drunk, and thought it was open air karaoke? Is he legally a Bride of Arhat? No one can really say for sure, but he is an Exigent of music with plenty of skill and weird contacts galore, so maybe there is some truth in between those tales... Either way, he’s definitely an excuse for me to cobble together a charmset based on Clutch song titles/lyrics, which is great.

Bancho Kojuro- Rebellious Dragon Blooded. Born into House Cathak, Kojuro was a hellion who was eventually consigned to the Palace of the Untamed Storm in a last ditch effort to break him into shape. It didn’t quite work, but as he exalted as an Air Aspect in his fifth year, the House was willing to put a bit more effort into refining him into a useable tool. Seeing that he would still fail or flee from the House of Bells or Pasiap’s Stair (as one of his big points of rebellion was a hatred of the military and that structure), they pulled some strings and got him into the Cloister of Wisdom. He’s now graduated and made his way out into the world, but the Cloister didn’t quench his spirit- only tempered it. He’s now more disciplined with a hatred of the Great Game and the cloying social structures of the Dynast system, has a “borrowed” artifact reaper daiklave at his side, and a Sworn Kinship with several ex-Untamed Storm students who are looking to raise hell.

Those are the three that I really know enough about to give a writeup on at this moment- the others are still at the one sentence concept point- if that. And of course, that’s not counting the ones who are just direct references to something else, because that’s really not fair to include. Thanks for asking! 

[moe-d-puff]

Exalted Secret Santa

Character 1: Sarnai Narangerel

Picture reference here and here. Sarnai is a Dawn caste, currently worshipped as a goddess of war and justice, Sarnai is athletic and largely unscarred, save for a scar across her face and one on her lip. Her chest is on the smaller size but her hips and posterior more than make up for this. She dresses largely in lighter colors, with some blue and red sprinkled throughout. She prefers pants but can be talked into a dress and finery with some effort. She always wears a pair of earrings with large, red spheres with her own feathers attached. Her wings (which when fully extended should come about a headspace longer than her arms, and when folded should come to about her butt. They are patterned similarly to an osprey. (Reference 1 2)

She carries with her at all times the sword Tizona, which is an orichalcum and blue jade reaper daiklave. Tizona most resembles a cross between a schiavona and a calvary saber, but as long as it’s gold with some hints of blue in the blade or hilt, it’s probably fine. :)

Character 2: Cynis Falen Yue

Yue is a Zenith Caste Solar, and former Dynast (well, technically she probably still a dynast). Despite being Cynis’s Granddaughter, Yue shows very little sign of her good breeding, looking almost entirely like a very pretty mortal. She has long, coal-black hair that comes down past her butt when unbound, and is usually bound up in a bun, long ponytail or braid, decorated with flower-themed hairclips, pins, and combs. Her bangs are blunted and straight across her forehead, long enough to cover where her caste mark appears. Her eyes are a deep wine red, and her expression is usually serious or neutral, save for when she dances. Yue has a bit of a case of resting bitch face, which can range from looking mildly annoyed to downright terrifying, the deeper she’s in thought.

Yue wears extremely rich and fancy clothing, always dresses at least ankle length, sometimes with a leg slit, sometimes without. Style-wise, she blends Dynast fashion with the fashion of the courts in the 100 kingdoms, in a nod to both her heritage and her husband’s culture. She predominately tends towards greens and golds, although blue is not an uncommon guest in her color palette. Yue does not openly bear any weapons, but is both a sorceress and decently skilled with melee weapons. Her control spell is Death of Obsidian Butterflies, and as such she’s worked a butterfly motif into her outfits, along with the flowers. Her clothes are deliberately layered to be easy to remove for combat or other activities, and her bottom layer is often the plainest and most practical. 

Yue wears very little jewelry, favoring only drop earrings of silver or gold, set with a green stone of any kind, and a single ring, a moonsilver and orichalcum band featuring two dragons twined together.

Reference sheet is here, and some very very old reference here, here, and here!