ELLIOTT FREEMAN, VIOLET GREEN, EMILY GRIGGS, JAMES HUGGINS,

HENRIK JÄDERKVIST, JOHN MATYUS, ERIC MINTON, KATRIEL PAIGE,

NEALL RAEMONN PRICE, LIZ ROGERS, LAUREN ROY, RACHEL SAVICKI,
BEN SOUSA, MONICA SPECA, ROBERT VANCE, VERA VARTANIAN
Credits
Developers: Elliott Freeman, Eric Minton, Robert Vance

Writers: Elliott Freeman, Violet Green, Emily Griggs,

James Huggins, Henrik Jäderkvist, John Matyus, Eric
Minton, Katriel Paige, Neall Raemonn Price, Liz Rogers,
Lauren Roy, Rachel Savicki, Ben Sousa, Monica Speca,
Robert Vance, Vera Vartanian

Editor: Gavyn Duthie

Indexer:

Art: Digital Art Chefs, Gong Studios, HIVE Studios, Studi

Navella

Art Director: Mike Chaney & Maria Cabardo

Graphic Designer: Mike Chaney

Creative Director: Richard Thomas

Special Thanks
Chazz Kellner, for help unleashing the Power of the
Exalted.

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 Military 38
Introduction 10
Prominent Figures 39
This Book at a Glance 10
Neighbors 39
Lexicon 11 The Confederation of Rivers 39
Chapter One: Chosen of the Little Gods 14 Other Neighbors 40
Exigents of Great Forks 41
The Birth of the Exigents 14
Getting the Circle Together 42
Petitioning for Exigence 14 Plot Hooks 42
Illicit Exaltations 15
Patchwork Chosen 15
Chapter Three: Beyond Mortality 46

A Singular Exaltation 16 Terrestrial and Celestial Play 46

Exigents and Other Exalted 17 Cross-Level Play 46

The Spark of Divinity 18 Character Creation 46

From God to Exigent 18 Step One: Concept & Caste 46
Step Two: Attributes 47
Divine Patrons 19
Step Three: Abilities 47
Fenya, God of Guild Cant 19
Step Four: Merits 47
Vanileth, God of Artificial Flight 19
Step Five: Charms 47
Yibi, Guardian of theSweetgrass Temple 19
Step Six: Intimacies and the Great Curse 47
Notable Exigents 20 Step Seven: Bonus Points 48
The Bleak Warden, Chosen of the Seals 20 Step 8: Finishing Touches 48
Willow Specter, Customizing Character Creation 49
the Chosen of the Dice 21
Traits 50
Nurlissa, the Chosen of Masks 22
Castes and Aspects 50
The Foxbinder of Shifune 23
Anima 50
The Torchbearer 24
Merits and Flaws 51
Thousand Venoms Mistress, Chosen of Toxins 25
The Great Curse 52
Chapter Two: Great Forks 28 Martial Arts 52
Sorcery and Necromancy 53
Founding 28
Evocations 54
A City of Gods and Spirits 28 Advancement 54
The Thearchs 29 Exigent Experience 55
The Lay of the Land 30
The Nature of Exigence 55
City Districts 31
Essence Fever 56
Religion and Theology 31 Exigent Longevity 57
The Grand Mythopoeia 32 Exigent Inheritance 57
Ten Thousand Temples 32
Immaculacy 33
Chapter Four: Power of the Exalted 60

Culture 33 Know Your Audience 60

The Three Peoples 34 Designing for Your Playgroup 60
Clothing 35 Designing for a Larger Audience 60
Cuisine 35 The Art of Balance 61
Government 35 Balancing for a Playgroup 61
Citizenship 35 Balancing for a Larger Audience 61
Slavery 37 Balance and Dice 62
Law Enforcement 37 Dice Limits 62
Courts 37 Excellencies 63
Economics 38 Non-Charm Dice and Systems 64
Structuring Charm Sets 66 Final Season 163
Ability Charms 66 Evocations of Final Season 163
Attribute Charms 67
Chapter Six: The Puppeteer 168
Essence Charms 67
Charm Compatibility 67 Karana 168
Charms and Theme 67 Pakpao 169
Anatomy of a Charm 68 The Puppeteer and Her Patron 169
Effect 68 Foes and Rivals 170
Cost 69 Character Creation 171
Other Restrictions 73
Traits 171
Type 74
Anima 171
Duration 76
Martial Arts 172
Keywords 77
Sorcery 172
Minimums 79
Evocations 172
Prerequisite Charms 81
The Great Curse 172
Not Recommended 81
Longevity and Death 172
Putting It All Together: Designing an Example Charm 83
Character Advancement 173
Effect Index 85 Exigent Bonus 173
Offensive Effects 85
Charms 173
Defensive Effects 90
Excellencies 173
Mobility Effects 93
Puppets and Crafting 174
Social Effects 94
Puppetry Charms 174
Subterfuge Effects 97
Lair Charms 183
Warfare Effects 98
Offensive Charms 185
Craft Effects 99
Defensive Charms 189
Healing Effects 100
Endurance and Healing Charms 190
Spirit Interaction Effects 101
Mobility Charms 194
Miscellaneous Effects 101
Sensory Charms 197
Chapter Five: Influence Charms 198
Strawmaiden Janest, the Harvest Exalt 106 Scrutiny Charms 205
Resolve Charms 206
History 106
Guile Charms 207
Exaltation 107 Subterfuge Charms 210
Leavetaking 108 Knowledge Charms 215
Wandering Hero 108 Crafting Charms 216
Character Creation 109 Mysticism Charms 217
Sorcery 218
Traits 109
Anima 109 Artifact Puppets 218
Martial Arts 109 Okyi, the Infinite Doll 219
Sorcery 109 Hundredfold 220
Evocations 109 Blazing Fang Smile 221
The Great Curse 109 Chapter Seven: The Architects 224
Longevity and Death 110
Chosen of Wun Ja 224
Character Advancement 110 City Fathers and Architects 224
Charms 110 Brick by Brick 225
Excellencies 110 Character Creation 226
Charm Concept: Communities 111
Charm Concept: Fields 111 Traits 226
Athletics 111 Anima 227
Awareness 120 Martial Arts 228
Presence 129 Sorcery and Necromancy 228
Resistance 140 Evocations 228
Survival 152 The Great Curse 229
Sorcery 163 Longevity and Death 229
 New Merits 229 Longevity and Death 288
Character Advancement 229 Character Advancement 288
Exigent Experience 229 Charms 288
Charms 230 Excellencies 288
Excellencies 230 Charm Concept: Fireglass 288
New Keywords 230 Charm Concept: Subordinates 288
Appearance (Influence) 230 Universal 289
Appearance (Subterfuge) 233 Craft 290
Appearance (Warfare) 236 Sorcery 300
Charisma (Influence) 237 Integrity 300
Charisma (Warfare) 240 Performance 311
Dexterity (Offense) 240 Socialize 319
Dexterity (Defense) 243 War 326
Dexterity (Mobility) 244
Appendix: Creating New Exalted 338
Dexterity (Subterfuge) 246
Intelligence (Knowledge) 248 The Dream-Souled 338
Intelligence (Mysticism) 252 Ketu, the Dreaming Prince 339
Intelligence (Crafting) 253 Dream-Souled and Other Exalted 340
Sorcery 256 Traits 340
Manipulation (Influence) 256
Dream-Souled Charms 341
Manipulation (Guile) 259
Excellencies 341
Perception (Senses) 260
Illusion and Transformation 342
Perception (Scrutiny) 262
Offense 347
Perception (Mysticism) 264
Defense 348
Stamina (Defense) 265
Social 349
Stamina (Endurance) 266
Mobility 354
Strength (Offense) 268
Strength (Feats of Strength) 271 The Hearteaters 356
Wits (Initiative) 272 The Death of Aurora 356
Wits (Resolve) 274 Starving and Alone 357
Wits (Navigation) 275 Hearteaters and Other Exalted 357
Wits (Cache) 277 Traits 358

Chapter Eight: The Sovereigns of Uluiru 280 Hearteater Charms 360

Excellencies 360
History 280 Pawns 360
Cantata-of-the-Depths 281 Offense 365
Defense 367
Fallen Aurora 281 Social 368
To Reign in Uluiru 281 Mobility 373
Mysticism 374
The Fount of Glories 282
The Umbral Exalted 376
Perils of the Wyld 282
Nebiru, the Lord of Things Unseen 376
Sovereign Chronicles 283 Umbrals and Other Exalted 376
Character Creation 283 Traits 377

Traits 284 Umbral Charms 380

Aspects 284 Excellencies 380
Anima 286 Penumbra 380
Martial Arts 286 Darkness 382
Sorcery 286 Offense 385
Evocations 286 Defense 386
The Great Curse 287 Social 388
Mobility 391
In a farming village in a fertile valley, in the shadow of two mighty mountains, the faerie army amassed. Dawn’s
golden rays lit their princely leader’s brow. Jewels flashed on his beringed fingers as he raised a slender hand
to order the advance. Eager as his fae warriors were to march, his movement was almost bored. All the other
villages had fallen easily as the horde swept down the passes. This one would surely be no different.
Except…
A lone young woman strode across the field to meet them. Wheat whickered at her ankles as she passed,
the sound made loud in the horde’s sudden quiet. In her calloused hands, she held a scythe half-again as
tall as she was, with green jade twisting through its haft. Sunlight sparked off its black blade. The morning
breeze blew her auburn hair from her neck.
At first the raksha prince laughed with delight, to see the solitary farmhand standing against his horde. How
quaint her defiance. How futile the gesture. How exquisite her folly would taste.
Then the Strawmaiden swung her grimscythe in a whistling arc, and the raksha’s good humor crumbled like
dry autumn leaves. At his command, silverwights and hobgoblins rushed in to overpower her. They fell like
so many stalks of grass as they came within reach of the farmer’s scythe, deadly as cold iron.
The faerie army’s jubilant war-songs became dirges; their dirges became wails of terror.
•••••
Three days, the battle raged. The fae swarmed locust-like over the fields, intent on Janest and the village of
Kolisz behind her. Hobgoblin blood soaked the ground, stalks of wheat springing from the ground as they
fell. A raksha cataphract’s lance impaled her, yet she did not fall; the fields sustained her, crops turning gray
and leaves wilting so that Ten Sheaves’ Chosen might fight on.
When the second day dawned, Janest’s fellow field-maidens formed a line at the village’s edge. Armed with
staves, pitchforks, and scythes of their own, they fought to drive back any fae that slipped past their Exalted
sister. By the time the sun reached its peak, the line had advanced, field-maidens fighting at Janest’s side.
Their presence bolstered her resolve: many of them had been with her for as long as she could remember.
They’d held her chubby hands as she learned to walk. They’d taught her how to sow, how to reap, how to
fight, or learned those things alongside her.
The rest were the babes Janest had helped raise. She’d held their tiny hands during those first wobbly steps.
She’d shown them how to tell sprout from weed, and when the corn was at its sweetest. The field-maidens
were part of nature’s cycle, in a way the lords of chaos should never — could never — be.
Brave as they were, her sisters had trained to fight off bandits and wild boars, not the shambolic hordes of
the Wyld. Nothing could prepare them for this — for teeming hobgoblins that feasted on their fear and pain,
for faceless soldiers spun from their nightmares, for baying faerie war-hounds who spoke in stolen voices.
One by one, Janest’s sisters began to fall.
With a roar like summer thunder, she carved a path to the army’s leader.
•••••
The third day dawned bloody. The clash of jade and iron against gossamer metal echoed throughout the valley
as the faerie host paused to watch their prince and his honor guard of cataphracts battle the farmhand. How
they stamped and shrieked when a spindly blade sliced into her belly... and yet the Strawmaiden fought on.
Rust crept along that general’s sword like blight through a crop. It shattered in his grip. He had no time to
reach for his dagger or demand a weapon from a cataphract. Janest ended his life with a mighty swing of
her scythe, and the general’s golden-haired head fell to the ground like a gourd knocked from a fencepost.
The faerie horde’s joy vanished. They fought valiantly, but their leader’s death had dealt a fatal blow to their
morale. Cataphracts either felt Final Season’s sting or fled from it, and, leaderless, the rest of the invading
force fell into disarray. Janest and her sisters scattered them, driving them out of the valley.
As she turned back toward Kolisz, Janest stumbled at last. Her sisters caught her, held her up as the pain
and exhaustion crested over her. They would have carried her home, but Janest demurred. She leaned on
them, though, as she had all her life.
•••••
Villagers lined the streets as Janest and her sisters returned. They cheered and they wept, for while Kolisz
was saved, they’d suffered many losses. As the field-maidens headed for the village’s great hall, the people
followed, part parade, part funeral procession. The air rang with songs usually only sung in the winter, when
the warriors returned victorious from their raiding. Janest heard harvest hymns, too, songs for reaping and
threshing, with new words to commemorate her victory over the fae.
The villagers sang Janest and the field-maidens all the way to the hall, and even when the doors closed
behind Janest and two of her sisters, their voices still echoed.
Inside, the High Reavers argued. Ten Sheaves’ priests stood in agitated clusters, some whispering fiercely
amongst themselves, others raising voices hoarse from days of shouting. Most looked as ragged as Janest
felt. Their clothing was rumpled; dark smudges beneath their eyes spoke to their exhaustion.
Heads swiveled to view the newcomers. Janest was suddenly keenly aware of how she must look: dirty,
clothes torn and soaked with both her blood and her foes’, sweat matting her hair. For an absurd moment,
she was a little girl again, bracing to be chastised for not scrubbing the dirt from beneath her fingernails
after a day in the fields. The High Reavers had always loomed so large to her.
But now, she saw them as people, just as frightened and tired as anyone else. She gently prised her sisters
Amalon and Marieke’s hands from her arms and stood straight. If she leaned just a little on her scythe, no
one seemed to notice. “They’re gone,” Janest said. “The army fled back into the mountains.”
“For how long?” asked one of the priests. Tomasz was a man in his middle years, who taught field-maidens
and farmhands to read tomorrow’s weather in the winds and clouds.
“I don’t know,” she said. “A long time. Years, I hope. We proved we’re not worth their while.” She knew this
just as she knew how deep to plant a seed or when the corn was at its sweetest. The raksha would be licking
their wounds for a long time; if they returned, it wouldn’t be to Kolisz, not when there were other villages to
prey on.
And who will protect those other villages?
The thought startled her.
Ten Sheaves had given his life so Janest might protect Kolisz. Had any other gods in the valley done the
same? Could any of them have? Word had trickled in all season of the faerie warband’s implacable march, of
the communities lost to their hunger: sleepy little Senjek; Poljna, whose orchards had the sweetest apples;
Zreta, which clung to the mountainside like a stubborn goat. All fallen to faerie gluttony. No other champions
had risen.
She remembered how Ten Sheaves had shown her a vision of Yu-Shan, the city that is Heaven, on the last
day of his immortal life. “I have never walked its streets, and now I never will. Perhaps you might, one day.”
How many cities were there, between here and Heaven? How many people in need of help?
The High Reavers were all watching her, expectantly. Janest realized she’d missed a question. “I’m sorry.
What did you ask?”
Iron-haired Henryka hid a scowl. “We said, what do we do now?” In all the years Janest had known Henryka,
she’d never asked questions, only given orders and instructions. She told you what needed to be done and
expected it to be done promptly.
“She’s tired,” said Marieke. “And wounded. We need to let her rest. Tomorrow can be for answers.”
Janest held up a hand for her sister to wait. To her astonishment, everyone in the room went still. It felt like
the moment at the start of the spring festival, when all Kolisz waited for Tomasz to proclaim how the planting
season had fared. But Janest was no High Reaver.
“Why are you asking me these questions?”
Henryka glanced at the grimscythe gleaming in Janest’s hands, at the faerie blood staining her clothes. “Ten
Sheaves chose you above all others. Surely, he gave you his wisdom to deliver to us.”
Another priest spoke up. “Janest carries Ten Sheaves’ blessing, not his words. He chose her to be our
guardian, not some messenger. That should be plain to see.”
They fell to bickering again, this time about the harvest god’s intentions. About her.
Ten Sheaves had said nothing about the High Reavers. He’d offered no advice for what Kolisz should do after
he was gone or even what Janest should do.
No. Janest thought that wasn’t entirely true.
You are to become Exalted — my champion, my Chosen — and the salvation of your people. If you live,
perhaps the salvation of much more.
What did that mean? The salvation of much more? She thought again of the vast valley, so much of which
she’d never seen, and the world beyond that. She thought of Heaven’s shining grander and the regret in Ten
Sheaves’ voice as he spoke of it.
But for now, Kolisz remained her greatest concern. “Tend the wounded,” she said. “Gather the dead. Be sure
everyone has food and shelter. Tomorrow, we’ll consider how to rebuild.” They were the same tasks the High
Reavers always oversaw when raiders came riding in winter’s heart, yet it was as if none of them had ever
considered them.
Their arguments stopped, and they set about their duties with renewed conviction. Taking advantage of this
flurry of activity, Marieke and Amalon ushered Janest out of the great hall.
•••••
In the following days, after her wounds had closed, Janest tended to her people. She comforted the grieving
and sat with the wounded. She returned to the fields to survey ruined crops and churned-up earth, renewing
the soil with her newfound blessings. She tried to take up a hammer and joined in repairing a house, despite
Amalon’s chidings about reopening the gash in her side. Her fellow field-maiden didn’t yet understand the
power of the Exalted.
Where her sisters treated her much as they always had, however, the High Reavers very much did not.
They sent runners to ask her advice on reconstruction. Tomasz kept her up late reviewing what could be
harvested, and whether they’d have enough for winter. Even Henryka waited for Janest’s subtle nod before
announcing a plan.
They looked to her for guidance, not as Ten Sheaves’ replacement, but as his appointed emissary. Janest
felt that responsibility tightening around her like baling twine. She loved Kolisz, but at night she dreamed
of far-away places. During her few idle moments, she wondered if there were others in need of her help.
She wondered what Kolisz might become if she stayed, whether she’d be the climbing vine that stole the
villagers’ sunlight and left them unable to grow on their own.
She spent one last night among her sisters. Amalon promised to tell the High Reavers she’d gone. Marieke
wept as they kissed one another goodbye.
Then, as dawn rose golden over the fields, Strawmaiden Janest set off into the world.
 Introduction
“A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark.”
— Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
The Exigents are many and myriad, but also utterly
unique. They’re not a single kind of Exalted, but the
manifold Chosen of Creation’s countless little gods. In
times of dire need, gods can petition the Unconquered
Sun for a spark of the Exigence — a bonfire of pure, cre-
ative power — to raise up their own Exalted champions.
To do so is always a risk; no god can know what it will
cost them. Many are consumed by the process entirely.
Exigents have left their mark on Creation’s history as
individual heroes, tipping the scales of power across
countless wars, revolutions, and dynasties. Most — like
Wun Ja’s Architects, the Sovereigns of Uluiru, the enig-
matic Puppeteer — are equals to the Dragon-Blooded
in power, but a rare handful, like Strawmaiden Janest,
rival the power of the Solar Exalted.
Exigents give players and Storytellers the opportunity
to flex their creativity, inventing unique Exalted as
player characters, allies, or enemies. This book pres-
ents four example types of Exigents with everything
you’ll need to play them, descriptions of other Exigents
for readers to flesh out with their own designs, and
guidelines for creating new Exigents and Charms.
Exigents also offer players and Storytellers the chance
to explore Creation’s little gods: their histories, pas-
sions, and plans. An Exigent’s relationship with the
god who chose them can be far more personal than
those of other Exalted with their distant patrons.
Even an Exigent whose patron god didn’t survive her
Exaltation might still find herself entangled with his
cult, allies, and enemies.
This Book at a Glance
Chapter One: Chosen of the Little Gods presents the
Exigents and their history, describes how gods create
them, and provides examples both of Exigents and
patron gods as a starting point for your own designs.
10
EX3
Chapter Two: Great Forks presents the City of Ten
Thousand Temples, one of the Scavenger Lands’
greatest and most prosperous cities. Spirits dwell here
en masse, seeking worship, influence, and earthly de-
lights. It’s also home to countless Exigents, including
champions chosen by the city’s gods and wandering
heroes seeking purpose or companionship.
Chapter Three: Beyond Mortality provides guid-
ance for Exigent character creation, advancement, and
traits.
Chapter Four: Power of the Exalted provides guid-
ance for designing your own custom Charms, whether
for Exigents or other Exalted.
Chapter Five: Strawmaiden Janest presents Janest,
Chosen by a humble field god but with power to equal
the mightiest of the Exalted.
Chapter Six: The Puppeteer presents the Puppeteer,
a master of intrigue who pulls strings both figurative
and literal.
Chapter Seven: The Architects presents the
Architects, Chosen of Cities, each a living incarnation
of one of Creation’s many cities.
Chapter Eight: The Sovereigns of Uluiru presents
the Sovereigns of Uluiru, Exigent god-kings empow-
ered by a gem-god’s sacrifice and the blood of a dead
Incarna.
Appendix: Creating New Exalted explores adding
entirely new kinds of Exalted to your game, with three
examples of optional Exalted: the Dream-Souled, mas-
ters of illusion and transformation; the Hearteaters,
monstrous Exalted who feed on free will; and the
Umbral Exalted, wracked by inner turmoil and a dark-
ness that both corrupts and empowers them.
 INTRODUCTION
Lexicon
Exigence, the: The divine flame that is the font
of Exigent Exaltation. Little gods may petition the
Unconquered Sun for a spark of this flame, allowing
them to create Exalted champions.
Exigent: Unique Exalted chosen by Creation’s little
gods using the power of the Exigence.
god: A type of spirit, typically serving as the divine
steward of a place, thing, or concept as part of Heaven’s
Celestial Bureaucracy. Among all spirits, only gods can
use the Exigence.
illicit Exigent: Any Exigent created by a god who
didn’t receive the spark of Exigence by petitioning the
Unconquered Sun. Such sparks are instead obtained
11
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from other gods whose petitions were answered
through theft, bargaining, extortion, and other means.
little god: All gods other than the Celestial Incarnae.
patchwork Exigent: An Exigent created by multiple
deities, tormented or warped by the irreconcilable
Essences that rage within them.
spark of Exigence: A portion of the Exigence bestowed
by the Unconquered Sun upon a god, which can be used
to create an Exigent — or can be given, traded, or lost to
other gods seeking to create illicit Exigents.
Unconquered Sun, the: The God of the Sun, King of
Heaven, God of Virtue, and custodian of the Exigence,
apportioning sparks of the divine flame to gods whose
pleas he deems worthy.
Springtide’s Promise was burning. The city’s banished admiral-prince had returned for revenge, and
she didn’t care who stood between her and the steward that had usurped her. Her foreign soldiers
stalked the streets while native families huddled in their homes or donned scraps of armor to bolster
the steward’s guard. People choked on smoke and fled half-blind into the streets amid the violent
confusion.
For a clever young thief like Twice-Errant Savannah, the city-wide panic was unfortunate. The admiral-
prince’s long siege had given the Chosen of Grifters many opportunities to exploit wealthy families’ fear,
right up until the navy broke through the city’s blockade. The sudden violence put an end to Savannah’s
plans; now he sprinted through hazy streets with a satchel full of stolen jewelry, hunted by a gang of the
admiral’s marines.
As he looked for a hiding place that wasn’t on fire, Savannah reflected that this whole situation would
make for an entertaining tale of misadventure if he survived. A part of his mind estimated the odds:
three-to-one against. He willed that part of his mind to shut up.
He turned a blind corner and slammed into an old woman, sending them both sprawling and scattering
Savannah’s collection of jewelry. “Sorry!” Savannah said, scrambling for his treasures amid the smoky
haze as he rolled to his feet.
To Savannah’s surprise, the wiry old woman found her feet almost as quickly as he had. She held up a
lantern to help his search. It was absurd — his problem was smoke, not darkness — yet somehow the
lantern’s light glinted off the most valuable piece of his collection, a necklace of translucent Underworld
obsidian. Savannah snatched it up and breathed a quick sigh of relief.
“That must be worth much to you,” the old woman said.
Savannah’s cheeks burned. In his hurry, he’d thought only of his treasures. He’d forgotten about escape,
and he certainly hadn’t thought to help an old woman to her feet in a burning city. Savannah knew just
how much he could sell the necklace for…but what was that worth just now?
Savannah cleared his throat. “Do…do you need help getting somewhere safe, ma’am?”
The woman chuckled and supplied her name: “Nozifo.” Then her eyes widened, and Savannah realized
that someone had snuck up behind him. He leaped forward, and the blackjack that would have bashed
his skull in merely struck his back, hard. Savannah tumbled away from his attacker, satchel held close
to his body.
Though pain and smoke blurred his vision, Savannah could make out half a dozen imposing figures
— the admiral’s troops had found him. He opened his mouth to negotiate, to plead, but Nozifo stepped
forward to defend him. Light sprang from her, a pale, clear brilliance that cut through the haze.
Savannah watched in awe as she fought the soldiers bare-handed, blocks and strikes precise as
Varangian clockwork.
“Run!” she shouted.
It was the only sensible thing to do, but Savannah didn’t budge. He’d found someone like him, a rare
and unique wonder…and if he left her now, he likely wouldn’t find her again, even if she did survive. He
needed a distraction, a chance for Nozifo and him to escape together.
Savannah wasn’t much of a fighter, but he had been chosen by a god of grifters, a patron of debtors and
cheats. He breathed a promise of wealth into the obsidian necklace and threw it into the fray.
“Eyes up, everyone!” he crowed. “First to reach it gets the prize!”

12
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 Chapter One

Chosen of
the Little Gods
The Exalted Host triumphed over the enemies of the
The Birth of the Exigents gods, and the Celestial Incarnae took the ancients’
place at the Games of Divinity. The fire of Exigence
In a time before history, the Unconquered Sun led the
still burned, but the Unconquered Sun no longer
gods in rebellion against their creators and oppres-
shared it indiscriminately, for the power of the Exalted
sors. Bound by an ancient geas, the gods could not
was great enough to disturb the Most High. It was
themselves fight the ancients. The Celestial Incarnae
reserved for those gods who sought champions in the
and their great allies, the Elemental Dragons, imbued
name of their duties in the great Celestial Bureaucracy
mortals with their divine Essence and raised up the
— though at times, a plea made in the name of compas-
Exalted Host to do battle with the makers of the world.
sion, righteous conviction, or the like was rewarded
But these were not the only heroes to take the field.
with Exigence, for the Unconquered Sun is also the
Many lesser gods clamored for the secret of Exaltation, God of Virtue, and it is not his nature to deny such
but the Incarnae kept it guarded, fearing what might come prayers when Creation is in dire need.
after the war. Instead, they sought out a font of power,
As the First Age reached its apex, the Unconquered
with which they could empower the little gods to choose
Sun turned his face from Creation, for he could no
Exalted without surrendering the great secret. The Five
longer bear to watch the acts of his own Chosen. The
Maidens saw it beyond the world’s edge, a numinous and
flame of Exigence dimmed from the world as count-
otherworldly power older than the world’s makers. World-
less pleas for Exalted champions were rarely granted.
walking Luna found the path to it, navigating through a
While Exigents still rose in this time of cinders — the
labyrinth of unreality. The Unconquered Sun kindled it
Torchbearer, the Sovereigns, and other heroes still —
with an ember of his own Essence, igniting and consuming
their ranks were few and dwindling.
that primeval force to light the divine fire of Exigence
within him, an answer to the Incarnae’s urgent need. Now, the Unconquered Sun looks on Creation once
more with the return of his Chosen, and the flames of
The Unconquered Sun offered this ever-burning flame
Exigence blaze anew. Countless gods have had their
to all gods, great and small alike, with which to create
pleas answered, and the Exigents’ ranks have grown to
their own Exalted. There was a cost to these champions,
a height not seen since the First Age.
as the Incarnae had paid to create their own Chosen.
Some among the weaker gods could endure the cost of
Exaltation; others were destroyed by it, sacrifices made Petitioning for Exigence
in the name of victory. They fought alongside the fabled
Chosen of the Incarnae and the mighty Dragon-Blooded: The hearth fire of the Exigence burns with the
The Chosen of Betrayal, her might multiplied a hun- Unconquered Sun’s Essence; only he can offer it to the
dredfold in defiance of the world’s makers; the Chosen little gods. Though he takes his leisure at the Games of
of Conquest, who smote the Ancients’ armies with her Divinity, secluded from Heaven, he hears the prayers of
great treasure-wheel; the Chosen of the Firmament, the gods and their petitions for the divine flame. Most
who led an army of devil-stars against the enemies of who successfully beseech him speak of their need at
the gods; and other legendary Exigent heroes. great length, explaining how choosing an Exalted

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 CHAPTER ONE: THE CHOSEN OF THE LITTLE GODS
champion would fulfill their duties to Heaven, though
at times a simple, desperate plea has been enough to
win the Sun’s blessing. The Unconquered Sun is dif-
ficult to deceive, rebuking those whose petitions are
made with anything less than absolute candor, but he
is not infallible and has been hoodwinked in the past.
When the Unconquered Sun grants a god’s petition, he
draws forth a spark of the Exigence from within himself
to bestow upon them, descending from the Most High
like a shooting star or a fallen ember. It falls into the
hands of the supplicant scarce moments after they finish
their prayer, burning with a power beyond imagining.
He was more town father than city father until the
refugees came, homeless and hungry. They’d flocked
to his temples, praying for prosperity and the city’s
acceptance, catching even the notice of Wun Ja,
Goddess of the Shining Metropolis, from her abode
in Heaven. An Exalted champion could lead the
growing city, could bring together its people and make
an answer to their plight. Wun Ja has promised to
share her power with him, for the Chosen of Cities
are her Exalted in part. Now, sitting behind his own
altar, he reviews his proposal one last time, written
in exquisite calligraphy lest he stumble over his
words. The Unconquered Sun will listen. He has to.
A spark of Exigence is immaterial, held within a
god’s Essence as the Exigence itself burns within the
Unconquered Sun’s. It is not easy to bear the flame; it
blazes from within them, scorching their very spirit.
Gods who cannot find a worthy champion quickly often
imbue the Exigence into a physical vessel, unable to bear
this agony any longer. The wary and the fearful might
choose to endure this burden, for it is far easier to steal a
spark once it is removed from a god’s Essence; others see
it as a test of their resolve in shepherding the Sun’s gift.
A spark alone is not an Exaltation. A god must offer up
their divine Essence, feeding their ember of Exigence
that it might blaze bright enough to empower one of
the Chosen. Exaltation is never without cost; no god
can create an Exigent without being permanently less-
ened. Weaker gods are often destroyed outright by this,
and even the mightiest gods take their lives into their
own hands when they choose an Exigent. Few can
survive creating multiple Chosen and fewer still are
willing to risk manyfold diminishment, making most
Exigents unique and singular champions.
Her river is dying. The plague swept down from the city,
dammed the river’s wellspring with bloated corpses, and
tainted her water with disease. The farmboy still comes
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to her muddy banks every dawn, his prayers sweet
with true devotion. Now she prays with him, though
she beseeches a different god. This plague is no natural
thing, and she feels it changing her, poisoning her as it
does her river. She would rather die, god of a lost river,
than let herself become an abomination. Sun willing,
she will sacrifice the last of herself to Exaltation,
making her farmboy the answer to his own prayers.
Illicit Exaltations
A spark of the Exigence not yet kindled with divine
Essence can be exchanged between gods. Before the
Unconquered Sun turned his face, it was rare that a god
might bargain with a spark or give it as a gift, but when
the flames of Exigence dimmed, those sparks that still
remained in divine hands and the rare few still given by
the Unconquered Sun became potent bargaining chips.
Such exchanges are prohibited by heavenly law, but as
the Celestial Bureaucracy has fallen into mismanagement
and corruption, such commerce is rarely punished.
A god whose petitions go unanswered and who can’t
bargain for a spark might steal a portion of Exigence
from another god. Only the most puissant of larcenous
deities can steal a spark held in a spirit’s Essence,
though coercion, threats, and violence might force
a god to part from their spark. Most stolen sparks,
however, are those that have been imbued in physical
vessels, vulnerable to theft and seizure.
An Exigent chosen by a god other than the one who peti-
tioned for their spark is known as an illicit Exigent, created
in defiance of Yu-Shan’s laws. While such Chosen aren’t
held personally culpable for their patron’s misdeeds,
Heaven still takes a dim view of them. Illicit Exigents
who catch Yu-Shan’s notice face close scrutiny for any
sign of assistance to their criminal patrons’ schemes.
It isn’t fair. It must be a mistake. They are twins, mir-
rors and equals in every way, yet the Sun granted her
brother’s prayers and left hers unanswered. The North
Mountain is hardly worthy of an Exigent; her South
Mountain is by far the more prestigious. She climbs
her brother’s mountain by moonlight while he sleeps.
Tonight, she will take his spark of the divine fire, and by
morning, the South Mountain will have its champion.
Patchwork Chosen
The Exigence was never meant to be used by more than
one god, but it is possible: Two gods may work together
to catalyze a spark of Exigence, or an entire panthe-
on of lesser deities might contribute their Essence
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
to create a champion. Perhaps they seek to create an
Exalt whose power synthesizes their varied natures
into something greater; perhaps they merely wish to
share the burden of diminishment among themselves
in the moment of Exaltation.
But while the gods may profit from this, their Chosen,
known as patchwork Exigents, pay the price of this
hubris. Disparate and incompatible Essences rage
within them, making their Exaltation as much a curse
as it is a blessing. Some are tormented by nightmares,
delusions, overwhelming urges, or agonizing pain
born of their schismatic nature. Others are corrupted
or warped into monstrous beings, both Chosen and
abomination.
Gods with shared or overlapping purviews can pool
their Essence without creating a patchwork Exigent,
their Essences harmonizing rather than clashing. The
Architects (p. XX) are one such example, created by
the goddess of all cities and the god of a single city.
The first thing he feels is cold. Not the cold of winter,
biting at his nose and fingertips, but a piercing
cold from within. He picks himself from the ground
between the three shrines, the stone eyes of the
gods staring at him in wordless judgment. They’d
promised him power and glory, not this gnawing,
icy void. He reaches for his chest but finds only a
hole the size of his fist where his heart should be.
That’s why he’s cold: he needs a heart. And if the
gods have stolen his, then he must find another.
A Singular Exaltation
Like all Exalted, the Exigents are chosen from heroes
and those with the potential for heroism. Beyond
that, who is chosen depends on their patron’s needs,
whether they are Exalted in answer to a dire crisis or
to serve the ambitions of a god who’s stolen a spark
of Exigence. Often the god appears directly to those
they Exalt, explaining why they have been chosen and
what they must do. Those whose patron gods did not
survive catalyzing their Exaltation experience a vision,
prophetic dream, or epiphany conveying their patron’s
last wishes. But the Exigents are infinitely varied in
their nature, and so too are their Exaltations, taking
countless forms.
Far away, a goddess watches her kingdom’s banners
burn, centuries-old heavy cloth thrown off the parapets
by the conquerors. She turns to the last prince of the
kingdom, a man too young for the mantle she must
bestow upon him. The Exigence burns beneath her
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CASTES AND ASPECTS
Some Exigents who exist in significant numbers
may have Castes — expressions of a role, like
warrior, savant, or emissary. Others have As-
pects, expressing and influencing their nature
and personality like a Dragon-Blood’s fiery tem-
per or a Liminal’s melancholy moods.
For example, the Chosen of a god of love might
have Aspects of Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape.
A tide-god’s Chosen may have a High Tide Caste
focused on forceful, direct approaches, and a Low
Tide Caste skilled in subtlety and subterfuge. Some
Exigents may have alternatives to either option: Ar-
chitects, for example, don’t have Castes or Aspects,
but are defined instead by the city they champion.
skin. “You must carry the banners of a nation in
your heart, and in your soul,” she tells him — and he
does. She fades into the rush of power, knowing that
something of the place she’s overseen for so long, a
land and a people that she’s come to love, will survive.
Most Exigents experience Exaltation as an ecstasy of
divine power, awakening to the Essence that suffuses
them in body, mind, and soul as their anima banner
flares, perhaps the first time it has ever been seen in
Creation. Often the experience is shaped by her pa-
tron’s nature — the Chosen of the Hearth feels flames
of power blazing within her yet burning her not; the
Chosen of Taxation feels a coin shining with numinous
power clinking in the coffers of his soul. Patchwork
Exigents often Exalt in agony, overwhelmed by the
roar of dissonant Essence within their being.
The slave girl crept into the sorcerer-prince’s laboratory
by night, desperate for something small and valuable
— just enough to buy passage to Palanquin when she
escaped. Her master wouldn’t miss one scroll or trinket.
But she came instead to a crystal casket, seeing the
vague form that moved inside, trapped and screaming.
The ancient god beseeched her from within in a
language she knew not, pleading, yes, but also somehow
distant and glorious. Fire kindled inside the crystal, and
the god burned; fire kindled inside the girl, and her mind
thrummed with the language of the Old Realm and all
its sorcerous power. A power to break her master’s sor-
cerous bindings upon her and to shatter the wards that
guarded him. By morning, she had plucked his tongue
from his mouth and set out in search of her future.
 CHAPTER ONE: THE CHOSEN OF THE LITTLE GODS

Most Exigents’ Exaltations die with them, vanishing she has dreamed of winning since watching her
from the world. A rare few persist beyond death to first match from her mother’s shoulders.
find another worthy of them. Some are like those of
the Solar Exalted, passing on to a new hero chosen by
their patron god. Others are inherited in a unique fash- Exigents and Other Exalted
ion: a legendary blade that confers Exaltation upon
Across Creation’s history, the Exigents have crossed
worthy wielders, a riddle spoken with the Chosen of
paths with other Chosen many times. Allies to some,
Mysteries’ dying words that will pass her Exaltation on
enemies to others, the great powers of Creation know
to those who solve it, a plague that bears the Chosen of
and respect the myriad talents of the Exigents.
Disease’s Exaltation to the one who can survive it.
The Realm’s Immaculate Order, Lookshy’s Immaculate
“Behold,” says the king, “our warrior of warriors,
Faith, and other Immaculate sects that hold sway in
victor of victors!” The crowd’s cheers drown out
various Dragon-Blooded polities condemn Exigents
all other noise, like the vomiting of the runner-up
as the result of forbidden congress between gods and
she’d punched six times in the stomach before he’d
mortals. Many press Exigents into service — the only
stayed down. She holds her head high and ap-
path to atonement for the crime of their existence and
proaches the dais, where the jeweled girdle lies atop
a better life in their next reincarnation. Exigents who
a golden table. It’s warm to the touch, and as her
refuse to serve are disfavored, but they need not fear
fist closes around it, she feels the surge of certainty
being named Anathema unless they defy the Perfected
and power. Her skin shines as gold as the table,
Hierarchy by threatening Dragon-Blooded hegemony.
her eyes a vivid platinum. Now, she understands:
the belt does not make her victorious, it makes The Silver Pact has known Exigents as both allies and
her Victory itself, champion of the tournament enemies across its history; while individual Lunars

17
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
may hold their own prejudices, the Pact judges each
Exigent as an individual. The resurgence of Exigence
presents the Pact with both opportunities and con-
cerns, especially when gods — well-meaning, rebel-
lious, or otherwise — raise up heroes from Lunar do-
minions. Some Lunar envoys visit Great Forks, Uluiru,
and other places where Exigents gather, hoping to find
unique allies, associates, or assets.
The Celestial Bureaucracy has foisted the task of
overseeing Exigents onto the Bureau of Destiny, with
the rationale that the Exalted should deal with the
Exalted. Sidereals are tasked with investigating the
illicit theft or transfer of sparks of the Exigence, and
with monitoring Exigents for signs of criminal con-
spiracy with their patrons. But the Bureau lacks the re-
sources and political will to investigate all such crimes;
most Sidereals prioritize their service to destiny over
an unwanted and burdensome duty.
The Spark of Divinity
Creation’s gods aren’t abstract embodiments of pri-
mal forces, but divinities entrusted with stewardship
of some aspect of the world by Heaven’s Celestial
Bureaucracy. Gods in Heaven have manifold purviews:
abstract concepts, primeval forces, and fundamental
aspects of nature or human existence. They are gods
of war and flame, of cherry blossoms and prophetic
dreams. The terrestrial gods who dwell in Creation
each oversee some specific facet of the world. They
are gods of individual rivers, lakes, and even the Great
Western Ocean, of the North’s Black Shale Road, of the
trade winds that blow through the Coral Archipelago,
of An-Teng’s elephants and of Nexus’ thieves.
Exigents are the Chosen of their patron gods, not
those gods’ divine purviews. The god’s nature and
deeds shape their Exigent’s power, as does the crisis
the Exigent was Chosen to answer. The Chosen of
Ahlat will have Charms expressing excellence in war,
particularly desert warfare, but her might also encom-
passes the war-god’s prowess with bow and spear, the
judgment he passes on warriors, and his authority over
cattle and cattle-raiding. Shala Assai is the Chosen of
Knives, but her power and Charms are not those of a
legendary killer, for her patron sees knives as tools of
human survival and ingenuity rather than mere weap-
ons. The Prince of Ink holds power over the written
word, but his Charms also draw from his patron’s
nature as a heavenly diplomat and advocate for peace.
Not all Exigents are equal in might. Most are peers to the
Dragon-Blooded, but a rare few across Creation’s history
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THE GREAT CURSE
When the Neverborn’s death-curse fell upon the
Exalted, it did not merely afflict those Chosen who
stood against them in the Divine Revolution; they
cursed Exaltation itself. No Exigent — and no other
Exalt — is free of this affliction, no matter how long
after the Neverborn’s death they were Chosen.
have rivaled the Solar Exalted. An Exigent’s power is not
dependent on that of their patron god: the mightiest of
celestial deities might create a champion no greater than
that of a humble terrestrial god, while the least among the
gods can create Exigents of untold might.
If an Exigent’s patron survives their Exaltation, consid-
er the relationship between them. Most Exigents are
swift to act in the face of the crisis they were created for,
impelled by their patron’s urging and their own Essence
fever, but many are unwilling to continue in their god’s
service once that crisis is past, striking off on their own.
Some remain allies of their patron even as they wan-
der far afield. Others might be bitter enemies, finding
themselves opposed to their patron’s goals or seeking
vengeance for an Exaltation they never asked for. A
patron’s cult, priests, and other allies are also a common
presence in an Exigent’s life — some eager to serve their
god’s champion and others distrustful of the outsider
who’s received a blessing they see as undeserved.
From God to Exigent
When creating an Exigent, it’s often easiest to start by
creating their patron god. That god’s purview, person-
ality, and history help to inform the Exigent’s concept
and provide inspiration for her Charms. You can pick
an existing god (a list of which is on p. XX) or invent
one of your own. If you’re making your own god, you
don’t need to figure out everything about them — it’s
enough to know what they’re the god of, what their
personality is like, and why they needed an Exigent.
When conceptualizing what a god’s Exigent might
look like, it can help to begin by focusing in on three
distinct themes based on that god’s purview, person-
ality, history, and reasons for creating an Exigent. For
unique Exigents like Strawmaiden Janest, you can also
draw from the Exigent’s personality, though these
themes should be broad and archetypal enough to
support multiple variations on that singular character
concept. The chosen themes don’t need to encompass
 CHAPTER ONE: THE CHOSEN OF THE LITTLE GODS
everything or even the most important things about the
Exigent; they’re just a starting point. You can then start
sketching out ideas for your Exigent and what their
Charm trees might look like based on this foundation.
You may have a strong concept for an Exigent, but not
the god who chose them. If that’s the case, you can
work backward from your Exigent and their Charms
to come up with their divine patron, figuring out how
the Charms’ themes are reflected in that god.
You don’t need to write their Charm set in full; it’s
enough to sketch out a few branches. As you define
your patron god, you may find it provides further in-
spiration for your Exigent concept and Charms.
Divine Patrons
The following gods provide examples of how a god’s
themes inspire the concept and Charms of their poten-
tial Exigent.
Fenya, God of Guild Cant
A tutelary deity of the Guild and the language-god of
its secret tongue, Fenya is young but mighty, empow-
ered by the language’s use across Creation. Merchant
princes pray to him — in the cant, of course — for elo-
quence and clarity of speech and to ward off misunder-
standings. Fenya might be driven to create an Exigent
to stand as a champion against threats to the Guild, to
hunt down infiltrators who’ve stolen the secret cant,
or — if he can lay hands on an illicit spark — to serve as
his agent against rival language-gods.
Themes
As the Exalted of a language-god, Fenya’s Chosen
might have social Charms that are most powerful when
conveyed through cant, eavesdropping Charms whose
range increases dramatically for anything spoken in
cant, and Charms to empower and enlighten followers
that are most effective on those who know the language.
Disgustingly rich by mortal standards, Fenya especially
treasures the silver used in the Guild’s preferred coin-
age, which he helps promote over the Realm’s jade
currency. His Chosen would excel in bribes and other
shows of wealth, especially when making use of silver.
Fenya is an impeccably honest broker; while he may
present the truth creatively, he never lies. His Chosen
might have Charms to sense and punish falsehoods,
but their social influence Charms might be weaker or
even unusable for deception.
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Vanileth, God of Artificial Flight
Vanileth remembers the First Age fondly: the great
skyships, flying pagodas, starspires, and other won-
drous conveyances that soared the sky; the prayers
offered up to him by artificers, pilots, and passengers.
Today, he has fallen so far in the Celestial Bureaucracy
that he’s been all but exiled from Heaven, residing in
a mountaintop eyrie in the far North where he crafts
marvelous clockwork birds. Lookshy’s scarce few sky-
ships, the Haslanti League’s balloon-driven air boats,
and a handful of other flying craft are all that remain
of his once-great purview. Vanileth might be driven to
create an Exigent to return artificial flight to promi-
nence or to fend off a winged foe of Creation — or he
may already have a spark, awaiting the first mortal to
reach his palace by sky.
Themes
As Chosen of Artificial Flight, Vanileth’s Exigent would
have a mastery of flying vessels and expertise in other
vehicles, which they might enchant to take to the skies.
Vanileth is a masterful artificer, constantly tinkering
with his clockwork birds. His Chosen might excel in
crafting, particularly flying vessels; command flocks of
flying automata; and stoke the ingenuity of inventors
and engineers.
Secluded in his mountaintop sanctum, Vanileth offers
rewards to those who can reach him. His Chosen
might test the mettle and ingenuity of others, bestow-
ing rewards on those who pass.
Yibi, Guardian of theSweetgrass Temple
As a lion dog, Yibi is among the humblest of gods, a
minor guardian appointed by Heaven to defend the
Sweetgrass Temple. Far in the south, the temple-manse
nourishes soil and cleanses water, making it possible
for the nearby cities of the Ytembe Confederation to
survive. Throughout the centuries of her stewardship,
she’s fended off rogue spirits, mortal warlords, scaven-
ger princes, and other threats to the manse. Creating
an Exigent would almost surely destroy her, but she
may still do so in the face of a threat too powerful for
her to defeat.
Themes
Lion dogs are famously loyal, and Yibi has suffered
great danger and long solitude in service to Heaven. Her
Chosen could share that intense loyalty, guarding her
positive Ties from all influence that would weaken or
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

alter them; resisting intimidation, deception, and cor- might have power over fertility, plants, and water; be able to
ruption through loyalty; and inspiring loyalty in others, imbue others with good health; raise up fields of tall grass to
deputizing them as guardians in Heaven’s name. conceal herself; or create oases in the most barren deserts.

As a lion dog, Yibi is a powerful guardian beast, with

razor-sharp fangs and an impenetrable jade hide. Her
Chosen could draw on these traits, manifesting fangs,
claws, and jade skin; honing his sense of smell; or
drawing on her incredible strength and tireless nature.
As guardian of the Sweetgrass Temple, Yibi has ensured
that surroundings cities have prospered. Her Exigent
Notable Exigents
The Bleak Warden, Chosen of the Seals
The Bleak Warden is the callous guardian of an oth-
erworldly prison, sealing away and unbinding the
horrors trapped within as suits his purposes.

IT’S LIKE THAT, BUT…

A Chosen of Yibi’s Charms would likely have some overlap with both Dragon-Blooded by manipulating plants
and water, and Lunars by drawing on animal traits. That’s fine! An Exigent’s themes can overlap with some of
another kind of Exalted, as long as there’s room for divergence. That often means narrowing the focus of that
theme and letting the god’s nature and personality inform Charms that involve that theme. Yibi’s Chosen has
power over water and plants as sources of fertility, sustenance, and health rather than the Dragon-Blood’s
all-encompassing elemental mastery. Likewise, while Lunars can take any animal form, Yibi’s Chosen is limited
to their patron’s lion dog traits. When designing Charms for an Exigent with overlapping themes, you can some-
times take directly from other Exalted. You’ll usually want to make a few changes to make it fit the overall design
and mechanical focus of your Charm set, but sometimes you won’t need to change it at all.

20
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 CHAPTER ONE: THE CHOSEN OF THE LITTLE GODS
Omron Kanthu and The-Darkness-That-Binds
Many years ago, a child was born into Riven Quay’s
reeking, shadowy slums, orphaned or abandoned to
a life of misery on the street. As Omron scraped and
stole and shivered through winters, the god known
as The-Darkness-That-Binds walked the halls of a
labyrinthine prison carved in Creation’s dark depths,
where countless enemies of Heaven had been sealed.
As more and more of its cells were filled, it grew harder
for the goaler-god to keep them locked away. First one
prisoner escaped, then another, until The-Darkness-
That-Binds knew his own power was not enough.
Only an Exalted champion could keep these horrors
contained, and he beseeched the Unconquered Sun.
Longing for more than a street urchin’s life, Omron
explored places forbidden to him and the earth’s
dark corners — the estates of the wealthy, caves and
caverns, perilously decrepit buildings, abandoned
tombs — searching for anything that would give him
a way out of this life. It was on one such expedition,
traversing underground tunnels leading deep into the
earth, that Omron finally found his prize. His compan-
ions had long since turned back in fear, and his lantern
had flickered out, leaving him in pitch blackness. Lost,
desperate, and afraid, his stumbling finally brought
him to a luminous sigil, carved in the solid rock of a
cavern wall.
A voice whispered to him, told him that the seal was
yet unfinished and dared him to complete it if he be-
lieved himself worthy. Omron was no savant, was not
even literate, but something in the half-finished sigil
spoke to him, its solution as intuitively obvious as plac-
ing a puzzle piece. Cutting his arm on a jagged stone,
he traced out a pattern in his own blood, and unsealed
the power of Exaltation.
The Bleak Warden’s Duty
The Darkness-That-Binds gave his Bleak Warden two
tasks: maintaining the labyrinth’s seals to keep its pris-
oners locked away, and hunting down those who’d es-
caped the prison or who rightfully belonged in its cells.
Now empowered beyond mortal imagining, Omron
is free to explore Creation and seek out its secret
wonders as he never could before. But the burden of
responsibility weighs heavy on him, and he chafes
against his patron’s demands. It isn’t just wanderlust;
the Bleak Warden’s duties demand ruthlessness, and
Omron lacks the cold heart they require. Instead, those
who speak with him find him a thoughtful man with
gentle humor and a keen sense of justice, upholding his
obligations only with great remorse.
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Power of the Seals
The Bleak Warden wields the seals that ward The-Darkness-
That-Binds’ prison and greater seals beyond even his pa-
tron’s grasp. He also embodies his patron’s nature as a being
of formless darkness, an implacable pursuer of Creation’s
foes, and a heartless gaoler. The Bleak Warden can:
• Draw on the knowledge, memories, and power
of his prisoners.
• Unleash his prisoners against his foes, binding
them lest they break free.
• Break an enemy’s will by forcing them to experi-
ence untold years of imprisonment in the blink
of an eye.
• Track down even a quarry who leaves no trail,
sensing its presence as a dissonance in the world.
• Create chains of darkness to bind a foe.
• Vanish into darkness.
Willow Specter,
the Chosen of the Dice
Willow Specter is the luckiest man in the world, a
daredevil who won his Exaltation from Plentimon, god
of gamblers.
A Game of Chance
Long ago, Plentimon of the Dice won a spark of
Exigence from a mountain-god desperate to recoup
his losses in a high-stakes game. Without any inten-
tion of creating an Exalted champion, he held onto it
for years, occasionally staking it against treasures of
immeasurable value or simply to make a game more
interesting. Renowned for his fair play, none doubted
that Plentimon would honor his bets, but he would
only wager the spark when he was certain of winning.
Willow Specter had made his living in Nexus’ gam-
bling houses. At the age of thirteen, he took a week’s
worth of what he could beg and bluffed his way past
the House of Golden Pips’ hired muscle. He turned his
meager coins into enough to keep him housed and fed,
and then turned that into enough for a life of luxury.
He won fortunes and lost them, was tossed back onto
the streets without a quarter-dinar to his name, and
rode the waves of fortune back to a life of riches.
Plentimon rarely leaves the casino that is his abode, but
he watches over every gambler who prays to him, and
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Willow Specter caught his notice. He came to the House
of Golden Pips, a man-shaped void flecked with silver
and gold, and challenged Willow Specter to a game of
chance. It lasted all night and all day, until Plentimon
proposed one final gamble. If Willow Specter won,
he would be Exalted as Plentimon’s Chosen; lose, and
become the god’s eternal servant. Perhaps Plentimon’s
arrogance blinded him, perhaps Willow Specter was
skilled enough of a cheat to hoodwink the god of gam-
bling, or perhaps fortune simply smiled on him. He won
and became the Chosen of the Dice.
The King of Gamblers
Willow Specter has amassed quite a fortune, spending
it lavishly on finely tailored clothing, sumptuous feasts,
and luxurious apartments in Nexus’ bustling Cinnabar
district. Luck is always with him, and not just at the
gaming table. In the instant he thinks to hail a carriage,
one pulls up beside him; on the run from Guild enforc-
ers, he happens across a convenient alleyway to slip
into. He stumbles across treasures thought lost forever
and overhears teahouse gossip that tells him exactly
what he needs to know.
Willow Specter has put his good fortune to use as a
troubleshooter, enforcer, and assassin. His fees are
exorbitant, though he’ll cut them for interesting clients
or exciting jobs. He’s currently working as a bodyguard
for the Guild factor Nimah Fell, whose ruthless busi-
ness practices and willingness to backstab his fellow
Guildsmen have made him many enemies.
Plentimon largely leaves Willow Specter to his own
devices, though the Chosen of the Dice is glad to help
when the god requires his services, seeing him as an
old friend. It’s unclear to what extent Plentimon’s been
diminished by creating his Chosen. Do the glinting
flecks within the void of his body seem dimmer than
before? Does he hesitate just a bit before throwing the
dice? Or is that all merely a bluff to make his enemies
underestimate him?
For all Willow Specter’s power and riches, he’s not
nearly as carefree as he seems. His confidence and
swagger are genuine, but the nagging fear of his bill
coming due is always at the back of his mind. Any gam-
bler knows no winning streak lasts forever, and Willow
Specter doesn’t know when — or if — his luck will run
out.
Loaded Dice
Willow Specter enjoys miraculous good fortune while
also partaking of Plentimon’s nature as a canny pit boss
and astute judge of character. The Chosen of Dice can:
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• Escape harm thanks to a lucky coincidence — a
falling banner knocking an arrow off course, a
pack of cards in his pocket blunting a blow, etc.
• Know someone’s wealth and its provenance at a
glance.
• Make it possible for gamblers to stake memo-
ries, years of their lifespan, and other impossible
wagers.
• Curse those who cheat in games or renege on
their wagers.
• Reap greater rewards from risky endeavors.
• Exploit the corruption, greed, or pride of indi-
viduals and organizations.
Nurlissa, the Chosen of Masks
The Chosen of Masks wears countless false faces,
changing her powers and identity as circumstances
require.
History
Shalrina, goddess of faces, long ago abandoned her
celestial estate in Yu-Shan for a life in Creation, where
she now peddles masks from a small shop in Nexus
— some merely of exquisite quality, some imbued
with miraculous power, and some faces given to her
in trade. She petitioned the Unconquered Sun for the
fire of Exigence for a champion to stand against an
inscrutable monster known as the Eater of Names that
preyed upon her city’s people, threatening their very
identity — and what were faces without identity?
Nurlissa was at starvation’s doorstop when she came
to Shalrina’s shop. She was young, scarcely a woman,
and she’d heard the shop’s mysterious proprietor
traded in faces and all that came with them. What use
was her youth if she died tomorrow? Shalrina offered
a different bargain, for her will to survive at all costs
had impressed the goddess. In exchange for her face,
she’d receive Exaltation, a mask shining with divinity,
and serve Shalrina as her champion.
Behind the Mask
After Nurlissa drove the Eater of Names out of Nexus,
she continued in Shalrina’s service, spying on her rivals,
collecting on debts owed to her, and fighting against
supernatural threats to her patron. But Shalrina was
not a kind patron, and she demanded more than her
Chosen was willing to bear. She fled Nexus, cradling
 CHAPTER ONE: THE CHOSEN OF THE LITTLE GODS
the face she’d stolen from the goddess’ vault in her
hands — her own.
Since then, she’s hunted Wyld beasts threatening villag-
es in the Scavenger Lands, liberated slaves from Guild
caravans, and dueled with outcaste champions. What
she really wants is a home, somewhere she can make a
new life for herself and discover who she is when not
bound by desperate poverty or servitude to her patron.
Like many Exigents, she’s come to Great Forks, hoping
to find a home among the city’s numerous gods and
her fellow Chosen. But Shalrina has many allies and
agents; no few of Great Forks’ gods owe a favor to
Nurlissa’s vengeful patron. If she wants to survive in
her new home, she’ll need companions of her own.
Masks of Power
The Chosen of Masks’ Charms are not born of her
personal prowess and skill like those of other Exalted.
Instead, she possesses a panoply of magical masks
created by Shalrina and by herself, each with its own
unique identity and Charms.
• The Mask of Exaltation is the first one Nurlissa
wore, a mirror image of Shalrina’s own counte-
nance carved in black jade. It imbues her with
the most fundamental of her powers. She can in-
ternalize a limited number of these Charms, able
to use them even while wearing other masks.
• Wearing a mask of carved wood, she becomes
the Lord of Beasts, driven by primal instinct and
an affinity for all animals. She may speak to and
command beasts, wield the prowess of a legend-
ary hunter, pass unscathed through the most
perilous wilderness, and empower her familiars.
• Wearing a devil-faced mask, she becomes the
Red-Eyed Demon, a wrathful monster who
exults in bloodshed and dominance. She fights
with incredible strength, skin like steel, and ber-
serker fury as she terrifies and subdues foes with
her dreaded battle-mien.
• Wearing a silken mask, she becomes the Doe
Courtesan, infinitely subtle and wise in the
nature of power. She has power both seen and
unseen, captivating others with beauty and in-
flaming their passions or fading from visibility
and acting with perfect silence.
• Wearing a Sijanese funeral mask, she becomes
the Gallows Saint, a tragic and melancholy
hero. She is a peerless ghost-speaker and spirit
23
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medium who can spread infectious sorrow, nav-
igate the Underworld’s waterways, and draw
upon the fell power of necromancy.
• The Mask of Herself restores her to her mortal
identity, empowering her to conceal her nature
as one of the Exalted, draw power from her
fierce will to survive, and safeguard her relation-
ships and those closest to her heart.
The Foxbinder of Shifune
The Foxbinder is an Exigent charged with the over-
sight of Wicked-Grin Shifune, a legendary trickster
who serves as her patron, companion, and hostage.
The Fox’s Punishment
A wild and mischievous fox-spirit, Wicked-Grin Shifune
was once but a minor terrestrial god who cheated his
way into an eminent position in Heaven and the power
that came with it. He lived a life of opulence unknown
to earthly spirits — feasting on peaches of immortality,
lounging about in his manse while attended by count-
less servants, and making fools of mighty gods with his
shapeshifting pranks. In time, he angered the wrong
god, and found himself haled into Heaven’s courts.
Found guilty not only of troubling high-ranking gods
but of committing crimes against Yu-Shan itself
with his fraudulent hiring, Shifune was given an un-
precedented sentence: he would be forced to create
an Exigent, diminishing himself to create his own
keeper. Much gossip and commotion spread through
Yu-Shan in the verdict’s wake; many were shocked
the Unconquered Sun would bestow a spark upon the
judge as an instrument of punishment. The Exaltation
was sealed within a bejeweled collar and placed in the
Immaculate Order’s care along with Shifune.
The Foxbinder’s Legacy
Shifune has had many Foxbinders over the years, each
one handpicked by the Immaculate Order to receive
their predecessor’s collar. The current Foxbinder is
Tamako, a young patrician woman who entered the
Immaculate Order to escape an arranged marriage.
She stumbled through a difficult novitiate, but the
diligence and determination with which she under-
took it so impressed her mentor that she remembered
Tamako’s name when the previous Foxbinder died.
Now, Tamako wanders the Blessed Isle sniffing out
Anathema at the Order’s behest, accompanied by
Shifune in those shapes that weren’t burnt to nothing-
ness when he was forced to create his champion — a
red fox with seven-fingered hands instead of paws and
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
a handsome, red-haired youth clad in black, crimson,
and orange.
Previous Foxbinders have kept Shifune on a short leash,
either out of a sense of duty as the fox-god’s captor or for
fear of what punishments the Immaculate Order might
inflict. Tamako is still new to her Exaltation, though,
and gentle-hearted. She treats Shifune more as a friend
than a prisoner, and her compassionate nature risks
compromising her loyalty to the Order. When rumors
of a Lunar Anathema led her to a mere child with the
moon’s mark shining on his brow, she let him escape and
told her handlers it was nothing but alehouse gossip.
Shifune is greatly pleased by his Chosen’s seed of in-
dependence, nurturing it at every turn by encouraging
small acts of rebellion. He hopes that she’ll one day
turn against the Order, becoming the rebel that his
Exaltation has always been meant for, and that the two
of them will once again raise chaos across Creation.
Gifts of the Foxbinder
The Foxbinder’s prowess thwarts cunning and de-
ception, making her the ideal captor for Shifune, but
she also shares his nature as a gifted trickster and has
a spiritual bond with him that empowers them both.
The Foxbinder can:
• Scent lies, making it easier to track those who
live by deception.
• Expose disguises, deception, and trickery, espe-
cially from those in power.
• Having caught someone in a lie, render them
incapable of further deception.
• Commune with Shifune even across great dis-
tances and empower him as her familiar.
• Create illusions that make even the most outra-
geous lies seem true.
• Create convincing disguises out of flimsy props
and pretenses.
The Torchbearer
The Torchbearer is an ever-burning hero of enlighten-
ment, heir to a chain of scholar-champions dedicated
to preserving knowledge in the Age of Sorrows.
An Inheritance of Flame
Centuries ago, Medo’s armies besieged Cradle, a city
known for its libraries and universities. Ogen-Moin,
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the mandrill-headed god of study by lamplight, guard-
ian of Cradle’s centuries of accumulated knowledge,
sacrificed himself to light his sacred lantern with the
fire of Exigence, empowering a scholar-champion to
protect his beloved libraries: the first Torchbearer. The
Exigent couldn’t save the city, but he escaped with his
life, all the codices he could carry, and a dream of the
world bathed in the light of knowledge and reason.
Since then, the Torchbearers have pursued this dream.
The flame of their Exaltation burns steadily, giving them
a lifespan to rival a Dragon-Blood’s, though without
their long-lasting youth. By the end of her first century, a
Torchbearer appears quite elderly, though she remains
spry. A Torchbearer’s Exaltation would normally die
with her, but it can be passed on from master to appren-
tice — an act that invariably kills the master.
Nozifo Isiman, the Eighth Torchbearer
Nozifo was born to a Southern family of herders. She
never cared for studying or sitting in quiet, dusty
reading rooms, but her predecessor, the Seventh
Torchbearer, appreciated a venturesome spirit and
saw Nozifo’s intuitive brilliance behind her un-
schooled mind. Instead of keeping her to a library, he
wandered forest pathways and city streets with her
as her whims led her, imparting an education to rival
any Realm patrician’s as they walked. As he lay dying,
struck down by an outcaste bandit’s blade, he passed
the Torchbearer’s flame to her.
After a year spent planning, Nozifo avenged her mas-
ter, leaving behind only the smoldering ashes of his
murderer. She’s since set out to wander Creation, seek-
ing knowledge in need of preservation. She’s fallen in
love, had children, and foiled conspirators and despots,
but she’s never stayed still for more than a year. She’s
crossed paths with the Immaculate Order and been
declared Anathema for her willingness to disseminate
heretical writings.
In the Time of Tumult, Nozifo questions how well her
roaming heroism serves Creation, contemplating set-
tling down and building a library or academy to house
and share the knowledge she’s won. But she’s made
many enemies, and her power can only be concealed
for so long; wherever she makes her home, her light
will inevitably draw her foes.
The Flame of Knowledge
The Torchbearer’s power is palpable — a pale, inextin-
guishable flame that burns along her entire body, just
above the skin. She may manifest a lamp of Essence
to contain and concentrate her flame, or else conceal
 CHAPTER ONE: THE CHOSEN OF THE LITTLE GODS
it within a mundane lantern, but it never travels be-
yond arm’s reach. She wields power over both literal
flame and the light of clarity and understanding. The
Torchbearer can:
• Draw on her lantern’s flame to set fires, blind
foes, frighten off wild beasts, and banish cold
and darkness.
• Bolster the concentration and mental clarity of
those who study under her.
• Imbue others with wonder, curiosity, and a drive
to share their knowledge.
• Use her lantern to reveal the path to her
destination.
• Banish ignorance, discord, and disorganization.
• Reveal vulnerabilities and flaws.
Thousand Venoms Mistress,
Chosen of Toxins
The Chosen of Toxins is a divine assassin and expert
poisoner, master of the ten thousand venoms found in
Creation and the worlds beyond.
The Venomous Exaltation
A socialite and schemer among the spirit courts of the
Scavenger Lands, the poison-goddess Whirling Lady
Koro-Bana’s pleas to the Unconquered Sun went un-
answered. She had sought a spark for selfish reasons,
seeking a divine assassin to strike down her rivals, and
her poisoned words could not deceive the Most High.
Undeterred, she sought out another god who’d won a
spark of Exigence, eventually finding one boasting of
his luck in one of Great Forks’ teahouses. As she toast-
ed to his good fortune, she slipped a slow, agonizing
poison into his cup. As he writhed and screamed, she
revealed her treachery and offered the antidote in ex-
change for his Exigence.
Broken Sky was a devotee of Koro-Bana’s cult in Great
Forks, an aged herbalist who served the goddess by
giving poisons to those in need of them — wives seek-
ing freedom from abusive husbands, youths seeking to
escape forced military service by feigning illness, and
dissidents plotting the death of tyrants. Many in Koro-
Bana’s cult sought to win her favor and Exaltation,
boasting of their death-dealing feats. Broken Sky
25
EX3
said nothing, but those she’d helped spoke for her,
recounting how her poisons had changed their lives.
Exaltation flooded her soul like a tide of burning agony,
eating away and corroding her mortality until only the
Thousand Venoms Mistress remained.
The Divine Assassin
Devoted to her goddess, Broken Sky assassinates Koro-
Bana’s divine rivals and their cultists with dedication,
each poisoned corpse a prayer. When not working on
her patron’s behest, she offers her services to clients in
search of justice or vengeance: queens, gods, warlords,
merchant princes, monks, and more have met their
end at her poisoned blades. Countless bounties have
been placed on her head; she takes no pleasure in dis-
patching those sent to kill her, leaving them helpless
and paralyzed rather than dead when she can.
Broken Sky takes pride in her work, but she’s more
than an assassin. It’s been years since she’s seen her
family; she relocated them from Great Forks soon af-
ter killing her first god lest they suffer reprisals from
Koro-Bana’s enemies or others seeking vengeance on
the legendary assassin. She limits her friendships and
romances to her fellow Chosen, knowing that they can
defend themselves. Her work as an assassin funds a
more-than-modest lifestyle, but much of her pay goes
to her patron’s temple.
Ten Thousand Deadly Venoms
The Thousand Venoms Mistress is a physical, spiritual,
and metaphorical embodiment of poison in all its many
forms. Her Charms also partake of her role as divine
assassin and of Whirling Lady Koro-Bana’s schemes,
social graces, and vengeful nature. She can:
• Synthesize poisons from her own blood.
• Poison a spirit’s Essence, corroding and dissolv-
ing it from within.
• Metaphorically poison a group with discord,
suspicion, and betrayal.
• Read the thoughts and share the senses of some-
one she’s poisoned.
• Experience prophetic visions of the future by
flooding her body with entheogenic venom.
• Commit herself irrevocably to an assassination
contract, becoming implacable in pursuit of her
target.
Boz Miklós regarded his shadow as it faded into view, approaching the Little God’s Gate into Great Forks.
The God of Riverspeak had always hated the sheer effort it took to materialize and tread Creation’s soil,
but he enjoyed breathing the same air the mortals did. It had a thickness to it, necessitating the subtlest
changes in how he worked his tongue to shape words. It had a taste, sweet and rich.

Great Forks’ streets were a riot of rich colors, noisy hubbub, and aromatic food, packed with mortals
and gods alike. And they were all speaking his language. Boz fingered the cord of the cloth-of-gold bag
within his sleeve pocket. Within it burned a spark of Exigence, a treasure beyond worth — one that he
intended to sell in this, the City of Ten Thousand Temples.

What would my champion even look like? He wondered idly. Might they hear every word spoken in his
tongue, hear the hidden meaning behind honeyed words, or speak righteous truths with every syllable?
Boz Miklós pondered this and settled for never knowing. He’d sought the Exigence to save the Hundred
Kingdoms from a faerie horror that devoured language itself, but before he found a champion, the beast
had fallen to the Wyld Hunt. No longer in need of an Exigent, Boz had reached out among his fellow
gods to find one willing to bargain for a spark of divine flame.

He walked along one of the lanes towards the bazaar called Little Yu-Shan, where mortals and spirits
transacted worship and business. He strode past noodle stalls and caravanserais to the cafés, the ones
that served the coffee made with crushed eggshells that Boz so loved. Having never met his buyer
before, he’d agreed to meet her here.

The buyer was already sitting at their chosen table. She was gaunt and corpse-like, with eyes made of
sapphire and breath that smelled of rotting meat no matter how much mint she chewed to cover the
smell. Boz had expected someone more pleasant than a goddess of decay but hid his feelings away as
he greeted her. Ignoring his pleasantries, the goddess placed a huge scroll case, carved from green
jade, on the table. This was their agreed-upon price: the complete text of the Thousand Swallows Cycle,
a lost epic of the Shogunate, translated into Rivertongue.

Boz proffered his gift in exchange, shining with blinding light in the instant between him opening the
bag and the spark finding its home within the goddess’ Essence. As she signaled for Boz’s second cup,
she excused herself. Boz didn’t blame her; he’d wanted to get rid of the Exigence as soon as possible.
But for now, his troubles were over.

As he lifted the curved coffee cup to his lips, a cat-headed goddess wearing a golden mask approached
the table. “So good to finally meet you, Boz,” she said as she went right for it. “Do you have it? My
champion?” She brandished a scroll case of her own, ebony inlaid with silver. Boz choked on his
growing dread, unable to get a word out. Opening the green jade case to reveal only blank paper, he
confirmed what he was already sure of: he’d been swindled. He felt something more solid than foam
bump his lips as he took a nervous sip from his coffee. He smelled it before it bobbed to the surface:
a rotted mushroom spreading tendrils of filth through the bubbles. He wondered what the Chosen of
Decay would look like.

26
EX3
27
 Chapter Two
Great Forks
Few cities hold such repute for holiness as Great Forks.
Founded centuries ago by three mighty gods — Spinner
of Glorious Tales, Weaver of Dreams of Victory, and
Shield of a Different Day — and their followers, this
thronging metropolis has opened its arms wide to
spirits and pilgrims alike. Here, any god may seek to
gather devotees, raise up a place of worship, and es-
tablish a creed. Every avenue is thick with shrines and
temples; every hour marks some festival, filling the air
with prayer, bell-song, and scents of incense and burnt
offerings. Petitioners seek blessings at small gods’
shrines, whether for luck at dice or a balm for the pain
of gout, and spirits walk openly among mortals. For
such divinities, this is a city of freedom.
But Great Forks is as profane as it is holy — thus its
other name, Decadence. Slave laborers work the fields
while merchants peddle every sort of luxury among
the city’s avenues and bazaars. Priests grow fat on
pilgrims’ donations while the poor subsist on meager
charity in the city’s slums. For all too many, this is a city
of exploitation, a great prayer wheel spun by human
suffering.
As the fire of Exigence blazes anew, Great Forks has
become the site of a new pilgrimage. Warriors, sages,
and scoundrels from across the Scavenger Lands — in-
deed, from across Creation — converge on the city in
hopes of winning Exaltation.
Founding
In RY 278, three long-suffering refugee peoples — the
Mileti, the Houtholan, and the Veh— followed their
patron gods to the junction of the Rolling and Yellow
Rivers, a place of clement weather and fertile soil.
Tired of war and struggle, wary of neighboring polities
and the horrors of a nearby shadowland, the three
peoples and their gods negotiated a peace. Settling
together at the river junction, they became one nation,
founding a city and sharing the land’s bounty.
28
EX3
The three patron gods issued an edict, proclaiming
themselves thearchs, the highest of the city’s gods,
and welcoming to the city any and all spirits willing
to abide by its laws. Since this intervention, they’ve
largely left governance in mortal hands — originally
to princes and dynasties, and today to a civil service
dominated by the city’s wealthiest families.
A City of Gods and Spirits
Gods appear at every level of society in Great Forks.
Powerful and celebrated divinities lounge upon palan-
quins amid riotous festival processions. Newly arrived
godlings preach to the masses in hopes of gathering
followers. Wizened spirits bide in musty, cobwebbed
shrines, abandoned by their cults.
Thousands of spirits dwell here, drawn by opportunity
for worship, sacrifice, earthly power, and pleasure.
Some have established themselves securely as beloved
or feared patron deities, ensconced in grand temples
overseen by wealthy priesthoods. Less fortunate
godlings, indigent and down on their luck, offer petty
blessings at alleyway shrines.
While the thearchs are first among Great Forks’ gods,
many boast cults and prestige to rival theirs. Shunanto,
god of the Yellow River, is worshipped by farmers
and fishermen and beseeched to ward off floods.
Resplendent Twin, mirror-goddess of merchants,
messengers, and travelers, dances between her sacred
heliographs to the delight of crowds. Burning Feather,
goddess of intoxicants, receives prayer from all man-
ner of pleasure-seekers.
While gods and elementals make up the majority of
this supernatural populace, Great Forks is also home to
other spirits. Ghosts offer benedictions to children and
grandchildren or seek vengeance against those who’ve
wronged them. The White Nettle Lodge, Great Forks’
local ancestor cult, brokers deals between ghosts and
gods, syncretizing ghosts as guardians, attendants,
 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S
spouses, or other figures into a god’s cult. Even the
Fair Folk have taken up occasional residence as art-
ists and performers, subsisting on the city’s raucous
atmosphere.
The Thearchs
Once mighty in the Celestial Bureaucracy, Great Forks’
thearchs abandoned their heavenly posts long ago.
Nonetheless, their personal power remains great; few
can challenge them within their métiers. They hold no
official rank in Great Forks’ civil service, as Heaven for-
bids gods to rule directly over mortals, but when they
collectively issue an edict, the city takes their word as
law.
The thearchs want to protect Great Forks and its peo-
ple but disagree on how best to do so — and, at times,
on what should be their first priority to defend. They
hold each other in great respect and affection, but this
has been tested over the years by disagreements and
occasional underhanded political maneuverings, not
to mention each thearch’s awareness of the others’
powers of trickery and deception. They’ve always rec-
onciled after these quarrels, though sometimes only
through their priests’ and cults’ intervention.
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EX3
Spinner of Glorious Tales is a god of wanderers and
storytellers, though he was mortal before his elevation
to godhood. Charismatic and driven, Talespinner
usually appears as a middle-aged man roughened
by travel and crowned with a nimbus of yellow light,
though he’s a skilled shapeshifter, wearing the forms
of travelers and migratory beasts. His foremost priority
is for Great Forks to offer opportunities for enlighten-
ment, purpose, wealth, adventure, love, and more —
the things great stories are made of. The gentler the
law’s hand, the more such opportunities can flourish;
while he’s no anarchist, he’s the foremost advocate of
limiting the civil service’s power in any scenario. But
of all the thearchs, he’s the most often absent from
the city, spurred by wanderlust. He’s often returned to
Great Forks aghast at its political transformations in
his absence.
Weaver of Dreams of Victory is a god of dreams,
war, and looms. The enigmatic Dreamweaver appears
as a shimmering waterfall of shapes; each person who
looks on her sees everyone they’ve ever known in
these cascading forms. She’s been known to appear
in dreams across the Scavenger Lands, passing along
messages, warnings, and the thearchs’ decrees. She’s
an exacting perfectionist, endlessly changing and
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

AGAINST THE BLACK HERON

In its early days, Great Forks suffered the predations of wrathful ghosts and shambling horrors that emerged
from the Field of Endless Raitons, a nearby shadowland. The most terrifying and powerful of these served the
Black Heron, a ghostly assassin-queen presiding over a spectral court of killers.

Great Forks’ thearchs banded together to drive off this threat to their peoples. Unable to match the ghost-
queen through military might alone, they triumphed by cunning. While Dayshield led the city’s army against
the Heron’s forces, Dreamweaver peered into the Heron’s nightmares to discover her fear, a secret vulnera-
bility that might destroy her forever. Talespinner met with the Heron and told her of how the thearchs stood
ready to slay her.
her Unwilling to call their bluff — if it was a bluff — the Heron retreated.

The White Nettle Lodge played a prominent role in the war against the Heron, from ghosts and Ghost-Blooded
heroes to exorcists and necromancers. That conflict has become the focal point of the Lodge’s oral history.
Meanwhile, in other corners of Great Forks society, heretical cults venerate the Heron under a different title:
the Princess Magnificent with Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers.

meddling with the civil service to improve upon its
flaws and abandoning old goals as soon as she con-
ceives of better ones. The only constant is her deep,
familial connection to her fellow thearchs and Great
Forks itself, which ties the three gods together.
Shield of a Different Day is a god of defensive
warfare, deception, and forgetfulness. She wields an
unbreakable lance and an unbreachable shield among
her panoply, but none can remember her appearance,
which fades from memory as she departs; she’s depict-
ed in art as a tall, powerfully built warrior with black
hair, dark skin, and eyes like granite. While Dayshield
is best known as Great Forks’ defender, she also seeks
to shepherd its cultural and economic prosperity, fa-
voring the city’s merchants, artists, and artisans over
others. She has a complicated relationship with the
Guild, valuing its role in commerce but wary of its
potential threat to Great Forks’ autonomy.
The Lay of the Land
Temples and government buildings predominate along
Great Forks’ grand avenues and plazas. Civic architec-
ture combines styles from across the Scavenger Lands,
often tracing back centuries. Pillared porticoes, mas-
sive statues, and thin ornamental spires are common
features, as are elaborate friezes, mosaics, and precious
metal inlays adorning walls.
Many gods maintain sanctums in Great Forks: pock-
et-worlds hidden away from mortal eyes. These sanc-
tums are dens of divine conspiracy where diplomacy
and debauchery intertwine. Many are often found in
the precincts of temples and shrines, but others can
be reached through the city’s side streets, alleys, and
courtyards. Burning Feather, Lady of Intoxicants,
dwells in a labyrinthine manor of winding hallways and
countless connecting rooms behind a certain caravan-
serai’s back door. Whirling Lady Koro-Bana maintains
an endlessly diverse garden of poisonous plants. The
thearchs share a triple palace, though it’s easy to tell
which wing belongs to each god: Talespinner’s is a vast
library filled with countless stories, Dreamweaver’s is
spun from daydreams and nightmares, and Dayshield’s
is a mighty fortress.
Off the major arteries, streets grow narrower and
blocks smaller. Residential tenements share walls and
climb several stories. They’re largely wood, brick,
and stone, with steep gabled roofs covered with vivid
pottery tiles and outer walls covered in stucco painted
with a riot of colorful imagery. Windows and doors
open on a web of interlinked courtyards, sometimes
bridging the streets via underpasses, overpasses, and
even rooftops — a veritable second city inaccessible to
outsiders, concealing all manner of reclusive shrines,
black market shops, slum dwellings, and witches’
abodes.
Two streams flow through Great Forks on their way to
the Yellow River, crossed by wide, picturesque bridg-
es built in steep, arching curves to ease boat traffic.
Coracles ferry folk back and forth between embank-
ments, while rafts come downstream bearing agricul-
tural produce for market — though in the rainy season,
the rushing waters drive vessels from the waterways.
Blocks of parkland are set aside for future development
as part of the bureaucracy’s long-term urban planning.

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 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S

HEAVEN’S BLIND EYE

While the thearchs may not rule Great Forks, their edicts and interventions in its governance have long since
passed the line into illegal intervention in mortal affairs. The city’s continuous and pervasive intermingling
of gods and mortals is a lesser offense, but one that could be brought against many of its divine residents.

At one time, such open defiance of heavenly law would have brought down swift judgment from the censors,
mighty elemental dragons appointed by Heaven to seek out and punish the crimes of the gods. But the Celes-
tial Bureaucracy is rife with corruption, mismanagement, and indolence, and its justice is slow and sporadic.

The Emperor Stag, the censor with jurisdiction over the Scavenger Lands, is deeply corrupt, ignoring all man-
ner of divine crimes in Great Forks in exchange for regular festivals, offerings funded by the civil service, and
the promise of a single favor extracted from each of the thearchs.

Slaves tend groves and flowerbeds; priests maintain
small shrines to all manner of spirits. Homeless resi-
dents form tent cities in the parks adjoining poorer
quarters; in wealthier districts, household guards are
dispatched to destroy such encampments and drive
the homeless away.
Beyond the city’s walls, rustic villas of the wealthy
dominate the rich, rolling hills. Much of the surround-
ing farmland is worked by slaves, though some land-
owners lease their fields to tenant farmers. Individual
farmsteads lie scattered for miles across plains and
hills, working marginal land and struggling to keep
pace with rising taxes. Villages cluster along rivers and
streams; buildings are brick or wood with thatched
roofs, often raised on stilts to escape damage from the
Yellow River’s intermittent flooding.
City Districts
The thearchs dwell in splendor atop The Hill of
Hollyhocks, ringed by hundreds of other grand
temples to which all of Great Forks’ divinities aspire.
Lesser cults raise temples and shrines in Holymaze,
whose streets throng with processions, festivals, wor-
shipers, pilgrims, and newly arrived godlings seeking
followers. At street corners stand podiums bearing
plant or animal imagery, both for ease of recognition
and as a subtle jab against Immaculate preachers.
Gods gather for carousing, entertainment, and con-
gress with mortals in the restaurants, theaters, and
bordellos of Little Yu-Shan; it’s also home to many
of the city’s God-Blooded residents. In the Hill of
Hollyhocks’ shadow stands the Colonnade district,
filled with monumental structures that house the civil
service.
Wealthy families maintain luxurious residences on
Wolf Hill. Poorer folk dwell in less affluent districts —
the reclaimed lowlands of The Marshes, the twisting
market-streets of the Beehive district, or the wharves
and warehouses of Quayside. The most destitute make
encampments in the city’s parklands, like Spinner’s
Field, a popular site for festivals and private recre-
ation, or Coppice, more wilderness than park and the
city’s chief source of firewood.
The city’s standing army barracks among the war-god
temples of Kerin’s Gate. Savants from foreign lands
seek the Violet Meadow, one of the Scavenger Lands’
great academies. Funerals, cremations, and the local
ancestor cults’ rites and festivals take place among The
Urns, filled with graveyards, catacombs, and shrines to
venerated ancestors and death-gods. Other districts
abound, each with their own particular character.
Religion and Theology
Countless gods reside in Great Forks, whether perma-
nent residents or passing through, and all but the most
destitute boast a cult of some kind. Some have but a
single priest tending a shrine; others invite crowds of
worshippers into great temples overseen by complex
hierarchies of religious officials. Many gods and priest-
hoods oversee mystery cults with secret initiations,
practices, and doctrines. Everyday customs incorpo-
rate religious meaning; residents greet each other with
words of worship and regard gift-giving, even between
mortals, as a form of ritual sacrifice. The thearchs
frown on sectarian conflict and have occasionally
made personal demonstrations of their displeasure to
overly ambitious spirits and priests.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Grand Mythopoeia
Great Forks has no central religious authority or dog-
ma, but many of its cults share a common theological
framework, the Grand Mythopoeia. This holds that
all gods, from the pettiest spirit to the thearchs them-
selves, are emanations of an overarching godhead,
countless faces worn by the numinous divine. This
godhead is a being of dream and story, and Creation is
the story that the godhead tells itself.
Mortals play many roles in the Grand Mythopoeia
across the course of their reincarnations; those who
play their part well will be born into a greater role in
their next life. Over countless reincarnations, a mortal
might unite with this godhead and be reborn as a god.
To play one’s part in the Grand Mythopoeia is more
than fulfilling one’s assigned tasks in life; it calls for a
life of bold decisions, expressions of passion, and pro-
found words — all that makes a compelling dramatic
figure. Eloquence, wit, charm, and grace are seen as
signs of distinction and a part well-played in a previous
life.
To harm another is to harm the godhead. Violence is
permissible only in sport, duels, and ritual war, when
all participants consent to it. Violence in self-defense,
defensive warfare, and suppressing riot and rebellion
is also permitted; acts of aggression are held to provide
implicit consent to such violence. This exception is
also extended to the use of force in apprehending sus-
pected criminals and restraining disobedient slaves,
construing a criminal’s offense or a slave’s defiance
as implicitly inviting correction. A number of priests
consider this justification flimsy and agitate for legal
reforms.
While violating the prohibition on violence is unthink-
able to many in Great Forks, other kinds of proscribed
harm — emotional, financial, and reputational — are
much lesser sins against the godhead; abuse, exploita-
tion, and slander are as common here as any other city.
Theological specifics vary widely between priest-
hoods. Some delve deep into minutiae — like whether
elaborate calligraphy or oral history better pleases
the godhead — while others consider such specula-
tion pointless, focusing on praxis. Countless sects
have splintered from this core doctrine: Immaculate
syncretisms, mystery cults that believe their patron
deity to be the godhead incarnate, and apocalyptic
doomsayers who warn that the story is nearing its end.
Some heretical sects preach that there is no godhead,
32
EX3
and that Creation is the countless stories told by gods
and mortals.
Ten Thousand Temples
The city’s temples overflow with art, music, and ritual.
Most welcome visitors into their public precincts;
many put on dramatic performances to draw in crowds.
Some visitors attend a temple regularly not for its god,
but for its architecture, rites, or community, a custom
nicknamed “temple tourism.”
Each temple has its own priesthood, with its own
unique structure and customs. Some are hierarchies
organized under a high priest; others have synods
giving all the priesthood’s members an equal voice.
Methods of initiation exist in such variety that almost
any citizen of Great Forks could be accepted into the
priesthood of some god or another. Some cults main-
tain priestly bloodlines; some require a showing of
divine favor from their patron god; some permit only
those in certain trades and professions.
Most temples are supported by offerings from wor-
shippers and donations from wealthy mercantile fam-
ilies. Some charge pilgrims for entry into the temple
proper, and exact further fees for blessings, access
to inner sanctums or relics, and the like. The largest
receive subsidies from the civil service, that they might
continue drawing pilgrims and their wealth to the city.
Some priests are independently wealthy from mer-
cantile endeavors, artisanal work, or inherited wealth,
able to fund smaller cults with their personal assets.
Proselytization
Outside of temples, proselytization and preaching are
only permitted on one’s own property; on the property
of another, with their permission; or at the Holymaze
district’s public podiums, with a permit from the city
bureaucracy. An exception exists for private conver-
sations, though a separate law criminalizes unwanted
preaching, including to a slave without the approval
of their owner, a worker without the approval of their
employer, or a child without that of their parents.
Illegal preaching is often ignored if it doesn’t cause
disturbances, but traffic obstruction, radical doctrines,
and public affrays are harshly cracked down on, as are
proselytes with influential enemies.
Shrine-Gangs
Weak spirits unable to establish individual cults or at-
tach themselves to more powerful divinities sometimes
form shrine-gangs: petty pantheons that carve out
 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S

THE THORN PRINCES

This shrine-gang has claimed the Thornfounts as their territory: a cluster of tenements surrounding an over-
grown courtyard whose dried-up fountain is tangled with thornbushes. Their ranks include Laughing Winter,
a minor disease-god of the common cold; Czenime, a divine attendant who fled her mistress Afodha, the Lady
of the Well; Bent-Stalk Umon, a field guardian whose land was paved over for the city’s streets; and Ezkri
of the Fishhooks, a centuries-old ghost whose descendants have long since died out. Thornfounts residents
know the Princes as kindly spirits, warding off minor ills and bringing forth fruits and vegetables from the
courtyard. These spirits ask only for simple prayers and small offerings, the latter collected by their priests
— foremen and other laborers with the brute strength to drive out other petty gods’ proselytes.

enclaves in the city’s poorer districts. Many are gods

of baleful purviews with no blessings to offer potential
worshippers, illegally extorting worship through vio-
lence or running apotropaic protection rackets.
Shrine-gangs harass other spirits seeking followers
on their territory, though powerful trespassers are af-
forded a wide berth; causing too much trouble attracts
the law’s attention. Most shrine-gang members feud
and jockey for power among themselves, each hoping
to gain sufficient connections, prestige, or wealth to
establish an independent cult, though many eventually
tire of failure and leave Great Forks.
Shrine-gangs often recruit their priesthood from in-
fluential mortals within their territory: domineering
family patriarchs, prominent shopkeepers, crime boss-
es, and others with the sway to draw in worshippers
and provide a supply of offerings. The most prominent
shrine-gangs have temples and priesthoods to match
those of Holymaze and approach the splendor of the
Hill of Hollyhocks.
Immaculacy
Lookshy’s Immaculate Faith has a small but significant
presence in Great Forks, owing both to Lookshyan
missionary efforts and to immigration from across the
Scavenger Lands. Other Immaculate sects from the
Scavenger Lands and the Eastern Threshold, like the
Intou heresy, have smaller followings, while the Realm’s
Immaculate Order, Prasad’s Pure Way, and other for-
eign sects have little to no presence. While the city is
an affront to the gods’ place in the Perfected Hierarchy,
few Immaculates have risked the violence and coercion
employed in dealing with rogue gods elsewhere; such
an act would invite reprisal from all of Great Forks.
Despite this circumspect approach, Immaculates are
still heavily stigmatized; their temples must pay an ex-
cessive tax, and known adherents are often targeted as
troublemakers by the city’s law enforcement.
Culture
Few cities can match Great Forks’ cosmopolitanism,
founded by three disparate peoples and home to
pilgrims and immigrants from across the East and be-
yond. Some gods encourage this, championing foreign
goods, arts, and ideas that fall within their divine pur-
view, while ghosts preserve the arts, scholarship, and
cuisine of civilizations long dead. Half a millennium of
cultural exchange, intermingling, and assimilation has
synthesized these varied influences into a distinctive
Great Forks culture, though one that evolves rapidly as
new peoples and ideas come to the city.
Great Forks’ culture is intertwined with its religious
life. Storytelling is highly regarded, owing both to
Talespinner and the Grand Mythopoeia’s influence:
As the godhead speaks Creation into being, so too
does every story take on a reality of its own. Prevailing
movements in art and literature prize works inspired
by dreams, visions, and hallucinations. Intoxicants
are seen as a method of communion with the divine.
Bhang — edible preparations of cannabis, including
lassi, butter, and candy — is the city’s most popular en-
theogen, easily purchased from street vendors, though
opium, dream root, and betel also see use.
Wealthy citizens engage in decadent banquets, inviting
a score of guests to enjoy a broad array of small, fla-
vorful dishes followed by poetry recitals, musical per-
formances, dances, storytelling contests, competitive
games, and convivial or philosophical conversation.
Physical fitness and athletic prowess are prized among
the upper class, who have the wealth and leisure time
to attend the city’s private gymnasia.
Great Forks’ poor find entertainment in the city’s public
festivals and processions, enjoying their music, dance,
theater, and other artistic display. Outdoor sports
like footraces, swimming contests, and harpastum

33
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
are common diversions, as are carousing, communal
singing, and graffitiing the cities’ walls and streets
with charcoal and ocher. Fragments of temple friezes,
chipped away to be replaced with new bas-reliefs
when a vacant temple is repurposed by a new god, are
prized as talismans of good fortune.
Some things span all walks of life. Almost every res-
ident of Great Forks frequently attends some kind of
temple performance, from homeless beggars taking in
a puppet-show at a back-alley shrine to wealthy mer-
chants attending theatrical performances in the Hill of
Hollyhocks’ most prestigious temples. Gambling also
cuts across classes; good luck in games of chance is
seen as a sign of divine favor. Gaming houses flourish
through the city’s districts, many frequented or even
run by spirits. The wealthy fill their estates with the
works of the city’s most prestigious artists, while even
the poor can usually afford an apprentice’s practice
composition or a botched piece to decorate their home.
The Three Peoples
Most of Great Forks’ inhabitants descend from the
three refugee peoples who founded the city. Over the
centuries, their distinct identities have blended into
a cosmopolitan whole through intermarriage, shared
34
EX3
religion, and cultural exchanges. Sizable minorities of
each of the three peoples maintain cultural enclaves,
limiting their interactions with outsiders and passing
down customs and traditions scarcely adulterated by
the passage of time.
Talespinner’s people, the nomadic Houtholan, fled a
series of plagues along the Silver River. While storytell-
ing is prized throughout Great Forks, it’s a cornerstone
of Houtholan culture; their countless oral epics are
recited in temples, family gatherings, and riverboats.
Their riparian tradition as fisherfolk and river traders
continues on the Yellow River; the city’s riverside dis-
tricts are heavily populated by the Houtholan.
Dreamweaver’s people, the Veh, fled from a province
of the nascent Prasadi empire to escape religious
persecution from its Pure Way. Their syncretic faith
provided the theological foundation of the Grand
Mythopoeia, and Veh priests played an important role
in helping foreign spirits establish their cults in the
city’s early days. They maintain longstanding tradi-
tions of scholarship, textile art, and oratory; many go
into one of the city’s priesthoods or join its civil ser-
vice, whose formal kaftans can be traced back to the
garb of the first Veh refugees.
 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S
Dayshield’s people, the Mileti, fled the war that de-
stroyed the Shogunate successor states of Laris and
Velen. Their homeland was a cultural and economic
hotbed of the Scavenger Lands; even today, many
among Great Forks’ merchants, performers, and poets
are Mileti. Much of the city’s outlying countryside is
owned by wealthy Mileti, and certain skilled trades —
masonry, glassblowing, bellfounding, and more — are
dominated by Mileti artisans.
Clothing
Great Forks’ fashion incorporates influences from
countless cultures from across the Scavenger Lands,
though none as prominent as those of the three peo-
ples. Houtholan fashion consists of elaborately folded
chitons and chlamyses, held in place with ornate
girdles. Veh fashion features colorful kaftans, sarongs,
and turbans. Mileti fashion is characterized by dyed
silk sampots; patterned cloths worn as scarves, ban-
dannas, and waistbands; and tall, elaborate headwear.
Certain dyes, fabrics, and even patterns are restricted
by sumptuary laws, the exclusive province of the
wealthy. Jewelry, ornaments, and garlands are com-
mon, especially among priests.
Cuisine
Rice — made into noodles, breads, and pancakes — and
freshwater fish dominate Great Forks cuisine, which
melds the three founding peoples’ recipes with local
ingredients. Small dishes with contrasting textures
and flavors are popular, making use of seasonings like
coriander, dill, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, paprika,
vinegar, fish paste, honey, poppy seeds, and sesame.
Other staple ingredients include green onions, day-
lily buds, sorrel, purslane, olives, pickled vegetables,
cheese, yogurt, fowl, and pork. Rice dumplings stuffed
with meat or sweets are popular food stall fare. The
city’s poor subsist largely on gruel made from rice and
millet, accented when possible with vegetables, eggs,
grasshoppers, fish, and other meat; the wealthy eat
meat and fruit daily, seasoning their meals with foreign
spices.
Popular beverages include tea, milk, coffee, fruit juices,
rice beer, and wines brewed from both grapes and rice.
Water is often made potable by mixing it with wine.
Aside from knives for meat and spoons for soup, food is
eaten with the fingers, using rice pancakes as napkins.
Slave laborers eat communal meals prepared from ra-
tions of rice provided by their owners, supplemented
with whatever greens, insects, and river fish they can
35
EX3
forage. Domestic slaves also receive scraps from their
owners’ tables.
Government
Great Forks is governed by its civil service. Eight
commissions oversee all government activity, their
members chosen each year by lot from the koruphai
(the highest tier of the city’s citizenship), and con-
firmed competent by a panel of priests and savants.
Each commission’s five members set policy for the
bureaus beneath them and oversee promotions to fill
gaps among mid-level functionaries, who in turn over-
see and employ junior functionaries, down to the least
prestigious scribes and aides.
Each commission’s meetings are held in the city’s
public plazas, with lengthy debates that continue until
a decision is reached, recessing only for bodily neces-
sities. Wealthy bureaucrats trained in rhetoric at the
Violet Meadow, priests with oratorical skills honed by
years of daily preaching, merchant princes practiced
in driving hard bargains, and poets who’ve devoted
their lives to their craft spend long days wrangling
over policy and details. Social ties — friendship, family,
cult membership, and business connections — grease
the process; commissioners often resolve disputes at
theaters, teahouses, or dinner parties in advance of a
meeting, sealing agreements with lavish gift-sacrifices
indistinguishable from bribes.
Spirits are forbidden from holding office in the civil
service, though this doesn’t keep them from influencing
it, often by using an office-holding priest, worshipper,
or God-Blooded scion as a proxy. The thearchs like-
wise hold no official role in the civil service but have
unquestionable informal authority over it. On those
rare occasions when a thearch expresses disapproval
of a proposed law or regulation, it’s almost always
been withdrawn; unanimous condemnations from the
thearchs have never been defied.
Citizenship
Great Forks’ society is stratified into four classes: a
three-tiered system of citizenship based on the annual
income of one’s household assets — farmland, business
ventures, outstanding loans, and the like — with a slave
class beneath them. Great Forks’ resident spirits are
citizens as well, subject to the same requirements as
mortals; they may count their temple’s income as their
own, though many spirits also acquire property and in-
vest in businesses. Citizenship carries many privileges,
including holding office in the civil service, holding
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

THE EIGHT COMMISSIONS

The Commission of Flourishing Grandeur oversees public works, conscripting corvées for month-long
stints constructing and maintaining roads, irrigation channels, docks, granaries, schools, and government
offices. Conscripts are selected by lottery, though the wealthy easily escape such obligations by paying the
unemployed and impoverished to work in their stead.

The Commission of Burnished Silver is responsible for setting tax rates, collecting taxes, and conducting
financial audits.

The Commission of Numbers and Papers administers the city’s census, maintains public records, and
conducts lotteries to select commissioners.

The Commission of Unquestionable Justice maintains and revises the criminal code, oversees law en-
forcement, and conducts trials.

The Commission of Shrines and Temples oversees religious activity in the public sphere, including festival
scheduling, procession itineraries, permits for preaching, and temple subsidies.

The Commission of Prosperous Markets regulates economic activity and local business, including setting
standards for product quality, regulating wages, maintaining standardized weights and measures, investigat-
ing merchants’ and businesses’ finances, and imposing laws regarding treatment of slaves.

The Commission of Distinguished Guests regulates visitors, immigration, and foreign trade — setting
tariffs and duties, imposing laws governing visitors’ conduct, and negotiating with foreign trade partners, like
the Guild’s Directorate in Nexus.

The Commission of Kingdoms and Nations oversees foreign policy, including diplomacy, intelligence gath-
ering and espionage, regulating the quartering of foreign dignitaries in the homes of wealthy private citizens,
and deploying Great Forks’ military.

military rank, bringing lawsuits, and serving on juries.
Only citizens must pay individual taxes; foreigners
and slaves are exempt, though foreigners’ business
ventures are still taxed.
Every seven years, census-takers from the Commission
of Numbers and Papers assess all citizens’ assets to
determine if their income has changed sufficiently
to affect their status. Citizens who wish to secure an
increase in status prior to the census may pay a fee for
an early assessment. Often, these changes are minimal,
with only a miniscule portion of the citizenry rising or
falling, but when the census coincides with economic
upheaval or transformation, it can significantly impact
Great Forks’ society, leading to significant political and
social change. The census takers are far from incor-
ruptible; a wealthy citizen might bribe one to overlook
a recent downturn in revenue or to give exacting scru-
tiny to a rival’s assets.
The highest class of citizens, the koruphai (singular
koruphe), must reap an annual income of at least a
talent of silver from their holdings. Only the koruphai
may hold the highest posts in the civil service or the
military; prominent temples often restrict their high
priesthood to them. Great Forks’ overwhelming mili-
tary losses in the Battle of Mishaka fourteen years ago
significantly thinned the koruphai’s ranks, resulting in
many of these offices devolving to inexperienced and
untested members of koruphe households; corruption,
incompetence, and mismanagement have rarely been
as common in the civil service or the military as they
are today.
Beneath the koruphai are the mesoi (singular mesos),
whose assets produce at least one hundred dinars an-
nually. They have the right to hold most positions in
the civil service and military officerships. Most priests,
bureaucrats, and wealthy merchants are mesoi.
Those unable to qualify as mesoi are lakkoi (singular
lakkos). They may enlist in the military and hold
the lowest-ranking positions in the civil service,
though in practice, unpropertied lakkoi rarely do so.
Unpropertied lakkoi are typically laborers, artisans,
street performers, and destitute beggars.

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 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S
CITIZENSHIP AND THE CENSUS IN PLAY
If it’s relevant in play, Great Forks’ residents need
Resources 2 to qualify as mesoi and Resources
3+ to qualify as koruphai. The Storyteller should
feel free to have the census occur at whatever
time bests suits their chronicle’s needs; if a Sto-
ryteller doesn’t have any plans, players can intro-
duce facts regarding the census.
Beneath Great Forks’ citizens are its slaves, com-
prising over half the city’s population. They lack the
legal rights afforded to citizens, receiving only the
minimal protections provided by the Commission of
Prosperous Markets’ laws. Those forced into debt slav-
ery are stripped of citizenship for the duration of their
compelled labor, though any household members and
children they may have retain their status. Manumitted
slaves are considered citizens for purposes of legal
protections but must either wait until the census or
pay for an early assessment to receive formal status.
Slavery
Great Forks’ slave populace consists of people sold
by slave traders, citizens forced into debt slavery, and
those born to enslaved parents. Most are forced to
labor in the fields outside the city’s walls, tending rice,
vegetables, tobacco, cannabis, poppies, and betel. Some
work within the city as laborers, gladiators, personal
attendants, secretaries, temple servants, and the like.
Great Forks’ slaves may marry and own property and
are entitled to rudimentary legal protections — while
most offenses against slaves aren’t criminalized by
Great Forks’ law and slaveowners have extensive lee-
way in their treatment of slaves, wanton physical abuse
or neglect of slaves is forbidden, though these laws are
seldom enforced. In addition, a slaveowner may bring
civil suit against an offender to recoup damages. Any
slave may purchase their freedom, though the price
is considerable; they must pay their owners both a
portion of the expected profit their labor would have
generated and for the lodgings, food, and any other
goods provided to them.
Many in Great Forks have argued for reforms in
the treatment of slaves; a smaller number advocate
for outright abolition. These include former slaves,
philosophers and ethicists, immigrants from foreign
lands where slavery is outlawed, cults of gods of free-
dom, and some who are simply driven by conscience.
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EX3
Such efforts have faced significant opposition from
slaveowners, conservative voices among the populace
at large, the civil service, and the thearchs; any large
abolitionist movement is swiftly suppressed by the
Arrows.
Law Enforcement
While the Commission on Unquestionable Justice
oversees criminal law in Great Forks, enforcement is
delegated to a number of law-cults in good standing
with the civil service. Most prominent of these are
the Arrows of Ji-Zhen’s Justice, worshippers of the
Scavenger Lands’ god of sanctioned punishments;
Great Forks’ residents colloquially refer to all these
cults as the Arrows. They police the city’s streets for
public disturbances and investigate crime, focusing on
wealthy neighborhoods and neighborhoods frequently
traveled by foreign visitors. Victims of crime in poorer
neighborhoods know better than to expect much help
from them.
The Arrows have jurisdiction over god and mortal
alike, though investigating spirits is both politically
unpopular and difficult to do as a practical matter.
Some law-cults count God-Blooded, outcastes, and
Exigents among their ranks; when these aren’t avail-
able for a significant spirit investigation, the Arrows
may deputize gods or other puissant supernatural
beings to assist them.
Courts
Any citizen can initiate a civil or criminal proceeding
by application to the Commission on Unquestionable
Justice, though it’s most often the victim who brings
the case. Not all such applications are granted; petty
grievances and de minimis offenses rarely reach trial.
Cases brought by mortals against gods face especial
scrutiny. The Arrows don’t bring criminal proceedings
themselves; they merely provide the results of their
investigation to victims.
Criminal defendants and civil plaintiffs alike stand
trial before courts of 101 jurors chosen by lot from
among citizen volunteers; paid a pittance, jurors are
largely poor or elderly citizens. Each case begins with
ritual prayer by all participants for the viveka, the god
assigned by the commission to oversee the case.
Trial largely boils down to each party’s rhetorical
skills, persuading the jury by appeal to precedent,
practicality, and ethics. Jurors are expected to scru-
pulously study the laws that govern the case before
pronouncing their verdict, but no such statutes exist
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
for most civil matters beyond commerce — negligence,
breach of personal contracts, property disputes, and
the like. Such disputes are resolved solely on the par-
ties’ arguments.
While the jury decides the case, the viveka chooses the
punishment. They have broad discretion in sentenc-
ing; the most common are fines, public humiliation,
and imprisonment, though ironic punishments are
in vogue, such as requiring a defendant to perform a
task chosen by the victim — or, if deceased, her family.
Those unable to pay fines are placed in debt slavery;
those who refuse to comply with other punishments
face imprisonment instead. Great Forks no longer
employs corporal punishment or execution, owing to
the Grand Mythopoeia’s prohibition on violence: the
worst crimes are punished by revocation of citizenship
and exile. With the exception of imprisonment, exile,
or disenfranchisement, any of these could apply to a
civil offense. Gods are punished just as mortals; their
only formal privilege is that they may not be exiled for
over a century.
Great Forks’ court system favors the powerful. While
its juries are thought to be too large to easily bribe, the
wealthy can retain the services of the city’s most dis-
tinguished speechwriters, and many jurors are biased
in favor of spirits over mortals. Great Forks’ elite also
use the courts against political and commercial ene-
mies, bringing cases in hopes of subjecting their rivals
to large fines or even having them exiled. The poor,
on the other hand, must argue their case without any
formal rhetorical training or legal education.
Economics
Great Forks exports the fruits of centuries of intermin-
gled artistic traditions: high-quality finished goods,
religious accoutrements, jewelry, musical instruments,
sculptures, patterned textiles, and medicines. The
most successful artisans receive funding from wealthy
patrons or temples in exchange for a percentage of
their earnings. Slaveowners sell food crops and drugs
on foreign markets, as well as liquor distilled from
their crops.
In turn, the city imports a wide range of raw materials:
yarn, ore, lumber, quality stone, and the like. Slaves are
purchased from foreign traders in massive quantities,
while imported foodstuffs supplement the yield of
farmers, fisherfolk, and slave laborers. The wealthy
import luxury goods from across the Scavenger Lands
and beyond, both for their own use and as temple of-
ferings that make a conspicuous display of wealth.
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The constant ebb and flow of visitors — pilgrims, mer-
chants, diplomats, savants, scavenger princes, and now
those seeking Exaltation — creates enormous demand
for lodgings, food, and entertainment. In addition to
Great Forks’ many caravanserais and hostelries, fam-
ilies often put out a shingle, offering room and board
to visitors during major festivals. Restaurants near
commercial lodgings often have foreign food on offer,
whether Nexus-style fried rice, fish balls, and noodle
dishes, Clovinan milk-fed mutton and savory fried
potatoes, or Calinti pastries.
Military
Great Forks’ military is largely made up of citizen
volunteers, chosen by lot on a monthly basis from all
applicants deemed fit. In wartime, the Commission of
Kingdoms and Nations often conscripts lakkoi to bol-
ster its ranks. The rank and file’s arms are stored in city
armories while officers maintain their own. Mounted
soldiers — including all officers — must maintain their
own warhorses; as such, the vast majority of soldiers
are infantry, with equestrian ranks dominated by me-
soi and koruphai. This volunteer army is supported by
an auxiliary standing military drawn from cults of the
city’s war-gods and other martial spirits.
Spirits and other supernatural beings play a significant
role in warfare. Their presence deters neighboring
polities that might otherwise consider besieging the
city, due to their supernatural power and religious sig-
nificance. Spirits, God-Blooded warriors, and Exigent
champions are Great Forks’ greatest strength in battle,
historically elevating its military forces to rival or ex-
ceed most in the Scavenger Lands, save for Lookshy’s
Seventh Legion.
Great Forks’ military has long been a largely defen-
sive force; the Grand Mythopoeia’s prohibition on
unprovoked warfare hasn’t entirely prevented wars of
aggression — especially in the city’s early years, before
the theology had settled into its current form — but
makes them immensely politically unpopular. The civil
service often hires mercenaries for such deployments;
it’s still unpopular but easier to conceal from the
public. In peacetime, Great Forks’ military suppresses
riots, guards the city’s gates and walls, and patrols
nearby roads for bandits. Military parades and proces-
sions often take center stage in festivals dedicated to
war-gods and other bellicose spirits.
Great Forks’ army suffered a crushing defeat fourteen
years ago at the Battle of Mishaka, the final conflict of a
war where the military powers of the Confederation of
Rivers united against the newly expansionist Thorns,
 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S
backed by the Realm. Great Forks suffered massive
losses, including almost all of its experienced soldiers.
Its army is still recovering, with major shortfalls in
leadership, numbers, discipline, and field experience,
all worrying signs as tensions rise across the River
Province.
Prominent Figures
Ciade, Hierophant of Warp and Weft, is both one
of Great Forks’ foremost poets, famed for her surreal
formalist compositions, and high priestess of Weaver
of Dreams of Victory, blessed with prophetic visions.
She fears for Great Forks, her patron, and her own
power, for she’s dreamt of the city in flames and of a
figure who could only be the Chosen of Dreams, War,
and Looms — a figure who isn’t her. Fearing war from
within and without, she advocates for strengthening
Great Forks’ military and recruiting Exigent guardians
for the city, while privately purging Dreamweaver’s
cult of potential rivals and abusing Great Forks’ courts
to have potential Chosen of her god exiled.
Araz Who-Feeds-Us-All, the Scavenger Lands’
Prefect of Rice, is the most prominent of Great
Forks’ many fertility gods. His temple on the Hill
of Hollyhocks is second only to the thearchs’ own.
He’s worshipped by koruphe slaveowners and lakkos
tenant farmers; by bakers, restaurateurs, and food stall
vendors; and by slaves seeking ease in the next day’s
labors and opportunities for wealth with which to
buy their freedom. He’s used his power and influence
to advocate on the Immaculate Order’s behalf, for he
craves the veneration of the Realm, an empire built on
rice. His proposals have made him a pariah to many of
his fellow gods, but few can safely speak too harshly
against a spirit revered by most of the populace; even
the thearchs hesitate to oppose him openly. Having
recently received a spark of Exigence in payment from
a minor god, he seeks to choose an Exigent emissary
who can help him sway the city’s mortal and spirit
populaces.
Hokae Prin, Chosen of Fever, is a gregarious Exigent
eager to fraternize with fellow Chosen. An inveterate
favor-trader and power broker, he offers to guide
Exigent newcomers, introducing them to the city and
securing them introductions with potential backers
and allies. Once they’ve established themselves, he’ll
request repayment in kind — most often when he’s
found himself in over his head, whether in Great Forks’
politics or in battle against the Scavenger Lands’ super-
natural perils. His amiable nature belies both his trou-
bled past as an outlaw and charlatan and his terrible
39
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power: if he wished to, he could dissolve thoughts
with a touch, burn foes’ flesh from within, or imprison
rivals within hallucinated worlds. Instead, he’s honed
his power as a socialite, spreading contagious fads and
rumors and inflaming the impulsive desires of those he
bargains with.
Neighbors
Blessed by godly favor and bountiful trade, Great Forks
is a mighty polity within its region, attracting com-
merce, alliance, and rivalry from its neighboring lands.
The Confederation of Rivers
Great Forks, along with Lookshy and Nexus, is among
the most prominent members of the Confederation
of Rivers, a loose defensive alliance of the Scavenger
Lands’ kingdoms, city-states, and principalities formed
over two hundred years ago. While the Confederation
is formally led from the port city of Marita by the
Council of the Concordat, made up of representatives
from each of the confederation’s member nations, the
Council holds little real power. It’s commonly seen as a
proxy for Lookshy, though Great Forks and Nexus also
have considerable influence within it.
Great Forks goes to great lengths to maintain good rela-
tions with fellow Confederation members, exempting
them from duties and tariffs, and fêting visiting diplo-
mats and nobles. They once deployed their military in
mutual defense, but that practice ended with the Battle
of Mishaka.
The Triune League
While Great Forks’ political, economic, and religious
influence spans the Confederation of Rivers’ many
polities, it’s strongest in the Triune League, a politi-
co-religious bloc within the Confederation defined by
proximity to Great Forks. Some of its member polities
synoecized out of Great Forks’ outlying villages, their
populations still composed largely of its three found-
ing peoples. Others depend on it as a trade partner,
worship gods whose cults center on Great Forks, or
have large emigrant communities. A scarce handful
come from military conquests made in the time before
wars of aggression became politically untenable.
League members benefit from Great Forks’ political
and financial backing within the Confederation of
Rivers and are protected against aggression and inva-
sion by its army. Great Forks’ willingness to continue
such deployments has gone untested since Mishaka;
its most bellicose neighbors also suffered during the
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
war, while Lookshy offered protection in its wake.
However, the chaos of the Time of Tumult all but
guarantees that the city’s mettle will soon be put to the
test. League members’ gods receive communal festival
days in Great Forks and tax breaks on their temples
and shrines.
In exchange for these benefits, League members pay
an annual tax to Great Forks and maintain temples to
the thearchs and many other prominent gods overseen
by priests from Great Forks. Beyond these formal
obligations, Great Forks has largely subordinated the
Triune League to it politically, economically, and cul-
turally. Diplomats counsel the member polities’ rulers
against decisions contrary to Great Forks’ interests,
offering suggestions that are in many cases all but
orders. Priests ingratiate themselves with local spirits,
securing their cooperation in upholding Great Forks’
hegemony. Merchants invest in businesses across the
League, fostering economic dependence.
In this time of tumult, existing friction and fractures
among the League’s polities threaten to tear it apart.
The more powerful and wealthy city-states chafe
against Great Forks’ dominance, resenting how its re-
ligious and cultural authority has grown into political
power. Others have strong ties to neighboring polities
that oppose Great Forks or other League members.
Kleithe, City of Sacred Geometries, is ruled both spir-
itually and temporally by the philosopher-priests of
Nisca, the Scavenger Lands’ god of formal logic; popu-
lar uprisings against Great Forks’ hegemony have seen
the thearchs’ temples defiled. Some in Fallen Petal,
holy city of Sunipa, Eastern Goddess of War, believe
their city’s sacred mercenaries are more than a match
for Great Forks’ weakened army; they agitate to lead
the rest of the League in an armed uprising. Osiard,
whose river traders intermarry with water spirits, has
been courted by shrouded emissaries from the Field of
Endless Raitons.
The Triune League also maintains the Consistory of
Presbyters, an ecclesiastical court composed of repre-
sentatives from each member city’s priesthoods. The
Consistory meets thrice yearly in Great Forks to preside
over crimes committed against spirits that cross over
boundaries, most often where an offender has fled to an-
other member polity. Its remit isn’t limited solely to of-
fenses against a god’s personage; acts of violence against
priests, defilement and looting of temples, violations of
sanctuary, and other misdeeds all are heard here.
The Consistory’s decisions are binding on all League
members: resolving disputes over jurisdiction,
40
EX3
arranging extraditions, imposing punishment, and
— on rare occasions — declaring holy war. In cases
of offenders who are themselves spirits or other
puissant beings, the Consistory recruits God-Blooded,
outcastes, and Exigents to aid in dispatching justice.
Though the Consistory is unpopular among Great
Forks’ mortal populace for its infringements on local
cults and its practice of punishing offenders via exe-
cution, the Eight Commissions recognize its necessity
as a political concession. The city’s gods value it for
bringing distant offenders back within reach, though
its verdicts have at time outraged the spirits of Great
Forks.
Other Neighbors
Despite its proximity to Great Forks, Privation has
rebuffed diplomatic efforts to bring it into the Triune
League, secure in the strength of its famed spear
dancers and the patronage of the eerie spirit Lady
Ichneumon. The city’s pillar-saints appease her with
perpetual veneration, that she might continue to bless
their fields with strange abundance and never remove
her mask of lead and jade. She’s feared by Great Forks’
gods for reasons they speak not of; no spirit dares set
foot in Privation without her invitation. Many of the
League’s polities play host to permanent embassies
from Privation, which seek to court Great Forks’ allies
away from it.
Once the heart of a flourishing forest, the wooded hill
of Nine Groves is now encircled by farms and pastures.
Gods of a once-great wilderness linger here: somber
Munushkor Saena, a bird-goddess and patron of harus-
picy; Starveling Zhu, a petty god of fallen leaves who
drank in the death of each felled tree, making them one
of the hill’s most powerful gods but tainting their spirit
with death’s Essence; the skillful mediator Kabai of the
Rhizoma, an elder greenmaw on the verge of dragon-
hood; and others. They offer sanctuary to outlaws and
exiles both mortal and divine, causing intermittent
strife when they harbor enemies of Great Forks. The
court is worshipped by local hunters, herbalists, and
others seeking the hill’s bounty and by those who take
sanctuary there. Iron Bell, a God-Blooded assassin
exiled from Great Forks, serves as their high priest,
counseling vengeance against her former home.
The unsettled Gyrae inhabit arid highlands above the
Rolling River’s alluvial plain, raising goats, sheep, and
cows in mountain pastures. They trade with outlying
Triune League villages, exchanging livestock and raw
materials for grain, worked steel, pottery, and textiles.
Despite a reputation as raiders, they rarely plunder
neighboring communities — instead, after initial raids,
 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S
Gyrae envoys negotiate truces, desisting from raiding
and providing protection against other upland raiders
in exchange for tribute. Since the Battle of Mishaka
decimated Great Forks’ army, the Gyrae have ranged
nearer to the city, raiding slave-worked fields and re-
treating to the highlands before soldiers can mobilize.
The Gyrae have historically accepted escaped slaves,
impoverished tenant farmers, and other refugees into
their society. They’re seen as outsiders, but may join in
raids, share in their spoils, vote in councils, and partic-
ipate in the rites of the Gyrae pantheon — Kalla of the
Atlatl; the wrathful protector Boar Mother; Ookalis,
death-god and bear-speaker; and others.
Since the Heron’s defeat, the Field of Endless
Raitons has been fiercely contested by neighboring
kingdoms, city-states, and federations of the dead.
Its location within the Scavenger Lands makes it a
valuable asset for ghosts of widely differing agendas,
not to mention the coveted treasures allegedly aban-
doned by the Heron in her flight. Great Forks’ inter-
actions with the shadowland have varied as different
Underworld powers have seized and lost control over
it. Under the Rag-and-Bone Parliament, it flourished
41
EX3
as a hub of economic and cultural exchange between
living and dead; when occupied by the ghostly warlord
Needle Saint, it unleashed a procession of undead
horrors to test Great Forks’ walls. It’s currently held
by the Obsidian Pentad, an upstart power in the local
Underworld. Still struggling to consolidate control
over the shadowland, it’s formed an alliance with the
White Nettle Lodge and brought in mercenaries from
Nexus to help fend off ghostly rivals.
Exigents of Great Forks
Great Forks was founded long after the flames of
Exigence dimmed. For much of its history, Exigents
have been nothing more than occasional curiosities
and local celebrities. Now that word of the Exigents’
resurgence has spread across Creation, countless pil-
grims seek Great Forks in hopes of winning Exaltation
from one of its many gods, while divinities hoarding
sparks of the Exigence likewise seek worthy cham-
pions there. In the last five years, the ranks of Great
Forks’ Exigents have swelled to exceed those of Uluiru,
Cabochon, and other Exigent polities.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Gods bearing sparks of Exigence host contests and
trials to seek worthy champions: pankration tourna-
ments, labyrinths filled with wild beasts and super-
natural perils, riddling contests, duels to the death,
and other challenges to winnow the ranks of would-be
heroes. Great festivals surround these trial grounds, a
hair’s breadth from breaking out into riotous cheering
and carousing at the moment of Exaltation. The city’s
law enforcement watches for signs of skullduggery —
unless the god has told them to ignore it.
Many who win Exaltation remain in Great Forks, act-
ing as their patron god’s champion, emissary, or proph-
et. Gratitude and obligation often play a part in this,
but there’s much for Exigents to enjoy in the City of
Temples. They’re welcomed with the same obeisance
shown to the city’s gods, seen both as celebrities and
holy personages. Those whose patron god’s temples
lack suitable accommodations can find luxurious lodg-
ing in Little Yu-Shan’s preeminent caravanserais and
can secure estates on the Hill of Hollyhocks.
Getting the Circle Together
Each of the Exigents presented in this book has rea-
son to appear in Great Forks. Strawmaiden Janest’s
journeys across Creation might bring her to the City
of Temples, either to experience its wonders as she
passes through or to make a permanent home. The
Puppeteer hails from distant Zhaojūn but might be
forced to flee if her schemes are discovered there (po-
tentially before play begins); Great Forks is a natural
refuge for an Exigent.
Architects of any of the Scavenger Lands’ many cities
or of Great Forks itself might be called to defend the
city against peril. While the Sovereigns of Uluiru
dwell in the far-flung Northwest, some have traveled as
far or further; they might seek to establish diplomatic
relations with the thearchs or recruit Exigent allies for
their native city’s succession crisis. The city could also
be home to a Sovereign-in-exile.
The other Exigents discussed briefly in this book (pp.
XX-XX) also have reason to be in Great Forks, as it
plays home to the Thousand Venoms Mistress and
the Chosen of Masks. The Bleak Warden might
arrive to pursue a forbidden god that’s escaped his
gaol, while the Foxbinder of Shifune’s duties to
the Immaculate Order might bring her here hunting
Anathema. The Torchbearer’s wanderings may lead
her to Great Forks, especially if there’s word of a threat
to the knowledge preserved by the city’s priesthoods
and the Violet Meadow academy. The Chosen of the
42
EX3
Dice resides in nearby Nexus, and might seek wealth,
excitement, or glory in Great Forks’ streets.
Plot Hooks
• The Deicide Case: A prominent god is found
murdered; her cult blames the deity of a neigh-
boring temple. Unless the player characters
uncover the true culprit, these tensions soon
spill over into outright violence. But others
wish this mystery to remain unsolved: maybe a
baleful shrine-gang, a conspiracy of koruphai,
or one of the city’s major gods — perhaps even
a thearch.
• An Eye for an Eye: A shrine-gang has pooled
their power to create a patchwork Exigent, the
Chosen of Wounds. Harrowed by her Exaltation
even as it gives her power over the body’s frail-
ties, she seeks revenge against her divine pa-
trons. The shrine-gang’s members have turned
to the player characters for help, but the player
characters may side with the gods’ wrathful
Exigent.
• In the Heron’s Shadow: An outbreak of haunt-
ings and monstrous ghosts has overwhelmed the
White Nettle Lodge’s exorcists and ghost-talk-
ers. They’ve beseeched the player characters
to track down the hauntings’ source and put
an end to it, fearing they presage the Black
Heron’s return. She remains absent from her
former shadowland lair, so it seems unlikely —
it might be the work of a death god, an Exigent
necromancer, a zealous nephwrack-apostle, or
a ghostly crime syndicate. Or the cult may be
right; the Black Heron may well have dispatched
one of her deathknights — or even a full Circle
of Abyssals — to infiltrate, sabotage, and subvert
her hated foes’ city.
• Matchmakers to the Gods: A heartbroken
rain-god has abandoned her cult and her duties,
locking herself away to grieve in her mountain-
top sanctum. Her cult has turned to the player
characters for help. They might seek out the
god’s former partner — perhaps a raucous rain-
god, a God-Blooded priestess of a rival cult, or a
talented mortal poet — to learn why they fell out
and repair the relationship. Or they might seek
to take the cave-god’s mind off her troubles with
a new paramour. Successful matchmaking can
yield considerable political power — the player
characters might elevate a potential backer or
 C H A P T E R T W O : G R E AT F O R K S
ally to that coveted role to secure her favor, or
one of them might romance the god themselves.
• Power Plays: A prominent god has fallen from
grace and fled Great Forks, leaving behind a
power vacuum in the neighborhood surrounding
her temple. Will the player characters exploit it
to establish themselves as political players or
consolidate a following? Will they play divine
politics, elevating a new god to prominence and
securing his patronage and backing? Or will
they seek out the exile god to discover why she
left Great Forks, and perhaps try to return her to
power?
• Shattered Manacles: A slave rebellion has
seized control of many of the fields surrounding
Great Forks, taking the harvest hostage as lever-
age for their demands of freedom. But they face
opposition from the city’s wealthiest families
and many gods, all the way up to the thearchs.
With so many supernatural forces arrayed
against them, the enslaved rebels will need puis-
sant allies of their own.
• The Siege of Great Forks: A Vanehan army
marches on Great Forks, seeking to conquer the
city and make its decadent gods swear fealty
to the Imperial Cult of the Ninety-Nine Stars.
Reinforced by martial deities of the Ninety-Nine
Stars, God-Blooded and outcaste mercenaries,
and the Exigent known as the Dread Assessor,
Chosen of Taxation, the Sword Prince’s forces
43
EX3
threaten to crush the City of Temples unless
its guardians and allies are powerful enough to
drive back Vaneha’s forces.
• Strife on the Hill of Hollyhocks: Great Forks’
thearchs have fallen into discord, arguing and
feuding over how best to steer the city through
the Time of Tumult. Their cults have sought out
the player characters to broker reconciliation
between the thearchs.
• Taming the Dragons: While Great Forks’
Immaculates maintain largely peaceful re-
lations, a Sworn Brotherhood of Lookshyan
Dragon-Blooded passing through has decided to
drag the city’s gods back into their rightful place
in the Perfected Hierarchy. A faction within the
Immaculate Faith’s temple has reached out to
the player characters to help avert the mass sec-
tarian conflict that would result, but many of the
city’s Immaculate adherents have rallied behind
the Hearth.
• Treasure Hunt: A priestess of Amoth City-
Smiter, God of Ruins, has received a vision of
Lost Ormolu, known in the First Age as the
Counting House of Creation. Untold riches, po-
tent artifacts, and forgotten lore await the player
characters if they can brave the ruins’ perils and
lingering defenses — bound demons, automaton
soldiers, sorcerous curses, and worse. But they
aren’t alone; they’ll face competition from other
Exigents, scavenger princes, and Amoth’s own
cultists.
“The things imprisoned here are dangerous, even to you, my Chosen. Do not wander its halls unless you
must.”

That had been The-Darkness-That-Blinds’ advice to Omron, and he’d heeded his god’s warning until today.
He knew the purpose he’d been made for, but he did not know what he was. He’d asked his patron, but it
answered only in riddles. The rolls of the labyrinth’s prisoners listed another who was Chosen, and Omron
needed to know.

On the first day he visited the stone door of the cell, there was only silence. Omron thought once again of
his patron’s warning and turned away. On the second day, he returned. Again, there was only silence. On the
third day, his patience frayed: “I know that you are here.”

The voice that answered chilled Omron with its malice. “Who are you, to disturb my eternity?”

“I am the Bleak Warden,” Omron answered, the title given to him by The-Darkness-That-Blinds. Omron was
a gutter urchin’s name, not one to cow the enemies of Creation.

The voice beyond the wall only laughed.

On the seventh day, the prisoner finally gave her name: Thousand-Edged Hail. By the twelfth day, the Warden
caught himself enjoying their conversations. On the fifteenth day, Omron sat against the wall and could feel
her presence just beyond it.

“You came here with questions.” She observed. “I can feel it. Ask.”

“What are you?”

Thousand-Edged Hail’s laughter was like shattering icicles. “A monster.”

It was not until the twenty-third day that Thousand-Edged Hail finally called herself anything but a monster.
“We are Exalted. Exigents, the Chosen of small gods. Yours blessed you with power over this prison. Mine
were…less kind.”

By the thirty-sixth day, Omron felt he finally understood. Her Exaltation had been a patchwork thing, born of
many forbidden gods. It had warped her flesh, but she spoke without self-pity and accepted no sympathy. “Do
not forget yourself, my gaoler.”

On the forty-second day, Hail asked her Warden a question. “Have you mastered the seals yet?”

Omron frowned. He could wield the labyrinth’s seals to draw on its prisoners’ power, could bind foes in
chains of darkness, could work other miracles, yet he admitted that there was still much he had to learn.

To master his power, she told him, he must master his labyrinth. Omron walked its halls, studied those
imprisoned within it, traced the seals that held them and felt them straining to break free. All the while,
Thousand-Edged Hail whispered encouragements in his ear.

“Now mine,” she insisted on the forty-third day. And perhaps the Warden should have known what his
prisoner intended. He had grown to trust her, had even caught himself thinking of her as a friend. He traced
the seal that held her, feeling her glacial Essence beneath it on the brink of seeping through. Thousand-
Edged Hail continued to speak, and the Bleak Warden obeyed without thinking. With a practiced movement of
his knife, he spilt his blood upon her seal and began to draw a new one, the key to its lock. Only—

Deep in Omron’s mind, that small part of him that did not trust her was blazing like an ember, a torch, a
wildfire. His thoughts quickened, his mind shook off the rime of the trance, and he stopped his finger just
before the counterseal was complete.

Thousand-Edged Hail’s voice was heavy with longing. “Forgive me. I had to try.”

On the forty-fourth day, the tunnel stood empty. The Warden did not come again.

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 Chapter Three
Beyond
Mortality
Terrestrial and Celestial Play
The Exalted vary in their supernatural power; the first
step in designing an Exigent is choosing where they’ll fall
on that spectrum. Instead of rigid tiers of power, we’ve
divided this spectrum into two categories, Terrestrial
and Celestial, based on compatibility in games where
not everyone plays the same type. Terrestrial Exalted
include Dragon-Blooded and Liminals; Celestial
Exalted include Solars, Lunars, Sidereals, Abyssals,
Infernals, and Getimians. This isn’t an in-setting label,
and the rules don’t differentiate between Terrestrial and
Celestial Exalted. The terms are solely for purposes of
this book’s design advice. Most Exigents in Creation are
Terrestrial, but that has no impact on player characters
— powerful outliers exist, and if everyone else in your
game is playing a powerful Exalt, you can too.
Cross-Level Play
While most games will be either entirely Terrestrial
or entirely Celestial, it’s not necessary to do so if the
playgroup enjoys the dramatic potential of player char-
acters with unequal levels of power. Communication
is key to enabling this style of play. At the start of the
chronicle, the group should discuss their expectations:
What do they find interesting about this power dynam-
ic? How do they want to see it play out? What kind of
narrative beats do they want to get out of it, and how
can everyone in the group engage with that story?
It’s also important to be very clear about the mechan-
ical effects of this, especially with players new to
Exalted. Celestial Exalted are often powerful enough
to overshadow Terrestrial Exalted in their area of
expertise. You can mitigate this disparity while pre-
serving the narrative tension by making sure that any
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Celestial Exalted aren’t specializing in the same area as
a Terrestrial Exalt.
Character Creation
Instead of each Exigent having unique character cre-
ation rules, all Exigents use the following general rules,
with any changes noted in that Exigent’s description.
Where appropriate, each step addresses variations on
this process for Ability-based, Attribute-based, and
Essence-based Exigents.
Step One: Concept & Caste
Character creation begins with a dialogue with your
Storyteller about what sort of character you want to
play and the kind of game you’ll be playing. Character
creation also benefits from group discussion with your
fellow players. These conversations will help shape
your Exigent’s concept. Think about your character’s
origin, personality, and skill set, and the archetypal
heroes she draws inspiration from. The goal is to be
able to summarize these details into a brief description
— your character’s concept.
Most Exigents are singular beings possessing neither
Caste nor Aspect. If your Exigent type is one of the rare
few to exist in sufficient numbers to support a Caste or
Aspect, you’ll select it here.
You’ll also choose your Caste and Favored traits at this
step. Even if an Exigent doesn’t have a Caste or Aspect,
she still receives an analogue — Janest, for instance,
has Strawmaiden Abilities. When we discuss Caste
traits and Aspect traits, these unique analogues are also
included. Caste traits reflect the nature of an Exigent’s
power, drawing inspiration from their patron; Favored
traits reflect her personal strengths and talents.
 C H A P T E R T H R E E : B E Y O N D M O R TA L I T Y

DIVINE PATRONAGE

While an Exigent’s patron is often consumed by her Exaltation, many deities — particularly those of great
personal power or rank — survive, albeit diminished. An Exigent’s divine patron can be taken as a three- or
five-dot Ally or two- to three-dot Mentor, depending on their personal power.

• Attribute-Based Exigents: Choose a total of
four Caste and Favored Attributes — either
two of each or three Caste and one Favored. At
least one of these must be one of the character’s
Primary Attributes, and at least one must be a
Secondary Attribute.
• Ability-Based Exigents: Choose five Caste
Abilities and five Favored Abilities. You must
have at least one dot in each Favored Ability.
• Essence-Based Exigents: Essence-based
Exigents typically don’t receive Caste or
Favored Abilities, balancing out the advantage
of not needing to meet trait minimums for their
Charms. Some, like the Puppeteer (p. XX), have
Caste traits that reinforce their themes, but rare-
ly more than three Abilities or one Attribute.
Step Two: Attributes
Each Attribute (Exalted, p. 148) begins with one free
dot. Next, choose one Attribute category — Physical
(Strength, Dexterity, Stamina), Social (Charisma,
Manipulation, Appearance), and Mental (Perception,
Intelligence, Wits) — as primary, another as second-
ary, and the third as tertiary. Distribute eight dots
between your primary Attributes, six dots between
your secondary Attributes, and four dots between
your tertiary Attributes. Attributes can’t be raised
higher than five.
Step Three: Abilities
Divide 28 dots among your Abilities (Exalted, p. 149).
Each starts at zero and can’t be raised above three
without spending bonus points. Abilities can’t be
raised above five.
Favored Abilities, which represent a character’s per-
sonal skills, must have at least one dot put in them
at character creation. Most Exigents also gain Caste
Abilities (or similar) based on their Exaltation; she
may or may not have any skill with them — yet.
Assign four specialties (Exalted, p. 123) among your
Abilities. You must have at least one dot in an Ability to
take a specialty in it.
Step Four: Merits
Choose 10 dots of Merits (Exalted, p. 157).
Step Five: Charms
Choose 15 Charms. Most Ability- and Attribute-based
Charms require a minimum trait rating; exceptions typi-
cally involve effects that should be available to that Exigent
regardless of character concept. Essence-based Exigents’
Charms have no Attribute or Ability requirements.
Martial Arts Charms, Evocations, and spells (if you
chose Terrestrial Circle Sorcery as a starting Charm)
may be chosen in place of native Charms. Talk to your
Storyteller about your Exigent’s access to Martial Arts,
Evocations, and sorcery before investing in them.
Step Six: Intimacies and
the Great Curse
Choose Intimacies (Exalted, p. 170) to represent your
character’s beliefs and relationships. Intimacies can
represent motivations, beliefs, worldview, friends and
enemies, moral code, personal idiosyncrasies, or other
important parts of her life. Many Exigents have Ties
toward their patron and Principles related to what
they’ve been doing since being Chosen or the crisis
they were Chosen because of.
There’s no maximum on how many Intimacies you
may choose. Starting characters must have at least
four Intimacies. At least one must be Defining, and one
must be Major. Likewise, at least one must be positive,
and one must be negative.
Make any decisions necessary for your Exigent type’s
Great Curse (p. XX). Some choose a Limit trigger like
Solars (Exalted, p. 134); others have a specific condi-
tion under which they gain Limit instead.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Step Seven: Bonus Points

You have 15 Bonus Points that can be spent any time
during character creation to raise your character’s
traits. Ability- and Essence-based Exalted default to
following Bonus Point costs. All references to Favored
traits also include Caste traits, Aspect traits, etc.
EXPERIENCED EXIGENTS
The rules above are for creating Exigents who’ve
been Exalted for less than a year. For more ex-
perienced Exigents, make the following changes:
• Your starting Essence is 2.

Primary or Secondary Attribute 4 per dot • Choose 13 dots of Merits.

Tertiary Attribute 3 per dot • Choose 20 Charms.
Favored Ability 1 per dot
• Spend 18 Bonus Points.
Non-Favored Ability 2 per dot
Specialty 1 If you want to play an Exigent designed for Terres-
trial play in a group of primarily Celestial Exalted,
Merits 1 per dot you can use these rules to help close the gap in
Favored Charm 4 power, providing a narrative of an experienced
Exigent working with less experienced but more
Non-Favored Charm 5 (4 if Essence powerful Chosen.
-based)
Spell (Associated Ability Favored) 4
Spell (Associated Attribute 5 (4 if Essence
non-Caste, non-Favored) -based) It’s most cost-effective to use Bonus Points for Caste/
Favored Attributes and Abilities. Using them for Charms,
Evocation 4 Evocations, or spells is the most expensive option.
Willpower 2 per dot
Step 8: Finishing Touches
Occult is typically the Ability associated with sorcery,
although Ability-based Exalted who have Charms in Most Exigents begin play with a permanent Essence
only a limited selection of Abilities will often use an- of 1. Their mote pools will vary depending on whether
other one if they don’t have Occult Charms. they’re meant for Terrestrial-level or Celestial-level
groups.
Attribute-based Exalted default to the following costs:
Terrestrial-level Exigents typically have (11 + Essence)
Favored Attribute 3 per dot personal motes and (23 + [Essence x4]) peripheral
Non-Favored Attribute 4 per dot motes, totaling 12 personal motes and 27 peripheral
motes at Essence 1.
Ability 2 per dot
Specialty 1 Celestial-level Exigents typically have (11 + [Essence
x2]) personal motes and (27 + [Essence x6]) peripheral
Merits 1 per dot
motes, totaling 13 personal motes and 33 peripheral
Favored Charm 4 motes at Essence 1.
Non-Favored Charm 5
Exigents begin with five Willpower (Exalted, p. 169),
Spell (Associated Attribute Favored) 4 which can be raised by spending Bonus Points.
Spell (Associated Attribute non-Favored) 5
Exigents begin with seven health levels (Exalted, p.
Evocation 4
171) by default. A −0 level, two −1 levels, two −2 levels,
Willpower 2 per dot a −4 level, and an Incapacitated level. Exigents can
purchase additional health levels by learning Ox-Body
Intelligence is typically the Attribute associated with Technique or their equivalent Charms.
sorcery.

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 C H A P T E R T H R E E : B E Y O N D M O R TA L I T Y
CHARACTER CREATION SUMMARY
STEP 1: CONCEPT AND CASTE
Consult with the Storyteller and other players and
come up with a character concept.
If your Exigent has a Caste or Aspect, select it. Note
your character’s anima powers.
Attribute-based Exigent: Select four Caste/Fa-
vored Attributes (two Caste, two Favored or three
Caste, one Favored).
Ability-based Exigent: Select five Caste and five
Favored Abilities.
STEP 2: ATTRIBUTES
Place one dot in each Attribute.
Divide 8 dots among Primary Attributes, 6 among sec-
ondary Attributes, and 4 dots among tertiary Attributes.
STEP 3: ABILITIES
Divide 28 dots among all Abilities. None may be
raised higher than 3 without spending Bonus Points.
Favored Abilities must have at least one dot.
Assign four specialties.
STEP 4: MERITS
Spend 10 dots on Merits.
Customizing Character Creation
At each stage of character creation, the default rules
have been laid out for three broad Exigent frameworks,
but these guidelines are simply the default. A few ex-
amples of ways that these rules can be customized are
found below:
• Many Exigents have unique choices to make
during Step 1 that help to define their overall
concept, such as an Architect choosing her
home city.
• Like the Lunar Exalted, some Attribute-based
Exigents may possess superhuman potency.
These (typically) Celestial-level Exigents dis-
tribute nine dots between primary Attributes,
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STEP 5: CHARMS
Select 15 Charms.
STEP 6: INTIMACIES & LIMIT TRIGGER
Choose at least four Intimacies, including at least
one Defining Intimacy, one Major Intimacy, one posi-
tive Tie, and one negative Tie.
Choose a Limit trigger, if applicable.
STEP 7: BONUS POINTS
Spend 15 Bonus Points.
Attribute-based Exigent: Receives Favored/Unfa-
vored costs on Attributes.
Ability-based Exigent: Receives Favored costs on
Abilities.
Essence-based Exigent: Receives Favored cost on
all Charms.
STEP 8: FINISHING TOUCHES
Record Essence rating (1), Personal Essence (11
+ Essence), Peripheral Essence (23 + [Essence x
4]), Health Levels (−0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incapacitat-
ed) and Willpower (5).
seven dots between secondary Attributes and
five dots between tertiary Attributes.
• Some Exigents may be granted additional spe-
cialties to reflect extensive training received after
they were Chosen. If they receive more than four
specialties, at least two should reflect this training.
• Exigents with significant temporal power, such
as the Sovereigns of Uluiru (p. XX), may re-
ceive an additional five dots of Merits, typical-
ly restricted to Story Merits such as Backing,
Command, Contacts, Followers, Influence,
Resources, and Retainers. Alternatively, these
additional dots might be restricted to a partic-
ular Merit. For instance, Ninegala, the Forge-
Goddess of Makelo, might allow her Chosen to
take powerful Artifacts from her vault.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

EXIGENTS GET SPECIAL POWERS, TOO

Most types of Exalted have unique powers or advantages that take them above the baseline described in this
chapter: Solars’ Supernal Abilities, Dragon-Blooded’s Elemental Aura and access to Resonant Evocations,
Lunar shapeshifting and moonsilver tattoos, Sidereals’ arcane fate and astrological powers, and so on. Exi-
gents can have these advantages too, whether it’s a unique power separate from Charms or superior access
to Martial Arts, Evocations, or sorcery. If you don’t give your Exigent such an edge, take that into consideration
when creating their Charms, making them more powerful in places that let them keep pace with other Exalt’s
advantages.

Significant Deviations a spread of Favored Abilities or Favored Attributes. For

What if you want to go further than fine-tuning the
rules of character creation in small ways? You could
design an Exigent that only possesses Favored Abilities,
which strongly reflects how the character’s power is
rooted in her personal interests. She might possess
fewer than 10 Caste/Favored Abilities, whether be-
cause her power is narrowly focused or because you
simply can’t think of ten different Abilities which the
character has an interest in. An Essence-based Exigent
could possess Favored Abilities or Attributes. Or an
Essence-based Exigent whose esoteric patron has an
affinity for sorcery might receive Favored costs on
spells without selecting either Intelligence or Occult
as Caste/Favored Traits.
Discuss each of these ideas with your Storyteller and
try to find a rationale reflecting the nature and person-
ality of the Exigent you want to play. Your Storyteller
should err on the side of generosity, and if you propose
an idea that he wants to turn down, he should try to
work with you to understand why you feel it’s import-
ant, and whether your proposal is necessary.
Traits
Castes and Aspects
Most Exigents are singular Exalted, but some among
those who exist in greater numbers have Castes or
Aspects. A Caste is fundamentally about what the
Exigent does, reflecting a role that the Exigent was
chosen to fulfill, like the warrior role of a Dawn Caste
Solar or the trickster role of a Changing Moon Caste
Lunar. Aspects are about who an Exigent is, reflecting
her nature, personality, and talents, like the passionate
intensity of a Fire Aspect Dragon-Blood or the choleric
temperament of a Flesh Aspect Liminal.
A Caste or Aspect is associated with a set of anima effects,
a set of criteria for receiving a Role Bonus (p. XX), and
Ability-based Exigents, a Caste or Aspect typically has
five associated Abilities, although if there’s significant
overlap among these Abilities (e.g., having multiple
combat Abilities), they might be associated with a total
of eight, from which the player picks five. For Attribute-
based Exigents, Castes and Aspects are associated with
three Attributes, of which the player may choose two
depending on how many Favored Attributes she receives.
Anima
Each Exigent has an anima banner that flares with
greater brightness and intensity as she spends periph-
eral motes. Every five peripheral motes she spends
in an instant increase her anima banner by one
level.
Dim The Exigent’s anima is invisi-
ble. This is its default level when
she’s not spending Essence.
Glowing The Exigent’s anima becomes visible,
outlining her body and potentially man-
ifesting other visual displays like Caste
Marks, glowing eyes, a halo of power,
etc. Stealth rolls suffer a −3 penalty;
other characters add +3 dice on rolls
opposing the Exigent’s disguise.
Burning The Exigent’s anima coalesces into an
aura surrounding her and may have
cosmetic effects on objects or terrain
it touches. Stealth is impossible.
Bonfire/ The Exigent’s anima ignites into a brilliant
Iconic bonfire stretching into the sky, visible for
miles around. Upon reaching bonfire and
at suitably dramatic moments, her anima
manifests a personalized iconic display
that reflects both her personality and
the nature of her Exaltation. Her anima
completely illuminates her surroundings
within short range. Stealth is impossible.

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 C H A P T E R T H R E E : B E Y O N D M O R TA L I T Y
It takes 15 minutes for the anima banner to recede from
bonfire to burning or from burning to glowing, and half
an hour to recede from glowing to dim.
Anima Effects
Each Exigent has three main anima effects, powers
that are iconic of either their Caste or Aspect or, if they
don’t have one, their nature as an Exigent. These anima
effects function much as Charms do (see Chapter 4, p.
XX), but are generally straightforward bonuses rather
than the more complex powers that some Charms
have. A very common structure for anima effects is a
power that provides an Instant-duration benefit for
five motes but becomes free at bonfire anima.
For Exigents without a Caste or Aspect, their ani-
ma effects are universally available regardless of
character concept as the most basic manifestations
of their power. For Exigents with Castes or Aspects,
these anima effects are still universally available to
members of that Caste or Aspect, but unlike Charms,
they’re completely unavailable to Exalted of other
Castes or Aspects — so it’s best to avoid giving a
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Caste or Aspect an anima effect that would be highly
desirable for many character concepts supported by
other Castes or Aspects.
In addition to an Exigent’s main anima effects, they
may have a number of minor and largely cosmetic
powers that can be used for one mote, like a Solar dis-
playing her Caste Mark or knowing the time from the
position of celestial bodies.
Merits and Flaws
Some Exalted have unique Merits or Flaws available
to them, reflecting specific aspects of their nature
as an Exalt that couldn’t be represented as a Charm.
Such Merits are always Innate or Purchased, not Story
Merits. For example, Architects have Merits that let
them exchange a Foundation Attribute for greater
power with Martial Arts or sorcery (p. XX), while the
Thin-Blooded Flaw (Dragon-Blooded, p. 143) poses
complication to a Dragon-Blood in the unique issue of
their Exalted lineage.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Great Curse
The death-curse of the fallen ancients fell upon the
fire of the Exigence just as it did the other Exalted,
ensuring that all Exigents created from it would bear
the mark of their vengeance. The Great Curse mani-
fests differently for each Exigent. For many, the Great
Curse’s manifestations function similarly to Solar
Limit (Exalted, p. 134): the Exigent has a ten-point
Limit track; gains or loses Limit under certain condi-
tions, and upon reaching 10; and enters a Limit Break,
a dramatically altered state of mind.
While in Limit Break, the Exigent treats it as a Defining
Intimacy and must reject any influence it would let
them treat as unacceptable (Exalted, p. 220). Once a
Limit Break ends, the Exigent’s Limit resets to zero
and her current temporary Willpower resets to an
amount equal to her permanent Willpower.
The Great Curse can also be represented purely
through roleplaying, as with Dragon-Blooded and
Architects (p. XX). An Exigent using these rules can
earn an Expression Bonus of Exigent Experience (p.
XX) through roleplaying manifestations of their Great
Curse. However, this is never an excuse to ruin other
players’ fun at the table. If a dramatic moment caused
by the Great Curse isn’t something that the entire group
can appreciate, it doesn’t award Exigent Experience.
The choice between these two is a matter of theme and
player preference, not power level or balance. You can
freely change an Exalt’s Limit track to a purely role-
play-based Great Curse if you prefer it, or vice versa.
You can customize these mechanics or create new
ones to suit your Exigent. For example, the optional
canon Umbral Exalted (p. XX) have a ten-point track
of Penumbra that represents their Shadow’s influence
over them, but don’t have Limit Breaks; their Penumbra
waxes and wanes as they contend with their Shadow.
Martial Arts
The rule of thumb for which Exalted have access to the
Mastery keyword with Martial Arts and which are lim-
ited by the Terrestrial keyword varies based on what
level of play they’re designed for.
Terrestrial Play
Terrestrial Exigents are generally limited by the
Terrestrial keyword when using Martial Arts. Some
have ways to circumvent this limitation, like Dragon-
Blooded using the Immaculate styles, while others may
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not suffer from it at all if it fits their themes. However,
even the most thematically appropriate Terrestrial
Exigent generally won’t have Mastery unless you’re
willing to design their entire Charm set around them
having access to Solar-level Charms in Martial Arts.
This is doubly true for Sidereal Martial Arts, whose
power, scale, and scope risk overshadowing any other
magic a Terrestrial Exigent has access to.
Celestial Play
Celestial Exigents are generally never limited by the
Terrestrial keyword. It’s not a useful tool for power
balance, as players will simply avoid Martial Arts in
favor of more powerful magic. Celestial Exigents can
have the Mastery keyword if it fits their themes, or
may receive Mastery with a limited selection of the-
matic styles. For instance, the Chosen of a serpentine
god might have Mastery with Snake style, White Veil
style, and other styles that employ poison. However,
keep in mind that this strongly pressures players to use
those styles over any others. That’s not a problem if the
Exigent is only meant for one player who was planning
to take those styles anyway, but for an Exigent designed
for a broader audience, it risks shutting down potential
character concepts and character-building decisions.
Sidereal Martial Arts aren’t off limits for Exigents with
appropriate themes. Such Exigents are vanishingly rare
in Creation, but they’re fair game for a player character
concept. If you want to play one, make sure you aren’t
potentially overshadowing another player’s character
concept. If someone’s playing a Sidereal or Solar, or
similar character with plans to eventually take Sidereal
Martial Arts, talk with them and the Storyteller to
make sure that won’t be an issue. Limiting an Exigent’s
access to a single style or a selection of thematic styles
can be a good way to resolve this by giving access to
styles the other player doesn’t plan to take.
Exigents generally never have access to the
Enlightenment keyword, which empowers Sidereal
Martial Arts in the hands of Sidereals and Getimians.
An Exigent for whom Martial Arts is a core focus
might have Enlightenment for a single style that di-
rectly matches their themes: the Chosen of a former
god of healing whose divine purview was corrupted
by the Great Contagion might have Enlightenment
with Citrine Poxes of Contagion style, which is about
disease and healing.
Martial Arts Compatibility
Because of how Martial Arts compatibility works,
Exalted with Ability-based Charms can’t use their
combat Abilities’ Charms together with Martial Arts,
 C H A P T E R T H R E E : B E Y O N D M O R TA L I T Y
but those with Attribute-based or Essence-based
Charms aren’t similarly limited. Likewise, Exigents
with Charms for a limited Ability spread (p. XX) can
circumvent the restriction if their offensive Charms
reside in non-combat Abilities. This is a significant ad-
vantage that can risk becoming overpowered without
some balancing factor.
For Celestial Exigents, having such compatibility usu-
ally means that they don’t have Mastery with Martial
Arts, and tend to have more Simple-type offensive
Charms than others. Terrestrial Exigents typically lose
this compatibility altogether, except for Charms with
the Versatile keyword, below.
These are safe approaches, but not the only ones — if,
for example, Martial Arts prowess is a significant
part of your Terrestrial Exigent’s themes, you could
have them keep this compatibility, with the trade-
off being in the overall power level of their native
combat Charms. In terms of a “power ceiling” when
pushing these limits, Terrestrial Exigents shouldn’t
outshine a Dragon-Blooded with an Immaculate style,
and Celestial Exigents shouldn’t outshine Solars or
Sidereals with Sidereal Martial Arts.
Keyword: Versatile
Versatile Charms are always compatible with Martial
Arts. Versatile Charms from multiple Abilities or
Attributes can’t be used together on the same action,
unless specified otherwise. If a Versatile Charm is in
a combat Ability or involves a roll or static value using
one, its compatibility is limited to Martial Arts that use
weapons for that combat Ability.
Sorcery and Necromancy
An Exalt’s access to sorcery and necromancy varies
based on the tier of play she’s designed for.
Terrestrial Play
Terrestrial Exalted are generally capable of initiating
into Terrestrial Circle sorcery or Ivory Circle necro-
mancy. Exigents with appropriate themes may vary
from this, like a knowledge-god’s Chosen being able to
learn Celestial Circle sorcery as a unique, distinguishing
advantage (p. XX). It’s more common for Terrestrial
Exigents to gain conditional access to a limited selection
of higher-Circle spells, as with Sovereigns’ Sapphire
Talisman Apocrypha (p. XX). Exigents whose themes
are associated with necromancy may have access to both
Terrestrial Circle sorcery and Ivory Circle necromancy,
if using both makes sense for their concept.
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Celestial Play
Celestial Exalted typically have access to Celestial
Circle sorcery and Ivory Circle necromancy, or
Shadow Circle necromancy and Terrestrial Circle
sorcery. Celestial Exigents with appropriate themes
might have access to both the Celestial Circle and the
Shadow Circle. Some may be worse at sorcery than this
for thematic or balance reasons — unlike with Martial
Arts and the Terrestrial keyword, a sorcerer can still
gain great benefit from Terrestrial Circle spells even if
she can’t initiate into the Celestial Circle.
Exigents with appropriate themes might be able to
initiate into the Solar Circle or Void Circle, or more
commonly, gain conditional access to a limited selec-
tion of thematically appropriate spells. If someone else
is playing a Solar, Abyssal, or Infernal with plans of
reaching the third circle, you’ll want to discuss it with
them to ensure you’re not stealing their thunder. Even
then, an Exigent shouldn’t have access to both the
Solar Circle and the Void Circle.
Initiation Charms
Initiation Charms for sorcery and necromancy have
the same trait minimums across Exalt types:
• Terrestrial Circle/Ivory Circle: Occult 3,
Essence 1 for Ability-based Exalted; Intelligence
3, Essence 1 for Attribute-based Exalted; or
Essence 1 for Essence-based Exalted.
• Celestial Circle/Shadow Circle: Occult 4,
Essence 3 for Ability-based Exalted; Intelligence
4, Essence 3 for Attribute-based Exalted; or
Essence 3 for Essence-based Exalted.
• Solar Circle/Void Circle: Occult 5, Essence 5
for Ability-based Exalted; Intelligence 5, Essence
5 for Attribute-based Exalted; or Essence 5 for
Essence-based Exalted.
The minimums for sorcery Charms, on the other hand,
vary based both on theme. Solars and other Exalted for
whom sorcery or necromancy is core to their themes
— even Terrestrial Exigents — need no prerequisite
Charms to learn Terrestrial Circle sorcery or Ivory
Circle necromancy, and need only the preceding ini-
tiation Charms to learn those for higher Circles. All
Exalted with access to Solar Circle sorcery or Void
Circle necromancy fall into this category.
For other Exalted, Terrestrial Circle sorcery and
Ivory Circle necromancy generally require either
four Charms from some specific category, like “Occult
Charms” or “Mental Charms,” or one specific Charm.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

might also have one for certain kinds of artifacts, like

NECROMANCY the Puppeteer’s resonance with artifact puppets.

Terrestrial Play
The three circles of necromancy are the Ivory Cir-
cle, the Shadow Circle, and the Void Circle. While Terrestrial Exalted are typically neutral with one of
rules for necromancy haven’t yet been present- the magical materials and dissonant with all others. As
ed, for Storytellers wishing to approximate them, always, the may vary — Dragon-Blooded are masters of
necromancers have access to all sorcery spells Evocations in Terrestrial play, resonant with jade and
except for those that have healing or life-nurtur- neutral with all other materials but soulsteel, while
ing effects, like Benediction of Archgenesis, and Sovereigns can gain resonance with adamant using
summoning spells, like Demon of the First Cir- Adamant Harmony Reverberation (p. XX). Note that
cle. In exchange, necromancers have access to resonant Evocations are almost always more powerful
unique spells dealing with creating, summoning, than other magic a Terrestrial Exalt can learn. Broad,
and manipulating the undead, manipulating or unconditional access to Evocations like that of the
exploiting the nature of the Underworld and shad- Dragon-Blooded warrants increasing the experience
owlands, laying deathly curses, and other bleak cost of Evocations to twelve points to mitigate the poten-
magics. If a sorcerous spell creates or draws on tial for a “one true build” based on resonant Evocations.
the five elements, its necromantic equivalent will
instead manifest phantasmal phenomena of the Celestial Play
Underworld — a necromancer casting Flight of Celestial Exigents are usually resonant with one mag-
the Brilliant Raptor might conjure a bird of the ee- ical material appropriate to their theme and neutral
rie green foxfire that burns in the Underworld’s with all others. If thematically appropriate — e.g., for
marshes, rather than true flame. This doesn’t
the Chosen of a god of precious metals or artifice —
change the spell’s effects.
they may be resonant with multiple materials, or even
Necromancy has its own equivalent to sorcerous all materials.
workings. They’re largely identical, but necroman-
tic workings are incapable of healing or nurturing Advancement
life unless they do so by draining vitality from an-
other, and they cannot summon entities other than Exigents receive five experience points per session.
the undead. In Creation, necromantic workings al- Depending on whether they’re intended for Terrestrial
ways cause some degree of backlash to the living or Celestial play, they default to one of the two tables
and the land around it, although a skillful necro- of experience point costs below. Most Essence-based
mancer can minimize or precisely limit this — or Exigents pay 9 experience for all Charms, including
potentially draw greater power from a working by Martial Arts Charms, spells, and Evocations.
letting its backlash go entirely unrestrained.
Terrestrial Advancement
Attribute increase current rating x4
For the latter, there might be a selection of Charms the
Exalt can choose them, if they have multiple Charms Ability Increase current rating x2
that make sense as a foundation for their esoteric Favored Attribute increase current rating x3
initiation. Celestial Circle sorcery and Shadow Circle Favored Ability increase (current rating x2) −1
necromancy require the preceding initiation Charm
and any five spells of the preceding circle. New Ability 3
Specialty 3
Evocations Purchased Merit new rating x3
Willpower 8
An Exalt’s level of proficiency with Evocations de-
pends on the tier of play she’s designed for. While Charm 10 (8 if Favored)
these are generally based on the five magical materials Martial Arts Charm 10 (8 if Favored)
(or six, including adamant), some Exigents have an
Spell 12 (10 if Occult or In-
affinity for exotic components, like Chiaroscuro glass.
telligence is Favored)
In addition to an Exigent’s material-based affinity, they
Evocation 10

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 C H A P T E R T H R E E : B E Y O N D M O R TA L I T Y

Celestial Advancement Exigent experience, for a maximum of four Exigent

experience per session. Some Exigents may have dif-
Attribute increase current rating x4 ferent options, like Architects (p. XX), but four Exigent
Ability Increase current rating x2 experience per session is always the maximum.
Favored Attribute increase current rating x3
Expression Bonus
Favored Ability increase (current rating x2) − 1 Players can gain 2 Exigent experience once per session
New Ability 3 by:
Specialty 3
• Expressing, supporting, or engaging a Major or
Purchased Merit new rating x3 Defining Intimacy such that it reveals something
Willpower 8 about the character, develops her personality, or
Charm 10 (8 if Favored) provides a character moment that everyone at
the table enjoys.
Martial Arts Charm 10 (8 if Favored)
Spell 10 (8 if Favored) • Facing significant challenges, danger, or harm in
the course of protecting or upholding a Major or
Evocation 10
Defining Intimacy.
An Exigent’s Essence rating increases as she spends experi-
• Being significantly impeded, endangered, or
ence points. The precise values needed to raise her Essence
harmed by a Flaw (Exalted, p. 167).
vary based on which level of play she’s designed for:
Role Bonus
Terrestrial Essence Advancement
A role bonus rewards a player character for playing
Essence 2 50 XP to their character’s major archetypes and themes, or
Essence 3 125 XP for ceding the spotlight of a scene to another player
character so he can express his character concept in a
Essence 4: 300 XP cool and dramatic fashion, or directly supporting him
Essence 5: 375 XP in such a moment.
Essence 6: Only available at Storyteller’s discretion.
To create your own conditions for earning role bonuses,
Celestial Essence Advancement pick four circumstances or conditions that exemplify some
aspect of your Exigent’s character concept. Role bonuses
Essence 2 50 XP should encourage the Exigent to engage with their unique
Essence 3 125 XP powers, themes, and position in the setting, rewarding
them when they embrace — or struggle against — these
Essence 4: 200 XP
elements. Often these will involve undertaking a danger-
Essence 5: 300 XP ous, risky, or challenging task or expressing an Exigent’s
Essence 6: Only available at Storyteller’s discretion. identity and themes in a dramatic, memorable way.

If using the optional character creation for experi-
enced Exigents (p. XX), reduce each experience point
threshold by 50.
Exigent Experience
In addition to experience awarded at a session’s end,
Exigents have the opportunity to earn Exigent expe-
rience, which can be spent to gain any trait (or on any
other experience point cost, such as sorcerous work-
ings) except Exigent Charms.
Typically, players can earn one Expression Bonus and
one Role Bonus per session, each of which grants two
For example, the Bleak Warden’s concept revolves around
binding and subduing spirits, as well as a flawless mem-
ory. His role bonuses might include successfully tracking
down and binding a danger threatening Creation, or
when his eidetic memory retains clues that lead him to
his target. The Torchbearer, on the other hand, might
earn role bonuses by uncovering corruption and reveal-
ing it, or inspiring others to pursue knowledge.
The Nature of Exigence
Beyond the mechanics of creating Exigents, there are
a few narrative concerns which can influence their
themes and stories described below.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

WHAT’S THE POINT?

Essence fever is a narrative tool to encourage the Exalted to act dramatically. If a person receives phenomenal
power, what fun would it be if they simply sat on it and didn’t do anything? Essence fever provides characters,
both player- and Storyteller-controlled, an easy rationale for making dramatic (and interesting) changes to
their lives. Consider Essence fever an opportunity to figure out how their newfound power might change a
character’s behavior from before they were Chosen, and a handy answer for why they might join a Circle of
their fellow Exalted as they adventure. Essence fever is not mind control. Rather, it’s a dramatic prompt to
help answer a simple question: What’s my motivation?

This compulsion doesn’t suddenly disappear when the

Essence Fever Exigent’s work is accomplished. She continues to feel
the burning desire to act and wield her Essence in the
An Exigent’s Essence fever echoes the heady power
world, even when she lacks an easy target. Eager to
imparted by the Unconquered Sun, an urge to action
achieve the highs she felt when she Exalted, she may
that suffuses the divine fire of Exigence and all those
seek to enact her agenda on a more ambitious scale, or
created from it. This urge focuses on the circum-
wander Creation in search of another cause — whether
stances in which an Exigent was chosen. For instance,
similar to or radically different from that for which she
Strawmaiden Janest feels in every fiber of her being
was chosen. Regardless of the nature of their power or
that she must protect her people from annihilation
their personal character, few Exigents resist Essence
and tend to the fields that Ten Sheaves held so dearly.
fever, though some grow more adept at controlling
This impulse doesn’t overcome reason but serves as a
these urges as they age.
powerful impetus to act decisively to address whatever
challenges she was chosen to overcome.

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 C H A P T E R T H R E E : B E Y O N D M O R TA L I T Y
The details of an Exigent’s Essence fever are heavily
influenced by the god who catalyzed her Exaltation.
An Exigent of the violent war-goddess Siakal may
have been Exalted to protect the war-god’s people,
but Siakal’s Essence within him calls him to slaughter,
staining the Great Western Ocean red in the blood of
his enemies. Conversely, an Exigent chosen by the
gentle Forest Walker called Ten Wise Branches, when
confronted by an angry mob, finds herself struggling
with the impulse to force serenity and peace upon
these people somehow.
Exigent Longevity
Many Exigents live a lengthy yet still mortal lifetime,
maintaining their health until their final years. Some
find ways to extend their lives beyond their natural
span with anagathic drugs purchased from the Guild,
sorceries learned from gods and demons, or stranger
methods of staving off aging. Others have lifespans
measured in centuries, which they can extend further
using many of the same methods as their shorter-lived
peers.
Rarer still are Exigents with the potential to live for
millennia. Of these, relatively few have survived the
passage of ages, though a few may yet be found, with
long and faded memories of the rise and fall of civili-
zations. Sometimes this persistence is conditional: An
Architect does not age as long as she remains within
her home city’s bounds, while an Exigent chosen by
the forest deity Ever-Rising Oak is only nigh-ageless so
long as the titanic tree she guards still stands.
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When designing an Exigent, matters of lifespan may
be academic, as chronicles don’t often last long enough
for characters to die of old age. Nonetheless, the
choice may present an opportunity to give a character
a dramatic motivation related to their age. Storyteller-
controlled Exigents may bargain for ways to extend
their lifespan, while aging Exigents may act to solidify
their legacy, particularly if they’re able to pass on their
power.
Exigent Inheritance
The typical Exigent is a singular being — her power
stays with her through her entire life, then dies with
her. A few Exigents pass on their Exaltation to another
bearer, although their methods of doing so vary greatly.
For instance, a dying Torchbearer passes on her power
to a successor — ideally a worthy one! — in the form of
her lantern. When Karana’s Puppeteer dies, her power
returns to the god as a gossamer filament that he may
offer to a potential Chosen. Wicked-Grin Shifune (usu-
ally begrudgingly) confers power to the person who
takes him on as their familiar.
Inheritance is a useful thing to consider when think-
ing either about the origin of your Exigent’s power, or
what you might want to happen over the course of a
chronicle. An Exigent who inherited their power may
have come to possess it in a highly unusual way, which
can be a great seed for adventure. Inheritance can also
be a fitting end for a beloved Exigent character, their
power passed on to a worthy successor, or waiting in
the hopes for one to find it someday.
In the Tranquil Elm’s banquet hall, Nimah Fel supped his last.
The Thousand Venoms Mistress had followed him around Nexus for days, planning his demise. The lissome Guild
factor had carved a flourishing economic empire throughout the Scavenger Lands and brought in practically sinful
returns year after year. Small wonder that one of his fellow Guildsmen wanted him dead. Her client had described
the arcane politics of the Guild’s Directorate, but she wasn’t paid to care.
She slipped into the kitchen and cheerfully showed the chef her knife. He set down his cleaver, remembering
somewhere else he needed to be. In Nexus, it’s often best to simply get out of the way.
Soup — delicious, from the smell — bubbled on the stove. The Exigent ladled a serving into an exquisite porcelain
bowl and tipped in the contents of her ivory vial. It wouldn’t do to poison all the patrons.
As she carried it toward the banquet hall’s door, a shaggy-headed but well-heeled man came through the
doorway. She’d seen him before, at Fel’s side at the gambling house, even got close enough to hear his name:
Willow Specter.
“Oh. I was looking for...” His eyes narrowed. “Where’s the chef?”
“Needed a break,” she said. But Willow Specter was already in motion, knocking the bowl from her hands.
Time to abort. Before the bowl hit the floor, she was sprinting for the back door, with Willow Specter following not
far behind.
She whipped an envenomed throwing knife behind her with a practiced motion. The blade flew clean and true —
until, mere yards away from Willow Specter’s heart, a shopkeeper leaned over a balcony to shake out a rug. The
knife buried itself in carpet; a black stain spreading along the fibers.
Willow Specter cast a horrified glance at the venom as he passed but didn’t slow his pursuit.
Ahead, the alley forked. The Thousand Venoms Mistress went left. Glancing back, she saw Willow Specter dart
right. She hadn’t been in Nexus for long; he might know a shortcut she didn’t.
But he wouldn’t expect her to go up.
She hoisted herself up drainpipes and balconies and made for her nearest safehouse, leaping from rooftop to
rooftop. As she dashed across the fourth roof, Willow Specter hauled himself up over a ledge.
“Lucky break,” he explained. “I wanted a crow’s eye view.” He closed the distance, dagger drawn.
She met him with poison-tipped blades of her own. Her strikes were sharp and calculated; his jabs wild and
reckless. She should’ve bested him in short order, yet at every turn he parried — not because he’d anticipated her
moves, but because his blade happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Eventually, though, his luck ran out. She slipped past his guard, slicing a bicep.
The poison worked fast. Pain-wracked, Willow Specter dropped to his knees, jaw agape in a wordless scream. It
was distilled from the Thousand Venoms Mistress’ own blood, containing every deadly substance she’d procured
over her years as the Chosen of Toxins. His eyes went wide with psychedelic hallucinations as it reached his brain.
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
Then his hand flashed out, blindly grabbing for the vials at her belt. His fingers, still clumsy and numb, fumbled
one from among the many. The only one that mattered. Before she could knock it away, he’d scrambled back to the
roof’s edge, where he unstoppered the antidote and swigged.
She might still have been able to slit his throat in that moment as he shuddered and gasped with relief; perhaps
she even should have. But her foe intrigued her, and besides, her client had only paid for Fel’s death, not his
bodyguard’s.
Willow Specter rocked back onto his knees, watching her warily as the poison’s effects subsided. “I don’t suppose
you’d stay away from Fel if I asked nicely?”
“No,” she said. “I have a job to do.”
“I’ll see you around, then.” He scuttled backwards and plummeted off the side. When she peered over the edge,
the Chosen of the Dice was gone.

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 Chapter Four
Power of
the Exalted
The supernatural prowess of the Exalted is depicted
through their Charms. The Exigents, the most vari-
able of the Chosen, don’t have a single Charm set like
Solars, Dragon-Blooded, or other Exalted. Instead,
each type of Exigent has its own unique Charm set.
Creating an entirely new Charm set can be a daunting
task; this chapter exists to present you with the tools
to accomplish it.
Know Your Audience
One of the most important considerations in creating
an Exigent (or any other homebrew mechanic) is
who’s going to use it. If you’re creating an Exigent for
yourself or another member of your playgroup, you
can narrowly tailor your design to the needs of a single
player and collaborate with your Storyteller and fellow
players to arrive at a design that everyone will enjoy. If
you’re writing for a larger audience, such as something
you intend to share online in Exalted fan communi-
ties, it’s best to design a broader range of play options,
as more players may end up playing your Exigent and
want to explore different aspects of their Charm set,
and to focus more on mechanical balance, as you won’t
be able to directly communicate with everyone in ev-
ery game using your Exigent.
Designing for Your Playgroup
Assuming a player character Exigent begins at Essence
1 using the standard character creation rules, you’ll
only need to create fifteen to eighteen unique Charms
for them to begin playing, depending on how many
bonus points they spend on Charms — and potentially
fewer than that, if they choose to invest in Evocations,
Martial Arts Charms, or sorcery. If you’re creating an
Exigent intended to be used just by one player in your
group, we strongly recommend that you write only the
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bare minimum needed to begin playing. If the player
is designing the Charms, she only needs to write those
Charms she’s interested in having at the beginning
of play; if the Storyteller is writing the Charms, she
should consult with the Exigent’s player to see what
he’s interested in — there’s no need to write social in-
fluence Charms if the Exigent’s player isn’t interested
in starting out with them.
The rest of your Exigent’s Charm set can be created
over the course of play. When using the standard
character advancement rules (p. XX), Exigent player
characters will be able to take one new Charm every
two sessions. If your game goes all the way to Essence
5 — which not all games do — you’ll need to design, at
most, a total of thirty-seven new Charms in addition to
the ones you made at character over the course of sixty
sessions.
Designing for a Larger Audience
When designing an Exigent to be used by a larger au-
dience, you don’t have the advantages of only needing
to write the Charms one player will want to use and
stretching out the design process throughout the cam-
paign. There’s no “magic number” of Charms to write
for larger consumption, but the following guidelines
will help design an Exigent Charm set that can support
a variety of character concepts.
ESSENCE MINIMUM NUMBER OF CHARMS
1 45-120
2 25-60
3 25-45
4 2-10
5 2-10
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
GENERAL APPLICABILITY
While this book’s focus is on the Exigents, the design advice provided in this chapter can be applied to creating
new Charms for any of the Exalted, as well as Evocations, Martial Arts, and spells.
The Art of Balance
Balancing mechanics in a system as complex and
exception-based as Exalted is necessarily more of an
art than a science. There aren’t precise mathematical
rules we can present to ensure that a given Exigent is
perfectly balanced in comparison to a Dragon-Blood,
a Solar, or another Exigent. This doesn’t mean that
balance isn’t important — far from it — but rather, that
it’s as much an exercise in communicating with your
fellow players (including the Storyteller) as it is in
rigorous mechanical design. You can’t achieve perfect
mechanical balance, but you can talk with the other
people at your table to ensure that everyone is having a
positive experience with the custom mechanics you’re
using, and to make any changes necessary if someone
isn’t.
Balancing for a Playgroup
Balancing an Exigent Charm set for use within a single
group is less mechanically intensive than designing one
for broader play, instead placing greater importance
on the experience the mechanics create for everyone
in the game. Rather than memorizing every entry in
every book in Exalted Third Edition, you can focus
on the Exalt types and individual Charms chosen by
the other players in balancing your Exigent’s Charms
to ensure they aren’t underpowered or overpowered in
comparison. Likewise, you’ll know if your playgroup’s
game is for Celestial play or Terrestrial play (p. XX)
and can design your Exigent accordingly.
The purpose of balancing mechanics is to provide a
positive play experience, and designing for a playgroup
means you have a direct line to your fellow players. As
long as everyone enjoys it when you use a Charm, it
doesn’t matter whether or not it’s balanced in some
abstract, objective sense. You have the opportunity
to communicate with everyone who’ll be engaging
with your mechanics and potentially some preexisting
knowledge of what kinds of gameplay they find satisfy-
ing, an advantage you never have when you’re writing
for an audience broader than your own table. Make the
most of that advantage by seeking out input, paying
attention to what kind of experiences your Charms
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are creating or enabling for them, and being willing to
listen to their feedback. Charms designed for a single
playgroup never have to be “finished” — you can con-
tinually refine them over the course of the game based
on experience and feedback.
Balancing for a Larger Audience
When designing for a larger audience, it becomes more
important to clearly define how powerful your Exigent
should be, and to compare your Charm set with other
effects of a similar power level to ensure that the dis-
parity isn’t too large. Be very clear at the outset about
whether your Exigent is intended for Celestial play or
Terrestrial play, both to ensure your readers under-
stand this and to help guide your own design decisions.
The key to this kind of balancing is being aware of oth-
er effects that are similar to the one you’re designing
and comparing their relative strengths and drawbacks.
Exalted Third Edition is a mechanically expansive
game with a tremendous number of individual Charms
and similar effects, but you don’t need to memorize
every single mechanic. Look to the Charm set that’s
closest in rough power level to your intended goal to
find the first effect to compare your own design to, and
you’ll have already done the majority of what’s neces-
sary. Knowing every single stray Evocation, Merit, and
spell that’s remotely like your design may be helpful,
but it’s absolutely not necessary. As you design more
and more Charms, you’ll become more familiar with
what effects already exist that you can use as points of
comparison, and it will become easier to find multiple
points of reference.
It’s important to distinguish balancing a Charm set
from making it identical to another Charm set. If you
give an Exigent a Charm set that’s identical to the Solar
Charm set, only changing the names, then you’ll have
an Exigent who’s perfectly balanced against Solars, but
who has nothing unique or distinctive to make players
want to play them over a Solar. The best way to create
Charms that make your Exigent stand out is with the
“top-down” approach to design discussed below (p.
XX). Not every Charm needs to be a top-down design,
and it’s fine to take Charms directly from other Exalted
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
THE CUTTING EDGE
The examples in this chapter are primarily drawn
from Solar Charms. We do this to ensure that
readers need only the Exalted Third Edition
core book to make use of this chapter’s design
advice. However, as the game line has pro-
gressed, the benefits of experience and hindsight
mean that mechanics from later books have more
refinement and polish than those in the core book,
particularly in the areas of wording and clarity.
When looking for points of reference to compare
your designs to, we recommend also consulting
designs from later books, such as Arms of the
Chosen,, Dragon-Blooded
Chosen Dragon-Blooded,, and Lunars
Lunars..
when they fit your Exigent’s needs, but having excit-
ing and innovative Charms mixed in with them will
help excite readers and make them want to play your
Exigent.
It’s also important to consider the design of your
Charm set as a whole, rather than approaching each
individual Charm in a vacuum. Exalted Third Edition
emphasizes the interactions of all a character’s Charms
over the effect of any single Charm when it comes to
gauging a character’s overall strength. If seeing the big
picture is difficult at first, it may be helpful to put a fin-
ished design aside, wait a few weeks, then come back
and reread what you’ve written with a focus on finding
what synergies exist within the individual pieces of
the whole, and then revise to bring everything in line
with the intended level of power. It can also help to
have someone else read through your work with fresh
eyes, especially if you encourage them to find the most
powerful combinations of effects they can.
Once you’ve put your work out for general consump-
tion, you can still expand and improve on it. While you
don’t have the benefit of being an active participant in
every game where your design is being used, you can
still gain valuable input from readers who use your
designs, either as players or as Storytellers. While you
don’t need to accept all the feedback you get, it’s al-
ways worth considering it carefully. If all the feedback
you’re getting indicates that some part of the design
is an issue, take a second look and see if there’s some-
thing there you can improve on. It’s best not to take
feedback personally — if someone spots a problem,
that’s an opportunity to improve, not a personal failing.
Like everything else about design, taking feedback is a
skill; the more you do it, the better you’ll get.
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Check-Ins and Tune-Ups
Whether you’re playing an Exigent of your own design
or bringing someone else’s work to your playgroup, you
should always feel free to check in with how a Charm is
working or tune it up to fit your group. This should be a
conversation that involves everyone at the table, not just
the Storyteller and the Exigent’s player. If something feels
off, don’t be afraid to say so. If something feels overpow-
ered, propose an alternative and test it out, whether that
means increasing the cost or adding additional require-
ments. On the other hand, if a Charm isn’t getting much
use — if it doesn’t feel fun or comes at too high a cost — it’s
completely appropriate to ask for or suggest changes that
will make the concept work for you.
Balance and Dice
Dice rolls are the foundation of gameplay, and many
Charms interact with them. Understanding the bal-
ance considerations and the math at play are key to
balancing them.
Dice Limits
Each Exalt type has a dice limit, the maximum amount
of bonus dice or successes from Charms that they can
add to a roll or static value. Often, the Attribute and
Ability used for the roll or static value in question
are used to calculate the dice limit, but variations on
this can be used to reinforce an Exigent’s themes.
For instance, a Chosen of Mathematics might use
(Intelligence + Ability) as their dice limit regardless of
the Attribute rolled, while a berserker Exigent might
use (higher of Ability or Limit). The limit for increas-
ing static values is half the dice limit, rounded down.
In terms of setting an Exigent’s dice limit, the most im-
portant factor is the style of play they’re designed for.
Exalted intended for Celestial play are typically able to
reach a limit of 10 dice, unless having a lower dice limit
is used to balance access to powerful non-Charm bo-
nuses, as with Sidereals and target number reduction.
10 dice is the maximum on default dice limits.
Exalted intended for Terrestrial level play typically
reach a limit of 5 dice and go beyond that in special-
ized circumstances that reinforce their theme. While
Dragon-Blooded only go to 6 dice with specialties,
other Exalted designed for Terrestrial play might go
higher — even as high as 10 dice — but doing so should
be conditional, as with the Architect’s Excellencies (p.
XX), and must be considered when designing effects
for that Exigent that offer bonuses that don’t count
against their dice cap.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D

Excellencies
Excellencies are the most common way of adding bo-
nus dice on rolls. Their core function is the same for all
Exalt types: add bonus dice for one mote each, or raise
static values for two motes per +1. Some Exalted may
have additional benefits included in their Excellencies,
like Sidereals’ ability to reduce target numbers.
How an Exalt gains access to Excellencies depends on
the tier of play they’re designed for (p. XX) and wheth-
er their Charm set is Ability-based, Attribute-based, or
Essence-based.
Terrestrial Play
Excellencies are more powerful when compared to
other Charms at the Terrestrial play level. Accordingly,
gaining Excellencies requires more investment than
at Celestial play. Terrestrial Exalted receive five free
Ability Excellencies or two free Attribute Excellencies
at character creation, and must purchase further
Excellencies as they do with any other Charm. In
Terrestrial play, Essence-based Exalted still use Ability
or Attribute Excellencies.
For Terrestrial Exalted with full-Ability Charm sets, the
experience investment required to gain Excellencies
is offset by adding small, additional benefits to them,

THE STAMINA AND STRENGTH EXCELLENCIES

Attribute-based Exalted gain special benefits from the Stamina and Strength Excellencies. The Stamina Ex-
cellency can be used to raise soak for one mote per point. The Strength Excellency can add dice of raw with-
ering damage for one mote each on attacks with weapons that add Strength to their raw damage. Neither of
these benefits can exceed half the Exalt’s dice limit, rounded down
down..

Some Essence-based Exalted like the Puppeteer have Excellencies based on Attributes. They don’t gain this
benefit from their Stamina and Strength Excellencies — only Attribute-based Exalted get them.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
like with Dragon-Blooded Excellencies. Attribute
Excellencies instead offset the experience cost with
their greater flexibility and smaller number. Likewise,
Essence-based Exalted and Exigents with limited
Ability spread Charm sets don’t receive additional
effects on their Excellencies, offset by the greater
ease and lower experience cost of meeting Ability
minimums.
Celestial Play
In Celestial play, Ability-based Exalted gain an
Excellency in each Caste, Aspect, or Favored Ability
they have at 1+, and in each other Ability they have a
Charm for. Exigents using a limited Ability spread must
purchase Excellencies for the Abilities not included as
though they were any other Charm.
Attribute-based Exalted gain an Excellency in each
Caste, Aspect, or Favored Attribute they have at 3+ or
for which they have a Charm. For other Attributes,
they must have it at five or have two Charms to gain its
Excellency. Exigents using limited Attribute spreads
must purchase Excellencies for other Attributes
separately.
Essence-based Exalted in Celestial play don’t use
formalized Excellencies — instead, as long as an
action or static value uses an Attribute they have at 5
or an Ability they have at 3+, they count as having an
Excellency for it. This is just a way to avoid having to
keep track of both Attribute and Ability Excellencies
on your character sheet.
Dice Tricks and Probability
When designing Charms, it’s important to understand
how the probabilities involved in Exalted’s dice rolling
system work. On average, a single die will roll a failure
60% of the time. However, because of the double 10s
rule that applies to almost all rolls, the expected value
of a single die (i.e., the average of all possible results) is
.5 successes, rather than .4. For instance, the expected
value of rolling ten dice is five successes. While it’s
an easy formula to remember, there are a number of
effects that can alter the expected value of a dice roll.
• Double Successes: Doubling successes (e.g.,
double 9s, double 8s) increases the expected val-
ue of each die by .1 for each doubled number: .6
for double 9s, .7 for double 8s, and .8 for double
7s.
• Rerolling Dice: Rerolling a flat number of failed
dice is roughly equivalent to adding that many
non-Charm dice to a roll. Rerolling all failed
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dice that show a certain number increases the
expected value of each die by approximately .05
successes — the actual amount is slightly higher,
because a rerolled die could in turn be rerolled
again. Note that rerolling 1s, and to a lesser ex-
tent 2s, is more valuable than rerolling other
failure numbers, as some supernatural enemies
may have Charms that exploit the 1s and 2s on
your roll.
• Roll Twice, Take Highest: Effects that let you
make two rolls and take the highest result don’t
add a flat amount to the expected value of each
die; instead, they increase the total expected
value of the roll, with higher dice pools benefit-
ting more. With five dice, rolling twice adds only
about .8 successes on average, but at ten dice,
it adds about 1.2 successes on average, and at
twenty dice, it adds 1.7 successes on average.
• Target Number Manipulation: Lowering a
roll’s target number (Exalted, p. 184) increases
the expected value of each die by .1 successes
per point, while raising the target number de-
creases the expected value by .1 successes per
point. Note that no effect can raise a roll’s target
number above 9 (.3 successes per die) or below 4
(.8 successes per die).
• Inflicting Penalties: Each point of penalty in-
flicted on an opposing roll is roughly equivalent
to one non-Charm die added to your own roll.
• No Double 10s: Removing double 10s, which
primarily occurs on decisive damage rolls,
reduces the expected value of each die to .4
successes.
Automatic successes don’t have any synergy with most
dice tricks.
Non-Charm Dice and Systems
Doubling 7s on a Bureaucracy roll to know local curren-
cy exchange rates is a very different thing than doubling
7s on a decisive attack roll to dispatch a wrathful Exalt.
Exalted’s various systems call for different approaches
in terms of how many non-Charm dice they can add —
either directly, or effectively through dice tricks. The
following guidelines are a bird’s-eye overview; gauging
the specifics is a matter of comparing existing Charms.
Attack rolls and Defense values receive the least in
terms of non-Charm bonuses, as too high a bonus on
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D

DICE LIMITS AND THE UN-EXALTED

Many Charms allow one character to add bonuses to a roll made by another. This isn’t a problem when that
other character is Exalted — they all have their own intrinsic limits on how many bonus dice they can add to a
roll. This isn’t the case when it comes to mortal allies, animal familiars, summoned demons, or the countless
other un-Exalted characters in Creation. Some powerful supernatural beings, like the war-god Ahlat (Exalted,
p. 514) and the demon Octavian (Exalted, p. 530) have their own magic that’s capable of adding dice or auto-
matic successes to their rolls. For such characters, you can apply whatever limit those Charms specify to any
magic that adds bonuses to those character’s rolls.

For characters without such magic, the following table provides guidelines based on Quick Character traits.
The “powerful supernatural” column provides dice limits for puissant beings such as Second Circle Demons,
Fair Folk nobles, and major gods; the “weak supernatural” column provides dice limits for lesser beings such
as First Circle demons, God-Blooded, and most ghosts; the “mortal” column provides dice limits for mortals,
animals, and other non-magical creatures.

Dice Pool/Static Value Strong Supernatural Weak Supernatural Mortal

1-2 dice/0-1 +1 die/+1 +0 dice/+0 +0 dice/+0
3-6 dice/2-3 +3 dice/+2 +2 dice/+1 +2 dice/+1
7-10 dice/4-5 +6 dice/+3 +4 dice/+2 +3 dice/+2
11-14 dice/6-7 +8 dice/+4 +6 dice/+3 +4 dice/+2

Note that these suggestions are guidelines, rather than the hard rules like the Exalted’s dice limits. If a single
Charm provides a benefit that exceeds a character’s recommended dice limit, it’s fine to let it take precedence
— the main purpose of dice limits is to restrict the power of combinations of effects. Likewise, it’s fine to
ignore the guidelines where it’s clear that a group of Charms is written with the intent that all of them can be
used together to enhance a character — for example, the Solar Presence Charms Empowering Shout (Exalt-
ed, p. 370) and Favor-Conferring Prana (Exalted, p. 374).

these potentially life-and-death rolls can overwhelm
the combat system’s balance. Especially for attacks,
Charms that add non-Charm bonuses tend to be ex-
pensive, conditional, or both.
Social rolls have more room for non-Charm bonuses,
as the social influence system provides a safety net
for characters beaten by influence rolls in the form of
resisting with Willpower and unacceptable influence.
The same is true for various opposed rolls — Awareness
vs. Stealth, Investigation vs. Larceny, War vs. War, etc.
The highest non-Charm bonuses are typically only
applicable to actions rolled against a flat difficulty,
like feats of strength, introduce fact rolls, and many
Medicine rolls. Without an opposing character con-
testing a roll, the consequences of failure may be less
interesting than the consequences of success.
The crafting and sorcerous working systems are
unique in that they require characters to be able to
reliably hit certain “benchmark” values on each roll
to successfully complete a project. In designing an
Exigent, it’s easiest to begin by determining what
rating of artifact or sorcerous working you want
that Exigent to be capable of reliably achieving, and
then work backwards to ensure they’re capable of
reaching the necessary benchmark value to do so.
Remember that a character who’s heavily invested in
that specific area of focus will be able to reliably roll
fourteen dice before Charms (Attribute 5, Ability 5,
an applicable specialty, exceptional equipment, and
a one-point stunt), plus an automatic success from
spending Willpower. You should use this maxed-out
dice pool in calculating the expected value a charac-
ter can reach — as with other Exalted, the Exigents
must focus heavily in an area to reach the heights of
what’s possible for them to attain.
The benchmark values for crafting are as follows:

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

ARTIFACT/ AVERAGE SUCCESSES Not every Charm in a division has to perfectly match
MANSE LEVEL PER ROLL NEEDED its high concept. Sometimes, creating Charms that
intentionally contrast themselves with an Exigent’s
2 10 usual magic can be fertile ground for exploring the
3 14 nuances or contradictions inherent in the Exigent’s
4 18 themes. Let your high concepts guide and focus your
design, not imprison it.
5 22
N/A 39 Ability Charms
The benchmark values for sorcerous workings are as The most common way to structure a Charm set is to
follows, presented as a range — the lower number is divide it up by Ability. For Solars, Dragon-Blooded,
the expected successes necessary at Finesse 1, while and other Ability-based Exalts, this means having
the higher number is the amount necessary at Finesse Charms for all twenty-five Abilities, but that can be
5. Note that these values assume the sorcerer has no overwhelming. One useful approach is to limit an
Means to increase the terminus; to determine the Exigent’s Charms to only five Abilities. This cuts down
value for a sorcerer who does, multiply the listed on how many trees an Exigent’s Charm set has, but it
number of successes by five, then divide by the new doesn’t limit their range of competency. Strawmaiden
terminus. Janest, for instance, doesn’t have any combat Abilities;
instead, her offensive Charms are concentrated in
CIRCLE AND AVERAGE SUCCESSES Athletics, with some in Awareness and Resistance.
AMBITION PER ROLL NEEDED
Terrestrial 1 2-6 When you’re deciding what Ability (or Abilities) gets
which competencies, there are two main factors to
Terrestrial 2 3-7 consider. The first is your Exigent’ themes. An Exigent
Terrestrial 3 5-9 of a bloody hand, a lesser god of murder, might have his
Celestial 1 6-10 offensive Charms concentrated in Investigation, with
themes of both exacting vengeance on wrongdoers and
Celestial 2 7-11 pinpointing flaws in armor and fighting styles.
Celestial 3 8-12
The second consideration is how much conceptual or
Solar 1 9-13
mechanical overlap there is between Abilities. Athletics
Solar 2 11-15 and Ride are both used for movement actions, so a
Solar 3 16-20 Chosen of the horse-god Hiparkes’ Ride Charms might
enhance their movement on foot as well. Larceny and
Stealth go hand in hand, and can almost always pick up
Structuring Charm Sets each other’s competencies.
The first step in sketching an Exigent Charm set is Making these decisions can be helpful in fleshing out
to determine how it will be structured. In general, concepts for an Ability’s Charm tree or organizing
there are three main ways to divide Charm sets — individual Charms you’ve written into a tree. If you
Ability-based, Attribute-based, and Essence-based. decide that your Exigent of a saintly ice-god has de-
No matter which of these you choose, be sure that fensive Charms in Integrity, and to focus on soak and
each division has a high concept that helps to guide Hardness-oriented defenses, you’ve put physicality
both flavor and mechanics for these Charms. The and the body on the table for Integrity. From there, you
Dragon-Blooded, for example, filter each Ability might bring in the resilience to environmental hazards
through an elemental lens, while Solar Charms often that typically appears in Survival, for meditating in the
emphasize a certain archetype or tactic: While all midst of blizzards — and maybe from there, controlling
four Solar combat Abilities will help you be a better environmental hazards in a way that reflects their rev-
fighter, Brawl focuses on high damage at the expense erence for the Exigent’s virtue.
of defense, Thrown emphasizes Join Battle rolls and
stealth, Archery excels at decisive attacks over with- Keep in mind that this isn’t an ironclad set of rules —
ering, and Melee is a generalist. it’s just one of many possible ways to approach struc-
turing a Charm set.

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Attribute Charms
Attribute-based Charm sets can be more difficult to
write, because Abilities often lend themselves to clear-
er high concepts, especially for Exigents. While you
can give your Exigent Charms in all 9 Attributes (as we
have done for the Architects), it’s also worth consider-
ing using a Charm set based on only 3 Caste Attributes.
This can help give the Exigent a sense of focus, espe-
cially when creating a Charm set for a truly unique
Exigent rather than one that encompasses a wider
range of archetypes (again, as with the Architects).
Whichever you choose, Attribute-based Charm sets
always further divide their Attributes into thematic
trees. “Intelligence” is an overwhelmingly broad topic,
so Lunars divide their Intelligence Charms among the
themes of Knowledge, Mysticism, Crafting, Warfare,
and Sorcery. Breaking the Attribute down into these
themes helps to articulate that Attribute’s high con-
cepts, and guides players to understanding the Exalt’s
approach.
When designing Attribute-based Charm trees, it’s
especially important to consider the fact that these
Charms are often more flexible than Ability-based
ones and may need to have room to accommodate
multiple character concepts. Lunars, for example, have
many Appearance Charms that evoke fear and desire,
which could all appeal to Lunar warriors, socialites,
and mystics (albeit in very different ways).
Essence Charms
Essence-based Charm sets work best when an Exigent
has a progression of powers that couldn’t fit neatly
within a single Ability or Attribute. The Puppeteer’s
Charm set (p. XX), for example, is centered around her
Charms based on puppetry and controlling animated
puppets. Prerequisite Charms are key to Essence-
based designs. They’re the sole source of structure for
the Charm set, a logical or thematic progression from
prerequisite to prerequisite, and are the sole determi-
nator of how accessible a given Charm is.
If you think your Exigent’s concept would work well
with Ability or Attribute Charms, don’t use an Essence-
based design just because; while it can be a useful de-
sign choice, it also comes with trade-offs. Ability- and
Attribute-based trees provide a structure that helps
funnel players toward the right Charms for their char-
acter concept; without them, players may have to read
and internalize much more content than usual to make
sure they’re building in the right direction.
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Charm Compatibility
Charms can generally only enhance actions or static
values based on their associated Ability or Attribute
unless otherwise indicated. When a Simple or
Reflexive Lunar Charm creates an action, it must be
rolled using that Charm’s Attribute unless specified. If
a Charm enhances or creates an action or static value
that’s not normally based on that Ability or Attribute,
it is compatible with any Attribute or Ability normally
associated with that action or value (e.g., Dexterity for
a Strength Charm that enhances attacks).
All Charms are compatible with Evocations by default.
Attribute and Essence Charms are compatible with
Martial Arts by default, although note that this com-
patibility will often need to be restricted at Terrestrial
play for power level purposes, as with the Architects
(p. XX).
Charms and Theme
The themes of an individual Exigent inform all of their
Charms, both individually and as a cohesive whole.
However, rather than focusing in on a single theme
or concept like “leadership,” “fire,” or “animals,” the
best Charm sets reflect an expansive range of themes
with room for nuance in how they’re expressed in
Charms, with some themes given greater emphasis
than others.
Think of a Charm set as a planet, with a core, mantle,
and crust. The core of a Charm set encompasses the
themes of the underlying Ability, Attribute, or Essence-
based tree: An Exigent with Melee Charms is good at
close combat, while one with Charisma Charms is good
at influencing others. Core concepts are sometimes the
least exciting, but they provide essential, workhorse
effects that make an Exalt competitive in their chosen
areas of specialization.
The mantle of a Charm set helps to explore that Exalt’s
specific take on an Ability, Attribute, or theme. For a
Solar, Blazing Solar Bolt extends her mastery of the
sword by allowing her to use it at range; for a Lunar,
Flesh-Sculpting Art allows her to extend her mastery
of healing by changing a target’s flesh as if it were clay.
For Exigents, these are where themes drawn from
their divine patron’s purview and personality manifest
themselves most strongly — and, for singular Exigents
like the Puppeteer, themes drawn from their individu-
al personality as well (p. XX).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Crust Charms are on the thematic fringe of an Exalt’s
abilities, often stretching into metaphor. Wyld-Shaping
Technique allows Solars to use their mastery of Lore to
force the Wyld into the shape of Creation; Witch-Beast
Ascendancy allows a Lunar to initiate her familiar into
the secrets of sorcery itself. These Charms should be
used sparingly and build from core and mantle Charms
that slowly flesh out their associated theme. While
rare, crust charms can often become iconic effects,
especially because they tend to be flashy, desirable, and
evocative.
Anatomy of a Charm
Each Charm has a number of distinct mechanical
components contained in its introductory description
block. In addressing Charm design, we address these
one by one, beginning with a Charm’s effect and moving
through the other elements of the description block.
Effect
The most important part of any Charm is what it actu-
ally does. In coming up with ideas for Charm effects,
there are two main approaches: designing “top-down,”
beginning with a Charm concept and finding mechanics
to represent it, and designing “bottom-up,” beginning
with the mechanic and then giving it a flavorful concept.
Both approaches are important to designing a Charm
set. “Top-down” designs often provide the most im-
pressive and narratively impactful Charms that stand
out within a Charm set. They begin with an idea for
something cool you want your character to be able to
do — “breathe a blast of venomous flame,” “detonate
a zombie in an explosion of gore,” or “make someone
trade places with their shadow.” Once you’ve done
that, you’ll need to decide what mechanics that effect
has. Referencing the effect index below (p. XX) or
looking at other Charms that are close in function to
your concept is a good way to find effects that you can
either borrow wholesale or use as a jumping-off point
for our own designs.
“Bottom-up” designs begin with the mechanical role
they fulfill — “an attack that punishes high-soak ene-
mies,” “a way to gain more Momentum in naval com-
bat,” or “something to get rid of flurry penalties.” After
that, you’ll need to decide the Charm’s flavor and what
it represents in the game’s fiction when you use it. This
doesn’t have to be hard — for many, the flavor is simply
supernatural prowess in the Ability or Attribute they
belong to. Bottom-up designs tend to be more common
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ORDER OF OPERATIONS
All calculations in Exalted follow the standard
order of operations unless otherwise specified,
with multiplication and division occurring prior to
addition and subtraction.
than top-down ones, as they provide the crucial work-
horse Charms — cheap, broadly applicable Charms
that could reasonably be used every time you take the
applicable action, like dice tricks. But while workhorse
mechanics are one important role bottom-up designs
play, that doesn’t mean they can’t also be impressive
and powerful. Bottom-up Charms like Revolving Bow
Discipline (Exalted, p. 259) can be just as flashy as any
top-down design.
Once you have an idea for your Charm’s mechanic in
mind, it will often be easiest to implement and balance
that mechanic by comparing it to existing Charms and
other effects. The ideal point of comparison would be
one that’s for the same level of play as your Exigent,
but you can also look at a stronger effect and limit or
weaken it to bring it down to an appropriate level, or
power up a weaker effect. This doesn’t mean that every
design has to be a copy of an existing Charm, but it’s
easiest to begin there, especially if you’re still new to
designing Charms.
To assist in conceptualizing Charm effects, we’ve bro-
ken them down into the following groups. These aren’t
meant to be rigid categories — they’re simply broad
generalizations about different types of Charms in a way
that provides some useful guidance for designing them.
Enhancement Effects
An Enhancement effect lets you do something that you
could already do, but better. This improvement could
be purely numerical, adding bonus dice or enhanc-
ing the roll in various ways, but it could also be more
qualitative, such as letting you complete an action in
less time than it would normally take, or without some
prerequisite that’s ordinarily necessary to successfully
accomplish that action. Enhancement effects are typ-
ically Supplemental if they improve a rolled action, or
Reflexive if they improve an application of a static value.
To illustrate, of the Solar Charms in Exalted, about
40% are Enhancements; of the Charms in Dragon-
Blooded, about 48% are Enhancements; and of the
Charms in Lunars, about 36% are Enhancements.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Your own Charm sets don’t need to follow any of these
allocations, but they provide a general guideline.
Examples: Craftsman Needs No Tools (Exalted, p.
292), Hungry Tiger Technique (Exalted, p. 350),
Masterful Performance Exercise (Exalted, p. 361),
Seven Shadow Evasion (Exalted, p. 301).
Enabler Effects
An Enabler effect lets you do something you normally
couldn’t, no matter how many dice you roll. It’s a
simple description, but a broad category: shooting
phantasmal daggers from your eyes, creating a salt-
water spring with poetry sad enough to make the
earth weep, externalizing one of your Intimacies as a
puissant god-beast, or more. Enabler effects are almost
always Simple or Reflexive, although some Permanent
Charms straddle the line between being an Enabler
and being an Upgrade.
Of the Solar Charms in Exalted, about 33% are
Enablers; of the Charms in Dragon-Blooded, about
40% are Enablers; and of the Charms in Lunars, about
30% are Enablers.
Examples: Blazing Solar Bolt (Exalted, p. 353),
Essence-Lending Method (Exalted, p. 331), Glorious
Solar Saber (Exalted, p. 350), Memory-Reweaving
Discipline (Exalted, p. 363), Subtle Speech Method
(Exalted, p. 323).
Upgrade Effects
Upgrade Effects usually fall into one of two categories:
either enhancing an existing Charm or acting as a
permanent power-up for the Exalt. Charm-based up-
grades increase a Charm’s power, remove restrictions,
or expand options. Permanent power-ups provide an
always-applicable benefit, like a bonus added on all
rolls or extra health levels.
Of the Solar Charms in Exalted, about 24% are
Upgrades; of the Charms in Dragon-Blooded, about
9% are Upgrades; and of the Charms in Lunars, about
31% are Upgrades.
Examples: Harmonious Academic Methodology
(Exalted, p. 330), Invincible Fury of the Dawn
(Exalted, p. 351), Ox-Body Technique (Exalted, p.
375), Searing Quicksilver Feint (Exalted, p. 299),
Watchman’s Infallible Eye (Exalted, p. 311).
Utility Belt Effects
Utility Belt effects bundle together smaller effects
into a single Charm purchase. Some might provide all
of these effects with just one purchase, while others
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might provide a selection of options from a larger
menu. The individual effects within a Utility Belt can
themselves belong to any other category, but as a rule,
they aren’t effects that would be sufficiently exciting
or worthwhile as an entire Charm. Likewise, these in-
dividual effects are simpler than a standalone Charm,
ensuring that the cognitive load of multiple effects in a
single Charm purchase isn’t overwhelming. Utility Belt
effects are often Permanent, although they can also be
Simple or Reflexive Charms with ongoing durations.
Of the Solar Charms in Exalted, the Charms in
Dragon-Blooded, and the Charms in Lunars, about
2% are Utility Belt Charms.
Examples: Master Horseman’s Techniques (Exalted,
p. 380), Salty Dog Method (Exalted, p. 386), Seasoned
Criminal Method (Exalted, 315), Unsurpassed Hearing
and Touch Discipline (Exalted, p. 272).
Narrative Effects
Narrative effects are a rare subset of Enablers that allow
the player to intervene in the story through dramatic
editing, altering the present scene or the established
setting in some way. This is still an expression of the
character’s agency and skill — most often by revealing
an action that the character has taken in the past, like
a flashback in a heist movie, or through the introduce
fact action (Exalted, p. 237), which is itself a Narrative
effect.
Of the Solar Charms in Exalted and the Charms in
Lunars, about 1% are Narrative; of the Charms in
Dragon-Blooded, fewer than 1% are Narrative.
Examples: Dual Magnus Prana (Exalted, p. 292), God-
King’s Shrike (Exalted, p. 340), Infinitely-Efficient
Register (Exalted, p. 288), Master Plan Meditation
(Exalted, p. 318).
Cost
A Charm’s cost serves two main purposes. The straight-
forward function is as a resource cost necessary each
time a character uses the Charm; the subtler function
is limiting how often that Charm can be used, tied to
the types of resources necessary to use it and the vary-
ing rates at which characters recover those resources.
In finding the right cost for your Charms, the best
approach is comparative — finding effects similar to
the Charm that you’re designing in both function and
rough power level, comparing their strengths and
weaknesses to your Charm’s, and determining if your
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Charm’s cost should vary from those of similar effects.
As a rule of thumb, a specialized version of an existing
effect — one that can only be applied under certain
circumstances, as opposed to a universally applicable
effect — should typically have a cost between 50% and
75% of the non-specialized effect’s cost, depending
on how steeply the specialization limits the effect’s
applicability.
Another important topic in costing Charms is the use
of traits as variables in determining a Charm’s effect.
A Charm that adds three dice on a certain kind of
roll always adds three dice, but a Charm that adds
(Integrity) dice can add anywhere from zero to five. In
determining the value of a variable effect, start with the
minimum value of the effect — e.g., three if the Charm
requires a minimum Integrity 3 to learn — and take the
average of the range of possible values between that
minimum and the maximum. Note, however, that some
traits are more valuable than others to a wide majority
of character builds: player characters in general are far
more likely to have high Dexterity or Wits than they
are Perception, so an effect that adds (Dexterity) dice
on an attack roll should cost more than one that adds
(Perception) dice.
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In discussing costs, we’ll refer to some resources being
“worth” a certain amount of another to aid in this com-
parison, but this is only a rough guideline. Reallocating
a Charm’s cost between different resources will have a
significant impact on how often it can be used, and you
should bear this in mind when making your comparisons.
Motes
Motes are the most commonly used resource in
Exalted and can be either spent to power instant-du-
ration effects or committed to power an ongoing effect.
When a character spends motes, they’re cleared from
her mote pool, but she recovers them at the usual rate
of five motes per combat round, or five motes per hour
outside of combat. Committed motes are “tied up” in
an ongoing effect and can’t be recovered until that ef-
fect ends. Note that committed motes aren’t recovered
immediately at the effect’s end; the character must still
wait and recover motes at the above rates.
The ultimate comparison point for the value of spend-
ing a mote is the Excellency: one mote to add one bonus
die to a given roll, with no restrictions. Most Charms
that cost spent motes maintain this cost-to-value ratio
— for instance, adding an automatic success is typically
worth two motes — although specialized Charms may
reduce it, as described above.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Five motes is an important cost threshold, especially in
combat, for two reasons. Firstly, characters regain five
motes each round in combat, meaning that a character
can use a five-mote Charm every round in combat and
never lose any motes, so long as she doesn’t use any
other Charms. This isn’t a likely scenario in actual play
but crossing the five-mote mark is what makes a char-
acter incur a long-term cost, and thus requires players
to make decisions about which Charms they’ll use to
enhance a certain action, and whether they’re willing
to incur those long-term costs.
The other reason for the five-mote mark’s importance
is that this is the threshold at which the expenditure
causes an Exalted character’s anima to flare (Exalted,
p. 175) if paid with peripheral motes (or personal
motes, if the player wants their anima to flare). Anima
is a double-edged sword: it can be used as a resource to
pay some costs and is sometimes used as a variable in
determining the strength of effects, but it also reveals
a character’s Exalted nature and can impede stealth
and disguise. The precise effect of this can vary greatly
with a character’s concept and mechanical build. A
Dragon-Blood with multiple Charms and Evocations
that are strengthened by having a high anima will like-
ly want to raise her anima as quickly as she can, while
a Solar whose character build emphasizes stealth and
who doesn’t have any Charms that grow stronger with
her anima will avoid flaring as much as possible.
Outside of combat, mote costs become more conse-
quential, as it takes longer to recover them — a charac-
ter could go through an entire scene of social influence
in a prince’s court without ever recovering any of the
motes she spends on her social Charms. However, some
Charms are primarily intended to be used in situations
that aren’t time-sensitive, where mote recovery isn’t
as important. These primarily apply to extended rolls
that occur over a long period of time, such as crafting,
or Charms that are used during downtime. Their mote
cost serves only to limit the total number of effects
a character can afford to combine when enhancing
their roll. The exact value of a mote cost becomes less
important in this context; whether a crafting Charm
costs ten motes or twenty is much less important than
whether a combat Charm costs two motes or three.
Committing motes is more onerous than spending
them, as they can’t be recouped until the effect in ques-
tion ends. There’s no easy benchmark of how much a
committed mote will get you; comparing your design
to similar effects will be the best way to pick a cost.
The same five-mote mark considerations that apply to
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spending motes also apply to committing them for any
Charm that’s intended to be activated in same scene
a character needs to use it, rather than being used in
advance — typically Charms with a duration of one
scene or less. In addition, committing motes effectively
shrinks a character’s mote pool. While most characters
can bear even a steep ten-mote commitment to a pow-
erful Charm on top of a five-mote commitment to an
artifact weapon, committing too many motes can leave
a character without the motes they need on a round-
to-round basis. You should avoid having too many
Charms that require high-value commitments within
the same field of activity to prevent players from po-
tentially trapping themselves in this unfun situation
by using too many ongoing Charms that they think are
intended to be used together.
Willpower
Willpower costs are best used on powerful Charms
that players aren’t meant to use on a consistent basis.
Outside of combat, a character only recovers one
Willpower per day, assuming she’s able to get a good
night’s rest; in combat, characters have no reliable
way of recovering Willpower unless they have Charms
specifically for that purpose. Characters can also re-
gain Willpower from two- or three-point stunts, from
upholding Major or Defining Intimacies, and for ac-
complishing major story goals, but all of these are de-
pendent on the Storyteller, rather than something that
a player can proactively trigger. The difficulty of recov-
ering Willpower, coupled with the limited amount that
each player has, makes spending Willpower a more
burdensome cost that requires greater consideration
than spending motes.
Characters can spend one Willpower to add an auto-
matic success to an (Attribute + Ability) roll, but most
Charms with Willpower costs value Willpower more
highly than that; one Willpower is worth roughly four
motes. However, this resource cost is also cumulative
with the restrictive effect of limited Willpower recov-
ery; a Charm that costs five motes is much easier to use
repeatedly on a consistent basis than one that costs one
mote, one Willpower, even if the two costs are valued
equally.
Willpower costs rarely go above one point, because
players are often unwilling to invest so much in a
single effect. As with mote costs, Willpower costs are
less relevant on Charms that are used primarily during
downtime, making them the best suited for higher
Willpower costs, but even then, these costs should be
reserved only for the most powerful of these effects.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
TIMING AND COSTS
A Charm that can be declared after a roll typical-
ly costs either four motes or one Willpower more
than a comparable effect that must be declared
before the roll, whether offensive or defensive.
However, use caution in determining which ef-
fects a character can use after a roll, as being able
to wait until after the outcome is certain before
having to pay a Charm’s cost is a considerable
advantage, and may render some effects inher-
ently overpowered, such as making unblockable
or undodgeable attacks, inflicting extremely large
amounts of damage, severely punishing effects
for losing the roll, or automatically succeeding
regardless of the roll’s result. If in doubt about
whether an effect should be allowed after the roll,
check if any Charms designed for the same level
of play allow for a comparable effect.
Initiative
Initiative is the core resource of Exalted’s combat system.
Initiative costs should only be used on Charms meant for
combat, and the Initiative component of a Charm’s cost is
waived when it’s used outside of combat. They typically
appear on combat effects that aren’t meant to be used on
every attack or defense, requiring players to choose be-
tween using an effect and being able to use that Initiative
to deal more decisive damage. Unlike other resources,
the amount of Initiative a character will have at any given
point is highly variable and fluctuates with withering
and decisive attacks. Unlike motes, there’s no standard
rate at which characters gain Initiative; a successful
withering attack could yield only one to three Initiative
if it’s reduced to minimum damage by soak, or it could
yield upwards of fifteen with an Initiative Break.
Initiative is generally valued at one mote per point. As
an additional consideration, Charms with Initiative
costs can’t be used while a character is crashed (and
thus have the Perilous keyword by default). While it’s
axiomatic that a cost can’t be paid if a character has
none of the required resources, characters are much
more likely to be crashed in combat than they are to
run out of motes or Willpower. Another consideration
is Initiative costs on Charms that enhance decisive
attacks — each Initiative spent is one less die on the
damage roll, while every three Initiative spent is effec-
tively one less level of damage dealt.
A Charm’s Initiative cost is typically less than its mote
cost. Three Initiative is a significant cost threshold, as
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that’s the typical amount of Initiative characters will
reset to after landing a successful decisive attack or
recovering from Initiative Crash, meaning characters
will need to build additional Initiative after that before
they can use those Charms without crashing them-
selves — and crashing yourself is almost never a good
tactical decision. Initiative costs will rarely ever go
higher than six Initiative.
Anima
Anima levels are unique in that they’re generated by
spending a different resource. Because a character can
sustainably spend five motes each round in combat,
they can also sustainably build one level of anima each
round, although it’s also entirely possible to build a full
three levels of anima in a single turn if a player’s willing
to make that commitment. Additionally, characters can
only have three levels of anima, so each level of anima
spent represents a significant portion of a character’s
total anima.
Anima costs are primarily but not exclusively used on
Charms intended to be usable in combat. For non-com-
bat Charms, anima costs should only be used when
they reinforce the flavor of what the Charm is doing
in the fiction of the game — for example, a Charm that
lets an Exigent expel their anima banner as a wave of
passion that rolls over a crowd.
Levels of anima are valued at one mote each, but like
Willpower, this cost is also cumulative with the re-
strictive effect of having to spend five motes to gain
one level of anima, as well as the Stealth penalties that
accompany higher levels of anima.
Health Levels
Health level costs are relatively esoteric; they should
be used only on Charms whose effect in the fiction of
the game involves a character expending her life force
to fuel her magic or suffering injuries as a result. All
Exalted have a minimum of seven health levels, but
any given character’s total can range as high as near-
ly thirty depending on the number of times they’ve
bought Ox-Body Technique, their Exalt type, and their
Stamina. Similarly, the rate at which health levels re-
cover varies based on both the type of damage filling
the health level and the wound penalty associated with
the health level, ranging from one hour to five days
(Exalted, p. 173). Healing magic can also complicate
this further — a Solar can pay greatly in health level
costs in a scene, then recover it all rapidly with a use
of Body-Mending Meditation (Exalted, p. 375), while
a Lunar can recover one health level on each turn with
Halting the Scarlet Flow (Lunars, p. 256), potentially
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
letting them sustainably pay a non-aggravated health
level cost in combat.
A health level is generally valued at five motes, al-
though this cost is also combined with the limiting
effect of potentially suffering wound penalties as a
result of taking damage. The type of damage inflicted
in paying a health level cost can largely be a matter of
what best fits that Charm’s flavor but should take into
consideration the healing magic available to an Exalt
type. For example, for Lunars, most Charms with
health level costs inflict aggravated damage, which
their combat-time regeneration can’t heal; bashing or
lethal health level costs are valued less than for Exalted
who aren’t able to quickly and easily heal them.
Limit
As a general rule, we avoid using Limit costs, in large part
because many playgroups may opt not to use the Great
Curse system due to its potentially unwanted impact on
their game. While you’re free to do otherwise with your
own design, you’ll need to take into account the general
lack of effects that can serve as points of comparison.
The main circumstance in which Limit costs would be
used is for an Exigent or other Exalt type for whom the
Limit mechanic is central to their Charm set, such as the
apocryphal Umbral Exalted (p. XX).
As a cost, Limit is unusual because it is gained, rath-
er than spent. A player can freely accumulate Limit
until they reach ten points and enter Limit Break, at
which point they must wait until the Limit Break
ends to accrue any further Limit. In valuing Limit
costs, you’ll need to take into consideration the ease
with which an Exalt type can lose it — if they can only
clear Limit through achieving legendary social goals,
it might be comparable to Willpower, but if it’s easier
for them to lose, its comparative value should decrease
accordingly.
Experience Points
Experience point costs should be used extremely
sparingly, if at all, as they are in short supply, and such
costs compete with learning new Charms and increas-
ing trait ratings. They should appear only on Charms
whose use provides some significant, permanent
benefit, such as Prophet-Uplifting Evocation (Exalted,
p. 373), Spirit-Tied Pet (Exalted, p. 410), or Wyld-
Shaping Technique (Exalted, p. 335). Even then, such
Charms usually waive the cost of their first use. If it’s
possible that the benefit of such a Charm might be lost
or become irrelevant to the game — e.g., if an empow-
ered familiar is slain — a player should be refunded any
experience points spent on it.
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Note that Exigent experience, Solar experience, and
the like can be used to pay experience point costs.
Other Costs
While the above costs are the most commonly used,
they aren’t an all-encompassing list. Some of Exalted’s
systems have their own unique resources that can
be used as a cost for Charms that interact with those
systems. This is mostly commonly done with craft
points (Exalted, p. 239), although others exist, such as
naval combat’s Momentum (Exalted, p. 245). Because
these resources are entirely dependent on an indi-
vidual system, their valuation and pacing effect will
vary between Exalt types based on how easy it is for
that Exalt type to accrue the resource in question. For
example, white craft points should be valued much
more highly for Dragon-Blooded, who can only gain
them by successfully crafting artifacts, than they are
for Solars, who can easily reap large amounts of silver
and gold points with Charms like Craftsman Needs No
Tools and Supreme Perfection of Craft and then con-
vert them to white points with Sublime Transference
(Exalted, pp. 289, 292-293).
Additionally, an Exigent can have a unique resource
that’s used only as a cost for their Charms, like Dragon-
Blooded’s Elemental Aura (Dragon-Blooded, p. 162).
In determining the value of such a resource, you can
compare the rate at which it is gained or recovered,
as well as any additional limiting effects it imposes,
to those of the resources above. Given how complex
Exalted already is, unique resources should be used
sparingly to reinforce flavor and mechanical themes.
Other Restrictions
A number of other mechanisms can be used to pace
Charm use instead of or in addition to resource costs.
Usage Limits
One of the most common restrictions is limitations on
how often a character can use a specific Charm, such
as once per scene or once per story, often coupled with
a method to reset that Charm before the specified time
period has elapsed.
Once per scene limitations most often appear on
combat Charms that are extremely powerful, like
Knockout Blow (Exalted, p. 278), Ruin-Abrasing Shrug
(Exalted, p. 378) or Seven Shadow Evasion (Exalted,
p. 301). They also appear on combat Charms that are
especially cost efficient or that have no resource cost,
such as Perfect Strike Discipline (Exalted, p. 351) or
Supremacy of War Meditation (Exalted, p. 283).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Once per day limitations are used similarly, but for effects
powerful enough that a character can’t necessarily use
them every combat. They’re more common on Charms
designed for Terrestrial play than those for Celestial play.
Once per story limitations primarily appear on
non-combat Charms with effects that are either
extremely powerful and have an immediate and
significant impact on the narrative, like Benediction
of Archgenesis (Exalted, p. 480), God-King’s Shrike
(Exalted, p. 340), or Infinitely-Efficient Register
(Exalted, p. 288), or that provide an advantage that
would be overwhelming even if limited to once being
used once per day, such as Incalculable Flowing Mind
(Exalted, p. 341), Steel Heart Stance (Exalted, p. 306),
or Transcendent Hero’s Meditation (Exalted, p. 308).
A slightly limited form of this restriction appears on
Charms that can only be used against a given target
once per story, such as Venomous Rumors Technique
(Exalted, p. 402). These primarily appear on powerful
social Charms and other effects that can inflicting de-
bilitating conditions on enemies, ensuring that an ene-
my who successfully defends against it won’t simply be
subjected to another use of it immediately.
In all of these cases, a limited-use Charm’s reset
condition ultimately determines of how often it can
be used. Reset conditions can be tuned based on how
difficult they are to achieve and whether they’re based
on the player character’s actions or circumstances. For
example, the Solar Charm Anointment of Miraculous
Health (Exalted, p. 344) can only be used once per
scene but can be reset by using a two-point stunt when
treating a patient without the Charm. That’s relatively
easy and the player can do so at their own direction. By
contrast, Soul Voice (Exalted, p. 362) can only be reset
when the Storyteller introduces a new complication
to the scene. Other reset conditions can be outside the
control of player and Storyteller alike to emphasize
uncertainty and chance: Dragon-Blooded characters
using Spine Shattering Bite (Exalted, p. 433) only reset
the Charm when rolling four or more 10s on a decisive
damage roll.
Resource Thresholds
Another method is to require a character to have a
certain amount of a resource to use a Charm without
requiring them to expend it. This is most often done
with Initiative and anima levels, as these are the two
resources that players can proactively accrue through
their actions in combat or other scenes. Other exam-
ples include Dragon-Blooded Charms that require a
character to be in an appropriate Elemental Aura, but
that don’t expend the Aura.
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Most Charms with an anima threshold trigger at bon-
fire anima, requiring a character to both spend at least
fifteen motes and imposing sharp limitations on Stealth.
While a character can sustainably reach bonfire after
three rounds in combat, many fights don’t last that long,
requiring a character to invest a significant number of
motes to meet this threshold in time to use the relevant
Charm. Lower anima thresholds are possible but less
common; it’s easier on players if they only need to track
whether they’re at bonfire or not to use their Charms.
With regard to Initiative, a few specific thresholds
are worth mentioning. 10 Initiative can potentially
be reached with a single withering attack from base
Initiative; 15 Initiative is a higher bar to meet, requiring
a character to focus more effort on building Initiative
and likely requiring multiple successful withering
attacks without losing too much Initiative to enemies.
20 Initiative is both a very high bar and the point at
which a character’s decisive attack can reliably kill
most enemies in one hit; it’s a good threshold for the
most powerful Charms that you want to be limited in
their use.
Preparatory Actions
Actions represent perhaps the most important re-
source of all, because a character can only do so much
at once. This is especially true in combat, where
hostilities are often concluded within only a handful
of rounds, making preparatory actions like aiming
and shape sorcery actions a steep cost that demands
a satisfying reward. Use preparatory actions sparingly,
especially when they essentially force a character to
do nothing — even if the reward is a powerful result,
making a player twiddle their thumbs for a round is
inherently discouraging.
Type
Supplemental
Supplemental is the most basic Charm type, improving
an action in some way — and thus, almost universally
being Enhancements. In theory, Supplemental Charms
only enhance rolled actions (like attacks or influence
rolls) and actions for which no roll or value is rele-
vant (such as aiming or full defense), while Charms
that enhance static values like Resolve or Evasion are
Reflexive. This division isn’t something you need to
worry much about getting wrong, as it’s entirely super-
ficial, with few mechanical implications, if any.
Simple
A Simple Charm takes up a character’s entire turn, pre-
venting them from taking other non-reflexive actions.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D

Likewise, Simple Charms can’t be used with Reflexive
Charms that allow a character to take an action.
Simple Charms fall into three main categories. The
first is Enhancement effects that provide an ongoing
benefit that typically lasts one scene or indefinitely.
For these Charms, the Simple type serves primarily as
a usage restriction, requiring a character to forgo their
turn to invoke their benefits. Keep in mind that many
combats will end in about three rounds, making giving

TRANSPARENCY AND TIMING

Exalted’s system is built on the assumption of player-level transparency, with a handful of explicit excep-
Exalted’s
tions. Simply put, all players (including the Storyteller) must inform the others of what actions their char-
acters take and what Charms or other effects they use, even though those players’ characters might be
completely unaware of these details.

As a reminder, all Charms that affect a roll must be declared before the roll is made, even if their effect doesn’t
take place until after the roll. For contested actions, all involved players must declare their Charms prior
to the roll. Attackers must declare before defenders, but beyond that, there’s no set order in which players
must declare actions or Charms. We recommend taking a casual approach and prioritizing getting Charms
declared as quickly as possible.

If the order of declaration becomes tactically relevant and the players involved can’t agree on who declares
first — e.g., if two characters act on the same tick, and both players want to declare their actions second so
as to control whether or not the two characters clash — the Storyteller should flip a coin to determine who
goes first. If more than two players are involved, each can roll a single die, with declaration proceeding from
highest to lowest.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
up a whole turn a significant cost. Try not to have too
many of these Simple power-up Charms and assume
that players probably won’t be able to use multiple
such Charms in one scene. Weaker Enhancements
can be made Reflexive Charms with ongoing duration,
retaining the same effect but without the opportunity
cost of giving up your action to use them.
The second and third categories both have you make
an action as part of using the Simple Charm — typi-
cally an attack or influence roll, but conceivably in-
cluding any action. The second category is made up of
Enhancement effects, providing a benefit to this action
much like a Supplemental Charm. The difference is
that characters can’t combine multiple such Simple
Charms to enhance the same action. The third cate-
gory is made up of Enabler and sometimes Narrative
effects, letting you take an action that you normally
wouldn’t be able to attempt at all.
Reflexive
Reflexive Charms encompass the broadest range
of functions. The most basic Reflexive Charms are
Enhancements that improve static values like Parry,
Evasion, or Guile. They also include Charms that im-
prove a roll or otherwise interact with it, but that are
declared after the roll is made (note that these Charms
must explicitly state they can be declared after the roll —
by default, all Charms must be declared before the roll).
The second category of Reflexive Charms is ongoing
Enhancements, as described above in the Simple Charm
section. The third category are Charms that allow you to
take an action reflexively, such as attacking or aiming.
Beyond these three categories, the Reflexive type is
the one most suited to any miscellaneous effect that
doesn’t neatly fit into any of the other types. If you ever
find yourself unable to determine what a Charm’s type
should be, Reflexive is almost always a safe choice.
Permanent
Permanent Charms primarily provide a character
with a permanent, always-active benefit, such as extra
health levels or an improvement to one of their other
Charms. Some Permanent Charms require a cost or
surcharge to apply their benefits — some of these could
in theory be Reflexive, but the distinction is generally
unimportant.
Duration
Duration is a relatively straightforward element of
a Charm. We discuss some of the more common
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durations, as well as some considerations specific to
them.
Instant
An Instant-duration Charm is activated, does something,
and then is done. Motes spent on an Instant-duration
Charm aren’t committed. Note that an Instant-duration
Charm can have effects that remain in place after its
use for a specified duration, like the penalty inflicted by
Joint-Wounding Attack (Exalted, p. 415); such Charms
still don’t require a mote commitment, allowing one to
potentially design ongoing Charms without one.
Ticks
The tick is the smallest discrete unit of in-game time
Exalted uses (Exalted, p. 192). One-tick duration is
used primarily for Charms that either enhance multi-
ple actions taken by a character (like both actions in
a flurry) or defend against multiple actions taken by
an opposing character (such as when an enemy uses a
Charm to make multiple attacks against a character).
We don’t recommend using multiple-tick durations;
they’re unwieldy to track and offer little value to a
designer compared to a one-round duration.
Rounds
A Charm with a duration of measured in rounds lasts
until the end of the appropriate round. As combat of-
ten lasts three rounds, you’ll rarely see Charms with
a duration of more than one round; it’s better to use a
scene-long duration for such effects.
Until Next Turn
A Charm with a duration of “until next turn” lasts until
the next time the character who used it takes their
turn in combat (Exalted, p. 192). The actual length of
this varies based on when the character uses it and can
change unpredictably if that character gains or loses
significant amounts of Initiative, adjusting her place in
turn order.
Scenes
Many if not most power-up Charms have a duration
of one scene, meaning they’ll last for an entire fight or
dramatic encounter. When in doubt, this is always a
good default duration for lasting effects.
Indefinite
Indefinite duration Charms remain in effect as long as
Essence is committed. This duration is useful for Charms,
especially power-up Charms, that require some kind of
preparatory action, making the choice of uncommitting
the motes invested in it more tactical since the character
can’t automatically reactivate the Charm.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Days
Durations measured in days are similar to Indefinite
duration, but more limited, requiring characters to
renew it every so often if their player wants to keep
that effect “on” all the time. It’s an especially common
duration in Charms designed for Terrestrial play.
Permanent
Permanent duration is exclusive to Charms with the
Permanent type, and all Charms with the Permanent
type have permanent duration. Note that if a Permanent
Charm requires a mote cost, those motes aren’t com-
mitted unless the Charm specifies otherwise.
Other Durations
Charms that supplement dramatic projects such as
crafting, training, and bureaucracy sometimes have a
duration of one project; this should be used carefully,
because long and abstract durations can sometimes
leave motes committed for multiple scenes or sessions,
depending on timing.
Keywords
The Four Main Combat Keywords
The Uniform, Dual, Decisive-only, and Withering-only
keywords are used to identify what kind of attacks
an offensive Charm can be applied to, or what kind
of attacks a defensive Charm can be used against (for
purposes of these keywords, Counterattack and Clash
Charms are considered offensive).
Uniform Charms can be used with both withering
and decisive attacks, with identical effects regardless
of what kind of attack they’re enhancing or being used
against.
Dual Charms can be used with both withering and de-
cisive attacks but have either a different effect depend-
ing on which one they’re used with, or an additional
effect when used with one or the other.
Finally, Decisive-only Charms can only be used with
decisive attacks, while Withering-only Charms can
only be used with withering attacks. Note that gam-
bits are decisive attacks.
Clash
Clash Charms let you force an enemy attacking you
into a clash (Exalted, p. 202) by reflexively making
an attack against him. Some Charms may let you
clash with other actions. You can’t use a Clash and
a Counterattack Charm together against the same
attack unless an effect specifically allows it. Note that
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if a Charm lets you attack reflexively but doesn’t have
the Clash keyword, like Peony Blossom Technique
(Exalted, p. 346), it can’t be used to force a clash. Clash
Charms can’t be used against Counterattack Charms.
Counterattack
Counterattack Charms let you follow up an attack
against yourself by attacking your attacker. Some
Charms may let you counterattack with other actions.
Unless the Charm specifies otherwise, this counter-
attack takes place after the enemy’s attack roll, but
before their damage roll. You can’t use a Counterattack
and a Clash Charm together against the same attack
unless some effect specifically allows you to do so.
Counterattack Charms can’t be used in response to
Clash Charms or other Counterattack Charms.
Perilous
Perilous Charms can’t be activated while a char-
acter is in Initiative Crash (Exalted, p. 193). This
can be used to limit powerful Charms, and allows
for tactical interaction, as a character can attempt
to deny an enemy the use of his Perilous Charms by
crashing him. Additionally, Charms with Initiative
costs have the Perilous keyword by definition, as you
can’t spend Initiative while at 0 or below. Note that
ongoing Perilous Charms aren’t forcibly ended when
a character is crashed unless they specifically state so
— Perilous only prevents you from activating a Charm
in the first place.
Mute
The Mute keyword lets an Exalt spend peripheral
motes on a Charm without raising their anima. It ap-
pears primarily on Stealth Charms, Larceny Charms,
and to a lesser extent on social Charms that benefit
from being used subtly. Not all such Charms should
be Mute, however — the tension between being able
to use all one’s motes and needing to keep one’s anima
hidden is an important part of the cost economy, and
the lack of the Mute keyword can be used to balance
powerful effects. Mute typically appears on Charms
that cost 3+ motes; you should only add it to a 1-2 mote
Charm if it needs that additional versatility to be worth
a Charm purchase.
Psyche
While the Exalted and Creation’s other supernatural
denizens are capable of incredible feats of eloquence,
there’s a line between the words of a superhumanly
gifted orator and a direct mental attack. The Psyche
keyword identifies Charms that cross this line. Its ap-
plication is based entirely on the concept and flavor of
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

the Charm in question. Manipulating a victim’s mem- Stackable

ory with Memory-Reweaving Discipline (Exalted, p.
363), embedding commands in a victim’s subconscious
with Hypnotic Tongue Technique (Exalted, p. 372),
or sorcerously manipulating a victim’s mind with
spells like Corrupted Words (Exalted, p. 472) are all
examples of Psyche effects. Functionally, the Psyche
keyword identifies a Charm as being vulnerable to
certain defensive effects such as Transcendent Hero’s
Meditation (Exalted, p. 308).
Shaping
Shaping effects are any magic that transforms a char-
acter’s body, mind, soul, or the like. Which aspects of
a character a shaping effect targets are denoted in a
parenthetical — a Fair Folk’s petrifying gaze afflicts its
victim’s body, while a Sidereal’s blessings and curses
shape fate. Shaping effects can be defended against
with magic like Destiny-Manifesting Method (Exalted,
p. 304). The Shaping keyword is new to this book, but
shaping effects aren’t. Those that appear in books re-
leased prior to Exigents typically specify that they are
shaping effects in their text and are considered to have
the Shaping keyword.
Written-only
This keyword denotes that a Charm that creates or en-
hances an influence roll is only compatible with writ-
ten influence (Exalted, p. 221), not spoken influence. In
Ability-based Charm sets, this typically applies only to
Linguistics Charm, although Charms of other Abilities
could interact with written influence. This keyword
is more relevant in Attribute-based Charm sets, as
Charisma and Manipulation Charms can enhance both
written and spoken influence rolls by default.
The Stackable keyword indicate Charms where mul-
tiple uses can stack their effects, like Joint-Wounding
Attack (Exalted, p. 415), or Charms that lets a charac-
ter sustain multiple active uses, like Indolent Official
Charm (Exalted, p. 286).
Pilot
The Pilot keyword appears only on Charms that can
enhance Sail rolls or that otherwise relate to travel by
ship, requiring that a character be the captain or helms-
man of a ship in order to use the Charm to enhance
that ship’s movement or other actions. This is largely
a matter of flavor — does your Charm make sense as
something that can only be done while commanding or
steering the ship? It also imposes a limit on how many
characters can use their Pilot Charms to enhance a
ship, preventing a group of Exalted from dividing up a
set of Sail Charms amongst themselves and their mote
pools, but this is rarely an important balance point. You
don’t need to worry about Pilot breaking your designs.
Aggravated
This keyword identifies Charms that can deal aggra-
vated damage (Exalted, p. 173). It’s primarily just a
label, although it’s possible that some effects might
specifically enhance or defend against Aggravated
Charms.
Bridge
The Bridge keyword appears on Charms that have an
alternative set of prerequisite Charms, a certain number
of unspecified Charms from a different trait or traits.
(e.g., an Integrity Charm with any three War Charms
as prerequisites). You don’t need to use the Bridge key-
word to give a Charm such prerequisites, but it provides

POISON, SICKNESS, CRIPPLING

Those familiar with Exalted Second Edition might wonder what’s become of the other keywords used to
categorize various harmful effects. While they no longer exist as keywords, these effects are still a part of
Edition.
Exalted Third Edition.

Poisons created by Charms follow the standard rules for poison (Exalted
(Exalted,, p. 232), although an individual
effect might vary from them. Likewise, diseases created by Charms follow the standard rules for disease
(Exalted
Exalted,, p. 233).

Crippling effects most often appear in the form of crippling injuries (Exalted
(Exalted,, p. 201) taken voluntarily by a
player in place of suffering damage. Charms can also cause crippling effects when they inflict injuries whose
debilitating effects go beyond the standard impairment of wound penalties, like Joint-Wounding Attack (Ex- (Ex-
alted,, p. 415), or directly impede the function of limbs or organs, like Crippling Pressure-Point Strike (Ex-
alted (Ex-
alted,, p. 428).
alted

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 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
specific effects that may be useful for your design. If a
Bridge Charm isn’t Caste or Favored, player characters
still receive the discount as long as all the prerequisite
Charms they use are Caste or Favored. If a Bridge Charm
already qualifies for the benefit, the number of Bridge
prerequisites needed is halved, rounded up. (Solars
with Supernal Integrity round this number down; other
Exalted may have similar ways to do so). Additionally, a
Charm used toward meeting a Bridge prerequisite can’t
be used to learn other Bridge Charms; this restriction
doesn’t apply to non-Bridge Charms.
Eclipse
The Eclipse keyword denotes non-Exalted Charms
that can be learned through the Eclipse anima power
or similar effects. The key consideration here is that
Eclipse Charms shouldn’t compete with Solar Charms
to fill particular roles, e.g., Defense penalty negator or
decisive damage boost. Instead, it should be used for
the most iconic and flavorful powers of a spirit, fae, or
other supernatural being, like a field guardian’s power
to make wheat grow to enormous sizes or rapidly reap
a field or a storm mother’s power to call down light-
ning strikes (Exalted, pp. 513-514).
There’s a number of ways in which you can design
effects that let an Exigent learn Eclipse Charms. You
might design a Charm that grants access to a themati-
cally appropriate subset of Eclipse Charms, or that lets
an Exigent gain any Eclipse Charm through a themat-
ically appropriate approach. An Exigent of the Wyld-
tainted god Xaos might be able to learn Eclipse Charms
from the Fair Folk, as might a Chosen of Hallucination.
A Chosen of the Hunt might be able to claim the
Eclipse Charms of supernatural beings after tracking
and subduing them, while a Chosen of the Market
might be able to purchase access to a being’s Eclipse
Charms. Of course, you can give an Exigent universal
access to Eclipse Charms, like an Eclipse Caste Solar
receives, but this should only be done when such a uni-
versal affinity for spirits and other supernatural beings
reinforces the themes of that specific Exigent.
Salient
The Salient keyword is no longer in use and should be
considered deprecated. It appears only on two Solar Craft
Charms, and the two are inconsistent in how it’s used.
New Keywords
It’s not uncommon for Exalts to include their own
custom keywords, especially when emphasizing their
unique powers. The Dragon-Blooded have Aura, grant-
ing them additional benefits based on their current
elemental alignment; Lunars have Protean, offering
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bonuses for using a Charm in a thematically appropri-
ate shape.
When designing a new keyword, remember that their
purpose is to centralize a commonly used mechanic in
order to reduce repetition — the Puppeteer’s Entangled
keyword emphasizes how important tagging enemies
with the Entangled condition is to her fighting style. If
a rule keeps popping up in many of your Charms, it’s
worth considering whether it’s worth transforming
into a keyword.
Minimums
Essence Minimums
Essence minimums are primarily used to pace the
growth of a character’s Charms over the course of a
campaign.
Essence 1 Charms are available to player characters
from the beginning of play. However, just because
they’re the lowest Essence level doesn’t mean these
Charms shouldn’t be powerful — to the contrary,
Essence 1 Charms offer considerable power, both in
the form of broadly applicable workhorse effects and
in specialized effects that a character’s entire Charm
build can be based around.
Essence 2 Charms provide only a small increase in
power from Essence 1, focusing more on lateral pro-
gression and refining the options already available at
Essence 1.
Essence 3 Charms see a significant increase in power
from Essence 1 and 2. This will often be the highest
Essence that player characters will attain, given that
campaigns may not last long enough to progress be-
yond it. This power spike helps reinforce the feeling of
growth and increasing power from character advance-
ment even before player characters reach the highest
levels of Essence.
Essence 4 Charms generally repeat the pattern seen
at Essence 2, taking what’s available at Essence 3 and
refining it or broadening its scope, utility, and com-
plexity rather than simply increasing its power.
Essence 5 Charms see another spike in power, though
not as great as the one at Essence 3. For all practical pur-
poses, this represents the maximum power the Exalted
can attain, but reaching it in play requires a significant
amount of real-world time — sometimes longer than a
given campaign might last. Accordingly, while the level
of power increases here, it’s not so drastic a jump as to
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
make a character who’s never able to progress beyond
Essence 3 feel like they’re incomplete or diminished
because of it.
The one major exception to the pattern above is
Dragon-Blooded Charms. Because Dragon-Blooded
begin at Essence 2, their Essence 1 and Essence 2
Charms cover effects that other Exalted have at
Essence 1, their Essence 3 Charms cover effects that
other Exalted have at Essence 2, and so on. It may be
appropriate for you to deviate from the above pattern
if it similarly serves some specific purpose for your
overall design.
For guidance on how many Charms to include at each
level of Essence, see p. XX.
Ability Minimums
While Essence minimums help to determine the power
of a Charm’s effect, Ability minimums usually focus on
reflecting how much specialization a character needs
to qualify for the Charm: A Charm requiring Melee 2
is available to any Exalt who feels vaguely comfortable
with a sword, while a Charm requiring Melee 5 is only
meant for characters dramatically invested in armed
combat.
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• Ability 1 Charms are available to almost any
character, and often represent universally appli-
cable powers that all Exalts should have access
to, such as Graceful Crane Stance and Ox-Body
Technique.
• Ability 2 Charms often represent basic effects
that need to be broadly available to characters.
Spirit-Cutting Attack (Exalted, p. 354) is a key
example — it’s something that many Exalted
characters will pick up at some point in order to
deal with dematerialized foes.
• Ability 3 Charms are the first point at which an
Ability represents a real investment for the char-
acter. These Charms often include role-defining
competencies, like Bulwark Stance (Exalted,
346), which offer the character significant pow-
er early on.
• Ability 4 Charms expand on the specialization
of Ability 3 Charms, offering greater power at
the expense of further specialization.
• Ability 5 Charms represent the bulk of many
Ability-based Charm sets, especially for Charms
that are deeper in their trees; this is because
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
once a Charm hits Ability 5, anything that builds
off it inherits that same requirement.
Ability minimums aren’t equally represented across
all Essence levels. Charms that require Ability 1-2 are
typically limited to Essence 1, with a few rare Ability 2
Charms at Essence 3; Essence 5 Charms almost univer-
sally require Ability 5.
As with Essence minimums, there’s no magic number
for how many Charms of each Ability minimum you
should have, but the following guidelines will give you
a distribution comparable to Solar, Dragon-Blooded,
and this book’s Exigent Charm sets:
ABILITY PERCENTAGE OF
MINIMUM CHARM SET
1 5%
2 10%
3 30%
4 15%
5 40%
Attribute Minimums
Attribute minimums function like Ability minimums,
gating access to a Charm based on specialization and
archetype.
• Attribute 1 Charms are available to literally ev-
ery character with no investment needed. These
are very infrequently used, similar to Ability 1
Charms.
• Attribute 2 Charms represent the lowest pos-
sible investment, making them accessible to
any Exalt who hasn’t purposefully kept that
Attribute below average.
• Attribute 3 Charms are roughly equivalent to
an Ability minimum of 2 or 3, representing a rel-
atively minor investment.
• Attribute 4 Charms are roughly equivalent to
an Ability minimum of 3 or 4 — enough to sepa-
rate characters who are invested in this Attribute
from dabblers.
• Attribute 5 Charms are used almost exclusive-
ly on high Essence Charms, allowing time for
characters to grow into their main Attributes
rather than requiring every player character to
maximize their Attributes at character creation.
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The following guidelines will give you a distribution
comparable to the Lunar and this book’s Exigent
Charm sets:
ATTRIBUTE PERCENTAGE OF
MINIMUM CHARM SET
1 5%
2 15%
3 30%
4 20%
5 30%
Prerequisite Charms
One of the final ways to balance a Charm is through its
prerequisites, creating trees that move from their roots
(basic Charms with low requirements that anyone can
learn relatively easily) to branches (high Essence, high
requirement Charms that build on multiple earlier
Charms to reward specialists). When designing an
Exigent Charm tree, effects that every player character
will need (including basic tools like penalty negators
and the ability to interact with spirits) should come
relatively early in a Charm tree, with no more than one
or two prerequisite Charms.
If a Charm feels too powerful, you can give it more pre-
requisites, making it a reward for characters specializ-
ing in a certain direction. Be careful, though, to ensure
that any prerequisites are useful and interesting in and
of themselves: When using prerequisites as a balanc-
ing factor, it’s easy to invent speedbump Charms that
do nothing other than soak up extra experience points.
Not Recommended
As a final note, there are some effects that we active-
ly recommend not including in your designs, either
because they undermine major themes of Exalted
in a way that diminishes the experience or because
they have a strong tendency towards game-wrecking
imbalance.
Resurrection
Exalted emphasizes the significance and impact of the
choices made by the character and the consequences
of those decisions. Death is one of the greatest conse-
quences, and there is no such thing as true resurrection
in Exalted’s setting. There may be things that come
close, things that approximate resurrection — the
existence of ghosts, sorcerous workings to manipulate
the mechanisms of reincarnation, Liminal Exaltation
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
— but once someone is dead, the person that they were
is gone, forever. No magic can undo this.
Note that the prohibition against resurrection doesn’t
extend to effects that let a character avoid death, or that
make them agelessly immortal. Magic can reveal that a
character’s seeming death was actually the destruction
of a duplicate, grant a spirit’s ability to reform itself
after its destruction if not slain with proper magic, or
extend a character’s natural lifespan indefinitely. Such
effects have their own balance considerations, and the
thematic consideration of avoiding “boring” immortal-
ity (Exalted, p. 486), but those are separate concerns.
Time Travel
Exalted’s emphasis on the importance of choices also
means that time travel does not exist in the setting.
Once you’ve made a mistake, you can’t travel into the
past to take it back. In addition to this thematic signif-
icance, the system of Exalted isn’t designed in a way
that handles time travel well. It takes thoughtful and
careful design to create a roleplaying game that can
make an enjoyable experience out of classic tropes
of time travel fiction, such as traveling into the past
to stop an enemy from being born, self-fulfilling time
loops, and rewriting the present through small chang-
es. Exalted simply wasn’t made for that purpose.
Experience Points
Character progression in Exalted is based on the
assumption that characters earn a flat five experience
points each session, along with zero to four points
of Solar Experience, Lunar Experience, or the like.
Charms shouldn’t give characters additional experi-
ence points on top of this or allow them to use resources
other than experience points to learn Charms, increase
trait ratings, or the like. There are some Charms that
violate this rule, such as Exegesis of the Distilled Form
(Exalted, p. 291) and Flowing Mind Prana (Exalted, p.
331), but we don’t recommend doing the same.
Similarly, Charms generally shouldn’t change the ex-
perience point cost of gaining or increasing a new trait.
This is a guideline, rather than an absolute rule, as there
is a very small design space where this can be done
without causing balance issues. It primarily applies to
the Craft Ability and its requirement that characters
purchase multiple ratings in different Crafts. Supreme
Celestial Focus (Exalted, p. 289) and Protean Creator
Discipline (Lunars, p. 210) are both examples of excep-
tions to this guideline that don’t undermine the game’s
balance. However, we don’t recommend using them as a
basis of comparison for effects outside of Craft.
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Copying Charms
As a general rule, the Exalted and other supernatural
beings can’t learn the Charms of other types of super-
natural beings — a Solar, for instance, can never learn
Dragon-Blooded Charms. The Eclipse keyword is used
to designate Charms that are exceptions to this rule;
accordingly, Charms shouldn’t allow a character to
learn non-Eclipse Charms belonging to another type
of character.
There are a handful of effects that break this rule, like
Carnal Spirit Rending (Exalted, p. 356) and Divine
Mantle (Exalted, p. 310). We strongly recommend not
following these precedents; they aren’t good compari-
sons for your own design.
More Perfect Than Perfect
Some effects in Exalted are “perfect,” succeeding auto-
matically despite all opposition. Seven Shadow Evasion
(Exalted, p. 301) can perfectly dodge any attack; Eye of
the Unconquered Sun (Exalted, p. 273) perfectly sees
through all stealth and disguises. We don’t advise cre-
ating Charms to counter perfect effects, e.g., a perfect
attack that even Seven Shadow Evasion can’t dodge. Such
effects undermine the intent behind the design of perfect
effects and would open the door to an endlessly escalat-
ing arms race of Charms for beating perfects, Charms for
beating Charms for beating perfect effects, and so on.
Morality
Exalted’s setting does not have any objectively as-
certainable morality. This doesn’t mean that Exalted
is amoral or morally nihilistic, or that it’s wrong to
make claims about morality; rather, it emphasizes
that morality is something that one must strive for in
one’s actions and choices, something where there are
no easy answers or certainties. The Unconquered Sun
may be the Highest of Holies and the God of Virtue,
but that doesn’t mean his judgments as to what’s good
and what’s evil are any more definitive or correct than
those of the Immaculate Order, the Yozis, or a mortal
philosopher living in a wine barrel.
Thus, while the supernatural prowess of the Exalted can
make them stronger, faster, and smarter than mortals,
there is no Charm to make them morally better or to let
them make wise decisions. Integrity Charms can make
an Exalt’s commitment to their morals stronger, but
they can’t ensure those morals are correct. Charms can’t
tell you the morally right choice to make in a situation,
or identify who is evil and who is good, because there is
no objective basis for making those determinations.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Speed Limit
Creation is a large world, and its size is narratively
significant to the setting. The distance between two
places impacts any story about war, diplomacy, com-
merce, or cultural exchange. While the Exalted can
travel at incredible speeds, designing Charms that let
them travel significantly faster than existing effects
risks undermining the size of the setting, “shrinking”
Creation for the player characters.
When looking for comparisons, note that Stormwind
Rider (Exalted, p. 475) is an outlier, both in terms of
how fast it lets characters travel at Essence 1 and how
fast it lets characters in Terrestrial play travel. We don’t
advise using it as a point of comparison for such effects
unless one of the player characters already has it.
Putting It All Together:
Designing an Example Charm
June is designing a Chosen of Burning Feather, the god-
dess of intoxicants. They’ve decided that the Chosen
of Intoxicants is intended for Terrestrial play, and has
a limited Ability-based Charm set, with Charms in
Integrity, Medicine, Occult, Presence, and Resistance.
They’ve already written the following Charm, bal-
ancing it in comparison to Flexing the Emerald Claw
(Exalted, p. 454) and Foe-Blinding Venom (Heirs to
the Shogunate, p. 147):
Emptied Amphora Tragedy
Cost: 5m; Mins: Medicine 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Grape-Quickening Gesture
Wine-dark Essence swirls about the Chosen of
Burning Feather’s weapon, imbuing her enemy’s
blood with the heady potency of the finest brews.
The Chosen’s decisive attack conveys a poison
with Damage 1i/round (B in Crash), Duration
(higher of Essence or 3) rounds, and a –2 pen-
alty. If her target has an Intimacy that supports
drinking, carousing, or hedonism, she adds
its intensity to the poison’s duration, and her
enemy’s (Stamina + Resistance) roll can’t lower
the poison’s duration below that Intimacy’s
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intensity. Conversely, if her target has an
Intimacy of abstinence from drink or carnal
pleasures, its intensity is subtracted from the
poison’s duration.
Now, June wants to design a Charm to follow Emptied
Amphora Tragedy that lets their Exigent expel the
alcohol from an enemy’s system to inflict a debilitat-
ing hangover. Since Emptied Amphora Tragedy is
Decisive-only, they want this follow-up Charm to be
Withering-only.
There’s a number of different mechanical effects June
could use to represent a magically inflicted hang-
over: dice penalties, losing Initiative or Willpower,
taking small amounts of bashing damage that ignores
Hardness, being forced to flurry each turn to be able to
act, etc. Since using this Charm will mean giving up the
Initiative damage and penalty inflicted by the purged
poison, June decides to represent the dolorous hang-
over by inflicting an amount of bashing damage based
on the rounds of poison expelled, as well as inflicting a
crippling penalty for the rest of the scene. They write
up this basic effect as follows:
When the Chosen of Burning Feather deals withering
damage to an enemy suffering from the poison inflicted
by Emptied Amphora Tragedy, she can purge that poison
from his system to inflict one die of bashing damage,
ignoring Hardness, for each round of the poison’s re-
maining duration. The damaged enemy also suffers a –2
penalty on all rolls until the scene ends, as a crippling
effect. If there are bright lights or loud sounds present in
the scene, the penalty rises to –3.
The most obvious type for this effect would be
Supplemental, but it could also be Simple if making
the withering attack was part of using the Charm, or
Reflexive if it’s used after the damage roll. June decides
to go with the straightforward option of Supplemental
for now, with the option of changing it to Simple if
there turn out to be any overpowered combinations
between it and the Exigent’s other Simple combat
Charms.
For duration, instant is the most likely choice, as this
Charm enhances a single attack. However, because the
crippling penalty lasts the entire scene, the Charm’s
duration could be one scene. This would mean that
the Exigent has to commit whatever the Charm’s mote
cost ends up being for the entire scene, though, and
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
that seems both too steep for inflicting a penalty on
one character and like something that might not be
worth the extra bookkeeping.
For keywords, Withering-only is a given. June consults
the list of keywords for any others it might need, but
nothing else seems like a good fit — Mute and Perilous
could both potentially be applied, but June doesn’t
think this is the kind of covert effect that Mute would
make sense on, nor does it seem like it needs the restric-
tion of Perilous. Additionally, because successfully us-
ing Emptied Amphora Remorse will reset the Exigent’s
Initiative, it leaves her wide open to be crashed before
her next turn, potentially denying her the opportunity
to use this hangover Charm altogether. That doesn’t
seem like a fun scenario, given the amount of set up
necessary to use this Charm, so Perilous is off the list.
Finally, the Charm needs a cost and minimums.
(Technically it also needs Prerequisite Charms, but
June’s already decided that Emptied Amphora Tragedy
is the prerequisite). To determine these, June looks
at effects similar to theirs and suitable for Terrestrial
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play: Fire Dragon style’s Essence-Igniting Nerve Strike
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 294), White Veil style’s The
Dragon Succumbs (Dragon-Blooded, p. 308), the
Frost-Thorn Knuckles’ Blizzard Claw Swipe (Arms of
the Chosen, p. 32), and the Ichneumon Blades’ Argent
Brood Eruption (Lunars, p. 331).
While these effects all provide useful points of refer-
ence, Blizzard Claw Swipe, Essence-Igniting Nerve
Strike, and The Dragon Succumbs are all Essence 3,
while June would prefer this Charm to come after
Emptied Amphora Tragedy at Essence 2, and Argent
Brood Eruption requires the attack to crash an enemy
to deal decisive damage, which June worries would
make this too difficult to actually pull off in play, giv-
en the Charm already requires the Exigent to land a
decisive attack and that the poison’s duration may
expire before the enemy’s Initiative can be brought
low enough to make crashing him feasible. As such,
June decides to give their Charm a once-per-scene
restriction in addition to its cost.
Putting it all together, June ends up with the following:
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Dolorous Sobriety Strike
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Medicine 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Emptied Amphora
Tragedy
The Chosen of Burning Feather’s blows sends
enemies reeling from their high-spirited carousing
into the next day’s regrets.
If the Exigent deals withering damage to an en-
emy suffering from poison inflicted by Emptied
Amphora Tragedy, she can purge that poison
from his system to inflict an automatic level of
bashing damage, ignoring Hardness, plus an ad-
ditional level for every two rounds of the poison’s
duration remaining, maximum (Essence) levels.
The damaged enemy also suffers a –2 penalty on
all rolls until the scene ends, as a crippling effect.
If there are bright lights or loud sounds present
in the scene, the penalty rises to –3.
This Charm can only be used once per scene, unless
reset by successfully landing a decisive attack en-
hanced with Emptied Amphora Tragedy that resets
her Initiative and then building to Initiative 12+.
Effect Index
While we can’t discuss every Charm, the following
provides an index of a wide variety of effects, with
examples drawn from all published books, as a refer-
ence when seeking comparisons for your own designs.
This is neither a comprehensive list of every effect in
Exalted, nor does it list every Charm that performs a
given effect. Charms found in this book can be refer-
enced in the Index starting on p. XX.
For ease of reference, effects are divided by Celestial play
and Terrestrial play. Sometimes, no effects exist for a
level of play — for instance, Solars don’t have a withering
counterattack. We’ll note when this is due to it being in-
appropriate for power level reasons, but if not, you should
still feel free to create those effects at that power level.
Offensive Effects
Area-of-Effect Attacks
These Charms apply an attack to some or all characters
in a designated area:
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FULL EXCELLENCIES
When a Charm says it applies a full Excellen-
cy to a roll, it adds enough Charm dice to reach
the rolling character’s dice limit. The character
doesn’t actually need the Excellency for the Ability
or Attribute in question to benefit. Likewise, when
Charms like Rising Sun Slash require a character
to use a full Excellency, they mean that she must
have reached her dice limit by adding Charm dice
and/or successes.
Celestial (Decisive): Arrow Storm Technique
(Exalted, p. 257), Behemoth’s Footprint Tread
(Lunars, p. 274), Scything Whirlwind Technique.
Celestial (Withering): Earth-Turning Upheaval,
Shower of Deadly Blades (Exalted, p. 417).
Terrestrial (Decisive): Elemental Burst Technique
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 218).
Terrestrial (Withering): Overpowering Blockbuster
Strike, Wrathful Winds Kiai (Dragon-Blooded, p. 289).
Bonuses on Attack Rolls
These Charms either add dice or successes on attack
rolls, modify the roll beneficially, or weaken a target’s
Defense.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): Cascade of Cutting Terror
(Exalted, p. 416), Cracking the Mask, Perfect Strike
Discipline (Exalted, p. 351), Supremacy of War
Meditation (Exalted, p. 283).
Celestial (Non-Charm): Excellent Strike (Exalted,
p. 346), Finding the Needle’s Eye (Lunars, p. 180),
Lightning Stroke Attack (Lunars, p. 184), Precision
of the Striking Raptor (Exalted, p. 415), Wise Arrow
(Exalted, p. 255), Unerring Fang Technique (Lunars,
p. 183).
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): Behemoth-Leashing
Tactic, Burning Faith Arc (Arms of the Chosen, p.
72), Lustrous Duelist Grin, Stone Fist Strike (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 178).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Bleeding Crescent Strike
(Exalted, p. 439), Convergence of Intent, Spring
Follows Winter (Dragon-Blooded, p. 165), Unerring
Lightning Razor (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 141),
Unseen Strike Precision.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Bonus Strength
These Charms grant bonus dots of Strength.
Celestial: Increasing Strength Exercise (Exalted, p. 262).
Terrestrial: Raging Fire-Dragon Spirit (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 249), Strength of Stone Technique
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 169).
Clash
These Charms let a character reflexively clash an at-
tack against them. Clash Charms for Terrestrial play
typically count as a character’s attack for the round;
those intended for Celestial play typically don’t.
Celestial (Decisive): Fervent Blow (Exalted, p. 352),
Weakness-Winnowing Slash.
Celestial (Gambit): Shadow Wind Slash (Exalted, p. 418).
Terrestrial (Decisive): Portentous Comet Deflection
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 228), Rat Strikes Snake.
Terrestrial (Withering): Light-on-Dark Shield
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 302), Comet-Diverting Guard
(Arms of the Chosen, p. 36).
Terrestrial (Dual): Snake Strikes the Heel (Exalted, p. 429).
Terrestrial (Gambit): Grasping Mantis Defense
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 305), Inauspicious Moment for
Attack (Lunars, p. 304).
Counterattack
These Charms let a character make counterattacks.
Celestial (Decisive): Coiled Serpent Strikes (Lunars,
p. 186), Preemptive Vengeance Declaration, Solar
Counterattack (Exalted, p. 347), Vigilant Warden
Rebuke.
Celestial (Withering): Clashing Blades Reversal,
Flashing Edge of Dawn (Exalted, p. 351).
Terrestrial (Decisive): Blazing Interception
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 226), Unhesitating Retribution
Manner.
Terrestrial (Withering): Demon-Slaying Zealot’s
Mantra (Dragon-Blooded, p. 323).
Terrestrial (Dual): Swallowtail’s Grace (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 317).
Terrestrial (Gambit): Table-Turning Reversal
(Exalted, p. 455), Talons Greet Prey (Lunars, p. 301).
86
EX3
Create Ammunition
These Charms create ammunition for ranged weapons.
Celestial: Phantom Arrow Technique (Exalted, p.
257), Needle Quill Technique (Lunars, p. 181).
Terrestrial: Harvest of the Hunter (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 164), Limitless Luminous Armory.
Create Difficult Terrain
These Charms create obstacles that impede movement.
Celestial: Grasping Midnight Phantasm.
Terrestrial: Awaken the Tide (Dragon-Blooded, p.
327), Boreal Winds Grace (Heirs to the Shogunate,
p. 155), Earth-Shattering Strike (Dragon-Blooded, p.
275), Uncertain Avenue Distraction.
Create Environmental Hazards
These Charms create environmental hazards.
Celestial (Ongoing): Coursing Firebolt Flash (Exalted,
p. 382), Haunted Carousel Storm, Thousandfold Wasp
Dance (Lunars, p. 194).
Terrestrial (Ongoing): Burning Judgment Halo
(Exalted, p. 451), Elemental Burst Technique (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 218), Shattered Prism Sword-Wall, Soul-
Fire Cataclysm.
Terrestrial (One-Time): Neighborhood Defense
Technique, Resounding Songbird’s Cry (Exalted, p.
449), Thunderclap Kata (Dragon-Blooded, p. 289).
Create Weapons
These Charms let a character create a weapon or gain a
new mode of attack with its own weapon traits.
Celestial: Glorious Solar Saber (Exalted, p. 350),
Claws of the Silver Moon (Lunars, p. 269), Infinite
Gloom Arsenal.
Terrestrial: Blade-Beckoning Requisition, Dragon-
Graced Weapon (Dragon-Blooded, p. 226), Elemental
Bolt Attack (Dragon-Blooded, p. 215), Limitless
Luminous Armory, Rattling Toy Sabers, Silken Lariat
Technique, Voice of the Night Bird (Exalted, p. 447).
Decisive Attacks That Don’t
Include Initiative
These Charms let a character make a decisive attack
that doesn’t include her Initiative in its damage roll
or reset her to base Initiative, referred to internally as
“soft” decisive attacks.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Celestial: Blazing Solar Bolt (Exalted, p. 353), Solar
Spike (Exalted, p. 260), Burrowing Devil Strike
(Lunars, p. 272).
Terrestrial: Dragon Soul Burst (Dragon-Blooded, p.
228), Violent Knickknack Hurricane.
Disrupt Charms
These Charms can terminate the duration of an ene-
my’s ongoing Charms or impede an enemy’s ability to
use Charms.
Celestial: Cancel the Apocalypse (Exalted, p. 279),
Hundred Shadow Ways (Exalted, p. 302), Heaven-
Darkening Eclipse (Lunars, p. 206).
Terrestrial: Essence Disruption Attack (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 176), Essence-Dousing Wave Attack
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 297).
Extreme Range Attacks
These Charms make it possible to attack from extreme
range.
Celestial: There Is No Wind (Exalted, p. 257), Triple
Distance Attack Technique (Exalted, p. 416), Boulders-
as-Pebbles Attitude (Lunars, p. 266).
Terrestrial: Horizon-Spanning Arc (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 165), Infinite Light Needle.
Forced Movement
These Charms let a character knock an enemy back
with the force of an attack, throw them across range
bands, knock them prone, or otherwise relocate them.
Celestial: Heaven Thunder Hammer (Exalted, p.
274), Foe-Baiting Sidestep (Lunars, p. 186), Mighty
Ram Smash (Lunars, p. 267), Pouncing Beast Impact
(Lunars, p. 276), Tiger Claw Swat (Lunars, p. 267).
Terrestrial: Avenging Wind Strike (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 288), Battering Ram Impact, Fateful Shift Evasion
(Arms of the Chosen, p. 98), Reed-Breaking Banda
(Lunars, p. 306), Rolling Boulder Blow (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 178), Sacrosanct Sovereign Personage,
Strings Drawn Taut.
Incapacitation
These Charms can kill or otherwise incapacitate an
enemy without dealing damage.
Celestial: Heart-Eating Fist (Miracles of the Solar
Exalted, p. 8), Knockout Blow (Exalted, p. 278)
87
EX3
Terrestrial: Entombed Mind Technique (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 246), Soul Mastery (Dragon-Blooded, p.
300), Amnestic Desolation (Arms of the Chosen, p. 82).
Increase Attack Range
These Charms increase the range at which an attack
can be made, including both ranged attacks and attacks
normally limited to close combat.
Celestial (Ranged): Pitchfork Javelin Method, Triple
Distance Attack Technique (Exalted, p. 416), Boulders-
as-Pebbles Attitude (Lunars, p. 266).
Celestial (Close Combat): Iron Raptor Technique
(Exalted, p. 350), Leaping Tiger Attack (Exalted, p.
264), Spider Catches Sparrow (Lunars, p. 275).
Terrestrial (Ranged): Arm Like a Catapult, Crystal-
and-Flame Quiver, Sky-Calming Draw (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 163), Blossom of Inevitable Demise
(Exalted, p. 450).
Terrestrial (Close Combat): Arcing Rainbow Slash,
Fulminating Thunderclap Surge (Heirs to the Shogunate,
p. 142), Uncoiling Serpent Prana (Exalted, p. 429).
Increase Base Initiative
These Charms increase the base Initiative that a char-
acter resets to.
Celestial: Blood Feeds the Land, Bloodthirsty Siaka
Frenzy (Lunars, p. 263), Orichalcum Fists of Battle
(Exalted, p. 282), Smiling Through the Pain, Striving
Aftershock Method (Exalted, p. 281).
Terrestrial: Smoldering Wound Attack (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 295), Ebon Shadow Form (Exalted, p.
441), Unsleeping City Invigoration.
Increase Decisive Damage
These Charms increase the damage of a decisive at-
tack, either by adding dice or successes directly to the
damage roll or otherwise enhancing it.
Celestial: Fiery Arrow Attack (Exalted, p. 257), Fire
and Stones Strike (Exalted, p. 346), Heaven Thunder
Hammer (Exalted, p. 274), Hungry Tiger Technique
(Exalted, p. 350), Divine Predator Strike (Lunars, p. 266),
Limb-Maiming Flourish (Lunars, p. 270), Rampaging
God-Monster Empowerment (Lunars, p. 274).
Terrestrial: Arrow Thorn Technique (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 164), Crimson Fang Bite (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 225), Hammering Wave Technique
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 178).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Increase Withering Damage
These Charms increase the damage of a withering
attack, either by adding dice or successes directly to
the damage roll or otherwise enhancing it.
Celestial: Fire and Stones Strike (Exalted, p. 346),
Leaping Tiger Attack (Exalted, p. 264), Deadly
Beastman Transformation (Lunars, p. 269), Divine
Predator Supremacy (Lunars, p. 274), Ox-Dragon
Smash (Lunars, p. 270), Savage Moonsilver Talons
(Lunars, p. 272).
Terrestrial: Crimson Fang Bite (Dragon-Blooded, p.
225), Hammering Wave Technique (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 178), Oaken Thew Exertion (Dragon-Blooded, p.
176).
Inflict Derangements
These Charms impose Derangements on others.
Celestial: Mind-Shattering Mystery (Lunars, p. 229),
Unceasing Hunger Affliction (Lunars, p. 168).
Terrestrial: Cracked Mirror Blight (Arms of the
Chosen, p. 60), Mad-Fire Ultimatum (Lunars, p. 340),
Whispering Wound Infestation (Lunars, p. 331).
Inflict Disease
These Charms infect others with diseases.
Celestial: Rabid Beast Bite (Lunars, p. 257).
Terrestrial: Dread Infection Strike (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 224).
Inflict Penalties
These Charms let a character impose penalties on an
enemy’s action or static values in combat.
Celestial: Joint-Wounding Attack (Exalted, p. 415),
Ox-Stunning Blow (Exalted, p. 277), Foe-Driving
Attack (Lunars, p. 180), Prey-Hobbling Bite (Lunars,
p. 267).
Terrestrial: Blinding Spark Throw (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 275), Crashing Tide Advance (Heirs to
the Shogunate, p. 129), Flesh-as-Stone Inurement
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 224), Life-Swelling Sap Strike
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 164), Sinew-Severing Precision.
Inflict Poison
These Charms create or transmit poison.
Celestial: Adder Fang Method (Lunars, p. 258).
88
EX3
CHARMS AND DECISIVE ATTACKS
When a Charm tells you to make a decisive at-
tack as part of using it, it means a damaging de-
cisive attack, not a gambit, unless it specifically
says otherwise. This typically comes up with Sim-
ple Charms and Charms that let you attack reflex-
ively, like Counterattack and Clash Charms.
Terrestrial: Flexing the Emerald Claw (Exalted, p.
454). Nightmare-Venom Sting, Nightshade’s Deadly
Bloom (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 128).
Multiple Attacks
These Charms let a character make multiple attacks
against one or more enemies.
Celestial (Decisive): Hammer on Iron Technique
(Exalted, p. 277), Iron Whirlwind Attack (Exalted, p.
347), Octopus-and-Spider Barrage (Lunars, p. 182).
Celestial (Withering): Cutting Circle of Destruction
(Exalted, p. 419), Revolving Bow Discipline (Exalted,
p. 258), Shadow-Sword Duality, Thousand Claw
Affliction (Lunars, p. 184).
Terrestrial (Decisive): Harnessed Firestorm Assault
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 227), Motion of Myriad Legs
(Lunars, p. 298), Overeager Killer Haste, Seven-Year
Swarm Volley (Dragon-Blooded, p. 167), Thousand
Edge Maelstrom.
Terrestrial (Withering): Fist-Spinning Maelstrom
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 180), Mela’s Twin Fangs
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 276), Overwhelming Hustle
Strike, Prismatic Flame Barrage.
Negate Cover
These Charms negate the Defense bonus from cover.
Celestial: Angle-Tracing Edge (Exalted, p. 415), Wise
Arrow (Exalted, p. 255), Finding the Needle’s Eye
(Lunars, p. 180).
Terrestrial: Arrow-Guiding Thread, Hammer Strikes
Nail, Seeking Throw Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p.
275).
Negate Hardness
These Charms let a decisive attack ignore some or all
of the enemy’s Hardness.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Celestial: Unstoppable Beast-Force Blow (Lunars, p.
267).
Terrestrial: Burning Fury Wreath (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 225), Crack-in-the-Wall Precision, Flashing Lance
Trick, Giant-Felling Stroke (Arms of the Chosen,
p. 47), Knife-Twisting Subtlety, Scourge the Broken
World, Subtle Rainbow Flame.
Negate Soak
These Charms let a withering attack ignore some or
all of the enemy’s soak.
Celestial: Armor-Rending Claw Fist (Lunars, p. 269),
Fists of Iron Technique (Exalted, p. 273).
Terrestrial: Armor-Penetrating Fang Strike (Exalted,
p. 428), Crack-in-the-Wall Precision, Death From
Nowhere (Dragon-Blooded, p. 164), Flashing Lance
Trick, Subtle Rainbow Flame.
Ranged Grapple
These Charms let a character grapple an enemy at
range, such as by snaring them in nets, using tendrils
of water to drag them, or exerting overwhelming spiri-
tual pressure to drive them to their knees.
Celestial: Grasping Shadow Coils, Kraken-Arm Lash
(Lunars, p. 268).
Terrestrial: Currents Sweep to Sea (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 177), Leash-Tugging Gesture.
Reflexive Aim
These Charms let a character aim reflexively.
Celestial: Accuracy Without Distance (Exalted, p.
257), Hunter’s Eye Precision (Lunars, p. 182).
Terrestrial: Elusive Skirmisher Tactic (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 255), Heartbeats Before Death (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 166), Keen Adamant Focus, Razor Vigil
Meditation (Lunars, p. 320).
Reflexive Attack
These Charms let a character make an attack
reflexively.
Celestial (Decisive): Busy Harvest, Finishing Snipe
(Exalted, p. 259), Hunger Breeds Haste.
Celestial (Dual): First to the Field, Hunter’s Swift
Answer (Exalted, p. 258), Peony Blossom Attack
(Exalted, p. 346),
89
EX3
Terrestrial (Decisive): Swift-Striking Tide (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 180), Whirling Rhythm Revolution
(Lunars, p. 306).
Terrestrial (Dual): Burning Pinnacle Strike (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 228).
Terrestrial (Gambit): Rumbling Earth Rebuke (Heirs
to the Shogunate, p. 142).
Reflexive Reload
These Charms let a character reflexively reload weap-
ons with the Slow tag.
Celestial: Needle Quill Technique (Lunars, p. 181).
Terrestrial: Boughs of Burning Autumn (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 164).
Reset Action
These Charms let a character reset their combat action
(Exalted, p. 255).
Celestial: Heaven Fury Smite (Exalted, p. 283),
Raging Wrath Repeated (Exalted, p. 282), Twisting
Moonsilver Stroke (Lunars, p. 185).
Terrestrial: Agony Mandala Meditation (Arms of the
Chosen, p. 88).
Shaping Effects
These Charms transform or twist bodies, minds, fates,
or souls.
Celestial: Devil’s-Eye Brand (Lunars, p. 232),
Insidious Lunar Transformation (Lunars, p. 207).
Terrestrial: Door-Denying Laughter, Duck-Becomes-
Hare Metamorphosis, Entombed Mind Technique
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 246), Wyld-Flame Crucible
(Lunars, p. 339).
Steal Initiative
These Charms let a character steal Initiative from an
enemy without making a withering attack.
Celestial: Thunderclap Rush Attack (Exalted, p. 275),
Stone Rhino’s Skin (Lunars, p. 253).
Terrestrial: Crimson Leaping Cat Technique
(Exalted, p. 431), Fragrant Petal Fascination Kata
(Exalted, p. 459), Brumal Rime Barrier (Heirs to the
Shogunate, p. 157).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Steal Motes
These Charms let a character steal motes from an
enemy.
Celestial: Essence-Draining Touch (Exalted, p. 333).
Terrestrial: Theft-of-Essence Method (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 296).
Unblockable and Undodgeable Attacks
These Charms prevent enemies from using Parry,
Evasion, or both to defend against an attack.
Celestial (Unblockable): Flashing Vengeance Draw
(Exalted, p. 258).
Celestial (Undodgeable): Cascade of Cutting Terror
(Exalted, p. 416).
Celestial (Unblockable and Undodgeable): Savage
Wolf Attack (Exalted, p. 419), Greatest Huntress
Mastery (Lunars, p. 185), Blinding Nova Flare
(Exalted, p. 437),
Terrestrial (Unblockable): Fulminating Thunderclap
Surge (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 142), Final Hour
Hastening (Arms of the Chosen, p. 56), Subtle
Rainbow Flame, Titanic Fist Devastation (Arms of the
Chosen, p. 29).
Terrestrial (Undodgeable): Death of Obsidian
Butterflies (Exalted, p. 472), Seven-Sword Onslaught.
Terrestrial (Unblockable and Undodgeable):
Unfolding Retribution Strike (Dragon-Blooded, p.
305).
Unexpected Attacks
These Charms make an attack count as a surprise at-
tacks or ambushes (Exalted, p. 203).
Celestial (Surprise Attack): Foe-Vaulting Method
(Exalted, p. 261).
Celestial (Ambush): Crimson Razor Wind (Exalted,
p. 418), Mind Shroud Meditation (Exalted, p. 407),
Numberless Blows Technique (Lunars, p. 300).
Terrestrial (Surprise Attack): Averted Eyes Ambush,
Discreet Killing Speed, Don’t-Blink Swiftness, Teeth-
in-the-Grass Strike (Lunars, p. 307).
Terrestrial (Ambush): Charms that turn attacks into
ambushes aren’t typically available for Terrestrial
play, although Charms like Blossom Hides Thorns
90
EX3
AMBUSHES, CLARIFIED
When a character makes an ambush, the defending
character is treated as having Defense 0 and can’t
activate any Charms, Evocations, or the like in re-
sponse to the attack unless those Charms explicitly
state they can be used against ambushes or he uses
magic like Reflex Sidestep Technique (Exalted,
(Exalted, p.
299). He still receives the benefits of any Permanent
Charms or Charms he’s already activated, but noth-
ing can raise his effective Defense above 0 unless it
explicitly works against ambushes.
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 238) may create opportunities to
launch ambushes.
Withering Attack Deals Decisive Damage
These Charms let a character deal decisive damage
with a withering attack.
Celestial: Flashing Edge of Dawn (Exalted, p. 351).
Terrestrial: Essence-Igniting Nerve Strike (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 294), Blizzard Claw Swipe (Arms of the
Chosen, p. 32).
Defensive Effects
Avoid Death
These Charms let a character negate having their
Incapacitated health level filled with damage.
Celestial: Dual Magnus Prana (Exalted, p. 292),
Inchoate Self Realization (Lunars, p. 234), Midsummer
Phoenix Resurrection, Soul Beyond Shape (Lunars, p.
262), Uncanny Shroud Defense (Exalted, p. 355).
Terrestrial: This effect isn’t typically available for
Terrestrial play.
Bonuses to Defense
These Charms either increase Defense or weaken an
enemy’s attack roll.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): Agile Beast Defense
(Lunars, p. 185), Fleet Gazelle Exercise (Lunars, p.
186), Shadow-Chased Silver Defense (Lunars, p. 188).
Celestial (Non-Charm): Dipping Swallow Defense
(Exalted, p. 346), Drifting Leaf Elusion (Exalted,
p. 300), Fourfold Shiver Binding (Exalted, p. 301),
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Hail-Shattering Practice (Exalted, p. 349), Reed in the
Wind (Exalted, p. 299), Scintillating Veil Illusion.
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): Dream-Champion
Trance, Shimmering Heat-Mirage Tactic (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 267).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Aura of Grasping Branches
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 227), Bonfire Shadow Evasion
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 193), Fearsome Dragon Presence
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 243), Flickering Candle
Meditation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 190), Graceful
Flowing Deflection (Dragon-Blooded, p. 225), Snake
Form (Exalted, p. 428).
Create Armor
These Charms let a character create armor, or other
defenses with armor traits.
Celestial: Glorious Solar Plate (Exalted, p. 378),
Invulnerable Moonsilver Carapace (Lunars, p. 253),
Rough-Spun Hero Raiment.
Terrestrial: Becoming the Tower, Dragon-Graced
Raiment (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 145), Dressed
in Fantasia, Pearlescent Filigree Defense (Exalted, p.
458), Radiant Warrior Raiment.
Create Cover
These Charms create barriers or similar sources of
cover.
Celestial: Smoke and Shadow Cover (Exalted, p. 406).
Terrestrial: Arbor Sentinel Technique (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 165), Fireglass Promenade Unfurling,
Shimmering Diamond Barrier, Stone-Sculpting
Fortification (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 134),
Wayward Debris Whirlwind.
Defend Against Crippling Effects
These Charms let a character resist or mitigate crip-
pling effects.
Celestial: Glorious Solar Plate (Exalted, p. 378),
Unbreakable Warrior’s Mastery (Exalted, p. 378),
Maimed But Unbroken (Lunars, p. 256).
Terrestrial: Tenacious Centipede Technique (Lunars,
p. 299).
Defend Against Disease
These Charms enhance a character’s rolls to resist
disease or mitigate diseases she’s already contracted.
91
EX3
Celestial: Disease-Purging Essence (Lunars, p. 257),
Feed the Fever, Immunity to Everything Technique
(Exalted, p. 379), The Maiden Must Endure.
Terrestrial: Body-Cleansing Prana (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 247), The City Endures, Living Puppet
Reconstruction, Obsidian Tear Purgation, Roots-of-
the-World Meditation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 196).
Defend Against Environmental Hazards
These Charms enhance a character’s rolls to resist
environmental hazards or otherwise mitigate such
hazards.
Celestial: Element-Resisting Prana (Exalted, p.
412), Fair Skies Nomad Approach, Perdurant Beast
Perfection (Lunars, p. 261), Treading Flame and Briar.
Terrestrial: Apocalypse-Outlasting Posture (Heirs to
the Shogunate, p. 145), The City Endures, (Element)
Protection Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 248),
Eternal Elemental Harmony (Dragon-Blooded, p.
274), Lustrous Body Perfection.
Defend Against Poison
These Charms enhance a character’s rolls to resist
poison or let a character resist poison already in her
system.
Celestial: Immunity to Everything Technique
(Exalted, p. 379), The Maiden Must Endure, Scorpion-
and-Toad Absolution (Lunars, p. 257).
Terrestrial: Body-Cleansing Prana (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 247), The City Endures, Living Puppet
Reconstruction, Obsidian Tear Purgation, Roots-of-
the-World Meditation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 196).
Defend Against Shaping Effects
These Charms let a character defend against Shaping
effects.
Celestial: Cold Iron Slumber, Destiny-Manifesting
Method (Exalted, p. 304), Invincible Solar Aegis
(Exalted, p. 309), Iron Attitude Refusal, Laughing into
the Teeth of Madness (Lunars, p. 280), No Time for
Idle Dreaming.
Terrestrial: Embodiment of Order, Of Chaos Born,
Six-Demon Scabbard Binding (Exalted, p. 437).
Defend Against Wyld Exposure
These Charms let mitigate the harmful effects of expo-
sure to the Wyld.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Celestial: Chaos-Repelling Pattern (Exalted, p. 330),
Defender of the Harvest’s Order, Integrity-Protecting
Prana (Exalted, p. 303), Wyld Migration Formation
(Lunars, p. 288), Wyld Tomb Rebirth.
Terrestrial: Chaos-Conquering Mantle, Chaos-
Warding Prana (Dragon-Blooded, p. 195), Nightmare
Odyssey Aria, Wyld-Warping Dominion.
Gain Hardness
These Charms either grant a Hardness rating or in-
crease a character’s existing Hardness.
Celestial (Gain Hardness): Durability of Oak
Meditation (Exalted, p. 374), Harvest-Hardened Skin,
Opalescent Body Aegis, Spurning All Calamity.
Celestial (Increase Hardness): Frenzied Bear
Fortification (Lunars, p. 254), Indestructible God-
Monster Incarnation (Lunars, p. 255), Invincible
Berserker Approach (Lunars, p. 334), Strength of Her
Convictions.
Terrestrial (Gain Hardness): Blithe Unruffled
Plumage (Dragon-Blooded, p. 307), Celestial Tiger
Hide (Exalted, p. 432), Dream-Champion Trance,
Eternal Tide Endurance (Dragon-Blooded, p. 247),
Living Wall Fortification, Refuse to Shatter.
Terrestrial (Increase Hardness): Stone Dragon’s
Skin (Dragon-Blooded, p. 290).
Gain Temporary Health Levels
These Charms let a character gain temporary health
levels.
Celestial: Eternal Harvest Maiden, Iron Skin
Concentration (Exalted, p. 374), Wound-Swallowing
Darkness.
Terrestrial: Aura of Invulnerability (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 245), Dream-Champion Trance,
Fathomless Depths Replenishment (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 249), Junkyard Colossus Technique.
Increase Soak
These Charms raise a character’s soak.
Celestial: Agony-Shrouding Darkness, Opalescent Body
Aegis, Impenetrable Beast-Armor (Lunars, p. 251), Nail
Defies Hammer, Spirit Strengthens the Skin (Exalted, p.
374), Steadfast Yeddim Meditation (Lunars, p. 254).
Terrestrial: Aura of Invulnerability (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 245), Auroral Mantle, Enduring Dream
92
EX3
Embodiment, Impervious Skin of Stone (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 247), Living Wall Fortification, Refuse to
Shatter, Resilient Construction Technique.
Negate Ambushes
These Charms allow a character to defend normally
against an ambush.
Celestial: Omniscient Focus Strike (Miracles of
the Solar Exalted, p. 21), Reflex Sidestep Technique
(Exalted, p. 299), Hunted Stag Majesty (Lunars, p.
149), Observed Prey Instinct (Lunars, p. 236).
Terrestrial: Death-Pattern-Sensing Attitude
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 299).
Negate Wound Penalties
These Charms reduce a character’s wound penalty or
negate it entirely.
Celestial: Battle Fury Focus (Exalted, p. 378),
Relentless Lunar Fury (Lunars, p. 262), Terrible
Wolverine Onslaught (Lunars, p. 263), Tireless
Harvest Technique, Wound-Swallowing Darkness.
Terrestrial: Nightmare-Taming Meditation, Unfeeling
Earth Meditation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 248), Rimebound
Predator Endurance (Arms of the Chosen, p. 31).
Penalize Damage Roll
These Charms reduce damage roll successes, either
by directly subtracting dice or successes or otherwise
interfering with the roll.
Celestial: Adamant Skin Technique (Exalted, p.
377), Durability of Oak Meditation (Exalted, p. 374),
Heavenly Guardian Defense (Exalted, p. 349), Iron
Kettle Body (Exalted, p. 377), Vaporous Division
(Exalted, p. 301), Stone Rhino’s Skin (Lunars, p. 253),
Unstoppable Juggernaut Incarnation (Lunars, p. 255).
Terrestrial: Bone-Bending Puppetry Trick, Earth
Bears Witness (Dragon-Blooded, p. 250), Ego-
Wound Absorption, Enduring Dream Embodiment,
Ripples-on-Water Defense (Dragon-Blooded, p. 250),
Countless Coils Evasion (Exalted, p. 430).
Perfect Defense
These Charms let a character defend against an attack
without any possibility of it hitting or dealing damage.
Celestial: Seven Shadow Evasion (Exalted, p. 301).
Terrestrial: Bottomless Depths Defense (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 296).
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Prevent Hostile Action
These Charms forbid enemies from taking certain
hostile actions unless they can overcome the Charm’s
influence.
Celestial: Majestic Radiant Presence (Exalted, p.
370), Respect-Commanding Attitude (Exalted, p.
362), Lightning-Calling Challenge (Lunars, p. 166),
Terrifying Bestial Visage (Lunars, p. 147).
Terrestrial: Bow Before Your Queen, Moth to the
Candle (Dragon-Blooded, p. 243), Unbreakable
Fascination Kata (Dragon-Blooded, p. 299).
Redirect Attacks
These Charms redirect an attack against the Exalt to
another character.
Celestial: Drifting Shadow Focus (Exalted, p. 300).
Terrestrial: Arrow-Gathering Web, Safety Among
Enemies (Dragon-Blooded, p. 191).
Regenerate Damage
These Charms let a character heal damage she’s
suffered.
Celestial: Halting the Scarlet Flow (Lunars, p. 256),
Harm-Dismissing Meditation (Exalted, p. 303), Tiger
Warrior’s Endurance (Exalted, p. 377), Wild Weed
Undying.
Terrestrial: Cracked Porcelain Restoration, Elemental
Succor Method (Dragon-Blooded, p. 218), Roots-
of-the-World Meditation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 196),
Well-Tended Garden of the Soul (Dragon-Blooded, p.
250).
Mobility Effects
Bonuses on Movement Actions
These Charms either add dice or successes on a move-
ment action roll, modify the roll beneficially, or weaken
an enemy’s opposing roll.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): Hurricane Spirit Speed
(Exalted, p. 265), Immortal Charger’s Gallop (Exalted, p.
382), Instinct-Driven Beast Movement (Lunars, p. 189).
Celestial (Non-Charm): Lightning Speed (Exalted,
p. 262), Living Wind Approach (Exalted, p. 266),
Untouchable Horseman’s Attitude (Exalted, p. 382),
Predator Grace Technique (Lunars, p. 190), Shadow-
Walker’s Grace.
93
EX3
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): Along a Thread, Danger-
Evading Causeway, Petal-Strewn Pavane (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 241), Unbreakable Stallion Spirit (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 255).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Bellows-Pumping Stride
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 168), Creation-Turning Hoof
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 252), Dancing Ember Stride
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 171), Dancing Spider Stride,
Every Road a Shortcut.
Bypass Obstacles
These Charms allow a character to move through walls
and similar obstructions.
Celestial: Door-Evading Technique (Exalted, p. 321),
Flickering Shadow Ways, Shadow-Crossing Leap
Technique (Exalted, p. 408).
Terrestrial: Flowing Dragon-God Stance (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 206), Inconvenience Rightly Ignored,
One-With-Earth Embodiment (Dragon-Blooded, p.
174), Wall-Diving Foray.
Flight
These Charms allow a character to fly or otherwise
move through the air.
Celestial: Eagle-Wing Style (Exalted, p. 265), Cloud
Trapeze (Lunars, p. 312).
Terrestrial: Anchored to the Sky, Soaring Zephyr
Flight (Dragon-Blooded, p. 169), Untethered Pegasus
Flight (Dragon-Blooded, p. 253), Wings Spread to Sky
(Exalted, p. 445), Cirrus Skiff (Exalted, p. 471).
Move Over Liquid
These Charms allow a character to move over water or
other liquid or unstable surfaces.
Celestial: Feather Foot Style (Exalted, p. 263).
Terrestrial: Cloud-Dancing Footwork, Ice-Slick
Tread Technique (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 129).
Move Through Multiple Range Bands
These Charms let a character cross multiple range
bands with a single movement action.
Celestial: Godspeed Steps (Exalted, p. 265),
Mountain-Crossing Leap Technique (Exalted, p. 265),
Bounding Hare Evasion (Lunars, p. 190), Relentless
Cheetah Pace (Lunars, p. 191), Unsuspecting Victim
Pursuit.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Terrestrial: Dancing Ember Stride (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 171), Hunting Spider Pursuit, Leaping Mantis
Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 304), Playhouse-
Haunting Phantasm, Portal to Portal.
Move Up Walls
These Charms let a character move up walls or while
standing upside-down on ceilings and similar surfaces.
Celestial: Spider Foot Style (Exalted, p. 263), Spider-
Climbing Attitude (Lunars, p. 189).
Terrestrial: Ascending Causeway Stride, Ascending
Strand Approach, Cloud-Dancing Footwork, Incense
Smoke Ladder (Dragon-Blooded, p. 169).
Move Without Using Movement Actions
These Charms let a character move without it count-
ing as her movement action for the round.
Celestial: Direct Approach, One Extra Step (Exalted,
p. 266), Reaping Row by Row, Swift Killer Style
(Lunars, p. 189).
Terrestrial: Become the Wave (Dragon-Blooded, p.
179), Nova Breaker (Arms of the Chosen, p. 36).
Reflexive Movement
These Charms allow characters to move or take a
movement action reflexively, often outside of their
turn in combat.
Celestial: Elusive Mount Technique (Exalted, p.
380), Leaping Dodge Method (Exalted, p. 299), Foe-
Baiting Sidestep (Lunars, p. 186), Silver Jaguar Pounce
(Lunars, p. 190).
Terrestrial: Balustrade Runner Stride, Ebony Spur
Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 252), Hopping
Firecracker Evasion (Dragon-Blooded, p. 191),
Rolling-With-the-Wind Method (Lunars, p. 307),
Swift Exeunt Departure, World-Mocking Evasion.
Social Effects
Bonuses on Influence Rolls
These Charms either add dice or successes on an in-
fluence roll, modify the roll beneficially, or weaken an
enemy’s Resolve.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): Crowned King of Eternity
(Exalted, p. 373), Harmonious Presence Mediation
(Exalted, p. 369), Sacred Beast Embodiment (Lunars,
p. 152).
94
EX3
Celestial (Non-Charm): Irresistible Salesman Spirit
(Exalted, p. 285), Tiger’s Dream Symmetry (Exalted,
p. 370), Feral Smile Tactic (Lunars, p. 146), Heart-
Snaring Deception (Lunars, p. 218), Snarling Outburst
Rebuke (Lunars, p. 168).
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): Crystalline Polyphony
Counterpoint, Voice-Uplifting Aspect (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 240).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Dragon’s Voice
Mastery (Dragon-Blooded, p. 212), Ersatz Troupe
Performance, Reality-Supplanting Influence, Swaying
Boughs Arabesque (Dragon-Blooded, p. 241), Talented
Improvisation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 236), Thoughtful
Gift Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 182).
Bonuses on Read Intentions Rolls
These Charms either add dice or successes on a read
intentions roll, modify the roll beneficially, or weaken
an enemy’s Guile.
Celestial (Non-Charm): Humble Servant Approach
(Exalted, p. 394), Motive-Discerning Technique
(Exalted, p. 393), Exquisite Heart’s Taste (Lunars, p.
244), Motive-Dissecting Eye (Lunars, p. 245), Taste of
the Heart.
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Like Minds Deduction,
Loyalty-Reading Meditation (Dragon-Blooded, p.
261), Master-and-Servant Understanding, Perfect
World Anticipation, Shadow-Dispersing Radiance
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 263), Watcher in the Night.
Bonuses to Guile
These Charms either increase Guile or weaken an en-
emy’s opposing roll.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): False Heart Affectation,
Guarded Thoughts Meditation (Exalted, p. 396), Soul
of Sincerity.
Celestial (Non-Charm): Haunted Mind Meditation,
Seven-Veiled Visage (Lunars, p. 277), Veil-Rending
Scrutiny (Lunars, p. 246).
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): Implacable Dragon Mien
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 266), Placid Smile Masquerade,
Unfaltering Superiority.
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Epoch Saga Memory
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 239), Foe-Snaring Ruse, Secret
Flame Brilliance, Sleepwalker’s Fugue, Smoke-
Wreathed Mien (Dragon-Blooded, p. 261).
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Bonuses to Resolve
These Charms either increase Resolve or weaken an
enemy’s influence roll.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): All-Consuming Despair,
Stubborn Boar Defense (Exalted, p. 303).
Celestial (Non-Charm): Beast-Mind Metanoia
(Lunars, p. 282), Empty Heart Defiance, Grudge-
Nursing Resentment (Lunars, p. 279), Hard-Nosed
Denial Style (Lunars, p. 166), Intransigent Silver Soul
(Lunars, p. 282), Perfect Fear Scent (Lunars, p. 151),
Unhesitating Dedication (Exalted, p. 309).
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): City Mouse Savvy, Civic
Spirit Dedication, Flawless Heart Technique, Honing
the Heart’s Facets, Oath of Ten Thousand Dragons
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 194), Point of No Return.
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Diamond Mind
Concentration, Epoch Saga Memory (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 239), Fearsome Dragon Presence
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 243), Thicker Than Stone
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 196), Waves-Swallow-Mountains
Persistence (Dragon-Blooded, p. 196).
95
EX3
Bonus Appearance
These Charms grant bonus dots of Appearance.
Celestial: Awakened Carnal Demiurge (Exalted,
p. 371), Beautiful Monster Transformation, Perfect
Symmetry (Lunars, p. 146).
Terrestrial: Clothed in Flame, Perfection of Aesthetics,
Rose Blooms by Night, Seven-Color Imperium Regalia,
Vivacious Dragon Beauty (Dragon-Blooded, p. 245).
Break Psyche Effects
These Charms can end Psyche effects used on oneself
or others.
Celestial: Chain-Breaking Fury (Lunars, p. 280), Cold
Iron Slumber, Commanded to Fly (Lunars, p. 223),
Transcendent Hero’s Meditation (Exalted, p. 308).
Terrestrial: Immolating Phoenix-Soul Fury (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 196), Sovereign Mind Bastion.
Bypass Language Barriers
These Charms enable communication without the
need for a shared language or allow for rapid learning
of languages.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
BONUS DOTS AND
CHARM CALCULATIONS
When a Charm uses a trait rating as a variable,
it uses only a character’s base rating in that trait,
not counting any bonus dots added by Charms
like Increasing Strength Exercise (Exalted
(Exalted,, p.
262). However, bonus dots are included for calcu-
lations that don’t involve Charms or other mag-
ic, such as determining whether a character’s
Strength is sufficient to attempt a feat of strength
(Exalted
Exalted,, p. 229), when calculating soak (Exalt-
(Exalt-
ed,, p. 195), or when calculating how many dice
ed
Appearance adds to an influence roll (Exalted,
(Exalted, p.
218). The one exception is Charms that compare
a character’s Appearance to an opposing charac-
ter’s Resolve to calculate an effect — such effects
include bonus dots of Appearance, just like with
influence rolls.
Celestial: Excellent Emissary’s Tongue (Exalted,
p. 328), Glance-Oration Technique (Lunars, p. 145),
Neighboring Village Dialect, Poetic Expression Style
(Exalted, p. 324), Stolen Voice Echo (Lunars, p. 197).
Terrestrial: Bustling Plaza Interlocution, Common
Parlance Tactic, Language-Learning Ritual (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 210), Speech Without Words (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 210), Universal Story Instincts, Unspoken
Dream Dialogue.
Detect Lies
These Charms let characters discern when others lie.
Celestial: Judge’s Ear Technique (Exalted, p. 312),
Forked Tongue Discernment (Lunars, p. 242).
Terrestrial: Foul Stench of Lies Discernment
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 201).
Determine Inspired Action
While the outcome of an inspire roll is normally de-
termined by the player of the inspired character, these
Charms let a character dictate or influence the actions
compelled by their inspire rolls.
Celestial: Fury Inciting Speech (Exalted, p. 364),
Monk-Seducing Demon Dance (Exalted, p. 367),
Passion-Unbinding Bacchanalia (Lunars, p. 153).
Terrestrial: Burning Sins Seduction (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 206), Immolating Passion Alleluia
96
EX3
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 237), Pulling the Crowd’s Strings,
Soul-Exciting Catharsis, Unbearable Taunt Technique
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 242).
Expand Read Intentions
These Charms expand the types of information that
can be gleaned through a read intentions action.
Celestial: Darkened Soul Interrogation, Knowing
the Soul’s Price (Exalted, p. 399), Cautious Rat
Concentration (Lunars, p. 244), Fellow Hound Insight
(Lunars, p. 243), Stranger-Appraising Wariness,
Understanding the Herd (Lunars, p. 243), Unkind Eye
Omen, Your Worst Day.
Terrestrial: City Mouse Eye, Market-Reading Glance,
Reading the Unspoken Word (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 212), Sense the Soul’s Fire, Testing the Waters
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 181), Rumor-Dredging Gaze
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 266).
Fool Read Intentions
These Charms cause read intentions rolls to provide
altered or false results.
Celestial: Easily-Discarded Presence Method
(Exalted, p. 396), Inner Demon Critique, Inverted Ego
Mask (Exalted, p. 397), Labyrinth of the Beast (Lunars,
p. 228), River Reflects Desire (Lunars, p. 229).
Terrestrial: As Seen by Others’ Eyes, Blithe Acceptance
Feint, False Heartstring Trick, Rippling Mirror Face
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 266), Smoke Without Flame
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 264).
Force Decision Points
Instill rolls and inspire rolls don’t normally require
a Decision Point (Exalted, p. 219) to resist, but these
Charms change that.
Celestial: Soul-Firing Performance (Exalted, p. 361),
Crowd-Inciting Fervor (Lunars, p. 165).
Terrestrial: Fervor-Inciting Brushstrokes (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 209), Soul-Stirring Performance (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 236).
Impose Virtual Intimacies
These Charms allow you to use social influence against
others as though they held certain Intimacies.
Celestial: Mastery of Small Manners (Exalted, p. 393),
Preying on Uncertainty Approach (Exalted, p. 316),
Alluring Scent Technique (Lunars, p. 147), Cuckoo’s
Nest Hospitality (Lunars, p. 158), Predator-and-Prey
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Mirror (Lunars, p. 146), The Shadow Who Wasn’t
There (Lunars, p. 218).
Terrestrial: Dragon Mariner Attitude (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 257), Impeccable Purity Lavation
(Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 146), Shells-for-Silver
Ruse (Dragon-Blooded, p. 182), Sweeten-the-Tap
Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 262).
Increase Willpower Cost to Resist
These Charms increase the cost of resisting social
influence.
Celestial: Blood-Stained Reaper’s Prize, Fulminating
Word (Exalted, p. 371), Goddess Crowned by Horns
(Lunars, p. 170), Soul-Snaring Pitch (Exalted, p. 286),
Eagle-Among-Sparrows Attitude (Lunars, p. 170).
Terrestrial: Dragon’s Voice Mastery (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 212), Heartstring-Pulling Approach
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 245), Lies-Upon-Lies Approach,
Reality-Supplanting Influence, Thorns-and-Roses
Eloquence, Waltz of Honeyed Wine (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 242), Wyrm’s Appetite Instigation.
Overcome Decision Points
These Charms let a character spend Willpower in a
Decision Point even if they don’t have an applicable
Intimacy of the requisite intensity.
Celestial: Argent-Etched Taboo (Lunars, p. 281), Strength
from Conviction Stance (Miracles of the Solar Exalted,
p. 13), True-to-the-Pack Dedication (Lunars, p. 279).
Terrestrial: Beating Heart Vivisection, Incarnate Law
Devotion, Unshattered Diamond Parables (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 211).
Psyche Effects
These Charms warp or control the mind so as to have
the Psyche keyword.
Celestial: Hypnotic Tongue Technique (Exalted,
p. 372), Memory-Reweaving Discipline (Exalted, p.
363), Twisted Words Technique (Exalted, p. 327),
Unbreakable Fascination Method (Exalted, p. 329),
Butterfly Eyes Mirage (Lunars, p. 233), False Burrow
Pursuit (Lunars, p. 222), Forgetful Victim Technique
(Lunars, p. 224), Trash-is-Treasure Misdirection
(Lunars, p. 223), Unceasing Hunger Affliction
(Lunars, p. 168).
Terrestrial: Distraction of the Babbling Brook
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 184), Entombed Mind
97
EX3
Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 246), Flowing
Authority Insinuation (Dragon-Blooded, p. 186),
Gossamer Cobweb Fabrication, Leave Them Wanting
More, Mesmerizing Siren Call (Dragon-Blooded, p.
237), Smoothing-Over-the-Past Technique (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 265), Stoking the Embers of Excess.
Reset Social Actions
These Charms reset a failed social action.
Celestial: Dauntless Assayer Method (Exalted, p.
395), Grows-in-the-Telling Technique (Lunars, p.
221), Obsession-Building Presence (Lunars, p. 151),
Perspective-Shifting Persistence (Lunars, p. 246),
Songbird’s Eternal Refrain (Lunars, p. 168).
Terrestrial: Grinding Millstone Argument (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 243).
Subterfuge Effects
Act Without Breaking Stealth
These Charms allow a character to attack or take simi-
lar actions without losing the benefits of concealment.
Celestial: Killing Shroud Technique (Miracles of
the Solar Exalted, p. 33), Observer-Deceiving Attack
(Exalted, p. 417).
Terrestrial: This effect isn’t typically available for
Terrestrial play.
Bonuses on Larceny Rolls
These Charms either add dice or successes on a
Larceny roll, modify the roll beneficially, or weaken an
enemy’s opposing roll.
Celestial (Non-Charm): Flawlessly Impenetrable
Disguise (Exalted, p. 317), Flawless Pickpocketing
Technique (Exalted, p. 316), Lock-Opening Touch
(Exalted, p. 317), Shifting Silver Masquerade (Lunars,
p. 231), Snake-Finger Style (Lunars, p. 192).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Artful Flowing Theft
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 204), Citizen of All Nations,
Flowing Body Disguise (Dragon-Blooded, p. 202),
Gala-Plundering Elegance, Instant Disguise Prana
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 205), Nimble Thief’s Fingers
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 202).
Bonuses on Stealth Actions
These Charms either add dice or successes on a Stealth
roll, modify the roll beneficially, or weaken an enemy’s
opposing roll.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Celestial (Charm Bonus): Blurred Form Style
(Exalted, p. 405), Midnight Phantom Movement
(Lunars, p. 192).
Celestial (Non-Charm): Fivefold Shadow Burial
(Exalted, p. 408), Perfect Shadow Stillness (Exalted, p.
403), Clover Can’t Be Found (Lunars, p. 160), Cryptic
Unknown Beast (Lunars, p. 193), Skulking Rat Spirit
(Lunars, p. 191), Unseen Predator Menace (Lunars, p.
191).
Terrestrial (Charm Bonus): Shun the Spotlight.
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Dragon Shroud Technique
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 269), Fade Into the Cast, Flowing
Shadow Stance (Dragon-Blooded, p. 267), Shadowed
Alley Disappearance, Shun the Spotlight, Vanishing
Wind-Body Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 267).
Create Concealment
These Charms create concealment sufficient to at-
tempt a Stealth roll.
Celestial: Candle-Eating Rat Trick (Lunars, p. 232),
Impenetrable Veil of Night (Exalted, p. 477).
Terrestrial: The Curtain Falls, Smoke Burst Eruption
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 276), Fog-Raising Gesture (Arms
of the Chosen, p. 58).
Enter Stealth Without Concealment
These Charms let a character roll Stealth even in the
absence of terrain or conditions that offer concealment.
Celestial: Blurred Form Style (Exalted, p. 405), Subtle
Chameleon Practice (Lunars, p. 157).
Terrestrial: Hidden Among the Colonnades, Shroud
of Unseen Winds (Dragon-Blooded, p. 288).
Mute Mote Expenditures
These Charms grant the Mute keyword to other
Charms or expenditures of Essence.
Celestial: Phantom Hood Technique (Exalted, p. 317),
Inexplicable Mystery Incarnation (Lunars, p. 219),
Night Stalker Approach (Lunars, p. 191).
Terrestrial: Whispering Dragon Soul (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 267).
Reflexive Stealth
These Charms allow Stealth rolls to be made reflexively.
98
EX3
Celestial: Rumor of Form (Exalted, p. 301), Shadow-
Striking Way (Miracles of the Solar Exalted, p. 34),
Elusive Prey Approach (Lunars, p. 192), Twisting
Penumbra Veil (Lunars, p. 193).
Terrestrial: Knife-in-the-Back Finesse, Smoke
Burst Eruption (Dragon-Blooded, p. 276), Stepping
Backstage Approach.
Warfare Effects
Bonuses on Command Actions
These Charms either add dice or successes on a com-
mand action roll or modify the roll beneficially.
Celestial (Charm Bonus): Rout-Stemming Gesture
(Exalted, p. 421), Pack Leader Attitude (Exalted, p.
173), Silver-Maned Warlord Glory (Lunars, p. 162).
Celestial (Non-Charm): Four Glories Meditation
(Exalted, p. 423), Glorious Battle Presence (Lunars, p.
161), Ideal Battle Knowledge Prana (Exalted, p. 421),
March of the Returner (Exalted, p. 423), Rustic Battle-
Saint Call, Silver General Foresight (Lunars, p. 214).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Blazing Courageous
Swordsman Inspiration (Dragon-Blooded, p. 279),
Frontline Daring Exploits, Parading Puppet Formation,
Triumphant Royalty Attitude, Shimmering Legion
Mirage.
Bonuses on Strategic Maneuvers
These Charms either add dice or successes on a
Strategic Maneuver roll, modify the roll beneficially, or
weaken an enemy’s opposing roll.
Celestial (Non-Charm): Dauntless Soil Defender,
Four Glories Meditation (Exalted, p. 423), Lay-of-the-
Land Tactics, Predator’s Deadly Cunning (Lunars, p.
214), Redoubt-Raising Gesture (Exalted, p. 421), Silver
Lion Supremacy (Lunars, p. 215).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Blessed Dragon Champion
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 283), Changing Winds Cunning
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 280), Choking Weeds Tactic
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 280), Excellence of the Dutiful
General (Dragon-Blooded, p. 279).
Expand Strategic Maneuver
These Charms expand a character’s range of options
when making a Strategic Maneuver roll, allowing them
to deploy unique stratagems, combine multiple strata-
gems, and the like.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Celestial: Battle-Visionary’s Foresight (Exalted, p.
423), General of the All-Seeing Sun (Exalted, p. 422),
Quicksilver Strategy Meditation (Lunars, p. 215), Ten
Sheaves’ General.
Terrestrial: Fog-of-War Misdirection (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 282), Hidden Thorn Treachery (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 282), Storm-Calling Strategos (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 280).
Grant Might
These Charms grant a battle group Might.
Celestial: Invincible Beast-Warrior Empowerment
(Lunars, p. 176), Soul of the Last Stand, Tiger Warrior
Training Technique (Exalted, p. 421), War-Scythe
Benediction.
Terrestrial: Hell-War Veteran’s Benison (Arms of
the Chosen, p. 79), Homeward Banner Militia, Mela’s
Frozen Legion (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 174),
Polestar Strategos Avatar.
Increase Drill
These Charms increase a battle group’s Drill.
Celestial: Militia-Empowering Mess Hall, Tiger
Warrior Training Technique (Exalted, p. 421), Wolf-
Pack Training Technique (Lunars, p. 174).
Terrestrial: Homeward Banner Militia, Rally the
Sapphire Knights.
Perfect Morale
These Charms grant battle groups perfect morale
(Exalted, p. 210).
Celestial: Soul of the Last Stand, Starving Beast
Bloodthirst (Lunars, p. 175), Tiger Warrior Training
Technique (Exalted, p. 421).
Terrestrial: Indomitable Flame of Valor (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 283).
Reflexive Command Actions
These Charms let a character take a command action
reflexively.
Celestial: Rout-Stemming Gesture (Exalted, p. 421),
Supremacy of the Divine Army (Exalted, p. 423),
Argent Battle Exemplar (Lunars, p. 162), Victorious
Beast-King Spirit (Lunars, p. 161).
Terrestrial: This effect isn’t typically available for
Terrestrial play.
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Craft Effects
Accelerate Crafting
These Charms reduce the amount of time needed to
complete a Craft project.
Celestial: Cherished Hammer Partnership, Craftsman
Needs No Tools (Exalted, p. 292), Ever-Ready
Innovation Discipline (Miracles of the Solar Exalted,
p. 11), Manifest Miracle Forging (Lunars, p. 213),
Pattern-Realizing Genius (Lunars, p. 211), Thousand-
Forge Hands (Exalted, p. 293).
Terrestrial: Crystal Spire Conjuration, Flashing Topaz
Improvisation, Fortune-From-Flotsam Ingenuity
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 189), Stone-Carving Fingers
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 187), Swift Dollmaker Style,
Workman Blames No Tool.
Bonuses on Craft Rolls
These Charms either add dice or successes on a Craft
roll or modify the roll beneficially.
Celestial (Non-Charm): Hundred Winters
Workmanship, Plowshares to Swords, Silver Crucible
Refinement (Lunars, p. 212), Stubborn Maiden
Handiwork, Supreme Masterwork Focus (Exalted, p.
297).
Terrestrial (Non-Charm): Careful Stitch Method,
Every Work a Glory, Flawless Facet Realization
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 188), Hammer Guides the Smith,
Prismatic Design Realization, Strike the Dragon-Anvil
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 188).
Convert Craft Points
These Charms let a character convert craft points of
one type to another.
Celestial: Sublime Transference (Exalted, p. 289),
Ever-Mutable Prowess (Lunars, p. 212).
Terrestrial: Diamond Dust Insights, Talents-to-Obols
Refinement (Dragon-Blooded, p. 188).
Gain Craft Points
These Charms grant craft points (Exalted, p. 239).
Celestial (White): Divine Transcendence of Crafts
(Exalted, p. 294), Fallen Star Kernel. This effect is typi-
cally limited to Solars and comparably powerful Exalted.
Celestial (Gold and Silver): Beast-Slayer’s Art (Lunars,
p. 210), Dreaming Wisdom Revelation (Lunars, p. 198),
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Endless Ingenuity Approach (Lunars, p. 211), Fallen Star
Kernel, God-Skinning Hunter Art (Lunars, p. 213), Peerless
Paragon of Craft (Exalted, p. 292), Supreme Perfection of
Craft (Exalted, p. 293), Village-Sustaining Industry.
Terrestrial (White): This effect isn’t typically avail-
able for Terrestrial play.
Terrestrial (Gold and Silver): Brick-and-Mortar
Sage, Every Work a Glory, Flawless Facet Realization
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 188), Imperious Muse
Inspiration, Stoking Inspiration’s Forge (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 190), Tithe of Applause.
Healing Effects
Accelerate Healing
These Charms increase the rate at which the Exalt or
another character heals naturally.
Celestial: Bear Sleep Technique (Lunars, p. 256),
Body-Mending Meditation (Exalted, p. 375), Fallow
Land Renewal.
Terrestrial: Auroral Convalescence Method,
Harmonious Life-Affirming Song (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 236), Stolen Moments Catnap.
Heal Aggravated Damage
These Charms can heal aggravated damage or down-
grade it to bashing or lethal damage.
Celestial: Sustaining Bounty, Wound-Cleansing
Meditation (Exalted, p. 342).
Terrestrial: Cracked Porcelain Restoration, Grievous
Wound Alteration Energy (Dragon-Blooded, p. 222),
Ruin-Raising Concentration.
Heal Crippling Effects
These Charms heal or mitigate crippling effects.
Celestial: Blood-and-Silage Mending, Starfish-and-
Salamander Meditation (Lunars, p. 202), Wholeness-
Restoring Meditation (Exalted, p. 344), Wound-
Banishing Strike (Exalted, p. 342).
Terrestrial: Perfected Diamond Embodiment,
Phantom Limb Reconstruction, Rebirth of Flesh
and Ivy (Dragon-Blooded, p. 223), Ruin-Raising
Concentration.
Heal Damage
These Charms can heal levels of damage taken by oth-
er characters.
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Celestial: Anointment of Miraculous Health (Exalted,
p. 344), Bone-Mending Technique (Lunars, p. 200),
Sustaining Bounty, Wound-Mending Care Technique
(Exalted, p. 342).
Terrestrial: Bloodied in My Name, Poppet-Mending
Chirurgeon, Rebirth of Flesh and Ivy (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 223), Ruin-Raising Concentration,
Wound-Closing Touch (Dragon-Blooded, p. 221).
Heal Derangements
These Charms can heal or mitigate Derangements.
Celestial: Wholeness-Restoring Meditation (Exalted,
p. 344), Midnight Soul Reprieve (Lunars, p. 201).
Terrestrial: Brow-Splitting Diamond, Chaos-Banishing
Revelation Gesture (Dragon-Blooded, p. 234), Purity-
of-Mind Method (Dragon-Blooded, p. 222).
Heal Disease
These Charms aid in treating disease.
Celestial: Ailment-Rectifying Method (Exalted, p.
341), Plague-Banishing Incitation (Exalted, p. 341),
Moonlit Cauldron Apothecary (Lunars, p. 199),
Plague-Swallowing Kiss (Lunars, p. 199).
Terrestrial: Alleyway Chirurgeon Expertise, Disease-
Banishing Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 220),
Dying Ember Dirge, Miasma-Dispelling Purity.
Heal Poison
These Charms aid in treating poison.
Celestial: Body-Purifying Admonitions (Exalted, p.
344), Moonlit Cauldron Apothecary (Lunars, p. 199).
Terrestrial: Alleyway Chirurgeon Expertise, Dying
Ember Dirge, Miasma-Dispelling Purity, Ruin-Raising
Concentration, Venom Expulsion Method (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 221).
Heal Psyche Effects
These Charms can end Psyche effects afflicting anoth-
er character.
Celestial: Midnight Soul Reprieve (Lunars, p. 201).
Terrestrial: Chaos-Banishing Revelation Gesture
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 234).
Heal Shaping Effects
These Charms can end Shaping effects afflicting an-
other character.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Celestial: Order-Affirming Blow (Exalted, p. 334),
Crimson-and-Silver Rebirth (Lunars, p. 206).
Terrestrial: Purifying Dragon Suspiration (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 234).
Spirit Interaction Effects
Attack Dematerialized Characters
These Charms allow a character to attack dematerial-
ized enemies.
Celestial: Scythe of Soul’s Harvest, Spirit-Cutting
Technique (Exalted, p. 354), Spirit-Rending Fury
(Lunars, p. 247).
Terrestrial: Shrine-Tender’s Banishing Chant,
Skyfire-Between-Worlds Veil, Spirit-Flaying Lash,
Spirit-Grounding Shout (Dragon-Blooded, p. 231).
Dematerialize
These Charms allow a character to dematerialize. This
is an uncommon effect for Exalted Charms, and should
be employed very carefully, and should usually include
either a limit on how they can be used or a weakness
that allows materialized characters to still attempt to
interact with the Exalt.
Celestial: Silver Ripple Mirage (Lunars, p. 160).
Destroy Spirits Permanently
These Charms allow gods and other immortal spirits to
be slain permanently. Charms intended for Terrestrial
play usually bind or diminish the spirit instead, allow-
ing the possibility of escape or return.
Celestial: Demon-Drinking Fang (Lunars, p. 247),
Ghost-Eating Technique (Exalted, p. 354), God-
Reaper’s Mercy.
Terrestrial: Anathema-Sealing Tomb (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 234), Demon-Binding Diamond Wisdom.
Exorcism
These Charms can drive out possessing spirits.
Celestial: Burning Exorcism Technique (Exalted, p.
356), Divine Tether Shearing, Ghost-Banishing Howl
(Lunars, p. 204).
Terrestrial: Blazing Purification Chant (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 233), Bleak Sapphire Bezoar.
Learn Eclipse Charms
These Charms let characters learn Eclipse Charms.
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Celestial: Gloaming Eye Understanding (Exalted, p.
359), God-Body Consumption (Lunars, p. 250), Spirit-
Sealing Talisman (Lunars, p. 208).
Terrestrial: Fourfold Maw Enlightenment (Heirs to
the Shogunate, p. 159), Tutelary Divinity Embodiment.
Materialize Allied Spirits
These Charms let a character materialize allied spirits,
without requiring those spirits to pay the cost for doing
so. Be mindful of the fact that this effect is particularly
powerful in the hands of a sorcerer who can bring
dematerialized spirit servants with them undetected.
Celestial: Material Exegesis Prana (Exalted, p. 357),
Spirit-Manifesting Word (Exalted, p. 355).
Terrestrial: This effect isn’t typically available at
Terrestrial play.
Materialize Spirits Forcibly
These Charms can force a spirit to materialize.
Celestial: Devil-Restraining Grip (Lunars, p. 248), God-
Reaping Tune, Keeper of Midnight’s Gates (Lunars, p.
204), Phantom-Seizing Strike (Exalted, p. 355).
Terrestrial: Doors of the City Unseen, Fireglass Idol
Incarnation, God-Binding Strings, Spirit-Chaining
Strike (Dragon-Blooded, p. 231).
Perceive Dematerialized Characters
These Charms allow a character to perceive the
dematerialized.
Celestial: Ethereal Predator Concentration, Spirit-
Detecting Glance (Exalted, p. 354), Spirit-Hunting
Hound (Exalted, p. 412), Perceiving the Hidden World
(Lunars, p. 247), Whispers from the Fields.
Terrestrial: Quivering Spirit Discernment, Shrine-
Tender’s Subtle Eye, Spirit-Detecting Mirror
Technique (Dragon-Blooded, p. 230), Subtle Realm
Instincts.
Miscellaneous Effects
Accelerate Overland Travel
These Charms let characters swiftly travel long
distances.
Celestial: Cloud Trapeze (Lunars, p. 312), Seven-
League Stride, Trackless Region Navigation (Exalted,
p. 409), Travel Without Distance (Exalted, p. 480),
Wind-Racing Essence Infusion (Exalted, p. 380).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Terrestrial: Far-Wandering Anthem, Footbridge-and-
Causeway Journey, Seven-League Gallop (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 255), Tireless Caravan Prana (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 273).
Accelerate Projects
These Charms reduce the amount of time needed for
an organization to complete a project or other bureau-
cratic task.
Celestial: Beloved Forewoman Exemplar, Speed the
Wheels (Exalted, p. 285), Stoking the Fever-Forge.
Terrestrial: Dashing Brook Method (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 182), Labor-Empowering Campaign.
Acquire Minions
These Charms create or summon other characters.
Celestial: Ant-and-Starfish Trick (Lunars, p. 193),
Demon of the Second Circle (Exalted, p. 477), Demon
of the Third Circle (Exalted, p. 482), Ephemeral
Induction Technique (Exalted, p. 360), Pack-Calling
Cry (Lunars, p. 164), Scarecrow-Steed Effigy, Wild
Fury Awakening (Lunars, p. 175), Prince of the Fallen
Tower (Lunars, p. 313).
Terrestrial: Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon, Dragon’s
Egg Hatched (Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 143), Demon
of the First Circle (Exalted, p. 473), Golem-Raising
Invocation, Living Puppet Performance, Summon
Elemental (Exalted, p. 475).
Elsewhere Storage
These Charms let a character store objects Elsewhere
or otherwise banish them until they need to be recalled.
Celestial: Hauberk-Summoning Gesture (Exalted,
p. 377), Summoning the Loyal Steel (Exalted, p. 347),
Many-Pockets Meditation (Lunars, p. 290).
Terrestrial: Elemental Aegis (Dragon-Blooded, p.
248), Elemental Sheath (Dragon-Blooded, p. 225),
Invisibly Hidden Chakram Method (Dragon-Blooded,
p. 275), Jumbled Toy Chest Silhouettes.
Gain Motes
These Charms grant additional motes.
Celestial: Blood-Pumping Enthusiasm, Burning
Moonfire Mind (Lunars, p. 201), Essence-Gathering
Temper (Exalted, p. 376), Field-Born Champion,
Onrush Burst Method (Exalted, p. 264), Reap What Is
Sown, Spirit-Drawing Oculus (Exalted, p. 359).
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Terrestrial: Elemental Empowerment Meditation
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 216), Oncoming Storm Stance
(Heirs to the Shogunate, p. 140), Rainbow Palace
Dominion, Tithe of Applause, The Wind Turns
(Dragon-Blooded, p; 219).
Gain Willpower
These Charms grant points of Willpower.
Celestial: Dancing With Strife Technique (Exalted, p.
278), Fallen Star Kernel, Festive Fertility Rite, Field-
Born Champion, Spirit-Tempering Practice (Exalted,
p. 308), Strawmaiden’s Heart, Unstoppable Magnus
Approach (Exalted, p. 341), Willpower-Enhancing
Spirit (Exalted, p. 377).
Terrestrial: Flawed Bloodstone Radiance, Glorious
Birthright Font (Dragon-Blooded, p. 219), The
Mountain Still Stands (Dragon-Blooded, p. 197),
Perfect Plan Satisfaction, Tithe of Applause.
Increase Effective Strength
for Feats of Strength
These Charms increase a character’s effective Strength
rating for determining what feats of strength they can
attempt.
Celestial: Fervid Nightmare Exploit, Fieldhand Hefts
the Haywain, Increasing Strength Exercise (Exalted,
p. 262), Inner Darkness Unleashed, Might of the
Maiden, Nine Aeons Threw (Exalted, p. 266), Surging
Thew Technique (Lunars, p. 276).
Terrestrial: Beast of Burden Sympathy, Girder-Toting
Civic Spirit, Diamond Gigantes Labors, Mountain-
Toppling Might (Dragon-Blooded, p. 169), Touch of
Unmaking (Dragon-Blooded, p. 188), Unshakable
Mountain Spine (Dragon-Blooded, p. 170).
Perceive the Past
These Charms allow characters to directly perceive
past events.
Celestial: Enlightened Touch Insight (Exalted, p.
314), Unknown Wisdom Epiphany (Exalted, p. 313),
Devil’s Hidden Footprints (Lunars, p. 249), Scent of
Bygone Ages (Lunars, p. 240), Shadows of the Ancient
Past (Exalted, p. 480).
Terrestrial: Death-Unraveling Eye (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 200), Echoes Caught in Stone (Dragon-
Blooded, p. 199), Glory-Reviving Radiance, Sense the
Hidden Ember (Dragon-Blooded, p. 175), Smoldering
Divinity Revelation.
 C H A P T E R F O U R : P O W E R O F T H E E X A LT E D
Sabotage Organizations
These Charms penalize, impede, or otherwise assail
organizations.
Celestial: Bureau-Consuming Monstrosity, Foul Air
of Argument Technique (Exalted, p. 288), Indolent
Official Charm (Exalted, p. 286), Gnawing Mouse
Malaise (Lunars, p. 221), Nation-Sundering Shadow
(Lunars, p. 227).
Terrestrial: Cunning Rat Enterprise, Thrashing Carp
Serenade (Dragon-Blooded, p. 185).
Training
These Charms allow the Exalt to train herself and other
characters, increasing trait ratings or granting new
traits by incurring experience debt. Once a character in-
curs experience debt, any experience she subsequently
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receives go toward paying it off until it’s paid in full.
An Exalt’s player may choose to pay a debt solely with
Exigent Experience, Solar Experience, or similar, if
applicable. A character in experience debt can’t incur
further experience debts; she must pay off the debt be-
fore she can benefit from other such effects. Storyteller
characters never go into experience debt; instead, they
can only benefit from such an effect once per story.
Celestial: Generosity Begets Wonder, Sharing Luna’s
Gifts (Lunars, p. 203), Stout-Hearted Brewing Style,
Tale-Spinning Mastery (Lunars, p. 199).
Terrestrial: Agent-Priming Indoctrination, Citizen-
Shaping Curriculum, Dream Chrysalis Transformation,
Illuminated Mind Salon, Iterations of the Self, Stage-
and-Shadow Apprenticeship, Stern Tutor Discipline
(Dragon-Blooded, p. 216).
It felt good to stop for the day, to sit around the caravanserai’s hearth while the evening’s chill bit the
air outside. Janest took a seat by the fire and accepted a bowl from a chubby-cheeked girl of six. She’d
been traveling with the refugees for three weeks now, keeping watch for bandits and other threats on
the road.
Since leaving Kolisz, she’d seen many grand sights, tasted every new dish she could, and heard stories
that’d never made it to her little valley. What Janest liked best, though, was meeting people along the
way — breaking bread with them, sharing their stories, and learning their songs, languages, and jokes.
She’d taken plenty of odd jobs with caravans. Most often, the caravaneers took one look at Final Season
and put her on guard duty, but she’d been a camp cook and a child-minder, fixed broken carts and set
fractured bones.
She’d only taken her first sip of the spicy soup when something made her hair stand up on the back of
her neck. In the darkness outside, a stabled horse whinnied in fear. The refugees exchanged frightened
glances.
“Stay close,” said Janest. She set down her bowl and called Final Season to hand. In her wanderings,
she’d picked up pieces of many languages. After please, and thank you, may I? and how much? she’d
found that phrase the most helpful. Her companions obeyed, parents gathering their children swiftly
into a cluster.
The sound of splintering wood and a metallic flash to her left was all the warning Janest had before
dozens of spindly-legged silverwights pounced, their talon-tipped fingers latching onto her arms to
drag her down. Janest dropped into a crouch, letting them climb atop her until not an inch of her could
be seen. Then she leapt, a streak of wheat-gold anima tracing an arc behind her. Silverwights scattered
and fell. Those that survived the impact did not survive Final Season’s keen-edged swing when Janest
landed.
Still more came at her, for all silverwights share a mind. They had felt their kin’s death and knew where
their killer could be found
The grimscythe’s blade split the hearth’s firelight into color-streaked ribbons as it sliced through
faerie flesh. Flowers and vines sprang up from the soil beneath the floorboards, tangling around the
silverwight’s limbs and holding them fast to the earth.
A hulking, pallid shape crashed through the door, twice Janest’s height — no doubt the fae huntmaster
leading this pack. A pair of tusks jutted from its maw, though one had been broken, and its body was
studded with venomous, bone-white thorns. It closed the distance with a speed that should have been
impossible for something so large and brought a fist like a sledgehammer down on Janest. She had
time to grit her teeth and brace for the blow; its impact rocked her backwards, but she refused to fall.
Thorns bit deep into her flesh; pain blossomed in her side, close to the scar she still bore from the faerie
blade in Kolisz. Faerie poison seeped into the wound, and a thrum of weakness spread like a starburst.
If Janest succumbed, the creatures would swarm the caravan.
“You won’t hurt them,” she rasped. “Not while I’m here.”
Suffusing her body with Essence, Janest fought off the poison as her wound knit itself closed. The Fair
Folk, closing in with its fanged maw wide open, hesitated. She brought the grimscythe up like a bar and
shoved the fae away. It flew backwards out of the caravanserai, leaving a furrow in the ground behind it.
Janest leapt after it, dancing across upturned rocks and clods of soil as if on even ground.
The raksha lumbered toward her, its silverwights approaching from all sides in eerie synchrony. Janest
led them into the night — away from the caravanserai, away from where they could harm the people
under her care.

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 Chapter Five
Strawmaiden Janest,
the Harvest Exalt
Strawmaiden Janest is an Exigent of the field god Ten
Sheaves. Her powers center around the abundance of
the harvest, honest work, and protecting and empow-
ering her chosen community.
History
Raiders from the village of Kolisz took the infant Janest
from the homestead where she was born and gave her
to their High Reavers to raise. She grew up with her
fellow field-maidens: tilling the soil, working the fields,
and training to defend the village and its harvest.
Like Janest herself, many of her field-sisters were also
taken from neighboring villages in raids or offered up as
tributes at a very young age. Together, they formed a tight-
knit family. When the raiders returned each winter with
newly stolen children, the field-maidens gathered them
into the fold, becoming their big sisters and mentors while
the High Reavers tended to their education and training.
If the field-maidens were like shepherds, the village
and its inhabitants were their flock. Their work filled
bellies and warmed hearths. When invading warriors
poured into the valley to steal stores of wheat and corn,
or carry sheep away from the herd, the field-maidens
stood steadfast and turned them away with the tools
of their trade. The same pitchforks that turned the soil
in the spring dripped with raiders’ blood come winter.
Winnowers traded their fans for similarly shaped
shields. Janest’s scythe cut a swath through invaders
as easily as it did through the wheat.
Kolisz rests in a fertile valley nestled between two
mountains. Once, its abundant fields provided valu-
able food for the Blessed Isle. Growing up, Janest was
used to the sight of tax collectors, Realm soldiers, and
Immaculate monks passing through, though she kept
out of their way as much as possible. While the soldiers
could be cruel in lean times, Janest feared them no
more than she did the seasonal raiders.
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WHO IS JANEST?
While this book’s fiction and illustrations depict
one take on Janest, players and Storytellers are
encouraged to make the Strawmaiden their own.
She has no canonical personality, appearance, be-
liefs, gender, sexuality, and the like, nor does she
have a defined relationship with Ten Sheaves, the
High Reavers, or Kolisz as a whole.
Some possible alternative takes on Janest include:
• An ambitious Strawmaiden who deposed the
High Reavers and seized control of Kolisz
alongside her field-sisters. As a fearsome
warlord, she’s conquered nearby villages,
forging a kingdom that’s a match for any of its
neighbors — though not yet for the Realm.
• A Strawmaiden seeking revenge, either
against the Fair Folk or the tribute-hungry
Realm. She finds communities of rebels, dis-
sidents, outlaws, and those forced to the mar-
gins — and potentially, the Silver Pact.
• A Strawmaiden skilled in necromancy, hav-
ing grasped the secrets of that fell art in the
moment of Ten Sheaves’ death. Baleful as her
power may be, she could still be a kind-heart-
ed hero, raising zombie armies in defense of
her community or becoming a figure of divine
mercy to ghosts in nearby shadowlands.
• A deeply flawed Strawmaiden whose devotion
to community has bred prejudice and xeno-
phobia. Players should plan for her character
development to involve recognizing the harm
she’s done in the name of community and
growing as a person, but that’s not necessarily
the case if she’s s Storyteller character.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

The Immaculates frightened her far more. If the soldiers abused the villagers, Janest and her sisters could stand
against them. The monks posed a threat to Ten Sheaves, the village’s patron god of fields and fertility. When their
paths crossed a monk’s, Janest and the other field-maidens performed the proper obeisances and moved quickly
along. Even the High Reavers were known to tread carefully, lest the Order’s representatives look too closely at
their patron. As long as they believed Ten Sheaves was a minor deity, they were likely to dismiss him and let the
villagers’ worship continue.

Over the last year, the Realm’s presence trickled away, and with it, the protection its forces offered. Neighboring
villages increased the frequency of their raids. The strange beasts that slouched forth from the Wyld-tainted hills,
once hunted for sport by garrison soldiers, now came sniffing about the village
for easy prey. Malefic spirits of hill and wood, previously kept in check
by the Immaculates, now roved freely to work mischief. Janest and her
sisters repelled all of these threats, keeping their community safe.

Then the Fair Folk army came pouring down the mountain. Raksha
nobles rode at the head of countless cataphracts and hobgoblins in
overwhelming numbers, destroying the other villages in the valley. At
last, they set their sights on Janest’s home, and it seemed like all was
lost. Janest and her sisters were ready to die defending the village
they loved so much.

Exaltation
On the eve of battle, the High Reavers brought Janest
to Ten Sheaves’ shrine. Though she insisted she was
needed on the front lines with her sisters, the god had
demanded her presence.

She walked with Ten Sheaves through fields of golden

wheat, listening as he spoke of the gods, and Heaven,
and a field-maiden’s duty. Though some of her sis-
ters had stronger arms, or were better tacticians,
Janest’s dedication
to her people made
her a worthy
champion in
his eyes. For
centuries, Ten
Sheaves had
protected
the field-
workers so
their work
might nour-
ish the vil-
lage. Though
he broke
heavenly law
by accepting
a position of
worship and
influence, such in-
fractions seemed minor
when weighed against the
heroic step he would now take.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Ten Sheaves could flee and save himself in the face of
the Fair Folk who threatened his people. Instead, he’d
petitioned the Unconquered Sun and offered his own
life to save the village.
The Unconquered Sun heard Ten Sheaves’ prayer and,
deeming him worthy, granted the god a portion of his
divine fire. Ten Sheaves imbued Janest with this ce-
lestial power, pouring his own life into her Exaltation.
Awareness flooded into her, that of the fields and farms
throughout the valley, the soil and the streams that
nourished them. The god gave her one last gift before
he faded away: a massive grimscythe. The god-weap-
on’s black blade glinted in the first light of dawn. Green
jade twisted through its haft, and sockets awaited pre-
cious hearthstones to fill them.
As day broke, Janest came down from the shrine atop
the hill, its stream now dried up, its waterwheel stilled
with Ten Sheaves’ passing. She strode out into the
fields and, alone, faced the Fair Folk vanguard. With
her wicked grimscythe, Strawmaiden Janest reaped
the raksha like wheat at the harvest. Inspired by their
sister’s bravery, the other field-maidens joined the
fight. The battle raged for three days, until Janest slew
the Fair Folk nobles commanding the army.
Their leadership defeated, the raksha forces broke and
fled back into the Wyld.
Leavetaking
Wounded but victorious, Janest returned to the village,
only to find it in chaos. Though the raksha were gone,
the High Reavers’ leaders had perished protecting the
townsfolk from hobgoblins and horrors that slipped
past the field-maidens. The surviving priests bickered
amongst themselves, disagreeing over the village’s im-
mediate needs and how to begin rebuilding. Already,
before their brothers’ and sisters’ bodies were even
cool, they were jockeying for power.
With Janest’s arrival, the mood shifted. Priests and vil-
lagers alike turned to her for guidance. What wisdom
had Ten Sheaves imparted to her? What instructions
had he given for her to pass along to them? Perhaps,
in making her his Chosen, Ten Sheaves had intended
Janest to guide them in leading the village.
For the next few days, while she recovered from her
wounds, Janest did her best to help her community.
She comforted those who’d lost loved ones. She walked
the fields and, with her newfound abilities, coaxed bat-
tle-trampled crops back to health. Though she wasn’t
a builder, the craftspeople sought her approval on
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KOLISZ
Beyond the description presented here, Kolisz is
left for Janest’s player to define. This includes its
location, the details of its culture, economy, and
politics, the role of Ten Sheaves’ cult in its society,
and the context for its practice of abducting and
enslaving children as field-maidens.
repairs and new construction. Even the priests looked
to her, hoping to gain her support in their bids to be
named the High Reavers’ leaders.
Had she desired it, Janest might have declared herself
the highest of High Reavers and set herself godlike
above them all: the priests, the villagers, and her
field-sisters. Yet, alongside her love for the village,
Janest’s humility had drawn Ten Sheaves’ attention —
she wasn’t sure she wanted to rule, and certainly knew
she wasn’t ready to do so. During the hours she spent
walking the rows with Ten Sheaves, the god had shown
her glimpses of a world larger than she’d ever truly
imagined.
She wanted to see it.
Like a new shoot bursting from the earth in springtime,
Janest realized she’d outgrown what the village could
offer her. They’d survived for centuries before she was
born, and with the Fair Folk routed, they’d be able to
rebuild and thrive once more — without Janest. Her
experience had made her bigger than this one village.
After saying some private farewells to her field-sisters,
Janest hefted her grimscythe and a small pack, and set
out into the world.
Wandering Hero
Creation is full of villages, she learned. Some looked
much like her home: remote settlements full of people
who’d live their entire lives in the same few miles.
Others were bigger, like close-knit neighborhoods in
the midst of a big city’s bustle. Still others were en-
tirely mobile, such as the trade caravans and traveling
troupes she met along their seasonal circuits.
Strawmaiden Janest has endeared herself to many
such communities during her travels. She’s acted as
a mediator and judge, helping to end disputes among
local factors. Bandit queens who threaten towns under
Janest’s protection have felt the edge of her grims-
cythe’s blade, as have agatae, manticores, and a tyrant
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
lizard. Always, she pays attention to the community’s
needs, whether it’s an old rift between two families in
need of closing, or a blight driven from the crops.
Now and then she thinks about the village where she
was raised. She wonders how it’s fared without her
there to protect it and feels a pang when she misses
her field-sisters. Several years have passed since she
left, and often, she finds herself turning towards home.
Character Creation
Janest uses the character creation rules for Ability-
based Exalted designed for Celestial play (p. XX) with
the following modifications:
Step One: Athletics, Awareness, Presence, Resistance
and Survival are Janest’s Strawmaiden Abilities, anal-
ogous to Caste Abilities. Her Charms utilize only these
five Abilities (p. XX).
Step Four: Janest receives her signature grimscythe,
Final Season, for free in addition to her starting Merits.
Traits
Janest is intended for Celestial play (p. XX).
Anima
Janest’s anima is a riot of verdure, blazing in the gold
of grain but also in the rich blacks and browns of soil,
the greens of rain-fed fields, and the white of the
noonday sun. Her iconic anima might depict a gigantic
Strawmaiden with a scythe that could fell redwoods
like barley, a funereal effigy of Ten Sheaves, endless
rows of wheat stalks, or mighty beasts of burden like
mountain-pulling oxen or wild-eyed mares.
Anima Effects
Autumnal Grimscythe: Janest’s grimscythe is a part
of her and her Exaltation. She waives its attunement
cost. For one mote, she can reflexively call it to her
hand, regardless of distance. If it’s attuned by another
character, Janest must pay an additional Willpower to
do so, breaking that character’s attunement.
Guardian Reaper: Once per day, Janest may pay ten
motes, one Willpower to make a decisive attack against
an enemy of the community (p. XX) without resetting
to base Initiative. At bonfire, this costs five motes.
Harvest Walker: For ten motes, one Willpower,
Janest may vanish into the fields. This isn’t immediate
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AMONG THE EXALTED
Though Ten Sheaves was a minor god, his influ-
ence limited to the village that worshiped him,
Strawmaiden Janest is an exceptionally powerful
Exigent. While this is rare, it’s far from impossi-
ble: even the weakest of gods sometimes choose
a champion who outshines them.
— roots and vines grow from her anima to form a co-
coon around her, culminating at the start of her next
turn. If she moves or suffers forced movement or
knockdown before her next turn, the cocoon falls
apart and this power is negated. Otherwise, once her
next turn begins, she disappears. Once the scene ends,
she reappears within a field, rural settlement, or place
of significant interest to her community chosen by the
Storyteller — typically somewhere within ten miles,
unless there aren’t any such locations within this
range. She often finds herself in the vicinity of those in
need of aid, especially if she intended to offer such help
using this power.
Martial Arts
Janest neither benefits from the Mastery keyword nor
suffers the limitations of the Terrestrial keyword.
Sorcery
Janest is capable of initiating into Terrestrial Circle
sorcery and Ivory Circle necromancy. Her Occult
Ability determines whether she receives the Favored
Ability discount on spells.
Evocations
Janest is resonant with green jade and orichalcum and
dissonant with soulsteel (Arms of the Chosen, p. 16).
She’s neutral with all other materials.
The Great Curse
Janest’s Great Curse manifests through a ten-point
Limit Track (p. XX), entering a Limit Break at 10. She
rolls dice and gains Limit equal to her successes under
the following circumstances:
• Once per scene, when she acts against a Major
Intimacy, she rolls one die, (unless she’s already
rolled for acting against a Defining Intimacy).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Voluntarily weakening an Intimacy or spending
Willpower to resist influence it supports counts
as acting against it.
• Once per scene, when she acts against a Defining
Intimacy, she rolls two dice, (or one die, if
she’s already rolled for acting against a Major
Intimacy).
• When she witnesses her community (p. XX)
being harmed by outsiders — an invading army,
a traveling Guild opium merchant, Immaculate
missionaries, etc. — she rolls three dice.
Janest loses one Limit for accomplishing a legendary
social goal (Exalted, p. 134). Her Limit resets at a Limit
Break’s end.
When Janest reaches Limit 10, she enters Limit Break
and is overcome by powerful and excessive passions, of-
ten rooted in compassion for her community, animosity
for outsiders, or stubbornness. Examples include:
Hero-Surpassing Hubris
Janest continually astounds with her heroic deeds,
but even she has limits. Driven by others’ needs, she
throws herself into a feat of such titanic proportions
that the only possible outcome is failure. She attempts
to rebuild a town brick-by-brick before nightfall, or to
leap to heaven from a tall mountain to excoriate the
gods. She follows through on her attempt until she is
forced to admit defeat.
Duration: Scene. Janest’s player selects a task that
she cannot succeed at, either because it’s outright im-
possible or because she imposes arbitrary restrictions
of time and ability on herself sufficient to make it so.
Hero-Surpassing Hubris can be ended early only if
Janest is faced with evidence that her efforts are com-
pounding the problem she is trying to solve.
Trouble-Uprooting Approach
Janest, never subtle, grows frustrated at needless
obstacles to solving simple problems and approaches
a solution by the most direct possible path. She will
trample over well-laid plans, social niceties, and laws
in pursuit of fixing the problem at hand, heedless of
whatever trouble this might cause. She won’t hesitate
to use force in situations where violence might be
avoided, and acts without regard to what might result
from her actions beyond her immediate goal.
Duration: Session. Trouble-Uprooting Approach can
be ended prematurely if Janest would otherwise direct-
ly harm someone to whom she has a Major or Defining
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EX3
positive Tie, or if she’s forced to acknowledge that her
actions would result in such harm in the near future.
Longevity and Death
Janest’s Exaltation slows her aging but doesn’t extend
her lifespan; she might live a few decades past a hun-
dred at most. Her Exaltation will end with her.
Character Advancement
Janest uses Celestial advancement rules (p. XX).
Exigent Experience
Janest receives Expression Bonuses (p. XX) as normal
and can earn a Role Bonus of 2 Exigent experience by:
• Intentionally ceding the “spotlight” of a scene’s
focus to another player character so that he can
express his character concept in an interesting
and dramatic fashion, or directly supporting
him in such a moment.
• Defending, supporting, or expanding her com-
munity (p. XX).
• Protecting a member of her community or some-
one she has a positive Major or Defining Tie to
from significant harm.
• Winning a noteworthy victory over an enemy
of the community (p. XX), whether in combat,
politics, business, or the like.
• Inspiring others to uphold one of her Major or
Defining Intimacies in a significant way.
• Solving a complicated problem with a simple
solution.
Charms
Excellencies
Like a tiny seed, Janest is blessed with almost lim-
itless potential. Although her Charms are limited
to Athletics, Awareness, Presence, Resistance, and
Survival, she can learn Excellencies for any Ability. She
may pay one mote per die to add dice to an (Attribute
+ Ability) roll or pay two motes per point to raise static
values such as Evasion, Parry, Resolve, and Guile.
Janest’s dice cap is (Attribute + [most relevant
of Athletics, Awareness, Presence, Resistance, or
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Survival]). For example, attack rolls will often be con-
nected to Athletics, reflecting Janest’s superhuman
strength; she might use Survival as the cap for a Craft
roll using materials gathered or harvested from the
wilderness. When in doubt, the Storyteller should lean
towards simply using the highest value.
Janest automatically gains an Excellency for any of her
Strawmaiden or Favored Abilities with at least one dot, at
no cost. Others must be purchased like any other Charm.
Charm Concept: Communities
Janest’s magic embodies the power of a rustic folk hero,
a champion of the harvest and the communities that
make it possible. Many of her Charms involve Janest’s
community — any group, society, or location whose
populace predominantly has positive Ties to Janest. She
can have multiple communities, accruing new ones over
the course of play. When her Charms refer to enemies
of the community, they mean any character who intends
to exploit or cause harm to one of Janest’s communities
or a notable portion of its populace. Whether or not
someone’s an enemy of the community depends on that
character’s intentions, not Janest’s perception of them.
Charm Concept: Fields
When Janest’s Charms refer to fields, they mean any
collection of cultivated plant life. This isn’t limited to
any particular form of agriculture; orchards, vineyards,
gardens, rice paddies, chinampas, and the like all quali-
fy in addition to literal fields of crops. A field must span
at least one range band to qualify.
Athletics
Might of the Maiden
Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 1, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Ten Sheaves’ blessing has magnified the strength gained
through a life of hard labor to heroic proportions.
Janest rerolls 1s until they cease to appear on a feat
of strength or the attack or control roll for a grapple
gambit. She adds +2 to her effective Strength rating to
determine if she can attempt a feat of strength. If her
effective Strength exceeds the feat’s minimum, each
excess dot adds one bonus die.
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With Athletics 5, Essence 3, the Strength bonus in-
creases to Essence.
Hero Hoists the Banner
Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Might of the Maiden
Janest’s true strength is more than simple muscle; it’s in
the people she inspires with her deeds.
Janest treats a successful feat of strength as an inspire
roll against everyone who witnessed it, typically inspir-
ing fear in her foes and courage, admiration, or attraction
in allies and bystanders. If the feat required Strength 5+,
affected characters also form a Minor Tie to Janest with
a context appropriate to the inspired emotion.
In combat, beating the Resolve of at least one nontrivi-
al enemy awards Janest one Initiative.
Inspiring Folk-Hero Prowess
Cost: —; Mins: Athletics 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hero Hoists the Banner
Janest lets her actions speak for themselves.
When Janest uses Hero Hoists the Banner, she may treat
her roll as an instill or threaten rather than an inspire
roll. Additionally, she can use it to enhance any Athletics,
Awareness, Presence, Resistance, or Survival roll she
makes that involves at least some display of her prowess.
When enhancing actions that aren’t feats of strength,
characters form Ties to Janest if the action’s difficulty is
5+ (or opposes a roll that receives 5+ successes).
Millstone Meteor Technique
Cost: —(3m); Mins: Athletics 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Even bereft of her grimscythe, Janest is a force to be
reckoned with, smiting foes with rakes, wheelbarrows,
and tree stumps.
Janest waives the Initiative cost for attacking with
improvised weapons using any combat Ability. If she
has Might of the Maiden, she may pay three motes to
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

JUST TAKE THEM

Not all of an Exigent’s Charms need to be completely unique. Sometimes it’s better to borrow an existing
Charm rather than reinventing the wheel. Monkey Leap Technique from Solar Athletics is an excellent candi-
date for this treatment. It’s thematically neutral, so it won’t clash with Janest’s themes or require re-flavoring.
Jumping isn’t a major thematic or mechanical focus for Janest, so she won’t suffer from her jumping Charm
not being customized to her themes. Finally, Janest’s Charms are designed to parallel Solars in power, so
there aren’t any balance concerns. (Monkey Leap Technique could also be given to weaker Exigents without
issue, but that makes it very rare among Solar Charms.)

reflexively attempt a feat of strength to lift an impro-
vised weapon once per round.
Once per scene, when Janest makes an attack with an
improvised weapon that requires a feat to lift, she adds
that feat’s Strength minimum to the attack’s decisive
or post-soak withering damage.
With Athletics 5, Essence 2, Janest may pay a one-Will-
power surcharge to create a shockwave spreading
out to medium range. All enemies caught within it
roll (Dexterity + Dodge) against difficulty (3 + range
bands negated). Each enemy who fails suffers dice of
decisive bashing damage equal to the number of range
bands negated, ignoring Hardness.

Monkey Leap Technique God-Fire Vigor

Cost: 2m (1m); Mins: Athletics 2, Essence 1 Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None Prerequisite Charms: None

Janest bounds from barn floor to hayloft in a single leap.
Janest can use a reflexive move action to jump one
range band vertically or horizontally without needing
to roll. If she uses this Charm on multiple consecutive
turns, the cost of all activations past the first is reduced
to one mote.
Earth’s Gentle Embrace
Cost: 3m per band; Mins: Athletics 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Monkey Leap Technique
The soil catches Janest gently when she falls, and even
solid stone cracks beneath her to diminish the brunt of
the impact.
When Janest suffers falling damage from any source,
she may reduce her fall’s effective distance by up to
(Stamina/2, round up) range bands when determining
the damage she suffers, paying three motes per band.
In fields, this is reduced to two motes per range band.
If she negates all damage from an effect that would
knock her prone, she remains upright.
Empowered by divine fire, the Strawmaiden outpaces
foes with a burst of speed.
Janest adds a non-Charm success and rerolls 6s until
they cease to appear on a movement action with any
Ability or a clash attack roll.
Petals on the Wind
Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: One tick
Prerequisite Charms: God-Fire Vigor
The Strawmaiden moves with windswept sprightliness,
hastening across the battlefield.
When Janest includes a movement action using any
Ability in a flurry, she ignores the penalty on each
flurried action and the Defense penalty. If she flurries
it with an attack that succeeds, she gains one Initiative
(which is added to the damage of a decisive attack).
Plowshare Cuts the Furrow
Cost: 4m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None

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 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

Duration: Instant Duration: Instant

Prerequisite Charms: God-Fire Vigor, Might of the
Maiden
Neither prickly hedgerows, piled stones, nor strong-built
walls can slow the Strawmaiden once she’s set upon her path.
When Janest crosses range bands, she reflexively at-
tempts a feat of demolition to destroy an obstacle in
her path, adding (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm
dice. She can’t use this Charm more than once per
range band of movement.
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden’s incredible strength and mean throw-
ing arm turn everyday farm tools into deadly missiles.
Janest increases a ranged attack’s range to medium. If it’s
already medium or better, she adds dice of decisive dam-
age or post-soak withering damage equal to the number
of range bands she attacked across (one for close, two
for short, and so on). This is incompatible with weapons
whose withering damage doesn’t include Strength.

If Janest uses this Charm during the movement of If Janest knows Millstone Meteor Technique, she may
Leaping Tiger Attack, the extra momentum converts reflexively ready an improvised weapon to make the
the dice added to the feat to non-Charm successes. enhanced attack with.

Pitchfork Javelin Method First to the Field

Cost: 1m; Mins: Athletics 2, Essence 1 Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual Keywords: Uniform

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EX3
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Janest meets her foes with the same vigor with which she
approaches each day’s labors.
Janest can use this Charm at the beginning of a round
to take her turn before any other character. If contest-
ed by magic like Thunderclap Rush Attack (Exalted, p.
275), the character with the highest stunt rating goes
first, resolving ties with coin flips.
Alternatively, if Janest would normally go first, she can
reflexively make a withering or decisive attack.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by crashing or
incapacitating a nontrivial enemy who had higher
Initiative than Janest.
Busy Harvest
Cost: 5m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: First to the Field
The ranks of Janest’s enemies fall like so many sheaves of
wheat as she cuts her way through the battlefield.
Upon crashing an opponent with a withering attack,
Janest makes a reflexive decisive attack against him us-
ing the same Ability. Against enemies of the community,
she doesn’t reset to base Initiative if successful, forfeit-
ing only the Initiative awarded by the withering attack.
Scything Whirlwind Technique
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Busy Harvest
Janest reaps a bloody harvest, cutting down foes on all
sides with a single sweeping strike.
Janest makes a decisive attack against all enemies
within close range. She divides her Initiative evenly
among each hit enemy, rounding up, to determine the
damage rolled against them, and adds an additional
(Strength) dice of damage to each attack. Battle groups
and trivial enemies instead suffer (Janest’s Initiative +
Strength) dice of damage, which doesn’t count against
her Initiative when allocating it to determine the dam-
age rolled against other enemies.
114
EX3
Alternatively, Janest can use this Charm to reap with
incredible speed, harvesting an entire field in a single
day’s labor.
Reaping Row by Row
Cost: 1m, 1i; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Busy Harvest, God-Fire Vigor
Janest tackles her problems one by one, making quick
work of whatever the day has in store for her.
When Janest attacks an enemy on the same tick she
moves into close range with him, she may continue
her movement in the same direction for another range
band. This doesn’t count as her move action.
If this brings Janest into close range with another
enemy, she may use Busy Harvest to reflexively make
a decisive attack against him. When using it this way,
she resets to base Initiative normally against enemies
of the community.
Ten-Thousand-Hours Method
Cost: 2m; Mins: Athletics 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Day in, day out, Janest’s life has been the honest work
of the plough and the sickle, a practical technique which
her Essence elevates to perfection.
Janest rerolls (lowest of Dexterity, Stamina, or
Strength) failed dice on an attack roll or grapple con-
trol roll.
Break the Stony Soil
Cost: 1m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Ten-Thousand-Hours Method
Janest forces her foe’s defenses to yield before her tena-
cious offense.
If Janest’s attack hits, it inflicts an additional point of
onslaught penalty and her enemy’s onslaught penalty
doesn’t refresh at the start of his next turn, instead
doing so at the end of that round.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

FINDING THE FOCUS

When designing a Charm set, Abilities and Attributes with combat Charms typically have a unique focus,
encouraging the character to employ a specific tactic or style with its own strengthens and weaknesses.
Solar Brawl dishes out incredible amounts of damage but has almost no defense; Solar Thrown emphasizes
gambits, stealth tactics, and winning Join Battle to unleash powerful attacks on round one.

Janest differs from Solars in that all her combat Ability’s Charms can be used together, similar to Lunars with
Dexterity and Strength. While each still has its theme and tactical focus, there’s more room for overlap between
them. Athletics rewards chasing down foes to stay in close range. Awareness emphasizes winning Join Battle
and reaching high Initiative. Resistance grows stronger the higher Janest’s wound penalty rises and empha-
sizes protecting allies with defend other actions. Not every Charm in an Ability needs to stick perfectly to that
Ability’s particular tactic, but they provide a valuable framework for fleshing out their Charm set by providing a
central theme to build around. Think about how your Exigent fights — whether with graceful precision, explosive
speed, or simply by staying in their opponent’s face — and then find ways to express that in their Charms.

Autumn Reaper Descent Gigantes-Toppling Spirit

Cost: 2m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1 Cost: 2m, 2i; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual Keywords: Dual, Perilous
Duration: Instant Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Monkey Leap Technique, Ten- Prerequisite Charms: God-Fire Vigor, Might of the
Thousand-Hours Method Maiden, Monkey Leap Technique

Striking at the apex of her leap’s arc, Janest falls on her Behemoths that threaten those under Janest’s protection
foe with incredible force. receive a humbling lesson.

To use this Charm, Janest must use Monkey Leap
Technique to move into close range with an enemy
and attack him on the same tick. She adds (higher of
Essence or 3) to the raw damage and Overwhelming of
a withering attack or rerolls (higher of Essence or 3)
failed dice on a decisive damage roll. If she falls after
leaping vertically to attack, she ignores one range band
of the fall when determining damage.
When Janest attacks a Legendary Size enemy, she ignores
the defensive benefits he receives from his size. If she
crashes him or deals decisive damage to him, he’s knocked
prone. This isn’t compatible with grapple gambits.
This Charm’s Initiative cost is waived and it loses the
Perilous keyword against enemies of the community
and while in fields.

Chaff-Clearing Onslaught With Athletics 5, Essence 3, this Charm can enhance

Cost: 1m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1 grapple gambits, letting Janest wrestle Legendary Size
Type: Supplemental foes.
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant Foes-Like-Haybales Heft
Prerequisite Charms: Ten-Thousand-Hours Method Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
The Strawmaiden’s speed and boldness renders defenses Keywords: Dual
futile. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Any two of Might of the
Each 10 on Janest’s attack roll adds one die of decisive Maiden, Millstone Meteor Technique, or Ten-
damage or post-soak withering damage, maximum Thousand-Hours Method
(Strength) dice. If she attacks an enemy of the commu-
nity or if she moved into close range with that enemy Janest can swing an alehouse brawler or an armored
on the same tick, 9s add damage dice as well and the soldier as easily as she can heft her scythe, leaving foes
maximum bonus increases to (Strength + 1). piled up like so many haybales.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Janest slams a grappled enemy into a second foe within close
range or throws him at one within short range, making one
attack roll against both characters. She rolls damage separately
against each of them. On a withering slam or throw, she only
gains Initiative from the higher of the two damage rolls.
Janest can’t use this Charm against the same enemy
multiple times in the same clinch.
The Sickle’s Margin
Cost: 1m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden matches even her most skilled oppo-
nents with her rough-hewn fighting style and boundless
vitality.
Janest gains +1 Defense and can defend against an attack
whose successes equal her Defense. Alternatively, she
can use this Charm to enhance an opposed movement
roll with any Ability, doubling 9s and winning ties.
Whispering Wind Grace
Cost: 3m; Mins: Athletics 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The Sickle’s Margin
Janest dances over rocks and between arrows like wind
through stalks of grain.
Janest ignores penalties to her Evasion or an Athletics
roll. This doesn’t affect penalties from surprise attacks.
Fieldhand Hefts the Haywain
Cost: 2m per success; Mins: Athletics 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Might of the Maiden
The Strawmaiden’s strength is well-suited to honest work.
Janest adds up to (Essence) non-Charm successes on
a feat of strength, paying two motes per success. Each
success added also adds +1 to her effective Strength to
determine if she can perform the feat.
If Janest performs a feat to benefit her community or
impede an enemy of the community, she can maintain
it for up to a scene without any additional rolls or effort,
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EX3
letting her carry a lifted wagon or hold up a shattered
pillar long enough to evacuate a damaged building.
With Athletics 5, Essence 4, she can sustain feats for
up to (Stamina + Strength) hours.
Earth-Turning Upheaval
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fieldhand Hefts the Haywain
Driving her hands into the earth, Janest wrenches up the
bedrock as though flipping over a table in an eruption of
soil and stone.
Janest rolls a special feat of strength opposing the (Dexterity
+ Dodge) rolls of all enemies within medium range.
Enemies who fail their roll fall prone and lose (Janest’s
Essence) Initiative. Janest gains this Initiative, maximum
(Essence + Strength). Battle groups who fail must roll
against rout. Additionally, Janest may treat this roll as a feat
of demolition applied against an object or structure that fits
completely within the shockwave’s range.
If Janest knows Busy Harvest, she can use it to attack
an enemy knocked prone with this Charm as though
she’d crashed him.
Godstrike Blade
Cost: 2m; Mins: Athletics 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Aggravated, Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Break the Stony Soil, Chaff-
Clearing Onslaught
Janest enacts Ten Sheaves’ judgment in striking down
deserving foes.
Janest adds (higher of Essence or 3) to the raw damage
of a withering attack or adds (Strength/2, rounded up)
decisive damage dice.
Against enemies of the community, withering attacks
also roll one die of aggravated decisive damage, ignor-
ing Hardness. Decisive attacks increase their bonus to
(Strength) dice.
Iron Thresher Offense
Cost: 2m; Mins: Athletics 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform, Stackable
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: The Sickle’s Margin
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
The Strawmaiden’s wild fighting style puts an enemy on the
defensive, buying her one more breath to react to his attacks.
Janest can use this Charm after hitting an enemy with
an attack. She gains +1 non-Charm Evasion against his
attacks, and they don’t inflict onslaught penalties on
her. This Charm ends if he crashes her or deals enough
decisive damage to her to increase her wound penalty.
Janest can stack this Charm up to (Strength) times to
gain its benefits against multiple foes.
Seven-League Stride
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One hour
Prerequisite Charms: God-Fire Vigor or Monkey
Leap Technique
Janest travels in a great bounding stride, crossing the
horizons as she sets off toward new adventures.
Janest doubles 9s on rushes, jumping-based rolls, and
opposed rolls in speed-based contests. In combat, she
waives Monkey Leap Technique’s cost.
Outside of combat, Janest moves with incredible speed,
capable of maintaining a speed of (Strength x10) miles
per hour over open terrain.
If Janest reactivates this Charm at the end of its dura-
tion, she waives its Willpower cost.
Leaping Tiger Attack
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Monkey Leap Technique, Ten-
Thousand-Hours Method
The Strawmaiden leaps towards her foe, closing the dis-
tance between them in a fatal instant.
To use this Charm, Janest must have Initiative 6+. She
can attack a lower-Initiative enemy within medium
range, instantly moving into close range before she
strikes. A withering attack doubles its post-soak dam-
age; a decisive attack adds (Essence) dice of damage.
This counts at her movement action for the round.
Thicket-Clearing Exertion
Cost: —; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
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EX3
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Scything Whirlwind
Technique
Faced with a particularly thorny obstacle, the Strawmaiden
focuses the entirety of her being on its elimination.
When Janest uses Scything Whirlwind Technique, she
may choose to make up to (lowest of Dexterity, Strength,
or Wits) decisive attacks against a single enemy rather
than making a single attack against multiple enemies.
She doesn’t reset after landing each attack; instead, she
loses Initiative equal to her successes on the damage
roll, which can’t bring her below base Initiative, and
resets once all attacks are completed. She doesn’t add
her Strength to these damage rolls.
The Belle of the Bee
Cost: —; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Fieldhand Hefts the Haywain
Janest’s true strength is revealed through the bond she
shares with others, whether lifting a toppled haycart to
save a child pinned beneath or shattering prison bars to
free the unjustly imprisoned.
When Janest adds a full Excellency to a feat of strength,
she doubles 9s. If the feat is performed to benefit her
community or a community member or if community
members assist her, she doubles 8s.
With a Strength 5, Essence 4 repurchase, Janest may
pay four motes to double 8s on any feat, or double 7s on
one with community involvement.
Blood Feeds the Land
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: First to the Field, Iron
Thresher Offense
Stalks of golden wheat sprout from the blood shed by
Janest’s scythe, a stark reminder that death begets life.
When Janest resets to base Initiative after a decisive
attack, she can activate this Charm to add +1 base
Initiative for each level of damage inflicted. This can’t
raise her base Initiative above her Initiative when she
attacked.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Wheat grows from the blood shed by this attack — not
enough to form a field, but enough to sustain a number
of characters equal to the bonus added to Janest’s base
Initiative for one day.
Reset: Once per day.
Fields Scoured Bare
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Autumn Reaper Descent or
Reaping Row by Row
Whether harvesting crops in the hot sun or cutting down
foes on the battlefield, Janest’s approach heralds the end
of that which stands against her.
Janest can only use this Charm on the tick she moves
into close range with an enemy. She doubles wither-
ing attack roll extra successes to determine damage
against him or adds her decisive attack roll extra suc-
cesses against him as dice of damage.
If Janest uses this Charm multiple times on the same
tick, she waives the Willpower cost of uses past the
first.
Reap What Is Sown
Cost: 3i, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: God-Fire Vigor, Iron Thresher
Offense, Whispering Wind Grace
Striking aside her enemies’ blows, Janest reaps the
harvest of her enemies’ killing intent and turns it back
against them.
Janest can use this Charm after successfully defend-
ing against a nontrivial enemy’s attack, gaining motes
equal to the 1s and 2s on his roll, maximum (Wits). She
gains the same benefit against all attacks she success-
fully defends against for this Charm’s duration. These
motes can only be spent on Charms that enhance her
attacks, defense, or movement actions and are lost if
not spent by the end of Janest’s next turn.
This Charm ends if Janest is crashed.
Tenfold Harvest Blade
Cost: —; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
118
EX3
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Thicket-Clearing Exertion
By the time her rivals have finished sharpening their
scythes, Janest has already brought in the battle’s
harvest.
When Janest uses Scything Whirlwind Technique
against multiple foes, its range extends to short.
Alternatively, when she uses it with Thicket-Clearing
Exertion to attack a single foe, the number of attacks
she makes increases to ([Dexterity, Strength, or Wits
+ 1).
Weakness-Winnowing Slash
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Busy Harvest, God-Fire Vigor,
Iron Thresher Offense
Moving in a blur, Janest effortlessly overpowers attacks
that cannot match her speed.
Janest reflexively clashes an attack with a decisive at-
tack. If her attacker’s Initiative is lower than hers, she
adds bonus dice equal to the difference on her attack
roll.
If Janest knows Leaping Tiger Attack, she may use
it reflexively to clash ranged attacks by moving into
range with her attacker.
Cataclysm-Cutting Defiance
Cost: —; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Weakness-Winnowing Slash
Janest’s scythe parts infernos, shatters hail, and sweeps
lightning bolts from the sky.
Janest can use Weakness-Winnowing Slash to clash
an environmental hazard, trap, or other non-attack
source of damage, rolling her attack against its difficul-
ty. It counts as having Initiative 0; if successful, Janest
doesn’t roll damage or reset Initiative. If the hazard
was magically created by a character present in the
scene, it uses his Initiative and Janest may roll deci-
sive damage against him if her clash against his hazard
equals or exceeds his Defense.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
If Janest successfully clashes a hazard or any attack
capable of dealing damage to multiple characters, any
other allies caught in it are also protected as if they’d
successfully clashed.
World-Borne Champion Resurgence
Cost: —; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fieldhand Hefts the Haywain,
Seven-League Stride
Creation recognizes the Strawmaiden as a true champi-
on, empowering her with might to meet all challenges.
Janest adds a free full Excellency on an Athletics roll.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by upholding a
Major or Defining positive Tie to Janest’s community
or negative Tie to an enemy of the community through
strength, speed, or hard work.
Clashing Blades Reversal
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Weakness-Winnowing Slash
The Strawmaiden redoubles her resolve and seizes victo-
ry from the jaws of defeat.
After a withering attack crashes Janest, she may use
this Charm to make a withering counterattack against
her attacker. If she knows Leaping Tiger Attack, she
may use it reflexively against a ranged attacker.
If Janest successfully counterattacks and gains enough
Initiative to come out of crash, her attacker suffers
dice of lethal decisive damage equal to the Initiative
he lost, ignoring Hardness.
Redwood Harvest Thew
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 4
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The Belle of the Bee (x2)
Janest’s strength is the stuff of tall tales, lifting entire
barns off the ground and toppling trees with a shove.
Janest may attempt a feat of strength whose physical scale
would normally be impossible given her size and leverage
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EX3
(Exalted, p. 230). A feat of demolition can damage or de-
stroy a portion of a large object (Essence/2, rounded up)
range bands beyond what she could normally accomplish.
A feat of strength can lift objects she’d normally lack the
leverage to, as though her grip’s leverage extended one
range band beyond what she could normally lift. If she
doubles 7s on the roll with The Belle of the Bee, these
increase to (Essence) range bands.
Sharp-Edged Maiden Dance
Cost: —(+5m, 2i); Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Tenfold Harvest Blade
As an Exalted reaper, Janest’s scythe can fell armies.
When Janest uses Scything Whirlwind Technique against
multiple enemies, she may pay a five-mote, two-Initiative
surcharge to roll ([Initiative/2, rounded up] + Strength)
dice of damage against each enemy, rather than dividing
her Initiative among them. Battle groups and trivial op-
ponents still suffer her full Initiative in damage.
Alternatively, when she uses Thicket-Clearing
Exertion to attack a single foe, she may pay the same
surcharge to add (Strength) dice on each attack’s dam-
age roll.
Tall as the Trees, Strong as the Land
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Redwood Harvest Thew,
World-Borne Champion Resurgence
The Strawmaiden assumes a form that lives up to her
larger-than-life deeds.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• Legendary Size.
• Five bonus dots of Strength, which can raise her
above Strength 5. In fields, her effective Strength
is infinite for determining what feats she can
attempt.
• Smaller characters suffer −2 Resolve against her
inspire and threaten rolls.
• Fieldhand Hefts the Haywain’s cost is reduced
to one mote per success added.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

• While using Seven-League Stride, she can main-

tain a speed of (Strength x20) miles per hour
Awareness
over open terrain.
Roots Cry Out
Reset: Once per day. Cost: —; Mins: Awareness 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent

LEGENDARY SIZE

Legendary Size is a Merit possessed by elephants, dinosaurs, behemoths, warstriders, and the like. It con-
fers the following benefits:

• Smaller enemies’ attacks don’t inflict onslaught penalties. (Magically inflicted onslaught penalties still
apply.)

• The character can’t be reduced below Initiative 1 by smaller enemies’ withering attacks unless they have
10+ post-soak damage dice. Such attacks still award the full amount of Initiative damage rolled.

• The character can’t take more than (attacker’s Strength + 3) levels of damage from smaller enemies’
decisive attacks. Levels of damage added by magic don’t count against this limit.

• The character can’t be grappled by smaller enemies unless they use magic like Dragon Coil Technique
(Exalted, p. 280). Such magic is also necessary for them to resist her grapple control rolls.

• The character can’t be knocked back by smaller foes’ smash attacks and is more difficult to knock back
with magic (Exalted, p. 274).

120
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 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden knows every root that passes beneath
the earth and every flower hidden in the wilderness.
Janest can sense the presence of plant life within
(higher of Essence or 3) range bands. She can identify
plant species she’s encountered before and appraise
their health without needing to roll. She adds (higher
of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice on rolls to forage for
edible plants, rolls to notice and resist plant-based
environmental hazards, and rolls opposing the Stealth
of sapient plants, wood elementals, and similar beings.
Emerald Fingers Impression
Cost: 5m; Mins: Awareness 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Roots Cry Out
The Strawmaiden knows her fields, seeing the world as
they do through root and rhizome.
While in a field, Janest may touch a living plant to dis-
place her perspective to another plant in the same field
within (higher of Essence or 3) range bands, perceiv-
ing the world as though she were there. She adds Roots
Cry Out’s non-Charm dice on all Perception-based
rolls made from this vantage and enjoys its benefit if
she Joins Battle.
Janest can reflexively switch between her two per-
spectives. She can move from the point where she used
this Charm, though she must touch another plant to
resume its benefits. This Charm ends if she goes more
than one range band out of the field she used it in.
Whispers from the Fields
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Awareness 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden keeps one ear and one eye in the spirit
world.
Janest can hear dematerialized characters. She can
close one eye (incurring a −1 penalty on vision-based
rolls) and commit two motes to extend this benefit to
her other senses.
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EX3
Scythe of Souls’ Harvest
Cost: 2m; Mins: Awareness 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Whispers from the Fields
The Strawmaiden’s scythe guards the field’s edge from
lost souls and spirits of the wild.
Janest can attack a dematerialized enemy. If she’s
unable to see him, her attack roll suffers a −3 penalty.
If he’s an enemy of the community, she adds an auto-
matic success on the attack roll.
God-Reaper’s Mercy
Cost: —(3m); Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Aggravated, Decisive-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Scythe of Souls’ Harvest
The Strawmaiden gives wicked spirits a second chance
at a decent life.
When Janest uses Scythe of Soul’s Harvest, she deals
aggravated damage to spirits. If she incapacitates a
spirit, she may pay three motes to transform that spirit
into a seed, nut, kernel, shoot, or the like. The spirit
remains conscious within the seed and the plant it
eventually grows into and remains capable of perceiv-
ing its immediate surroundings, hearing prayer, and
speaking with those capable of hearing the demate-
rialized. It can’t take physical actions or use magic.
While the plant can be destroyed, permanently killing
the spirit, it won’t succumb to mundane natural causes
like drought or frost.
If the plant reaches the end of its life cycle, the spirit
is released, gaining a Defining Principle reflecting its
experiences during its imprisonment. Janest may also
choose to release imprisoned spirits with a thought.
Loyal Homestead Guardian
Cost: 2m; Mins: Awareness 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden brooks no trespass on her land.
Janest adds a non-Charm die on a Perception-based
roll with any Ability for each of the following that
applies:
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• She’s in a field.
• She’s within or on the periphery of her
community.
• Her roll upholds a positive Tie to her community.
• She’s rolling opposing an enemy of the
community.
Bloodhound’s Borrowed Muzzle
Cost: 5m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Loyal Homestead Guardian
The Strawmaiden’s nose is sharp enough to rival any
hunting hound’s.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• She waives Loyal Homestead Guardian’s cost on
scent- and taste-based rolls.
• She can recognize individuals by their scent
alone and distinguish older scents from new
ones, allowing her to determine precisely how
long ago the source of a scent was present.
• She gains +1 Resolve and Guile while eating, im-
mersing herself in the flavor.
• Her enhanced smell and taste count as excep-
tional equipment (Exalted, p. 580) on rolls with
other Abilities that benefit from them, like an
influence roll to curry a courtier’s favor by com-
plimenting his perfume or an Investigation roll
to recognize a character’s region of origin based
on his use of spices and ingredients in preparing
a dish.
Special activation rules: This Charm’s cost is reduced
by one mote for each of Cat’s Borrowed Whisker and
Falcon’s Borrowed Eye that Janest also has active (i.e.,
she can activate any two such Charms for a total of
eight motes or all three for nine motes).
Taste of Familiar Earth
Cost: —; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Bloodhound’s Borrowed
Muzzle
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EX3
The Strawmaiden knows the taste of the earth as surely
as if she’d sprung from it herself.
Upon tasting soil or minerals, Janest can determine
their origin. Likewise, consuming food or drink lets her
discern where its ingredients came from, while tasting
someone’s blood lets her determine where he was born
and grew up. Precisely identifying a location requires
her to already be familiar with it; otherwise, she narrows
it down to a useful but approximate geographic region.
If Janest uses this acuity as part of a profile character
action — licking a speck of mud on a suspect’s boot or
eating a meal prepared by him, for example — success
lets her also discern roughly where her target has been
in the last day, plus an additional day for each extra
success. She can gain the same benefit from appropri-
ate case scene rolls.
Cat’s Borrowed Whisker
Cost: 5m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Loyal Homestead Guardian
The Strawmaiden is attuned to the faintest vibrations,
sensing the subtle movements of earth and sky and eaves-
dropping on whispering youths from a hundred paces.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• She waives Loyal Homestead Guardian’s cost on
hearing- and touch-based rolls.
• When she reads the intentions of someone
she’s touching, dice added by Loyal Homestead
Guardian are converted to non-Charm successes.
• She can hear clearly through walls and other
barriers and can discern sounds at frequencies
too low for humans to hear, suffering no in-
creased difficulty or penalties due to them.
• Her enhanced hearing and touch count as ex-
ceptional equipment (Exalted, p. 580) on rolls
with other Abilities that benefit from them,
like a read intentions roll to gauge a musician’s
mood based on his song or a Larceny roll to pick
a lock while feeling for the subtle motion of its
tumblers.
Special activation rules: This Charm’s cost is re-
duced by one mote for each of Bloodhound’s Borrowed
Muzzle and Falcon’s Borrowed Eye that Janest also has
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
active (i.e., she can activate any two such Charms for a
total of eight motes or all three for nine motes).
Broken Twig Giveaway
Cost: 1m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cat’s Borrowed Whisker
Janest hears with her feet, sensing the distant hoofbeats
of stampeding cattle or the quiet footfalls of a creeping
assassin as vibrations through the earth.
As long as Janest’s standing on the earth or the ground
floor of a structure, she rerolls 6s until they cease to ap-
pear on a roll opposing the Stealth of another character
on the same surface or otherwise made to discern the
source of such vibrations. In fields, she rerolls 5s as well.
Falcon’s Borrowed Eye
Cost: 5m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Loyal Homestead Guardian
Nothing escapes the Strawmaiden’s scythe-sharp gaze.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• She waives Loyal Homestead Guardian’s cost on
vision-based rolls.
• Her visual range is greatly increased, allowing her
to make out tiny details as far as one hundred yards
away and rapidly process visual information.
• She ignores penalties for darkness or poor light-
ing on vision-based rolls with any Ability as long
as there’s any light to see by.
• Her enhanced visual acuity is exceptional
equipment (Exalted, p. 580) on rolls with other
Abilities that benefit from the ability to discern
and examine subtle details and to rapidly pro-
cess and recall visual information, like a case
scene roll to notice a concealed trapdoor or a
Craft roll to paint a realistic portrait of a model.
Special activation rules: This Charm’s cost is re-
duced by one mote for each of Bloodhound’s Borrowed
Muzzle and Falcon’s Borrowed Eye that Janest also has
active (i.e., she can activate any two such Charms for a
total of eight motes or all three for nine motes).
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EX3
Vermin-Pinning Glare
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Falcon’s Borrowed Eye
The Strawmaiden’s piercing gaze gives pause to am-
bushers and cutpurses.
When Janest rolls Join Battle, enemies of the community
and foes in concealment suffer a −3 penalty on their roll.
For each such enemy whose Join Battle roll is beaten by
Janest’s, she gains one Initiative, maximum (Wits).
Hero’s Awakened Eye
Cost: —; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Any two of Bloodhound’s
Borrowed Muzzle, Cat’s Borrowed Whisker, or
Falcon’s Borrowed Eye
Bearing witness to the terror and pain of a broken world,
the Strawmaiden is unflinching in confronting the work
that remains left for her to do.
Janest adds a free full Excellency on a Perception-
based Awareness, Investigation, or Survival roll.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by succeeding
on a Perception-based Awareness, Investigation, or
Survival roll opposing an enemy of the community.
Field-Ripple Intuition
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden attends to every twitch of grass, every
sudden intake of breath.
Janest doubles 9s on a Join Battle roll. If any hidden
opponents or enemies of the community are within
short range of her, she doubles 8s.
Direct Approach
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Field-Ripple Intuition
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

The Strawmaiden never puts off till tomorrow what
should be finished today.
After rolling Join Battle, Janest can use this Charm
to reflexively move one range band toward an enemy
whose Join Battle roll she beat. This doesn’t count as her
movement action for the round. If she won Join Battle,
she may reflexively make a decisive attack against him.
Janest automatically detects the presence of poison,
disease, drugs, and other contaminants within short
range. This doesn’t let her automatically diagnose
patients but adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm
dice on rolls to do so. She also adds this bonus on
Awareness rolls to detect concealed enemies or traps
that might expose others to such threats or to notice
subtle attempts at poisoning or infecting others.

Blood Sold Dearly While Bloodhound’s Borrowed Muzzle is active, this

Cost: 4m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1 Charm’s range extends to medium.
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform Temper-Measuring Greeting
Duration: Until next turn Cost: 2m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Prerequisite Charms: Direct Approach Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
The Strawmaiden makes her foes work for every inch of Duration: Instant
victory. Prerequisite Charms: None

Janest gains +1 Evasion against enemies with lower
Initiative and adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm
dice on rolls to disengage from them. If she wins Join
Battle and uses this Charm, its duration becomes one
scene.
Canny Bonesetter Discernment
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden needn’t second-guess herself when
looking over injuries or listening to patient’s complaints.
The Strawmaiden is a quick and decisive judge of
character.
Janest doubles 9s on a read intentions or profile char-
acter roll. If she uses this Charm against a character
in the scene she meets him, success also reveals an
additional piece of useful information about him: an
Intimacy, a clue about his identity, etc.
Hard-Eyed Suspicion
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Temper-Measuring Greeting

Janest doubles 9s on a diagnosis roll and completes her The Strawmaiden doesn’t quickly forgive cheats.
appraisal instantly. If her patient is a member of her
community or the ailment was inflicted by an enemy Janest adds (Perception) non-Charm dice on an
of the community, she doubles 8s. If both are true, she Awareness roll opposing a character’s Larceny or
doubles 7s. Stealth, a read intentions or profile character roll, or a
roll to spot a Lunar’s Tell or notice similar identifying
If Janest successfully diagnoses an ailment, she adds details. If she succeeds, she singles out her target, intu-
any extra successes on the diagnosis roll as non-Charm itively discerning when he makes a Larceny or Stealth
dice on the next roll she makes to treat that ailment. roll for the rest of the scene. She doesn’t necessarily
realize what he’s doing, only that he’s up to no good. If
Blighted Crop Vigilance she rolls opposing him, his 1s subtract successes.
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive Hard-Eyed Suspicion can contest magic like Lightning-
Keywords: None Hand Sleight (Exalted, p. 316) that denies characters
Duration: One scene the opportunity to make opposing rolls at all.
Prerequisite Charms: Canny Bonesetter
Discernment Unkind Eye Omen
Cost: 4m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
No poison, pestilence, or miasma escapes the Type: Simple
Strawmaiden’s nose. Keywords: Mute

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 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
TOUCH ATTACKS
In combat, touching an unwilling character or
something worn or wielded by them requires a
difficulty 1 unarmed gambit. Outside of combat,
Larceny or Stealth rolls can be used to do so un-
noticed, influence rolls can convince a target to
allow it, etc.
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Hard-Eyed Suspicion
The Strawmaiden can feel when she’s unwelcome, wheth-
er snubbed by neighbors or in an assassin’s crosshairs.
Janest makes a special (Perception + [Awareness or
Socialize]) read intentions roll against all characters
she can perceive. If she beats an observer’s Guile,
Janest recognizes whether or not he’s hostile to her. If
she succeeds against a character whose hostile inten-
tions subsequently cause battle to break out that scene,
she adds (Perception) non-Charm dice to Join Battle.
Reset: Once per scene.
Truth-Unveiling Graze
Cost: 2m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Temper-Measuring Greeting
The Strawmaiden feels the truth of things directly.
Janest instantly completes a case scene roll to exam-
ine an object or structure she’s touching or a profile
character roll against someone she’s touching. If her
physical contact with someone is more significant than
passing contact — a handshake, kiss, arm-wrestling
contest, etc. — he suffers the −2 Guile penalty for being
unaware of observers, taken in by Janest’s physicality.
Alternatively, instead of making a profile character
roll, Janest can reflexively activate any Simple Charm
that lets her make a profile character or read intentions
roll, like Unkind Eye Omen.
Stranger-Appraising Wariness
Cost: 5m; Mins: Awareness 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unkind Eye Omen
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The Strawmaiden practices a healthy suspicion of
strangers.
Janest makes a special (Perception + [Awareness or
Socialize]) read intentions roll, adding (Essence)
automatic successes. If she succeeds and her target
is an enemy, she learns which of her communities he
has hostile intentions toward. She doesn’t learn the
specific nature of his intentions but does learn which
of his Intimacies is most relevant to them — or, if he
has no such Intimacies, some other useful piece of in-
formation provided by the Storyteller. If she succeeds
but her target isn’t an enemy of the community, she
learns this as well as which of that target’s Intimacies
his player thinks is most likely to potentially bring him
into conflict with one of her communities.
Reaping at Sunrise
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Awareness 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood Sold Dearly
The Strawmaiden gets to work early, no matter how
bloody it may be.
After making a damage roll against a lower-Initiative
enemy, Janest can use this Charm to reroll 1s and 2s until
they cease to appear. If she wins Join Battle and attacks
on her first turn, she waives this Charm’s Willpower cost.
Divine Tether Shearing
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Aggravated, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Canny Bonesetter
Discernment, God-Reaper’s Mercy
The Strawmaiden finds and severs the imperceptible
thread connecting a possessing spirit to its victim.
Janest rolls (Perception + [Awareness or Occult])
against a possessing spirit’s Resolve to exorcise it, dou-
bling 9s if he’s an enemy of the community or the host
is a member of her community — or doubling 8s if both
are true. Success drives the spirit from its host and
inflicts (Janest’s Essence) dice of aggravated decisive
damage, ignoring Hardness, on him. The exorcised
spirit can’t possess that victim again for a season.
If Janest exorcises a spirit whose Essence is less than
or equal to hers, she may use God-Reaper’s Mercy to
bind it in a seed.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Heart-Baring Gratitude
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Truth-Unveiling Graze
The Strawmaiden knows thanks as gods know prayers,
her good deeds rewarded by a greater understanding of
those she helps.
After a scene spent doing a favor or working for some-
one without any expectation of repayment, Janest rolls
([Charisma or Perception] + Awareness), banking grat-
itude equal to her successes, which aid her in under-
standing that character. If he’s a community member,
she doubles 9s. Janest can reflexively spend gratitude
on the following:
• 1 Point: Intuit the approximate distance and di-
rection to this Charm’s target and whether he’s
in any distress — and if so, how severe.
• 3 Points: After a successful read intentions roll
against this Charm’s target, learn another one
of his Intimacies. Janest can use this option as
many times as she can pay to on a single read
intentions roll.
• 3 Points: Add (Essence/2) non-Charm success-
es on a read intentions, profile character, instill,
or persuade roll against this Charm’s target.
• 3 Points: Double her successes when she uses
Strawmaiden’s Calling to sense a cry for help
from this Charm’s target.
• 5 Points: Declare that this Charm’s target has
performed an inconvenient task (Exalted, p.
216) at some point in the past that provides an
immediate benefit to Janest in the current scene.
• 5 Points: Treat the intensity of a positive Tie
this Charm’s target has toward Janest as one
step higher against one influence roll.
• 5 Points: In a scene where Janest is helping
or protecting this Charm’s target, gain one
Willpower.
• 7 Points: If this Charm’s target has a positive
Major or Defining Tie toward Janest, declare
that he’s performed a serious task at some point
in the past that provides an immediate benefit to
her in the current scene.
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EX3
• 7 Points: Reduce Rustle the Grapevine’s cost to
ten motes when Janest uses it to seek out rumors
about this Charm’s target.
Janest must know a Charm for it to be enhanced with
gratitude.
Stalks Have Eyes
Cost: —; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Emerald Fingers Impression
Those who walk Janest’s fields are never alone.
Janest may use Emerald Fingers Impression without
needing to be in a field or touch a plant, displacing her
senses to a point in a field within (higher of Essence or
3) range bands. If she can’t see the point she’s displac-
ing her senses to, she must either be familiar with it or
touch a plant to form a spiritual link.
Strawmaiden’s Calling
Cost: 3m; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cat’s Borrowed Whisker
When innocents cry out, the Strawmaiden hears.
When a character within (Essence) miles calls out for
help, Janest may use this Charm to roll (Perception +
Awareness) against a base difficulty of 3. If she has a Tie
to that character, she automatically discerns his iden-
tity and adds (Intimacy) non-Charm dice. If she suc-
ceeds, she hears the plea and identifies what direction
the speaker is from her. Every three extra successes on
her roll let her player ask the Storyteller an additional
question about the plea or the speaker: details about
the speaker’s location, his precise distance from her,
a rough description of him (or his name, if she knows
him), etc.
Janest can use this Charm to sense the cries of commu-
nity members out to (Essence x5) miles and doubles 9s
on her roll.
God-Reaping Tune
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Awareness 4, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Scythe of Souls’ Harvest
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

STORYTELLING STRAWMAIDEN’S CALLING

Strawmaiden’s Calling is a good Charm to discuss with your Storyteller when you take it. Most of its utility comes
from the Storyteller providing information, and he’ll have an easier time doing that if he knows in advance why
you chose it. Storytellers should make sure that this Charm gives ample warning of threats to those under Jan-
est’s protection, letting the player characters rush to their defense. It can also be used as a way to introduce plot
hooks, pointing player characters in the direction of narratively relevant or entertaining problems.

The Strawmaiden hums or whistles a tune that lingers in
the air, disrupting spiritual forms.
Janest rolls (Charisma + [Awareness or Performance])
against all dematerialized enemies who can hear her.
A character whose Resolve is beaten becomes mate-
rial and can’t dematerialize for the rest of the scene.
Enemies of the community also lose one Initiative if
their Resolve is beaten.
If Janest knows Divine Tether Shearing, this influence
can also target possessing spirits. Rather than materi-
alizing, affected characters suffer −2 Resolve against a
roll made to exorcise them that scene. Enemies of the
community suffer a −3 penalty instead.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• She may pay a one-Willpower surcharge to
extend the duration of one of this Charm’s pre-
requisites indefinitely. If she activates multiple
prerequisites simultaneously, she need only pay
this surcharge once.
• She reduces the mote cost of Charms used to
enhance Awareness rolls with enhanced senses
by one mote each. If all three prerequisites are
active, the discount becomes two motes.
• The equipment bonus from her enhanced senses
is converted to a non-Charm success.

Creation-Embracing Gaze • If she has all three prerequisites active, she gains
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 3 one Initiative on the start of each of her turns in
Type: Reflexive combat. She doesn’t gain this while crashed.
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant Rustle the Grapevine
Prerequisite Charms: Hero’s Awakened Eye Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
The Strawmaiden pauses, taking in her beloved Creation Keywords: Mute
like a breath of fresh air. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Strawmaiden’s Calling
After making a Perception-based Awareness,
Investigation, or Survival roll, Janest may use this Janest sifts through rumor, gossip, and idle speculation
Charm to reroll it. to find a lone grain of truth.

This Charm’s Willpower cost is waived when used to
enhance rolls opposing enemies of the community.
Field-Hunter’s Exhilaration
Cost: —; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Bloodhound’s Borrowed
Muzzle, Cat’s Borrowed Whisker, Falcon’s Borrowed
Eye
Janest’s keen senses put any beast to shame.
After a few hours spent chatting with local gossips,
swapping tales with alehouse regulars, or otherwise
gathering information, Janest rolls ([Charisma or
Perception] + Awareness) against difficulty 3 to gather
information about a character, group, or event. If a
character has taken meaningful efforts to obscure the
information sought, use his Guile or conceal evidence
roll instead.
Success reveals a useful piece of information about that
topic — if Janest seeks the identity of a traveler passing
through, she might learn the purpose for his journey;
if she inquires about a feud between local families,
she might learn the identities of the most prominent

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
proponent of the vendetta in each family. She must use
this Charm somewhere that such information could
reasonably be gleaned through the local rumor mill.
Every extra success lets Janest learn an additional
piece of related information. Upon learning the pur-
pose for a traveler’s identity, she might learn where
he set out from, and what cargo he’s carrying. After
learning the major players in a local feud, she might
learn the Intimacies motivating each of them, then the
identities of secondary figures within each family and
a map of the Intimacies between them.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by upholding a
Major or Defining Tie to Janest’s community or one of
its members.
Watchful Harvest Guardian
Cost: —(+5m); Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Stalks Have Eyes
The Strawmaiden is one with her fields, watching over
farmhands at work and youths at play.
When Janest uses Emerald Fingers Impression, she
may pay a five-mote surcharge to increase its range to
(Essence x5) miles and displace her perspective to up
to (Perception) different points within range, though
she can still only perceive through one at a time.
Additionally, if she’s used Field’s Edge Vigil to ward
an area, she may displace her senses to fields within it
regardless of range.
Field’s Edge Vigil
Cost: 5m, 1wp (1m, 1wp); Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Strawmaiden’s Calling,
Stranger-Appraising Wariness
The Strawmaiden brooks no intrusion, feeling every
footfall like a thunderclap in her soul.
Janest draws a line around the boundaries of a field or a
community — tracing it in the soil, demarcating it with
a ring of scarecrows, marking it out with colorful rib-
bons, etc. This circle can be large but not without limit;
Janest can ward a village or a neighborhood within a
city, but not an entire city. She can sense whenever a
character crosses over this line, discerning where the
line was crossed, the direction it was crossed from, the
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EX3
approximate size of the being that crossed through it,
and whether he is an enemy of the community. (The
Storyteller should only convey this information when
relevant, although Janest does sense the movement of
every field mouse.) If a battle group crosses it, she can
identify its Size.
Janest’s line can’t be damaged or disrupted except
by magic, in which case Janest rolls (Stamina +
Awareness) against the opposing character’s most ap-
propriate (Attribute + Ability) roll to determine if his
magic can disrupt the line.
Janest can stack this Charm up to (Perception) times
to maintain multiple wards. The cost of wards past the
first is reduced to one mote, one Willpower.
Hundred Eyes Maiden
Cost: —; Mins: Awareness 5, Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Field’s Edge Vigil, Watchful
Harvest Guardian
The Strawmaiden is not just a woman but the soul of the
fields, a watchful presence guarding her lands.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• Enemies of the community can’t cross the line
marked by Field’s Edge Vigil unless they spend
one Willpower. Trivial opponents can’t do so at
all.
• She can use Strawmaiden’s Calling to sense
cries for help from members of her community
and characters she has Major or Defining Ties
regardless of distance as long as they’re in the
same realm of existence. She can likewise hear a
cry for help from any locale warded with Field’s
Edge Vigil or within a field Janest’s displaced her
senses into with Emerald Fingers Impression.
• When she uses Emerald Fingers Impression,
she can perceive the world through her own
normal senses and the displaced senses simul-
taneously. Likewise, when she uses Watchful
Harvest Guardian to displace her senses to
multiple locations, she sees through all of them
simultaneously. When she makes Perception
rolls, she adds one non-Charm die for each per-
spective beyond the first from which her senses
can reach the roll’s target.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Presence
Boisterous Festival Spirit
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
After a season of long toil, there’s nothing better than a
chance to cut loose and revel in raucous music.
When Janest makes an influence roll with any Ability
through whistles, claps, instrumental music, alarm
bells, or other nonverbal sounds, she adds (higher of
Essence or 3) dice, ignores multiple target penalties,
and ignores the Resolve bonus for nonverbal commu-
nication (Exalted, p. 221).
Neighboring Village Dialect
Cost: 2m; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Boisterous Festival Spirit
No matter where she may find herself, the Strawmaiden
can always strike up a conversation, overcoming lan-
guage barriers through force of personality, bullheaded-
ness, and a handful of loanwords.
When Janest makes an influence roll or speaks for up
ten seconds, she can be understood by those who don’t
understand her language. She can’t use this Charm to
convey needlessly abstruse language, highly abstract
concepts, or complicated technical information.
While using Fieldhand Clarion (p. XX), this Charm’s
cost is waived.
Earnest Smile Enigma
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Creation’s villains cannot understand Janest — how can
they find a weakness in her if she is so painfully sincere?
Janest can use Charisma instead of Manipulation to
calculate Guile, unless successfully asserting Guile
would keep her from being caught in a lie or conceal
her emotional state or immediate intentions. She can
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EX3
pay two motes to gain +2 non-Charm Guile against
an enemy of the community or anyone who considers
himself her social superior, whether due to wealth,
influence, or position.
Soul of Sincerity
Cost: 4m; Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Earnest Smile Enigma
Even the Strawmaiden has some secrets she must keep,
but if she must deceive others, it’s best to be honest about
it.
One of Janest’s Major or Defining Intimacies becomes
apparent to all who perceive her, shining through in all
she says and does. She adds (Essence) dice on rolls to
instill the revealed Intimacy and (Charisma/2, round-
ed up) Guile against effects that would reveal any other
information about her.
With Presence 5, Essence 2, Janest may pay a two-
mote surcharge to extend this Charm’s duration to
indefinite.
Harvest Celebrant’s Appeal
Cost: 3m; Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden speaks with rousing intensity, inspir-
ing crowds to action and communities to revelry.
Janest rerolls 1s until they cease to appear on an inspire,
instill, or persuade roll with any Ability and ignores
multiple target penalties. If she’s attending a festival,
ritual, or significant cultural event for her community,
targeted community members can’t use Intimacies
of apathy, laziness, fear, or sadness to bolster their
Resolve or in Decision Points.
Way to the Heart
Cost: 5m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest Celebrant’s Appeal
Through food and fellowship, the Strawmaiden brings
together friends and wins over enemies.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
When Janest shares food with others, she doubles 9s on
influence rolls and read intentions rolls against them.
If Janest prepared the meal herself, those present can’t
initiate hostilities unless they pay two Willpower or
someone else does so first.
With a Presence 5, Essence 3 repurchase, those who
partake in a meal that Janest prepared suffer a −3 penal-
ty on attack rolls and other rolls that would cause harm
to Janest, her community, or the object of any positive
Tie that Janest instilled them with during the meal. This
penalty lasts for (Charisma) days and can’t be resisted
with Willpower but ends if those protected by hospitali-
ty try to attack or harm the penalized character.
Soul-Nourishing Fare
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Way to the Heart
The Strawmaiden’s cooking comforts the heart and
nourishes the soul.
When Janest serves a meal that she prepared to up to
(Essence + Charisma) characters, each one who par-
takes gains one Willpower and forms a Minor Tie of
gratitude to her. A character can only benefit from this
Charm once each day.
Maiden Against the World
Cost: 3m; Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden’s determination only grows as her
opponents do.
Janest adds one non-Charm die on an influence roll or
command action for each of the following that is true:
• Janest is opposing someone in a position of
wealth, status, or authority.
• Janest is opposing someone with a reputation or
appearance of great personal, social, or institu-
tional power.
• Janest is opposing an enemy of the community.
• Janest is opposing a group that outnumbers her
and her allies.
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EX3
Court-Braving Advocacy
Cost: 2m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Maiden Against the World
The Strawmaiden speaks on behalf of those who need
her, even in the halls of power.
Janest doubles 9s on a Bureaucracy roll or on a bargain,
instill, or persuade roll with any Ability when speaking on
behalf of her community, one of its members, or a character
or group she has a positive Tie to. If she has an applicable
positive Tie, she adds (Intimacy) dice. She ignores any
penalties she might suffer from unfamiliarity with compli-
cated jargon, bureaucratic procedure, or formal etiquette.
Down-to-Earth Sensibility
Cost: 2m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Maiden Against the World
The Strawmaiden’s forthright speech cuts through big
ideas and nonsense.
Janest adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice
on a persuade roll to convince someone to act against
one of his Principles or to overturn influence (Exalted,
p. 221). If she rolls to overturn the influence of an en-
emy of the community, she waives the Willpower cost
to do so.
Simple and Resounding Honesty
Cost: 3m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Maiden Against the World
The Strawmaiden speaks from her heart and stands by
her words.
When Janest makes an Appearance- or Charisma-
based influence roll that aligns with one of her own
Intimacies, she adds a non-Charm success. If she beats
the Resolve of at least one nontrivial character, she
adds (Essence) to her Resolve against all influence that
opposes that Intimacy for the rest of the scene.
Rustic Battle-Saint Call
Cost: 2m; Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
When the Strawmaiden’s words can’t forestall violence,
they can still spur courage.
Janest doubles 9s on a rally or rally for numbers action.
She can flurry it, including with an attack.
A Presence 3 repurchase lets Janest pay a three-mote
surcharge to enhance an order action. This doesn’t let
her flurry it with an attack.
Vermin-Clearing Shout
Cost: 2m; Mins: Presence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Ten Sheaves’ Chosen frightens off pests to protect what
matters.
Janest adds (lowest of Appearance, Charisma, or
Strength) non-Charm dice on a threaten roll. Enemies
of the community and animals count as having a Minor
Tie of fear to Janest against the roll.
Fierce Field Sentinel
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Vermin-Clearing Shout
The Strawmaiden’s fearsome gaze makes even the heart-
less hesitate.
Janest’s threaten rolls ignore the Resolve bonus for
nonverbal communication (Exalted, p. 221). In com-
bat, an enemy whose Resolve is beaten by her threaten
roll loses one Initiative.
Against enemies of the community, Janest is capable
of threatening characters that are normally immune to
fear, like zombies and automatons.
Scarecrow-Warrior Battle Aura
Cost: 3m, 1i; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Vermin-Clearing Shout
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When roused to anger, Janest’s fearsome presence un-
balances her foes.
When enemies attack Janest or make opposed physical
rolls against her, their 1s subtract successes, maximum
(Janest’s Essence).
At glowing anima or higher, enemies of the commu-
nity’s 2s subtract successes as well. At bonfire, this
applies against all foes.
Field-Saint Acclaim
Cost: 5m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: None
Spirits of the land love the Strawmaiden, for she is proof
that the Unconquered Sun hears their pleas.
To use this Charm, Janest must work the land, tend to
the health of plants or animals, or make offerings to
spirits of nature. She gains the following benefits when
interacting with elementals, gods of nature, and other
spirits or supernatural creatures tied to plant life:
• Such characters are treated as having a Minor
Tie of respect to Janest.
• If such characters have a negative Tie that ap-
plies to Janest, its intensity is treated as one step
lower. This doesn’t affect negative Ties to Janest
herself.
• Janest is treated as having a bonus dot of
Appearance when dealing with them, which can
raise her above Appearance 5. This doesn’t apply
on threaten rolls if she has Hideous.
• Such characters must hear Janest out peacefully
when she speaks so long as she and her compan-
ions remain peaceful and inoffensive. A character
may pay one Willpower to ignore Janest or two
Willpower to initiate hostilities against her and her
companions. If Janest or any of her companions
engage in combat, even in self-defense, remaining
characters may fight without spending Willpower.
Harvest of Gratitude
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Presence 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Field-Saint Acclaim
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Strawmaiden’s tireless work connects her to the people.
When Janest uses Field-Saint Acclaim, she may pay
a one-Willpower surcharge to apply its benefits to
members of her community rather than nature spirits,
requiring that she spend a scene working on behalf of the
community, providing food or medical care to its mem-
bers, or participating in its traditions. If Janest performs
an activity that meets both these requirements and Field-
Saint Acclaim’s normal requirements, like working in a
community’s fields, she gains these benefits when dealing
with both community members and nature spirits.
Beloved Forewoman Exemplar
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: Field-Saint Acclaim
The Strawmaiden leads her community, whether orga-
nizing harvest festivals, stockpiling food against lean
years to come, or undertaking mercantile ventures to fill
her community’s coffers.
This Charm enhances a project (Exalted, p. 226) or
other bureaucratic task Janest leads, accelerating the
speed at which an organization makes progress:
• If a task could normally be completed in
(Essence) years or less, it can be completed in
(10 – Essence) months.
• If a task could normally be completed in a month
or less, it can be completed in (10 – Essence)
days.
• If a task could normally be completed in a week
or less, it can be completed in (10 – Essence)
hours.
This doesn’t speed physical labor by the organization’s
members, but rather affects planning, authorization,
allocation of resources, and similar bureaucratic tasks.
If Janest’s workforce is made up primarily of members
of her community, the project is accelerated even
further — tasks taking up to (Essence) years can be
completed in (10 – Essence) weeks, those taking up to
a month can be completed in (10 – Essence) days, and
those taking up to a week can be completed instantly.
Harsh But Fair
Cost: 3m; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
132
EX3
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fierce Field Sentinel
Those who meet the Strawmaiden’s determined gaze
cannot help but admire her.
When Janest makes a threaten roll, her targets won’t
form negative Ties toward her because of it, nor can
they strengthen negative Ties to her at the scene’s
end. Such characters won’t take offense at the threat
or respond with hostility, finding something admira-
ble or at least worth hearing out in her harsh words.
This Charm doesn’t extend to threats that are overly
brutish, sadistic, or disproportionate; the Storyteller
should take into consideration Janest’s audience in
drawing this line on a case-by-case basis.
Spending Willpower to resist the threaten roll ends
this effect, allowing a character to form or strengthen
a negative Tie. Affected characters unable to resist the
influence may spend one Willpower to resist solely the
effect of this Charm instead.
With a Presence 4 repurchase, Janest’s threaten roll
also counts as an instill roll to create a positive Tie
toward herself, with an emotional context chosen by
the target’s player.
Reset: Once per scene.
Militia-Empowering Mess Hall
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Rustic Battle-Saint Call, Soul-
Nourishing Fare
An army marches on its stomach; Janest’s nourishing
cooking puts weary soldiers back on their feet and re-
news faltering morale.
When Janest uses Soul-Nourishing Fare to provide for
a battle group, it increases its Drill by one step, doubles
9s on rout checks, and is immune to the Demoralized
stratagem in its next battle.
Fieldhand Clarion
Cost: 5m; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest Celebrant’s Appeal,
Vermin-Clearing Shout
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Janest’s voice rings out over the clamor of those working
the field, the booming roar of a thunderstorm, or the
battle cries of a raksha warband.
Janest may choose to speak loud enough to be heard
out to (Essence + Charisma) range bands. She ignores
distance-based and environmental penalties on her influ-
ence rolls and can be heard over even the loudest noises.
The Strawmaiden’s voice even cuts through magical si-
lence like that of Mist on Water Attack (Exalted, p. 416).
Janest rolls (Charisma + Presence) against that effect’s
difficulty or against an appropriate (Attribute + Ability)
roll by the effect’s creator if there isn’t a difficulty. Success
renders her speech immune for that effect’s duration.
If Janest knows Boisterous Festival Spirit, Fieldhand
Clarion’s effects also extend to any nonverbal sounds
that Charm could enhance.
Terror to Crows
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Boisterous Festival Spirit,
Scarecrow-Warrior Battle Aura
Shouting, whistling, clapping, or making some other
startling sound, the Strawmaiden scatters those too
fearful to face her directly, driving them into the open.
Janest makes a (Charisma + [Performance or Presence])
threaten roll with double 9s against all enemies who
hear her, intimidating them into fleeing or hiding from
her. Affected characters also lose (Janest’s Essence)
Initiative, which she doesn’t gain. Once an enemy spends
Willpower to resist this influence, they’re immune for
the rest of the scene. Trivial opponents and non-magical
animals can’t spend Willpower to resist this influence.
If Janest knows Vermin-Pinning Glare (p. XX), affect-
ed characters can’t try to hide instead of fleeing. Any
affected characters in concealment reveal themselves
to her in their haste, though still remaining concealed
from others.
Raiton-Warding Effigy
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Terror to Crows
Pests and vermin shy from the Strawmaiden’s fields, knowing
better than to trespass where her scarecrows stand watch.
133
EX3
This Charm is a basic Craft project to create a scare-
crow, wicker figure, or other effigy of Janest using an
appropriate Craft — Carpentry, Doll-Making, Weaving,
etc. Enemies of the community and wild animals
who can see the effigy are menaced by it, suffering
−2 Resolve against fear-based influence, −2 Guile to
conceal their fear, and a penalty of (Janest’s Essence)
on Join Battle rolls. They can’t regain Willpower from
sleeping within one mile of an effigy once they’ve seen
it. A character can resist this for one scene by paying
one Willpower. In fields, resisting requires entering a
Decision Point and citing a Major or Defining Intimacy.
The effigy can’t be damaged or disrupted except by
magic, in which case Janest rolls (Stamina + Presence)
against the opposing character’s most appropriate
(Attribute + Ability) roll to determine if his magic can
destroy it. Janest can sense the destruction of an effigy,
waking immediately if asleep.
Janest can stack this Charm to enchant up to (Essence
+ Charisma) effigies at a time.
Reaper’s Mercy
Cost: 4m; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Scarecrow-Warrior Battle
Aura
Those who sense the killing power of Janest’s attack and
survive do not forget it.
Upon crashing an opponent with a withering attack or
causing damage with a decisive attack, Janest reflexively
makes an ([Appearance or Charisma] + Presence) threat-
en roll against him — typically to convince him to flee or
surrender. If she beats his Resolve, he loses one Willpower
in addition to any spent resisting Janest’s influence.
If Janest would incapacitate an enemy with a decisive at-
tack, she may instead leave him on his last −4 health level.
He can’t spend Willpower to resist her threaten roll.
Rustling Stalks Whisper
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest of Gratitude
The Strawmaiden buries her secrets in a field, whispering
a rumor to the soil that it might nourish the surrounding
crops and spread.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Janest makes a ([Charisma or Manipulation] +
Presence) instill roll. Any character who enters that
field or eats anything prepared with plants from it is
subjected to this influence roll to create a Principle of
belief in the rumor, hearing a voice in the rustling of
stalks or the wind. They’ll spread it whenever the op-
portunity presents itself for the rest of the story. They
can spend one Willpower to refrain from doing so for
one scene, and shrug off this urge permanently once
they spend a total of (Janest’s Essence) Willpower.
Janest can stack this Charm to enchant multiple fields.
Sweat-and-Toil Radiance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest Celebrant’s Appeal,
Field-Saint Acclaim
Sweat, soil, and blood only highlight the Strawmaiden’s
allure.
An instill or persuade roll with any Ability converts
dice from Appearance to non-Charm successes and
ignores fatigue penalties, wound penalties, and any
penalties from the condition of Janest’s clothing or ap-
pearance. Up to (Appearance) points of such penalties
are added as non-Charm dice on the roll.
Wisdom Like Sprouting Seeds
Cost: 5m; Mins: Presence 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Down-to-Earth Sensibility
Fools may spurn Janest’s advice, but her words remain
planted in their minds, blooming into a deeper under-
standing over time.
Janest makes an instill roll against a single character,
adding (Essence) automatic successes. Even if she isn’t
successful or he resists her influence, her words still
linger in his thoughts. The next time he encounters
her, something that reminds him of her, or something
else that’s relevant to her influence, she repeats her
roll against him. She adds (Essence) non-Charm suc-
cesses and can use other Supplemental and Reflexive
Charms to enhance the roll. If this roll is successful,
the Intimacy is instilled at Major Intensity.
Reset: This Charm can only be used against a charac-
ter once per story.
134
EX3
Farmgirl-to-Hero Inspiration
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (Essence) days
Prerequisite Charms: Simple and Resounding
Honesty
The Strawmaiden’s fellows rise up to meet the passion
in her words.
When Janest makes a Charisma-based inspire roll
to create positive emotions in members of her com-
munity, each affected character receives a pool of
bonus dice equal to Janest’s extra successes over his
Resolve. (Characters can’t opt not to apply Resolve
against this roll.) A character can add up to (Janest’s
Charisma) dice on any physical actions performed in
a field, any social or mental actions made to benefit
Janest’s community, or any roll made to harm or
thwart an enemy of the community. These dice are
lost once this Charm ends.
Heart of the Community
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest of Gratitude
Janest is never afraid to stand up for what’s right, an
incorruptible advocate of her people.
Janest gains a Defining Intimacy reflecting one of her
community’s norms, laws, beliefs, or customs. It can’t
be weakened by any means. She may treat influence
that would cause her to violate it as unacceptable.
Characters can attempt to undermine this Charm’s de-
fense with a special instill roll, rolling twice and taking
the lower result. The cost of any magic that enhances
either roll must be paid separately. If successful, Janest
loses this Charm’s protection against influence that
would make her act against the Intimacy until she next
gains Willpower from upholding it.
If the Janest chooses to weaken the enhanced Intimacy,
this Charm ends.
Reset: Once per story.
Sustaining Bounty
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Nourishing Fare
Those who share the harvest’s bounty with Janest find
succor for their wounds.
When Janest uses Soul-Nourishing Fare, she rolls
([Charisma, Intelligence, or Wits] + Survival), doubling 9s.
For each success, she may heal a character who partook
one level of non-aggravated damage or convert one level
of aggravated damage to lethal. She can divide this healing
among any number of characters who share the meal.
Blood-Stained Reaper’s Prize
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Terror to Crows
Janest confronts her foes with grim trophies won from
beasts and godlings that thought they could overcome
the Strawmaiden.
When Janest stunts a threaten roll with a description
of how she reveals or brandishes a trophy of her past
victories over powerful opponents — a Fair Folk no-
ble’s head on a pike, a cloak made from a slain behe-
moth’s hide, an artifact taken from a powerful foe she’s
bested in battle, etc. — she adds a free full Excellency.
Each 10 on her influence roll increases the Willpower
cost to resist by one, to a maximum cost of (Essence).
Against enemies of the community, 9s also increase
the Willpower cost. Enemies who spend Willpower to
resist lose Initiative equal to Janest’s extra successes
over their Resolve.
If Janest created the trophy with one of her Craft
Abilities, she gains one gold point for each nontrivial
enemy she successfully threatens.
Reset: Janest can’t use the same trophy more than
once per story. She must seek out and claim further
trophies to maintain her formidable reputation.
Broken Bread Companionship
Cost: 5m, 1wp (1m, 1wp); Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Nourishing Fare
The Strawmaiden sanctifies the bond between herself
and her closest companions with bread, salt, and the
warmth of their togetherness.
135
EX3
Janest creates a bond between herself and a character
she has a positive Tie for, who must also have a positive
Tie toward her, over the course of a meal shared with
him. The two of them gain the following benefits:
• Any Resolve bonus one would gain from a posi-
tive Tie to the other is increased by +1.
• Once per scene, each can transfer one Willpower
to the other reflexively by helping them, encour-
aging them, etc.
• Each can sense when the other is in physical
or emotional distress, including the severity of
the distress, as well as the rough direction of the
other, and adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-
Charm successes on rolls to find them.
• Janest counts her partner as a member of her
community for purposes of her Charms.
Janest can stack this Charm to bond with any number of
player characters and up to (Essence x2) Storyteller charac-
ters. Uses past the first cost only one mote, one Willpower.
Blood-and-Water Binding
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Broken Bread Companionship
Reciting a prayer for well-being and happiness as a pair
of companions share a meal, the Strawmaiden forges a
bond between them that transcends blood and earth.
Janest can use Broken Bread Companionship to create
a bond between a pair of characters with positive Ties
toward each other, rather than herself and another
character. Janest counts both blessed characters as
members of her community. If she knows Festive
Fertility Rite (p. XX), she may grant its benefits to the
blessed characters for free.
There is no limit on how many such bonds Janest
can sustain with this Charm, other than its cost, but
can’t bond someone to more than (her Essence x2)
Storyteller characters.
Covenant of Wheat and Honey
Cost: 5m, 1wp (1m, 1wp); Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Broken Bread Companionship
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
When food is shared, community is born.
Janest can use this Charm when she shares a meal with
someone who has a positive Major or Defining Tie to
her community, or by offering a blessing to someone
eating food given to him in gratitude by a community
member. He gains the following benefits:
• Community members recognize him as having
Janest’s favor, applying their Ties to Janest to
him as well.
• He gains +2 Resolve against influence opposed
by a positive Tie to a community or community
member.
• If he’s about to unknowingly violate one of the
community’s norms, laws, beliefs, or customs,
gut instinct alerts him to this. This reveals what
he shouldn’t do, but not the reason for avoiding
it or what he should do instead.
• Once per day, he can gain one Willpower by perform-
ing a day’s work or an inconvenient task (Exalted, p.
216) for a community member or the community as a
whole without expectation of reward.
• He counts as a member of the community, if he’s
not already.
Janest can stack this Charm to benefit up to (Essence
x2) characters. Uses past the first cost one mote, one
Willpower.
False Strawmaiden Ruse
Cost: 1wp, 1lhl; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Raiton-Warding Effigy
Janest seems to be in every field, sending her foes run-
ning to chase after diversions of wicker and straw.
Shedding her blood on an effigy she’s created with
Raiton-Warding Effigy, Janest animates it and imparts
her own likeness onto it, rolling (Manipulation +
Presence) with double 9s to determine the strength of
the resemblance. The effigy is capable of lifelike motion
and simple speech, and has scent, body heat, and other
sensory qualia. It even has its own anima banner, which
waxes and wanes to match Janest’s. This illusion con-
tinues even if the effigy is destroyed (p. XX); regardless
of the condition of its remains, witnesses perceive it as
Janest’s corpse, rationalizing away any discrepancies.
136
EX3
However, the effigy isn’t an independent character and
doesn’t have any traits; it can’t take any actions that re-
quire rolls. Janest’s player directs the effigy’s behavior,
even in scenes where Janest isn’t present.
Characters with superhuman or magically enhanced
senses within short range of an effigy can roll
(Perception + Awareness) opposing Janest’s roll to rec-
ognize it for what it is. Likewise, characters with Ties
to Janest who speak with an effigy may see through it
by reading its intentions, opposing Janest’s roll.
As long as a character hasn’t seen through the effigy’s
disguise, he can’t tell it from Janest. When an enemy
wishes to attack Janest, if an effigy is also in range, his
player flips a coin to determine which one he attacks.
The same is true for other effects that would specifi-
cally target her, but not influence rolls, area-of-effect
attacks, and the like. Moreover, because enemies
can’t tell the true Janest from her effigy, they suffers
Raiton-Warding Effigy’s penalties even if the only
Strawmaiden they can see is the real one.
Janest can stack this Charm to enchant multiple effigies.
With Essence 4, Janest may pay one Willpower to possess
an animated effigy for one scene, acting through it using
her traits and magic (but not any equipment or artifacts).
During this time, her body falls into a deep sleep.
Honest Toil, Hardy Fare
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Sustaining Bounty
Janest serves up hearty fare, leaving those who sit at her
table refreshed and restored.
When Janest uses Sustaining Bounty, she can suffuse
characters with incredible vitality for one success
each. Each such character reduces his total fatigue,
poison, and wound penalties by (Janest’s Charisma/2,
rounded up). This lasts for (Janest’s Essence) days;
she may increase its duration for each character she
confers this benefit to by spending one success per day
added.
Blessed Harvest Repast
Cost: —; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Honest Toil, Hardy Fare
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
The Strawmaiden offers up the fruits of the harvest as a
meal fit for the gods, empowering those who eat with a
measure of immortal vitality.
When Janest uses Sustaining Bounty, she may grant
temporary −0 health levels to those who partake for
one success per level, maximum (Janest’s Essence)
levels per character. These temporary levels are the
first to be filled when these characters are damaged
and vanish when damaged.
Simple Soul Entreaty
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Farmgirl-to-Hero Inspiration,
Wisdom Like Sprouting Seeds
The Strawmaiden speaks her mind frankly and openly,
sharing her hopes, loves, passions, and grudges.
When Janest makes an Appearance- or Charisma-based
instill roll to instill her targets with one of her own
Defining Intimacies, they gain it as a Major Intimacy.
With a Presence 5, Essence 4 repurchase, Janest may
use this Charm when she instills one of her Major
Intimacies.
War-Scythe Benediction
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Militia-Empowering Mess
Hall
The Strawmaiden sows blessings like seeds among her
troops, reaping a harvest of victory.
Janest blesses a battle group of up to Size (Charisma)
after a scene spent giving an inspiring speech, reciting
prayers for victory, gambling and brawling with the
rank and file, etc. It gains the following benefits in its
next battle:
• +1 effective Size, which can raise it above Size 5.
• +1 Might against enemies of the community.
• It ignores penalties from deprivation and fatigue.
137
EX3
• Janest’s command actions to lead it add (Essence
+ Might) dice. If they’re opposing an enemy of
the community, she adds that many successes
instead.
Soul of the Last Stand
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: War-Scythe Benediction
The Strawmaiden’s call unifies fieldworkers, soldiers,
and goodwives to hold the line in defense of home and
hearth.
While fighting in defense of her community against an
enemy army or similar direct threat, Janest gains the
following benefits:
• If she’s fighting under a successful Back to
the Sea, Fortifications, or Strategic Placement
stratagem, she and all allied battle groups add
(Essence) successes on Join Battle rolls.
• Allied battle groups gain Might 2 and perfect
morale (Exalted, pp. 207, 210).
• She ignores the once-per-scene limit on the ral-
ly for numbers action, renewing the ranks with
community members.
Well-Deserved Payback
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Fierce Field Sentinel, Simple
and Resounding Honesty
Janest is the guardian of her community; she can trust
they’ll have her back when it comes time to settle her
personal scores.
Janest may treat someone she has a negative Major
or Defining Tie to as an enemy of the community and
gains +1 non-Charm Resolve against him. If she gains
Willpower from upholding that Intimacy, she also
loses one Limit.
If Janest knows War-Scythe Benediction, she can use
this Charm on battle groups led by or made up of such
characters.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Earnest Handshake Agreement
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Simple Soul Entreaty
Janest finds common ground with her audience as she
urges them to action, speaking with sincerity and the
conviction of her beliefs.
When Janest makes a persuade roll that leverages an
Intimacy her target shares with her, she treats its inten-
sity as one step higher for determining what she can con-
vince him to do (Exalted, p. 216). If he has it as a Defining
Intimacy, the cost to resist increases by one Willpower.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by raising an
Intimacy that a nontrivial character has in common
with Janest to Defining. Even if reset, it can’t be used
against a character more than once per story.
Strawmaiden-and-Empress Chastisement
Cost: —(+15m); Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Heart of the Community
The Strawmaiden is an unwavering champion of her
community, a vocal reminder of the duties that the pow-
erful must uphold.
When Janest uses Heart of the Community, she may
pay a fifteen-mote surcharge to gain the following
benefits:
• Community members who can perceive her
count as having the chosen Intimacy at Major
intensity. If this conflicts with one of their own
Intimacies, the imposed Intimacy is Minor
instead. They can’t act against this Intimacy
unless they cite another Intimacy of equal or
greater intensity in a Decision Point to spend
one Willpower, resisting it for the scene.
• Community members can’t use Intimacies of
pride, ambition, conviction, or insistence on de-
corum or procedure to bolster their Resolve or
in Decision Points against Janest’s influence.
• Janest adds (Essence) non-Charm successes
on inspire, instill, and persuade rolls against
community members that are supported by the
chosen Intimacy.
138
EX3
• Janest adds (Essence) non-Charm successes on
Perception-based rolls with any Ability against
community members that would reveal thoughts
or actions contrary to the chosen Intimacy.
• Once per day, when Janest upholds the chosen
Intimacy, she rolls (Essence) dice. Each success lets
her either gain one Willpower or lose one Limit.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by accomplishing a
major character or story goal or legendary social goal
that benefits Janest’s community.
Ten Thousand Sheaves
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 1lhl; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Broken Bread Companionship
In times of dire need, the Strawmaiden may choose
another as she herself was Chosen, empowering them to
stand for the fields as she does.
Anointing a mortal member of her community with
her blood or giving him food or drink into which it has
been mixed, Janest adopts him into the ranks of Ten
Sheaves’ God-Blooded descendants. She grants him
the following benefits:
• A pool of 10 personal motes.
• A field guardian’s Good Earth Resilience and
Harvest Moon Sickle Charms (Exalted, pp.
512-513).
• Exalted Healing (Exalted, p. 165).
• +1 Defense and Resolve against enemies of his
community.
Janest can use this Charm to benefit up to (Essence x2)
characters at a time.
With a Presence 5, Essence 5 repurchase, once per story,
Janest may pay twenty motes, one Willpower, and one
aggravated health level to permanently transform a mor-
tal into a field guardian. He gains a field guardian’s traits
(Exalted, p. 512) while retaining any of his own traits that
are better, and permanently gains this Charm’s Defense
and Resolve bonus against enemies of the community.
This Far and No Further
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 1lhl; Mins: Presence 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

Keywords: None Animals: Janest may exclude certain types or categories

Duration: One week
Prerequisite Charms: Raiton-Warding Effigy, Soul of
the Last Stand
Where the Strawmaiden digs in and says, “no more,” no
force can make her yield.
Using this Charm requires Janest to spend up to a day
walking the boundaries of the line she wishes to protect
and spilling her blood at intervals. During this time, her
anima rises to at least glowing and can’t fall below this
level until she is done. A field spreads in her wake as she
walks, demarcating the boundaries of this line. It can be
a straight line, a perimeter, the boundaries of an existing
natural feature, etc. She can use Soul of the Last Stand in
defending this line against an enemy seeking to cross it
and waives the cost to do so. If Janest knows Field’s Edge
Vigil (p. XX), she gains its benefits for her line at no cost.
of animal when she uses this Charm. Normally, they can’t
cross over the line; in extreme circumstances such as starva-
tion, they can spend three Willpower to cross it. Magically
enhanced animals can always spend Willpower to cross.
Disease: The normal spread of contagious diseases
is stopped by Janest’s line, including the spread of
contaminants that give rise to infectious diseases. This
doesn’t prevent diseases from being spread by the
deliberate actions of nontrivial characters, but such
diseases halve their virulence, rounded down.
Enemies of the Community: Enemies of the community
can’t cross the line by any means. However, they under-
stand that they can break this ward by defeating Janest
and can sense her location along the line. In practice, this
means that while Janest holds the line, she’ll face a battle
against any invading enemies of the community.

Additionally, while Janest’s present anywhere along Otherworldly Realms: The Wyld cannot spread
the line, the entire line holds back the following dan- across Janest’s line, nor can shadowlands spread
gers as follows:

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

ART OF THE OX-BODY

Janest’s Ox-Body Technique offers a roughly comparable array of health levels to the Solar version, but with
more high-penalty levels at Stamina 5, synergizing with her Resistance Charms that reward high wound
penalties. When designing an Ox-Body Technique for your own Exigents, it’s often simplest to borrow the
health level arrays of a comparable Exalt type. You can feel free to vary from them if it reinforces your Exi-
gent’s themes or mechanics — a Chosen of the Forge might receive a higher number of −4 levels, reflecting
her toughness; a Chosen of Blood whose Charm set makes heavy use of health level costs might receive a
smaller number of health levels but more −0s, letting her pay these costs without accruing wound penalties.

across it or open within a warded perimeter. The same
holds true for any similar effects, including all environ-
mental Shaping effects. This doesn’t affect the Wyld or
shadowlands already in existence.
Weather and Natural Disasters: Harsh weather
like hail and thunderstorms and natural disasters like
wildfires, poisonous fumes, and earthquakes won’t
cross Janest’s line. If this is the result of magic, Janest
rolls (Stamina + Presence) opposing the responsible
character’s most appropriate (Attribute + Ability) roll
to determine if her line holds against his magic.
Reset: Once per story.
Resistance
Ox-Body Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Janest’s body is supernaturally durable, flooded with the
vital Essence of field and valley.
Fallow Land Renewal
Cost: 10m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Ox-Body Technique
Sometimes even the Strawmaiden must rest from her
labors, renewing herself for trials to come.
As long as she refrains from physical exertion, Janest
multiplies the rate at which she heals (Exalted, p. 173)
by (Stamina + Resistance). If she’s in her community
or a field, this increases to (Stamina + Resistance +
Willpower).
Once per day, when Janest naturally heals enough
damage to reduce her wound penalty, she gains one
Willpower.
Deep-Rooted Tenacity
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

Janest gains additional health levels based on her The Strawmaiden yields not even an inch to her enemies,
Stamina rating: digging her heels into the dirt with a behemoth’s strength.

• Stamina 1-2: One −1 level and one −2 level.
• Stamina 3-4: One −1 level and two −2 levels
• Stamina 5: One −1 level, one −2 level, and two −4
levels.
This Charm may be purchased (Resistance) times. If
Janest’s Stamina increases, her health levels change to
reflect her new rating.
For an instant, Janest can’t be physically moved,
whether by smash attacks, a grappler’s throw, Heaven
Thunder Hammer (Exalted, p. 274), etc. This can’t
prevent falls due to gravity. It can be used after an
attack roll, but before damage. If an enemy uses appli-
cable magic after damage is rolled, this Charm may be
used at that time.
This Charm’s cost is reduced by two motes in fields or
against enemies of the community.

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 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Harvest-Hardened Skin
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Janest’s body is honed by labor and Essence; she is not
easily harmed.
Janest adds (Strength) natural soak against a wither-
ing attack or gains Hardness (Strength) against a de-
cisive attack. 1s on the damage roll subtract successes.
In fields, Janest retains this Charm’s Hardness while
crashed.
Rough-Spun Hero Raiment
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest-Hardened Skin
The Strawmaiden has sturdy work boots for her greaves
and a well-worn smock for her hauberk.
Janest treats her clothing as mundane light armor or
medium armor (Exalted, p. 591), depending on how
heavy and durable her garments are. If it’s unclear
where a given garment falls, Janest’s player chooses.
She can’t receive this benefit from overly ornamental
and heavily impractical clothing, like long-trained silk
gowns or cloth-of-gold robes.
If Janest is wearing a garment that she made or that
was made for her personally, she adds (Essence) to its
soak.
A Resistance 3, Essence 2 repurchase lets Janest
commit ten motes, one Willpower as a Simple ac-
tion to confer artifact traits on her clothing for one
scene. If her clothes were made for or by her, she
adds +1 Hardness in addition to the soak bonus. With
Resistance 4, Essence 3, she can maintain this commit-
ment indefinitely.
Yeddim-Leather Obstinance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest-Hardened Skin
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EX3
Those who take a swing at Janest soon learn they’d have
better luck against a bull yeddim, her body reinforced by
Essence and grit.
Janest can use this Charm after being hit by an attack.
Each 1 on the attack roll subtracts one die from a
withering attack’s raw damage or a decisive attack’s
damage.
With Resistance 5, Essence 3, Janest may pay a
one-Willpower surcharge to subtract successes instead
of dice.
Nail Defies Hammer
Cost: 4m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Withering-only
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Yeddim-Leather Obstinance
Bracing herself through gritted teeth, Janest endures all
blows.
Janest rolls (Stamina + Resistance) and adds her suc-
cesses to her soak. If she uses this Charm on the same
turn she takes a full defense action, she doubles 9s.
She can assert her base natural soak even against un-
soakable withering damage. If she renews this Charm
when its duration ends, she may retain her existing
soak bonus instead of rolling again.
This Charm is incompatible with armor, except for
armor from Rough-Spun Hero Raiment. That Charm’s
armored soak also applies against unsoakable damage
while using Nail Defies Hammer.
Stalk Blunts Sickle
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nail Defies Hammer
Janest dulls any blade turned against her, blunting them
against her impervious skin.
After being hit by an attack from close range, Janest
can use this Charm to counterattack with an undodge-
able (Stamina + Resistance) gambit before the damage
roll. The gambit’s difficulty is based on the quality of
her attacker’s weapon: 1 for mundane weapons, 2 for
exceptional weapons, or an artifact weapon’s (rating/2,
rounded up; 5 for N/A artifacts). Success blunts or oth-
erwise damages that weapon, imposing a −2 penalty
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
on withering and decisive damage rolls with it. This
penalty lasts until the weapon is repaired (Exalted, p.
242). She can’t use this Charm against unarmed attacks
or natural weapons.
Breaking the Wolf’s Fangs
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Stalk Blunts Sickle
Wild beasts who trespass on the Strawmaiden’s lands
learn a painful lesson at her hands.
When Janest uses Stalk Blunts Sickle against an enemy
of the community, she waives the Initiative cost of its
gambit.
If Janest knows Unbroken Stalk Defiance, she can use
Stalk Blunts Sickle after she successfully blocks or
clashes an attack, rolling the gambit with (Strength
+ combat Ability) as she uses the force of her blow to
damage her enemy’s weapon. Alternatively, she may
make a disarm gambit instead of that Charm’s special
gambit.
Healthy-as-a-Horse Technique
Cost: 2m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden’s work is perilous, but her resilience
is legendary, rallying her body against all manner of
maladies.
Janest doubles 9s on a Resistance roll. If she’s in a field
or her community, she doubles 8s.
Feed the Fever
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Until the disease is cured
Prerequisite Charms: Healthy-as-a-Horse
Technique
Hard work and a powerful appetite are the best medicine.
When Janest fails a roll opposing a disease’s virulence,
she may use this Charm, adding (higher of Essence or
3) non-Charm dice on rolls against its morbidity or
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EX3
to resist or contend with its symptoms. However, to
gain this benefit, Janest can’t sleep or rest more than
eight hours a day and multiplies the amount of food
she must eat each day by the disease’s morbidity. If
she has Every-Season Attunement (p. XX), exposure
to sunlight only provides the sustenance she’d require
in a normal day, not the increased amount necessary
to sustain this endurance. Janest can’t voluntarily end
this Charm before the disease runs its course.
This Charm can be stacked to resist multiple diseases,
waiving the Willpower cost of each use past the first.
The amount of food Janest must consume is multiplied
by the highest morbidity among those diseases, +1 for
each additional disease.
Tireless Harvest Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Healthy-as-a-Horse
Technique
Janest toils through the night to bring in the harvest
before the first frost or to raise palisades against a faerie
raid.
Janest ignores fatigue and wound penalties while
performing physical labor to benefit her community or
tend a field. She gains the benefits of a full night’s rest,
including gaining Willpower, from eight hours spent in
such labor.
Steadfast Affection Defense
Cost: 1m; Mins: Resistance 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden draws strength from unshakable loy-
alty to those she protects.
Janest adds +2 Resolve against influence that opposes
one of her positive Ties. If the Tie is to her community
or one of its members or if the influence comes from
an enemy of the community, this bonus is non-Charm.
Humble Strawmaiden Contentment
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Affection Defense
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
What good are wine, silk, and jewels when the harvest
goes awry and the winter winds blow cold?
Against a bargain roll or influence based on bribery,
temptation, or seduction, Janest treats the Resolve
bonus of any of her applicable Intimacies as one
point higher and reduces the penalty from any of her
Intimacies that support the influence by one.
If Janest successfully resists such influence, she may
make an influence roll of her own to berate, shame, or
expose the offender — typically an instill roll targeting
onlookers or a threaten roll against him — adding
(Essence) non-Charm dice. If the offender is an enemy
of the community, she adds successes instead.
Unbroken Stalk Defiance
Cost: 5m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Affection Defense
Janest is defiance made manifest, meeting her troubles
head-on even in the face of death.
Janest ignores penalties to her Parry or Resolve. This
doesn’t include penalties from surprise attacks or from
Janest’s Intimacies. Against enemies of the communi-
ty, she also gains +1 Parry and Resolve.
Others Before Self
Cost: 4m; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Affection Defense
Given the choice between her own safety and that of
those she protects, the decision is obvious to Janest.
Janest reflexively takes a defend other action (Exalted,
p. 196). Her protection lasts for this Charm’s duration,
but the ally must remain within close range to receive
it. If he’s attacked by an enemy of the community,
Janest gains +1 non-Charm Parry against that attack.
This Charm ends if she uses a defend other action on
another character.
Defend the Defenseless
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Others Before Self
143
EX3
Whether she stands against bandits, hungry beasts, or
faerie warbands, Janest is a stalwart guardian.
When Janest successfully blocks an attack against a
character protected by her defend other, she and her
ward both gain one Initiative.
Additionally, Janest waives Others Before Self’s cost
to protect a trivial character and may use it to simul-
taneously protect any number of trivial characters
in addition to one nontrivial character. She doesn’t
suffer onslaught penalties for attacks against trivial
characters.
Vigilant Warden Rebuke
Cost: 4m; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Affection Defense
Those who prey on Janest’s community are destined for
her wrath.
Janest makes a decisive counterattack. Against an
enemy of the community or an attack against someone
protected by her defend other action, her most relevant
Tie adds (Intimacy) non-Charm dice on the attack roll.
If both Janest and a protected character make counter-
attacks against the same attack, both counterattacks’
onslaught penalties are applied against the attacker’s
Defense against them.
Blood-Pumping Enthusiasm
Cost: 1i; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Fighting the Strawmaiden is an exercise in futility; every
bruise, scrape, and wound only makes her stronger.
When Janest takes withering or decisive damage, she
gains one mote. If damaged by an enemy of the commu-
nity, she instead gains one mote for every two points of
withering damage or one mote per level of decisive
damage, maximum (Stamina) motes per attack.
With Resistance 5, Essence 3, the maximum number
of motes Janest can gain from a use of this Charm in-
creases to (Stamina x2).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by going a round
without taking any damage. In fields, it can be reset by
going a round without taking decisive damage.
Busted Lip Reprisal
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood-Pumping Enthusiasm
Justice isn’t hard — just pay back what you’ve been given.
When Janest makes an attack against an enemy who
has dealt decisive damage to her or otherwise physi-
cally harmed her that scene, she ignores wound pen-
alties on the attack roll, and converts up to (Stamina)
points of wound penalty to non-Charm dice on the
attack roll.
Against enemies of the community, Janest can use this
Charm without first waiting for them to damage her.
If Janest knows Vermin-Clearing Shout, she may use
this Charm on threaten actions.
Black Eyes Paid Back
Cost: —(+2m); Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Busted Lip Reprisal
When tested, Janest fights back with ferocious intensity.
Janest can pay a two-mote surcharge when she uses
Busted Lip Reprisal to have each die added on the
attack roll also adds a die of decisive damage or post-
soak withering damage. She waives this surcharge
against enemies of the community.
Cherished Hammer Partnership
Cost: 5m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Janest knows better than to think that a craftsman needs
no tools; hers are reliable partners, honed by time and labor.
While using equipment that she made, that was made
for her, or which she has a Tie to, Janest converts the die
added by exceptional equipment to a non-Charm success
and accelerates the rate at which she can complete basic
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EX3
and major projects. Most can be completed within min-
utes; the most arduous, work-intensive projects can be
completed in an hour if basic or a day if major.
With a Resistance 5, Essence 2 repurchase, Janest can
pay a five-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to use this
Charm on an interval of a superior project, reducing
it to (10 – Essence) weeks for artifacts made of green
jade or orichalcum and large-scale mundane projects,
or (10 – Essence) months for other artifacts. The time
necessary to build manses is halved.
Patch-and-Mend Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Cherished Hammer
Partnership
Who is Janest to let something go to waste when it could
be put to use?
Janest gains the following benefits on repair projects:
• She adds (Essence) non-Charm dice.
• She can use Cherished Hammer Partnership
even without appropriate equipment. If she uses
its repurchase to accelerate a superior project,
the time needed to complete it is reduced to (10
– Essence) days.
• When she uses Stubborn Maiden Handiwork, its
cost is reduced by two motes and being used for
repairs counts as a condition for it.
• Any object she’s repaired counts as something
that she made for the purposes of Charms like
Rough-Spun Hero Raiment.
Stubborn Maiden Handiwork
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cherished Hammer
Partnership
What Janest lacks in inspiration, she makes up for in
bull-headed dedication.
Janest doubles 9s on a Craft roll as long as one of the
following is true:
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
• She spent twice the time needed to make the
roll.
• She used double the amount of materials needed
for the project.
• She’s creating or repairing something for a
member of her community.
• She’s suffering a fatigue penalty.
With a Resistance 5, Essence 2 repurchase, Janest may
pay a one-Willpower surcharge to double 8s if two of
the above are met.
A third purchase at Resistance 5, Essence 3 lets Janest
pay a one-white-point, one-Willpower surcharge to
double 7s if three of the above are met.
Hundred Winters Workmanship
Cost: 5m; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cherished Hammer
Partnership
A measure of Janest’s supernatural durability goes into
everything that she makes.
Janest adds (Stamina) non-Charm dice on a Craft roll
if her stunt involves patience, persistence, or stubborn-
ness. If she uses this Charm to enhance a basic or major
project, her work is nigh impervious, adding (Stamina/2,
rounded up) to the difficulty of feats of demolition and
other rolls to destroy it. Food, drink, and other perish-
ables last (Stamina) times longer. With Charms like
Stout-Hearted Brewing Style that requires that food or
drink be consumed with a certain period of time, this
also increases the length of that period.
If the durability or longevity of Janest’s handiwork
benefits her community or one of its members during
a scene, she gains one silver point — or a gold point, if
the object was created with a major project.
No Time for Idle Dreaming
Cost: 3m; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden does not truck with daydreams; you
get what you work for, not what you wish for.
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Janest adds (Stamina/2) non-Charm Resolve against
a Psyche effect or any magic that would deceive her
senses or put her in an altered state of consciousness.
The bonus increases to (Stamina) against effects used
by enemies of the community. Alternatively, she can
use this Charm on a roll with any Ability opposing
such an effect, adding (Stamina) non-Charm dice, or
that many non-Charm successes against enemies of
the community.
Successfully resisting such an effect lets Janest intuit
a piece of useful information about it — usually the
effect’s source, the motivation behind its use, or a way
to protect herself or others from it in the future.
If Janest knows Humble Strawmaiden Contentment,
she can use it against Psyche effects.
Defender of the Harvest’s Order
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Aggravated, Decisive-only
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
Chosen to stand against the tide of the Wyld, Janest need
not fear it.
Janest treats all fae as enemies of the community and
her decisive attacks deal aggravated damage to them.
She and any items she carries are immune to Shaping
or addiction caused by Wyld exposure.
If Janest knows Bellwether Camaraderie Method, she
may commit an additional five motes as a Simple action
to extend this Charm’s protection against the Wyld to
allies within short range for an hour.
Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver
Cost: 5m per 1wp; Mins: Resistance 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Affection Defense
Janest is stubborn down to her soul, the entirety of her
Essence refusing to yield.
Janest may spend motes in place of Willpower to resist
social influence or other mind-affecting magic.
Strawmaiden’s Heart
Cost: 4m; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver
In moments of crisis, catharsis, or epiphany, Janest dis-
covers strength she didn’t know she had.
Janest gains one Willpower, which can raise her above
her permanent Willpower.
Reset: Once per day, unless reset by upholding a
positive Major or Defining Tie. With Essence 3, this
becomes once per scene.
Bullheaded Warrior’s Resolve
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood-Pumping Enthusiasm
Rolling her neck and stretching her muscles, Janest pre-
pares herself to deliver a devastating attack.
To use this Charm, Janest must have a wound penalty
of at least −1. She rolls Join Battle with (Strength +
Resistance). Any wound penalties she would suffer on
the roll are converted to non-Charm dice instead.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by suffering enough
decisive damage to increase Janest’s wound penalty.
Douse the Fire, Dry the Flood
Cost: 2m; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Others Before Self
The Strawmaiden is a bulwark against nature’s perils
when her friends are in danger.
When a character protected by Janest’s defend other
action fails a roll against an environmental hazard or
similar peril, she may intercede to save him, making
a roll against the hazard on her ward’s behalf. This is
separate from any exposure she may have to the haz-
ard herself.
Plowshares to Swords
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 1s/g/wxp per die; Mins: Resistance 4,
Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Stubborn Maiden Handiwork
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EX3
Janest answers the call of necessity with a ceaseless
work ethic and level-headed practicality, outfitting
armies with reforged farm implements or forging her
own panoply of wonders.
Janest can use this Charm after a Craft roll to reroll
failed dice for one craft point each — silver points for
basic and major projects, gold points for superior proj-
ects, and white points for legendary projects. She can
reroll up to (Stamina + Craft) dice total. Craft points
spent on this Charm also count toward the cost of a
major, superior, or legendary project’s finishing roll
(Exalted, pp. 240-242).
Generosity Begets Wonders
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cherished Hammer
Partnership (x2), Hundred Winters Workmanship,
Plowshares to Swords
The greatest wonders of Janest’s workbench are those
made for her friends, loves, and community.
Upon creating an artifact that she intends to give to an-
other character, Janest may use this Charm to let him
awaken (his Essence) of its Evocations by incurring
experience debt. Janest can pay toward the beneficia-
ry’s experience debt with white points as though they
were experience. Janest can also use this Charm on her
own behalf if she creates an artifact primarily meant to
benefit her community.
Alternatively, Janest can use this Charm after (10 –
Essence) hours spent repairing or maintaining another
character’s artifact, awakening one Evocation as above.
She can’t gain this benefit for her own artifacts.
Reset: This Charm can only be used on an artifact once
per story.
Roots Hold Against the Storm
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver
Janest’s bonds run deeper than even she knows, holding
fast against any attempt to uproot them.
When Janest cites a positive Tie in a Decision Point,
she treats its intensity as one step higher. If, while
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

obeying another character’s successful influence roll,
Psyche effect, or the like, it would cause her to come
into conflict with a positive Tie, she can use this Charm
to enter a second Decision Point to resist.
Reset: Once per story unless reset when Janest’s faith
in those she has positive Major or Defining Ties to is
vindicated or rewarded in a narratively meaningful
way. Examples include a trusted ally throwing himself
in harm’s way to protect Janest, her community shel-
tering her from a Wyld Hunt, learning of some long-
ago tale of Ten Sheaves’ deeds that supports a Tie of
respect for him, etc.
Wolf-Slayer’s Scythe Devotion
Cost: 4m; Mins: Resistance 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Others Before Self
Janest offers no second chances to those who harm those
under her protection, ensuring they’ll never pose a threat
again.
Janest can use this Charm when she attacks an enemy
of the community or a foe who’s attacked someone
protected by her defend other this scene. The attack
adds (base Parry) dice of decisive damage or post-soak
withering damage. An enemy crashed or dealt deci-
sive damage by this can’t attack characters protected
by Janest until the end of his next turn.
Flock Guardian Salvation
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Others Before Self
The Strawmaiden can’t save everyone, but she will lay
her life on the line to protect who she can.
After an enemy attacks a character protected by
Janest’s defend other action, she can use this Charm
if he beat her Parry to force him to direct the attack
against her, rather than her ward.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
If Janest uses this Charm multiple times in a single
round, she waives the Willpower cost after the first.
Always at Their Side
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Flock Guardian Salvation
When those in Janest’s care are threatened, she is there,
moving with the speed of drought-fire through dry grass.
When using Others Before Self, Janest’s defend oth-
er action extends to short range. When her ward is
attacked, she may reflexively move one range band
toward him, if this brings him within short range. This
doesn’t count as her move action.
Iron Attitude Refusal
Cost: —(1m); Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Defender of the Harvest’s Order
The Strawmaiden knows herself with a surety like cold
iron, too well for baleful curses or Wyld fantasies to tell
her otherwise.
Janest adds +1 to all static values against Shaping effects
and adds a non-Charm success on rolls with any Ability
opposing Shaping. Against Shaping effects that can’t be
defended against with static values or opposed rolls,
Janest may pay one mote to force a contest, making
opposed (current temporary Willpower) rolls. Janest
adds a non-Charm success, as above. Against enemies
of the community, she doubles 9s. If the Shaping isn’t
created by a character, the Storyteller sets a difficul-
ty. Regardless of who wins, both characters lose one
Willpower per failed die on their roll.
The Maiden Must Endure
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Feed the Fever
The Strawmaiden draws on the living Essence of the
fields to overcome afflictions, becoming part of the great
and boundless vitality of the land.
To use this Charm, Janest must be in a field. She rolls
(Stamina + Resistance) with (Essence) non-Charm
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EX3
successes. If she’s suffering from poison, she can purge
it from her system by spending one success per round
(or other interval) of its duration. She may also cure
diseases she suffers by spending (morbidity + 3) suc-
cesses. The harmful effects of expelled afflictions are
shunted onto the field, with consequences determined
by the Storyteller. Ordinary poisons or diseases might
wither a crop or render it mildly toxic. Supernatural
afflictions have far more dramatic effects — Yozi ven-
om might turn the field’s vegetation to living metal and
blight the soil; puppeteer’s plague might contaminate
the field and infect those who eat of it.
If Janest knows Cold Iron Slumber, she may use it
while in a field without needing to sleep first. If she
succeeds, the shattered magic is likewise displaced
into the field. A memory-warping Psyche effect might
imbue plants with psychedelic properties; a petrifying
curse might turn the crops to stone; a Deathlord’s
soul-rending necromancies might open a shadowland.
Reset: Once per scene.
Strength of Her Convictions
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Harvest-Hardened Skin,
Unbroken Stalk Defiance
Janest fights all the harder when those she loves are in
danger.
When fighting in defense of a positive Tie or in a way
that exemplifies a Principle, Janest adds (Intimacy)
soak and Hardness. This stacks with effects that grant
Hardness. If she’s fighting in defense of a Tie to her
community, she also gains +1 Parry against enemies of
the community.
This Charm is incompatible with armor.
Spurning All Calamity
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nail Defies Hammer
If she must stand against the apocalypse, Janest will
meet it without flinching.
To use this Charm, Janest must have Initiative 10+. She
gains Hardness equal to her Initiative, which can’t be
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
reduced or negated by magic. Regardless of the out-
come, if the attack hits her, she resets to base Initiative.
Alternatively, Janest can use this Charm to perfectly
defend against a source of uncountable damage, ren-
dering her immune to recurring sources for a scene.
This doesn’t require her to have Initiative 10+ or reset
her Initiative.
Maiden-in-Winter Sacrifice
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: The Maiden Must Endure,
Spurning All Calamity
The Strawmaiden guards the harvest and is guarded by
it in return, delivered from peril by the land’s sacrifice
for her sake.
While Janest is in a field, she may use Spurning All
Calamity without resetting to base Initiative. However,
the field suffers the damaged blocked by her Hardness,
withering and drying as if afflicted by a sudden drought,
crumbling into detritus and dust, or being cut down to
the root by a wave of spiritual force.
Reset: Once per day unless reset by being hit by three
decisive attacks without taking damage from any of
them in a scene.
Victorious Defender Spirit
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Defend the Defenseless
Janest prevails over all threats to those under her pro-
tection, rebuffing the wicked.
When Janest and her ward gain Initiative from Defend
the Defenseless, the attacker loses one Initiative.
Janest may transfer the Initiative she receives to her
ward, or vice versa.
Burden-Shouldering Strength
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Healthy-as-a-Horse
Technique, Others Before Self
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With a reassuring touch and a kind word, the
Strawmaiden lifts a friend’s woes from his shoulders and
takes them on herself.
Janest blesses a character, negating all penalties he suf-
fers from wounds, poison, disease symptoms, fatigue,
and any crippling effect short of amputation. Janest, in
turn, suffers all of the penalties she negates for him.
If Janest uses this on a character blessed with Honest
Toil, Hardy Fare (p. XX), he instead gains two tempo-
rary −0 health levels for one success each, maximum
(Janest’s Essence) health levels. These temporary lev-
els are the first to be filled when the character is hurt
and vanish once filled..
Janest can stack this Charm to bless multiple charac-
ters. She suffers only the highest penalty among the
blessed characters.
Cold Iron Slumber
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Iron Attitude Refusal, No
Time for Idle Dreaming
Janest sheds curses like bad dreams as the morning
comes.
After a full night’s sleep, Janest chooses a Psyche effect,
Shaping effect, or ongoing sorcerous effect she suffers
from, rolling (Wits + Resistance) opposing the character
responsible for that effect, who uses whatever dice pool
best fits the effect’s nature. If no such character exists, the
Storyteller sets an appropriate difficulty. Success ends
that effect, while failure still halves the effect’s remaining
duration, rounded down. If the effect doesn’t have a set
duration to reduce, Janest’s dreams reveal a helpful piece
of information about how to heal her affliction.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by winning a meaning-
ful victory over an enemy of the community who has af-
flicted her with such an effect, whether in combat, political
intrigue, business, or the like. Even reset, this Charm can’t
be used more than once against the same effect.
Eternal Harvest Maiden
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Blood-Pumping Enthusiasm,
Fallow Land Renewal
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath,
Janest draws on the Essence of the land and its bounty.
Janest rolls (Essence + Stamina), unmodified by any
other effects, gaining temporary −0 health levels equal
to her successes. In fields, she doubles 8s on the roll.
These temporary levels are the first to be filled when
Janest is hurt and vanish once filled.
With an Essence 4 repurchase, if Janest begins her
turn in a field, she gains an additional temporary −0
level. If she’s lost all temporary health levels granted
by it, she gains this benefit even outside of fields.
Wild Weed Undying
Cost: 5m, 1wp (1i per turn); Mins: Resistance 5,
Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Eternal Harvest Maiden
Janest is harder to get rid of than the stubbornest weeds,
suffusing her wounds with the healing Essence of the
harvest.
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Upon using this Charm and at the start of each of her
turns, Janest rolls (wound penalty) dice, healing lev-
els of non-aggravated damage equal to her successes,
maximum (Essence). If she’s in a field, she doubles 9s
on these rolls.
Janest must pay one Initiative at the start of each sub-
sequent turn to maintain this Charm. She can’t use it
outside of combat.
Reset: Once per day unless reset by suffering decisive
damage while protecting Janest’s community or one
of its members or while opposing an enemy of the
community.
Special activation rules: Janest can use Eternal
Harvest Maiden reflexively as she uses this Charm,
waiving its Willpower cost.
Harvest Wind Deflection
Cost: 3m, 2i; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Always at Their Side
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Rearing back her scythe, Janest unleashes a power-
ful gust of wind to deflect blows meant for a distant
companion.
When an ally within (Essence) range bands is attacked,
Janest can reflexively protect him against it as with a
defend other action. If her ward is within short range,
she can instead reflexively use Others Before Self
to protect him. She can use Clash or Counterattack
Charms against the attacker regardless of range.
Against enemies of the community, this Charm’s
Initiative cost is waived and it loses the Perilous
keyword.
Wheat-Reddening Vengeance
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Vigilant Warden Rebuke,
Wolf-Slayer’s Scythe Devotion
Janest’s righteous anger is terrible when provoked, and there
is no quicker way to rouse it than to harm those in her care.
Enemies who’ve attacked characters protected by
Janest’s defend other actions count as enemies of the
community for the rest of the scene. At the Storyteller’s
discretion, this may be permanent for long-running ene-
mies or in particularly significant or memorable battles.
When Janest uses Vigilant Warden Rebuke against an
enemy of the community, she adds (Essence) to her
base Initiative upon resetting.
Whetstone Shatters Blade
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Stalk Blunts Sickle
The Strawmaiden meets her enemies’ blows like a whet-
stone; they can’t complain if their steel isn’t up to her
caliber.
Janest can pay a one-Willpower surcharge when she
uses Stalk Blunts Sickle to destroy mundane weapons
rather than damaging them. Against artifact weapons,
the wielder’s attunement is broken and it can’t be reat-
tuned until it’s been repaired (Exalted, p. 242).
This Charm’s Willpower surcharge is waived if Janest
uses it after her Hardness stops a decisive attack.
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Smiling Through the Pain
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Black Eyes Paid Back,
Spurning All Calamity
Bloodied, bruised, and beaten down — still Janest refus-
es to yield, pushing past pain and fear to stand tall and
fight.
Janest adds (wound penalty/2, rounded up) to her base
Initiative and gains (wound penalty/2, rounded up)
Initiative at the start of each turn. Neither bonus can
exceed her (Essence – 2). If all her health levels are
filled with damage except her Incapacitated level, she
can’t take withering damage.
This Charm ends if Janest is crashed.
Tit-for-Tat Resurgence
Cost: —; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Wild Weed Undying
Every drop of blood shed nourishes the soil, and the earth
is eager to offer up its power to sustain the Harvest’s
Chosen.
While using Wild Weed Undying, Janest makes an ad-
ditional roll to heal with that Charm when she crashes
an enemy, incapacitates a nontrivial enemy, or depletes
a battle group’s Magnitude.
Midsummer Phoenix Resurrection
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Resistance 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Maiden-in-Winter Sacrifice,
Tireless Harvest Technique, Tit-for-Tat Resurgence
Janest embodies growth eternal; at the zenith of her
power, she denies death, regrowing from the smallest
seed.
If Janest would be incapacitated or die, she may use
this Charm to fall briefly unconscious. At the beginning
of the next round she reawakens, accompanied by a
surge of sudden plant growth that creates a field out to
long range from her. She instantly rises to bonfire ani-
ma, rolls Join Battle, heals all levels of non-aggravated
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
damage, and recovers from all poisons, diseases, and
crippling injuries.
If Janest dies of old age, this Charm instead places her into
an eternal sleep, during which time plants may overgrow
her resting place, potentially forming a Wood Demesne.
She may be awakened from this sleep in times of great
need for her community and its descendants, though she
returns to this slumber once the threat is past.
If Janest knows Cold Iron Slumber, she can also use this
Charm upon succumbing to a Psyche effect, Shaping
effect, or sorcerous effect that renders her incapable of
action: petrification, hypnotic trances, etc. At the start
of her new turn, her anima rises to bonfire and a field
forms out to long range from her as the effect is shat-
tered. She doesn’t gain any of the other benefits above.
If Janest’s death or inability to act would place her
community, a member of her community, or a char-
acter she has a positive Major or Defining Tie to in
immediate danger, this Charm’s cost is waived.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by accomplishing a
legendary social goal (Exalted, p. 134).
Survival
Every-Season Attunement
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden has both a farmer’s knowledge of her
crops and a spiritual affinity for ten thousand plants and
herbs that rise from Creation’s soil.
Janest gains the following benefits:
• As long as there is any plant life whatsoever nearby,
she rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on Survival
rolls to navigate, forage, track, or conceal tracks.
• She succeeds automatically on rolls to find wa-
ter as long as there’s any water to be found.
• She can subsist on sunlight, treating eight hours
of exposure to the sun as providing a day’s worth
of sustenance.
• She can intuitively sense which way is East, the
direction of the nearest body of water, and the
time of day.
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Stout-Hearted Brewing Style
Cost: 2m, 1lhl; Mins: Survival 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Every-Season Attunement
The Strawmaiden is blood kin to wheat and a master of
all the bounty it has to offer, imbuing her brew with a
drop of her divine lifeblood.
Janest completes a basic Craft (Brewing) project to
create beer or other grain-based alcohol in a matter
of minutes by using her blood as an ingredient. Major
projects to create large batches of alcohol can likewise
be completed within a single day. Anyone who drinks
this beer within a day of it being brewed forms a Minor
Tie of gratitude to Janest unless he pays one Willpower.
With a Survival 3, Essence 2 repurchase, Janest can
suffuse her brew with supernal vitality. In addition to
the above effect, a character may incur experience debt
(p. XX) to gain up to (Janest’s Stamina) dots of mun-
dane Merits (including Innate Merits) that improve or
enhance his body, like Mighty Thew, Pain Tolerance, or
Natural Immunity. The Charm’s health level cost of this
depends on the amount she brews — one level of lethal
damage for each character she brews a drink’s worth for.
Prodigious Bounty
Cost: 3m; Mins: Survival 1, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden brings forth great bounty from the
earth, sustaining her community in times of famine and
hardship.
After spending a scene tending to plants, Janest rolls
([Charisma, Intelligence, or Wits] + Survival). The dif-
ficulty is 3 in good conditions, but increases for plants
in poor soil, harsh climate, and the like, to a maximum
difficulty of 6. Success causes the blessed plant to under-
go a year’s growth in a day, though it won’t age past its
prime for harvest. The exact number of plants affected
varies with Janest’s successes and the species of plant,
providing enough food to sustain Janest for a day, plus
one additional character per extra successes (or a com-
parable amount of growth for non-edible plants).
With Survival 5, this growth takes an hour. With
Survival 5, Essence 3, it takes a minute; if Janest pays a
one-Willpower surcharge, the growth occurs instantly.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

The Storyteller adjudicates what effect this has on sur-
rounding characters and terrain based on the plant’s
species and how many are affected. If Janest deliber-
ately uses this to impede or harm an enemy, resolve it
as a gambit — either an existing one or a custom gambit.
Reset: Once per day.
Festive Fertility Rite
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Prodigious Bounty
happen as long as it’s possible. Such pregnancies are
untroubled by mundane complications.
With Terrestrial Circle Sorcery, Janest can instead use
Prodigious Bounty to allow two or more willing charac-
ters to conceive a child without sexual intercourse. She
performs a ceremonial blessing that concludes by bury-
ing a seed or kernel and having each parent water it with
their blood (imposing a level of lethal damage on each).
Their child gestates within the plant over the normal
course of a pregnancy, untroubled by mundane compli-
cations. Alternatively, willing parents capable of giving
birth can take the pregnancy onto themselves by eating of
the plant, carrying the child for the remaining term.

Embodying the fertility of the fields, the Strawmaiden Once per day, Janest gains one Willpower and loses
blesses her companions with that same life-quickening one Limit when she uses this Charm to bless a member
power. of the community or someone she has a positive Major
or Defining Tie toward.
Janest may use Prodigious Bounty after a scene spent
sharing a meal with others, cooking for them, or un- Sprouting Grain Wake
dertaking fertility rituals alongside them. For the rest Cost: 4m; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
of the story, those characters can engage in sexual in- Type: Reflexive
timacy and procreation unimpeded by age, impotence, Keywords: Uniform
sterility, or other maladies. If the blessed character and Duration: Instant
his partner both desire a pregnancy, it’s guaranteed to Prerequisite Charms: Prodigious Bounty

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Sprouting wheat fills every footprint left by Janest’s
quarry, leaving a trail that leads right to him.
To use this Charm, Janest must touch a character or
land an attack against him. He leaves a trail of tiny
wheat sprouts wherever he goes for (Janest’s Essence
+ Perception) days. Janest and others aware of this
Charm’s effects double 9s on rolls to track him and can
oppose magic like Traceless Passage. Janest doubles 8s
against enemies of the community; other characters
don’t gain this benefit.
If Janest’s quarry travels over terrain that can’t
sustain the wheat sprouts, they still last for a day. In
ideal conditions, the sprouts can potentially last for a
season, growing until they’re ready to be harvested.
The sprouts can’t be damaged or disturbed except by
magic. Even then, Janest makes a (Stamina + Survival)
roll opposing such rolls, and forces the other character
to roll an appropriate (Attribute + Ability) pool for
actions that wouldn’t normally require one.
Village-Sustaining Industry
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: None
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden draws inspiration from her community.
Janest earns craft points for meeting basic objectives
as if she’d completed a basic project (Exalted, p. 240)
when she:
• Performs manual labor on behalf of her com-
munity without accepting any reward beyond
gratitude and hospitality.
• Provides food, housing or medical care to mem-
bers of her community without accepting any
reward beyond gratitude and hospitality.
• Upholds one of her Intimacies through an inter-
action with her community or a member of it.
• Participates in one of her community’s tradi-
tions, customs, festivals, or rituals, or introduces
a fact about it.
As usual, succeeding with 3+ extra successes grants
three silver points per objective. If the qualifying ac-
tion would normally be unrolled, Janest may roll the
most appropriate (Attribute + Ability) combination
against difficulty 1 for this purpose.
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EX3
With Survival 3, Essence 2, once per day, Janest may reap
the rewards of a major project from one of the above.
Fair Skies Nomad Approach
Cost: 2m; Mins: Survival 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Strawmaiden is unbothered by harsh climes, walk-
ing unburnt through the Far South or traipsing through
the North with neither scarf nor shawl.
Janest adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice
on a Survival roll or a roll opposing an environmental
hazard and ignores environmental penalties. In fields
or against plant-based hazards, she adds successes
instead.
Lay-of-the-Land Tactics
Cost: 1m; Mins: Survival 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Janest knows the land on which she fights.
When Janest makes a Strategic Maneuver roll, she ig-
nores up to one point of penalty for each of the follow-
ing that’s true. If this exceeds the penalty on Janest’s
roll, any excess points are added as non-Charm dice.
• The battle will take place in a field.
• Janest leads or fights besides members of her
community.
• Janest has had at least a week to familiarize her-
self with the battlefield.
• The opposing general or a majority of his forces
are enemies of the community.
Sister to Aurochs
Cost: 3m; Mins: Survival 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
Janest is a friend to all who toil in the fields; many of her
best conversations have been with the beasts working
alongside her.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Animals can understand Janest’s speech as though they
shared a language and are treated as having a Minor
Tie of affection to her. Domesticated animals gain a
Major Tie instead. She adds (higher of Essence or 3)
non-Charm dice on rolls to train animals. Familiars
and other magically enhanced animals don’t have this
Intimacy imposed on them, though the rest of this
Charm’s effects still apply.
With a Survival 3 repurchase, Janest can understand
animals’ body language, vocalizations, and other forms
of communication as fluently as if they were speaking
in her native tongue. Her increased understanding
waives the specialty requirements for training animals
(Exalted, p. 554).
Pack of Two
Cost: 3m; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Sister to Aurochs
The bond between Janest and her animal companions
transcends all other loyalty, each willing to lay down
their life for the other.
Janest’s familiar protects her against an attack as per
a defend other action, moving up to one range band
if necessary to come within close range of her. This
doesn’t count as its movement action. Alternatively,
Janest can use this Charm to protect her familiar in the
same fashion.
Earth’s Attendant Genius
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The earth teems with a thousand thousand wonders, and
the Strawmaiden will come to know them all.
Janest can introduce and challenge facts about plants,
domesticated animals, agriculture, her community, lo-
cal geography, or weather without needing an applica-
ble Lore background and adds (Essence) successes on
such rolls. If she has an applicable Lore background,
the successes are non-Charm.
At the end of each story, Janest gains a free Lore special-
ty based on the events of that story or local knowledge
she’s had a chance to be exposed to. Introducing a fact
that aids her in upholding a Major or Defining Intimacy
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or accomplishing a major character or story goal also
lets her gain a Lore specialty related to that action.
Malady-Soothing Herbalist
Cost: 5m; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Earth’s Attendant Genius
There is powerful healing to be found in Creation’s roots
and leaves, especially in the hands of the Strawmaiden.
Janest doubles 9s on a Medicine that’s stunted with
the use of medicinal herbs and can complete an hour’s
worth of treatment in a minute. She doesn’t suffer pen-
alties for lacking necessary equipment.
With a Survival 4, Essence 2 repurchase, Janest can
pay a one-Willpower surcharge to complete a proce-
dure instantly.
Hundred Herbs Pharmacopeia
Cost: 5m; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Earth’s Attendant Genius
Creation’s flora are a storehouse of countless medicines,
and Janest knows the name and use of them all.
Janest rolls (Intelligence + [Medicine or Survival]) to
introduce a fact about the location of a medicinal herb
to treat a poison, disease, or Derangement — or other
afflictions at the Storyteller’s discretion. The roll’s dif-
ficulty is the disease’s morbidity, the poison’s duration,
or 5 for Derangements. If she succeeds, she may de-
clare that a single dose worth of that herb is in an easily
accessible location nearby. Every three extra successes
increase this by an additional dose’s worth. If she fails,
she still introduces the fact, but either faces a signifi-
cant obstacle to obtaining it, suffers a complication as a
result of obtaining it, or the herb has undesirable side
effects.
Janest can use the herb to treat a poison or disease in-
stantly. If she treats a poison, her successes are applied
directly to lowering its duration, without needing to
overcome its difficulty. If she treats a disease, the pa-
tient immediately attempts a roll against its morbidity
(Exalted, p. 234) and is completely cured if she suc-
ceeds. If she fails, her symptoms don’t worsen. A treated
Derangement reduces its intensity by one — suppressing
it entirely, if it’s Minor — for one week. The Storyteller
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
adjudicates a similar effect for other afflictions he deems
capable of being treated by this Charm.
With Survival 5, Essence 2, Janest can use this Charm
for one mote, one Willpower to reveal that she already
has the plant with her on a successful roll. Doing so
doesn’t grant additional doses for her extra successes.
Field-Whisper Flight
Cost: 4m; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
When the Strawmaiden asks, field and forest swallow all
evidence of her passing.
Janest doubles 9s on a Stealth roll or a roll to conceal
tracks and adds (Essence) dice. The added dice are
converted to successes in fields, or when concealing
her passage through her community with a stunt that
includes how the community members cover her trail.
Caller of Wind and Rain
Cost: 4m; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Earth’s Attendant Genius,
Prodigious Bounty
The Strawmaiden’s song darkens clouds with life-giving
rain or turns away storms to brighten the sky.
Janest rolls (Charisma + [Performance or Survival]) to
sing, pray, or otherwise call upon the sky to produce a
specific type of weather: “clear skies,” “gentle rain,” etc.
She can’t create or strengthen harsh or dangerous weath-
er, though she can ameliorate it. The difficulty depends
on how drastic a change she wishes to make: creating
a light rain or mist or creating or stilling light winds is
difficulty 1; dissipating a storm might be difficulty 2-3;
diminishing a hurricane to a severe storm is difficulty 5+.
If she uses this Charm while within a field that spans at
least three range bands, she doubles 9s if the weather she
creates would be beneficial for its plants; if the field spans
more than three bands, she doubles 8s.
If Janest succeeds, her desired changes take place over
a matter of minutes or hours, depending on how exten-
sive they are. The weather can extend up to (Charisma
+ extra successes) miles from where Janest used this
Charm. It lasts until at least the end of this Charm’s
duration.
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EX3
If other magic would alter the weather Janest creates,
the character using it most make a roll using the most
fitting (Attribute + Ability) combination opposing
Janest’s (Charisma + [Performance or Survival]) roll. If
that character fails, he can’t change the weather for the
rest of this Charm’s duration.
Dutiful Farm-Dog Spirit
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 1xp; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Sister to Aurochs
The Strawmaiden uplifts her most loyal companion with
a portion of Ten Sheaves’ divinity and her own Exalted
power.
Janest confers the following benefits on an animal
familiar:
• Flock Guardian: The familiar doubles 9s on
rolls to detect concealed threats. Against ene-
mies of the community, it double 8s.
• Hale as the Fields: The familiar doubles 8s on
rolls against disease, poison, and similar ail-
ments. Its lifespan is extended to equal Janest’s
own (p. XX).
• Ox Shoulders Yoke: The familiar adds +2 to its
effective Strength to determine what feats it can
attempt. It doubles 9s on feats to perform manu-
al labor, or doubles 8s in fields.
• Unbreakable Loyalty: The familiar gains a
Defining Tie of loyalty to Janest. No influence,
other than Janest’s, can make it act against this
Intimacy.
This Charm’s experience point cost is waived the first
time Janest uses it. If a familiar enhanced by it dies,
Janest regains any experience spent enhancing it.
Foal-to-Stallion Rearing
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One week
Prerequisite Charms: Dutiful Farm-Dog Spirit
Animals trust in the Strawmaiden, mastering their po-
tential under her guidance.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
When Janest trains animals in latent special abilities or
Merits (Exalted, p. 554), she shortens the training inter-
val to one week and adds (Charisma) non-Charm dice.
With Survival 5, Essence 3, Janest can teach a familiar
enhanced with Dutiful Farm-Dog Spirit magical abili-
ties for two additional experience points.
Experience spent this way is regained if the familiar dies.
Scarecrow-Steed Effigy
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prodigious Bounty, Sister to
Aurochs
The Strawmaiden twists stalks of wheat, corn husks, or
willow reeds into a faithful steed.
Janest weaves vegetation into a living effigy of a horse
(Exalted, p. 567) or another domesticated animal suit-
able for riding. To do so, she must either be in a field or
use Prodigious Bounty to bless a plant to weave it from.
She can’t create Legendary Size effigies.
An effigy uses its animal’s traits and gains the following:
• +1 Speed.
• It counts as Janest’s familiar.
• As an automaton, it’s immune to social influ-
ence, obeying only Janest’s commands.
• It does not need to sleep, breathe, drink, or eat
(though it can, e.g., to benefit from Harvest
Apple Bond). It’s immune to fatigue penalties
and other fatigue-based effects.
• It doubles 8s on threaten rolls against enemies
of the community, silently menacing them with
its uncanny semblance of life.
Effigies are vulnerable to fire, suffering aggravated
damage from it. They don’t heal damage naturally. If
Janest has an appropriate Craft, like Weaving or Doll-
Making, she can repair a level of damage as a major re-
pair project (Exalted, p. 242) with difficulty (mount’s
wound penalty + 2) for bashing and lethal damage or
(wound penalty + 4) for aggravated damage. The proj-
ect takes an hour.
Janest can only have one scarecrow-steed at a time.
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EX3
Bellwether Camaraderie Method
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Fair Skies Nomad Approach
Those who work and travel alongside Janest find the
road smooth, the skies clear, and the clime pleasant.
Janest can use Fair Skies Nomad Approach to enhance
rolls made by an ally acting on her advice or instruc-
tions. If multiple such characters roll simultaneously,
she may enhance all their rolls with a single use.
Harvest Apple Bond
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Prodigious Bounty, Sister to
Aurochs
The Strawmaiden reinforces the bond between rider and
beast through sharing food.
After a scene spent feeding and tending to her mount,
Janest grants it the following benefits:
• It doesn’t need to eat or drink anything more for
this Charm’s duration.
• It gains a Major Tie of loyalty to Janest. If it al-
ready has such a Tie at Major or Defining inten-
sity, it increases the Resolve bonus from it by +2.
• Its Speed bonus increases by one.
• It ignores fatigue penalties and won’t accrue
further fatigue as long as it receives at least three
hours of sleep each day.
Janest can’t use this Charm on another character’s
familiar or on an animal that already has a positive Tie
to a rider unless that character’s player consents.
If Janest knows Bellwether Camaraderie Method, she
can bless another character’s mount by assisting him or
talking with him while he feeds his mount, providing the
above benefits to him and that mount. Instead of gaining
a Tie to Janest, the mount forms a Minor Tie of loyalty to
its rider.
Janest can stack this Charm to bless up to (Essence x2)
mounts in addition to her own. If she blesses multiple
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
mounts in a single scene, she waives the Willpower
cost of all uses past the first.
Tenants’ Advantage Reversal
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Lay-of-the-Land Tactics
Whatever power the Strawmaiden’s foes have, they lack
the strength of those who work the land.
A successful Strategic Maneuver roll awards Janest
one Willpower as long as at least one of Lay-of-the-
Land Tactics’ criteria is met.
If Janest defeats an opposing general’s Back to the
Sea or Fortifications stratagem, she gains that strata-
gem’s benefit for her own side in addition to her own
stratagem, seizing whatever advantage her enemy had
hoped to gain from the terrain. This may apply to other
stratagems, like Strategic Positioning, if it’s clear what
this represents in the game’s fiction.
Ten Sheaves’ General
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Tenants’ Advantage Reversal
Ten Sheaves was not a war god, but Janest wields spiri-
tual authority to lead forces in his name.
Janest enhances a Strategic Maneuver to enact one of
the following stratagems:
• Back to the Sea: Enemy battle groups suffer
−2 Resolve against fear-based influence and in-
fluence to convince them to surrender. Enemy
commanders can’t take rally for numbers ac-
tions unless they use magic capable of resetting
that action.
• Demoralized: The −1 penalty imposed applies to
all actions taken by Janest’s enemies; it increases
to −3 on rout checks and command actions.
• Fortifications: Allies add (higher of Essence
or 3) dice on rolls to take cover behind vegeta-
tion and other plant-based cover. Against bat-
tle groups and enemies of the community, the
Defense bonus from such cover increases by
one.
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EX3
• Pincer Attack: The onslaught penalty inflicted
increases to −2. Janest’s enemies subtract their
onslaught penalty from disengage rolls and rout
checks.
• Strategic Placement: If Janest successfully
forces her enemy to fight her in or around a
field, she rolls Join Battle with (Intelligence +
Survival), adding a free full Excellency. This also
counts as an order action to give a command to
an allied battle group.
This Charm can be used reflexively after gaining
the benefits of an enemy’s stratagem with Tenant’s
Advantage Reversal.
Dauntless Soil Defender
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Tenants’ Advantage Reversal
The Strawmaiden is endlessly resourceful, turning her
failures into hard-won victories.
Janest can use this Charm after a Strategic Maneuver
roll to reroll (Essence) failed dice. If at least two of
Lay-of-the-Land Tactics’ conditions are met, she re-
rolls (Essence + Intelligence) dice instead. If all four
conditions are met, she may reroll all failed dice.
Treading Flame and Briar
Cost: 5m; Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fair Skies Nomad Approach
Whether trudging through mosquito-ridden swamps,
braving roaring wildfires, or staring down the Silent
Wind of Hell, Janest faces danger without fear.
Janest can use this Charm after an environmental
hazard’s damage roll, rerolling all dice that show suc-
cesses. If she takes no damage from it, she’s treated as
having successfully resisted it.
With Survival 5, Essence 3, this Charm’s cost is waived
in fields and against plant-based hazards.
Inescapable Field Stalker
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Sprouting Grain Wake
Janest is implacable in pursuit of those who would hide from
her justice, chasing along a path of swift-growing grain.
Janest can use Sprouting Grain Wake when she makes
a tracking roll, gaining its benefits on the roll. If she
succeeds, a trail of wheat sprouts shoots up from the
ground around her and grows along the path toward
her quarry as fast as Janest can follow him.
If Janest uses this Charm against an enemy of the com-
munity or someone who has harmed a person or group
she has a positive Tie to, he suffers a harrowing sense
of foreboding. As long as Janest continues to actively
track him, he can’t regain Willpower from sleeping un-
less he succeeds on a (Wits + Integrity) roll at difficulty
(Janest’s Perception).
Battlefield-Swallowing Overgrowth
Cost: 2m, 1wp, 1lhl; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prodigious Bounty, Ten
Sheaves’ General
Making of herself an offering to the earth, the
Strawmaiden calls forth rich abundance from soil fed by
her spilt lifeblood.
Janest rolls (Stamina + [Survival or War]). She doubles
9s when fighting in fields or opposing enemies of the
community, or doubles 8s if both are true. Successes on
the roll can be spent on the following:
• Abundant Growth (1+ successes): A field forms
out to short range from Janest. She can extend
this further by spending an additional success
per range band, maximum long range.
• Shifting Skies (1+ successes): If Janest knows
Caller of Wind and Rain, she can change the
weather as if she’d rolled however many suc-
cesses she spends.
• No Hiding Place (3 successes): Plant life on the
battlefield refuses to aid Janest’s foes, imposing
a −3 penalty on Stealth rolls that rely on vegeta-
tion for concealment, rolls to take cover behind
vegetation, and the like. Against enemies of the
community, this subtracts successes.
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EX3
• Wrathful Brambles (3+ successes): Plant-based
difficult terrain becomes an environmental hazard
to Janest’s enemies, with difficulty 4 and Damage
3L/round. Janest may spend additional successes
to enhance the hazard, adding +1 difficulty or +1
Damage per success, maximum 6 for each.
• Elephant Grass Citadel (4 success): Janest
raises up thick rows of wheat as walls and barri-
ers, instantly enacting a Fortifications stratagem
(Exalted, p. 212).
• Fertile Soil (5 successes): For the rest of the
scene, waive the Willpower surcharge of
Prodigious Bounty’s Essence 3 effect.
• Grasping Roots (6 successes): Fields count as
difficult terrain for Janest’s enemies.
If Janest has taken lethal or aggravated damage this
scene, she waives this Charm’s health level cost.
Reset: Once per scene.
Blood-and-Silage Mending
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 1lhl; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Hundred Herbs
Pharmacopeia, Prodigious Bounty
Even the most grievous wounds find reprieve under the
Strawmaiden’s ministration, growing wondrous pros-
theses of living vegetation or animated wickerwork.
Janest undertakes an extended (Intelligence + [an appro-
priate Craft, Medicine, or Survival]) action to create this
prosthesis, applying poultices woven from stalks of wheat
and infused with her own blood. This has a one-month in-
terval, difficulty 5, and a goal number based on the treated
effect’s severity: goal number 20 for effects comparable to
a crippling injury that can be accepted to negate one or two
levels of damage (Exalted, p. 201); 40 for those compara-
ble to a three- or four-level injury; or 60 for those compa-
rable to a five-level injury. She must spend at least a few
hours each week tending to her patient for each interval.
Prostheses grown with this Charm fully replicate the func-
tionality of the replaced limb or organ, including faculties
such as the sense of touch that mundane prostheses lack.
If Janest’s patient convalesces within a field or her
community for the entirety of this extended action,
his recovery is dramatically accelerated, reducing the
interval to one week and doubling 9s on Janest’s rolls.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Field-Born Champion
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Every-Season Attunement

The Strawmaiden’s triumphs in defense of those under

her protection renew her sense of purpose as they forge
her legend.

At the end of a scene in which Janest won a meaningful

victory over an enemy of the community — defeating
him in combat, outmaneuvering him in political in-
trigues, etc. — she gains one Willpower and (Essence +
her Intimacy to the community) motes. If she accom-
plished a major character or story goal by defeating him,
she also loses one Limit.

Field-Whisper Alarum
Cost: 3m; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Field-Whisper Flight

Creation whispers warnings in Janest’s ear, speaking in

signs that only she can understand.

When a character rolls to track Janest or attempts to

determine her current location by other means, such as
magical scrying, she witnesses an omen warning her of
this — a crow croaks out cryptic advice, rustling wheat
stalks speak with a voice that only she can hear, or some
bit of folk superstition proves apt. She may then use this
Charm to conceal herself from her pursuer, causing 1s
to subtract successes on that character’s roll and any
such rolls he makes in the future. If he’s attempting to
track her through a field or her community or to find
her within them, his 2s subtract successes as well.

Once a tracker comes within (Essence) range bands
of Janest, she reflexively rolls (Perception + Survival)
with (Essence) automatic successes opposing his
(higher of Guile of Stealth), identifying him as her pur-
suer and pinpointing his location. In fields, the added
successes are non-Charm.
Janest can stack this Charm’s effect to stymie multiple
pursuers.
Tornado-Taming Method
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Caller of Wind and Rain,
Treading Flame and Briar
The Strawmaiden wrestles with wildfires, storms, and
earthquakes, a hero out of tall tales able to bend such
disasters to her will.
When Janest succeeds on a roll opposing a recurring en-
vironmental hazard, she can use this Charm to seize that
hazard and bend it to her will, uprooting it from its location
and re-centering it on herself with an appropriate stunt.
She might wrap a wildfire around herself as a fiery nim-
bus, dance with a debris-strewn whirlwind until it spins

160
EX3
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT

to her rhythm, or the like. Against very large hazards, this
only affects the portion within long range of Janest. It can’t
affect hazards that deal uncountable damage.
Once tamed, the hazard extends out to close range from
Janest and only affects her enemies. Once this Charm’s
duration ends, she may either return the hazard to its
original location or end it.
If Janest uses this Charm against a magical environ-
mental hazard created by a character, she must roll
(Strength + Survival), adding (Essence) successes,
opposing his most appropriate (Attribute + Ability).
Storm-Breaking Saddle
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Tornado-Taming Method
The Strawmaiden masters the primal forces of nature’s
fury as if breaking a stallion, bending storm and wildfire
to accept her dominance and her reins.
When Janest uses Tornado-Taming Method, she may
ride the bested hazard, treating it as a mount (Exalted,
pp. 202-203) with a Speed Bonus equal to its difficulty,

161
EX3
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
maximum +5. Many hazards count as flying mounts;
others may have additional benefits adjudicated by the
Storyteller, like a ridden avalanche providing Janest
with cover. Ridden hazards don’t count as characters
and can’t take action.
Unhorse gambits against Janest add +3 difficulty. If
successful, the ridden hazard disperses and Tornado-
Taming Method ends.
Fallen Star Kernel
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood-and-Silage Mending,
Village-Sustaining Industry
Janest returns the dead to the soil, drawing power from
the cycle of life, death, decay, and renewal.
To use this Charm, Janest must bury the corpse of
an Exalt or other supernatural being in a field. Once
buried, it rapidly decomposes until nothing is left. She
rolls (the deceased’s Essence x2). If he was Exalted,
she doubles 9s. She may spend these successes on the
following benefits:
• Craft Points: Janest may spend one success
each to gain two silver points or one gold point,
or two successes to gain a white point.
• Reset Charms: Janest can reset a Charm or
other effect that is currently “down.” This costs
three successes for each Charm that can only
be used once per story and two successes for
others.
• Sorcerous Motes: Janest may spend one success
to gain two sorcerous motes, which last until the
next time she uses this Charm.
• Willpower: Janest may spend two successes
each to gain one Willpower.
Reset: Once per day.
Field-Saint Legacy
Cost: 20m, 1wp, 1lhl; Mins: Survival 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Caller of Wind and Rain,
Fallen Star Kernel, Field-Born Champion
162
EX3
Janest lays her blessing upon the land, invoking her pow-
er as Chosen of the Harvest to bring life to its fields and
peace to its people.
Janest blesses a contiguous region of up to (Essence
x10) square miles. She must walk the boundaries of
this region, spilling her blood at intervals. During this
time, her anima rises to at least glowing and can’t fall
below this level until she is done. The blessed land
gains the following benefits:
• Blessing the Fields’ Heart: A four-dot Wood
Demesne (Exalted, p. 160) forms at the center of
the region. Janest is automatically attuned to it.
• Bounty Beyond Abundance: The region’s plant life
grows abundantly and is untroubled by pests and
disease. Characters add (Janest’s Stamina) dice on
rolls to forage for food, tend to the health of plants,
or Craft using plant materials from the region.
• Eternal Order of the Seasons: The Wyld can’t
spread into the blessed region; existing Wyld
zones within it are treated as one step less se-
vere. Fae are deeply uncomfortable within the
region, suffering a −3 penalty on all rolls and los-
ing the ability to recover Willpower from sleep
or other alternatives to rest.
• Field-Sustaining Clime: The region’s weather
is pleasant, mild, and beneficial to agriculture.
Characters using magic to change the region’s
weather must make an appropriate (Attribute
+ Ability) roll opposing Janest’s (Stamina +
Survival) roll, on which she doubles 7s, to do so.
• Gentle Beast Benediction: Animals that live
within the region won’t harm people unless pro-
voked. This benefit doesn’t extend to enemies
of the community, and animals add (Janest’s
Perception) dice on rolls to notice or track ene-
mies of the community.
• The Maiden Is The Land: Janest can draw
power from the land. Once per day, while in
the region, she may draw ten motes and one
Willpower from it. Doing so causes her anima to
flare to bonfire.
• Tireless Farmhand Invigoration: The region’s
inhabitants add (Janest’s Stamina) dice on feats
of strength and on rolls opposing diseases, poi-
sons, environmental hazards, fatigue, and simi-
lar afflictions. Janest may withhold this benefit
from a character reflexively.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Janest can only have one blessed region at a time. The
blessing lasts for as long as she lives. Once she dies, the
blessing fades in a season unless the region is inhabited
and its residents cultivate the land and offer up a sac-
rifice each year on the vernal equinox. Alternatively,
it lasts indefinitely if she slumbers within it using
Midsummer Phoenix Resurrection.
Reset: Once per story.
Special activation rules: If Janest knows This Far and
No Further (p. XX), she may use it reflexively to bless
the boundaries of the dominion she claims, waiving its
Willpower and health level costs.
Sorcery
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Cost: —; Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Earth’s Attendant Genius
The Strawmaiden crosses the Terrestrial Circle’s thresh-
old, leaving behind her familiar fields to court the wild
secrets of sorcery.
She may use Terrestrial Circle Sorcery. She learns one
Terrestrial spell — her control spell — and one shaping
ritual for free.
Final Season
(Green Jade Grimscythe, Artifact •••)
Before Janest took it up, Final Season was a different
weapon with a different name. It was Ten Sheaves’
scythe, as humble as a tool forged by the smiths of
the gods could be. When the field god burned himself
away to grant Janest her Exaltation, an echo of his
divine Essence remained in the scythe, and by the light
of Exaltation, it was reborn alongside her. Now bound
to her, Janest wields Final Season to uphold the legacy
of her god and his sacrifice.
Final Season is a huge harvest scythe of black iron,
shot through with seams of green jade. Holding it at an
angle against the light of the sun reveals an inscription
of Old Realm devotional poetry to the gods of the days
and months.
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Attunement: 5m
Type: Heavy (+1 ACC, +14 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 5)
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Piercing, Reaching, Two-Handed
Hearthstone Slot(s): 2
Era: The Siege of Kolisz
Evocations of Final Season
Final Season has two modes: growing mode and harvest
mode. In growing mode, Janest gains one Initiative
when she parries a nontrivial enemy’s attack. In har-
vest mode, Janest doubles 10s on decisive damage
rolls. Most of Final Season’s Evocations have different
effects depending on which mode is currently active.
Final Season begins each combat in growing mode.
Successfully blocking or clashing a decisive attack
lets Janest enter harvest mode. Once in harvest mode,
landing a decisive attack that resets Janest’s Initiative
lets her enter growing mode.
Final Season’s blade is as much iron as jade, dealing
aggravated damage to most fae and potentially inter-
fering with faerie magic susceptible to iron.
Time to Sow, Time to Reap
Cost: 1m, 1i; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Resonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
Deepening her connection with the cycle of life and death
embodied in Final Season, Janest draws forth greater
power from her grimscythe.
In addition to the usual conditions for changing Final
Season’s modes, its wielder may use this Evocation to
enter harvest mode when she crashes an enemy or to
enter growing mode when she takes a full defense.
Special activation rules: This Evocation awakens at
no cost when Janest uses Final Season to kill a living
being.
Resonant: With Essence 3, the wielder may
pay a one-Initiative surcharge to change modes
unconditionally.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Born to the Scythe
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Time to Sow, Time to Reap, any
Charm enhanced by this Evocation
Janest has known the tools of the field and the turning of
the seasons since she could walk; Final Season is not the
first scythe she has held, though it will be the last.
Janest reduces the cost of Busy Harvest (p. XX) and
Reaper’s Mercy (p. XX) by two motes and gains addi-
tional benefits based on Final Season’s mode:
Growing Mode: Janest adds (Essence) to her effective
Initiative for Strawmaiden Charms like Blood Sold
Dearly (p. XX) or Spurning All Calamity (p. XX).
Harvest Mode: Janest can use Fields Scoured Bare (p.
XX) even if she didn’t move into close range with her
target this tick.
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Verdant Rebirth
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Resonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Time to Sow, Time to Reap
Colorful flowers bloom from the veins of green jade that
run along Final Season’s shaft as it channels the renew-
ing vitality of the fields into Janest.
Upon changing between modes, the wielder can use
this Evocation to roll (Essence + Stamina), unmodified
by other magic. In growing mode, she heals one level
of non-aggravated damage for every two successes.
In harvest mode, she gains Initiative equal to her
successes.
Resonant: This Charm isn’t Perilous.
Reset: Each of this Evocation’s modes can only be used
once per day.
 C H A P T E R F I V E : S T R A W M A I D E N J A N E S T, T H E H A R V E S T E X A LT
Noonday Reaper Attitude
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Counterattack, Decisive-only, Resonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Verdant Rebirth
Shining with the vibrancy of high summer, Final Season
grows stronger and surer in its purpose.
This Evocation’s benefits depend on Final Season’s
mode:
Growing Mode: The wielder enhances a full defense,
waiving its Initiative cost and letting her make a deci-
sive counterattack whenever she blocks an attack until
her next turn.
Harvest Mode: The wielder adds (Essence + attack
roll 10s) dice of damage to a decisive attack.
In both modes, the wielder’s attacks deal aggravated
damage to fae.
Resonant: In growing mode, the wielder’s counterat-
tacks don’t reset her Initiative until her next turn. In
harvest mode, she also counts 9s on the attack roll to
determine how many additional dice she rolls.
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Sow the World with Hope
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Aggravated, Dual
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Born of the Scythe, Noonday Reaper
Attitude
Janest brandishes her scythe as a testament to Ten Sheaves’
final miracle and an icon of hope; flowers, grass, and wheat
burst from the soil around her, and a rainbow sheen glitters
along the scythe’s edge as it cleaves light itself.
A field grows out to medium range from Janest, letting
her make a (Strength + Presence) roll to inspire hope
in all allies who can see her, ignoring multiple target
penalties. This roll can overturn influence (Exalted, p.
221) that opposes the inspired hope in addition to its
usual effects, waiving the Willpower cost to do so.
The influence also conveys an additional effect to in-
spired allies based on Final Season’s current mode:
Growing Mode: Inspired allies’ withering attacks ig-
nore (wielder’s Essence + 2) soak. Against fae, they also
inflict (wielder’s Essence) dice of aggravated decisive
damage, ignoring Hardness.
Harvest Mode: In harvest mode, inspired allies’
decisive attacks add up to (wielder’s Essence) attack
roll extra successes as dice of damage. Against fae,
they also double 10s on decisive damage rolls and deal
aggravated damage.
Reset: Each of this Evocation’s modes can only be used
once per day.
Pakpao knew something was wrong at her villa before she set foot within its walls. The gate had
been pried open with a strength no mortal arm possessed. Broken puppets were strewn haphazardly
throughout the courtyards: bodies cracked, limbs bent and splintered, heads staring through unseeing
glass eyes. The destruction only grew worse the further in she walked.
Standing at the center of it, on the steps of her manor, was a handsome man so richly dressed that
he could only be a Dragon-Blood, a huge jade goremaul strapped to his back. He dangled a shattered
puppet from a string and grinned at her, looking quite proud of himself. Pakpao’s own face was devoid of
expression as her eyes scanned across the garden.
“Goldenseal welcomes the return of its ‘entertainer,’” he said, letting the mangled puppet fall from his
hands. “I bring greetings from House V’neef.”
Pakpao’s eyes stayed trained on him as he stepped down the garden path. She’d never met this man
before, but she kept tabs on the Realm’s agents. “V’neef Midnight Blossom. Born to pig farmers on the
Blessed Isle, Exalted at 14, a graduate of Pasiap’s Stair. It makes sense they’d choose you to shake me
down.”
“And here I was afraid your strings were so tangled you wouldn’t know why I was here.” He stood,
unstrapping the goremaul from his back. “There are those in my house with grave concerns about your
influence over the satrap.”
“Satrap Boru asked me to assist in settling an unpleasantness among the populace,” Pakpao said. It
wasn’t a lie. She had many friends in Goldenseal; securing an audience with the satrap was a trifle. “He
seemed quite pleased with my work.”
“An understated way of putting that you incited unrest throughout Zhaojūn through your agents, only to
then be paid from the house’s coffers to clean up the mess you created.”
Pakpao’s face broke into a grin. “I wouldn’t have phrased it quite like that.”
“You may think yourself ten steps ahead of everyone else, but I know more about you than you may think.
I’ve outmaneuvered you, Puppeteer.”
“Oh?” Pakpao affected boredom as she watched him strut proudly through her garden, gesturing towards
the piles of smashed puppets as if they were monuments to his glory.
“I know what you are, Chosen of Karana, and that your strength is in your puppets. Without them, you’re as
frail as any mortal. So! I have seen to their destruction here. I’ve cut every string, snapped every limb, torn
the cloth, shattered the wood, and burned the paper. There is nothing left.”
“It’s true,” Pakpao said. “A Puppeteer with no puppets is hardly a threat at all.”
“Then you will return what you were paid and—”
“But you’re mistaken,” she cut him off. “I am not without my puppets.”
Midnight Blossom gave Pakpao a baffled look; it was only then that he saw the countless strings of
Essence trailing from her fingers. The quiet sound of wood knocking against wood came from all around
the garden as the broken pieces of her puppets began moving towards the Dragon-Blood, rolling and
pulling themselves along. They swarmed over him even as he swung his goremaul, scuttling up his body
and gouging at exposed flesh with splintered wood and shattered metal.
As Midnight Blossom continued to struggle, Pakpao approached him from behind, yet more strings trailing
from her fingers. She looped them around his body, letting her threads burrow into his flesh and weave
themselves into the strands of his musculature. With a tug, she brought him to his knees before her, his
face contorted with panic and rage as he struggled to break free.
“You’ll make a fine replacement for everything you destroyed, don’t you think?”

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 Chapter Six

The Puppeteer
The Puppeteer is an illicit Exigent created by a god
undeserving of the Unconquered Sun’s gift, an ambi-
tious mastermind who brings her puppets to life with
strings of Essence.
Karana
Hail to you, Lord Karana, god of the Meiyu Coast’s
traditional marionette-puppetry; Karana the spider,
eight-limbed and brazen-carapaced; Karana, whose
glory is in deception; Karana, who stole Heaven’s fire.
A century ago, his theater-shrine, the Skein-House, was
the heart of Goldenseal’s famed Faceless Bazaar, and his
Cult of the Marionette was counted amongst the city’s
most esteemed performers. His living puppets danced
along the district’s streets; his honeyed words manipu-
lated minster and god alike, securing his prominence by
cultivating the district into a thriving cultural hotbed.
Then the Realm came. Even before Zhaojūn became
a satrapy, Immaculate proselytes converted its royal
family to the Immaculate Philosophy and secured dis-
pensation to suppress heretical worship. While many
local small gods acceded to the Order’s demands in
exchange for their place in the prayer calendar, Karana
was never given the chance. Infamous for his interces-
sion in mortal affairs, Karana faced a Sworn Kinship
of the Immaculate godbreakers who scattered his
cultists and thrashed him soundly, leaving him broken
and diminished amid the wreckage of his theater. The
monks boarded up the Skein-House and sealed it with
amulets and prayer strips, leaving Karana to rot.
Cold with fury, Karana beseeched the Unconquered
Sun for a champion to grant him his revenge. But his
prayers went unanswered.
In time, Karana’s infamy faded, and the Order’s eye
turned from him. The Cult of the Marionette’s sur-
viving remnants, driven underground by Immaculate
oppression, returned to the Skein-House, finding their
god covered in dust and webs. If it weren’t for their
craftsmanship and devotion, perhaps he’d still be
lying there today, something he will not soon forget.
Karana’s defeat made him more cautious and gave him
a new purpose.

WHO IS PAKPAO?

While this book’s fiction and illustrations depict one take on Pakpao, players and Storytellers are encouraged
to make the Puppeteer their own. Her personality, appearance, beliefs, gender, sexuality, and other personal
details are left to her player to define. This includes her overarching agenda and the motivations behind it.
Some potential goals include:

• Subverting Zhaojūn’s government and reigning from the shadows.

• Seeking vengeance against those who’ve wronged her.

• Leading a Tengese uprising against Zhao hegemony.

• Abolishing slavery along the Meiyu Coast.

• Amassing wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.

• Winning the hearts and patronage of Zhaojūn’s people as a legendary performer or master artisan.

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 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Under Karana’s leadership, the Cult of the Marionette
was reborn as a weapon against the Immaculate
Order. By all appearances, it’s nothing more than
a pathetic shell of its former self, its high priests
reduced to begging on the streets. In secret, it
recruits from those who resent the Realm’s
oppressive occupation and the royal family for
permitting it, and funds its operations through
smuggling, particularly medicinal herbs.
Members of the Cult have infiltrated power
blocs across Goldenseal: government minis-
tries, mercantile consortiums, street gangs,
academies, and even the Immaculates.
And then, word came that the fire of
Exigence burned once again. Karana
labored long to find a god who’d been
blessed with a spark of Exigence,
eventually locating his mark: the
wetland goddess Lyja. Playing to her
feud against the Realm, he insinu-
ated himself among her allies and
ultimately convinced her to entrust
the spark to him, claiming he would
lend his power to her own that they
might create a mighty champion against
the Order together. Exigence in hand,
he left in the dead of night to seek one
worthy of becoming his Puppeteer.
Pakpao
Overlooking the Meiyu Sea from
Goldenseal’s hillside gardens, Pakpao
hides her lowborn Tengese her-
itage behind influence and
excess. Seemingly kind
and generous, Pakpao is
a political schemer and
the Exigent known as
the Puppeteer, Chosen of
Karana. She has no desire
to rely on her divine patron’s
goodwill; she seeks for herself
the power she never had in her
mortal life, free from the strings
that once bound her to the will
of others.
Pakpao was once the young
daughter of impoverished
immigrants enslaved at a cocoa
farm, but now she’s the honored
wife of Zhao Suterin Daopei, a
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widower and ranking official in Zhaojūn’s Ministry of
the Blue Robe. She met him in Goldenseal and
captured his heart; they were wed soon after,
the first step of her ascent to power. Daopei’s
three daughters with his late wife were wary
of Pakpao, suspicious of her true motives.
They begged their father to cut ties with
her, underestimating how tightly he was
ensnared. On Pakpao’s request, Daopei
exiled his daughters from Zhaojūn;
their fate is unknown.
Daopei spared little expense
on his wedding to Pakpao, in-
cluding a considerable sum
spent bribing high-ranking
officials in the Ministry of
Red Paper to circumvent
the laws forbidding mar-
riage between a Zhao
and a Tengese. Knowing
of Pakpao’s love of pup-
petry, Daopei invited
a puppeteer-priest of the
Cult of the Marionette to perform.
Karana attended with his priest,
watching from the puppet’s eyes.
He saw what Pakpao had achieved
with nothing but ambition, guile,
and cleverness and knew he had
found his Chosen.
The Cult of the Marionette has
made overtures to Pakpao, seeking
to have her lead their insurgency
against the Realm. So far, she’s
rejected their pleas, less concerned
with the Realm than Karana is
and unwilling to dance on the
god’s strings. This frustrates
the cult; many quietly question
Karana’s choice to Exalt an
outsider instead of one of his
faithful. Karana, for his part,
is unconcerned, seeing Pakpao’s
independence as a strength that will
serve his interests in the fullness
of time.
The Puppeteer
and Her Patron
Karana watches his Puppeteer
from the shadows, seeking to ply
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

A DUTIFUL HUSBAND

Daopei’s true reasons for marrying Pakpao and his current status are left to her player to define. It may be
that he’s been blinded by love and played for a fool, as most assume, but it’s possible the truth of his and
Pakpao’s relationship is more nuanced and less one-sided than this. The Charms the Puppeteer’s player
chooses at character creation may introduce new possibilities — if she knows Corpse-Puppet Reanimation
and Impervious Poppet Technique, Daopei may be no more than a preserved cadaver occasionally trotted out
to keep up appearances.

Daopei might also be a supporter of Pakpao’s schemes, though she’ll need to take him as a one-dot Ally if
she wants this to extend to abusing his authority within the Ministry of the Blue Robe. It’s also possible that
Daopei is a more significant ally, with supernatural prowess of his own that he keeps secret from the Ministry.
He might be a God-Blood, a sorcerer, an outcaste Dragon-Blood, or another Exigent. An Exalted Daopei might
even be a player character, if both players involved are comfortable roleplaying their characters’ relationship.

her with pretty words and convince her they share
common goals. Sometimes he speaks to her through
dolls and puppets; at other times, his message is
carried by his priesthood. He’s selfish, corrupt, and
deceitful, and seeks to cultivate these qualities in his
Chosen — though what he prizes most of all is ambi-
tion and the desire for power. How Pakpao reacts to
these blandishments is up to her player, but Karana
will always return with new temptations.
If Pakpao’s player is interested in bargaining with her
untrustworthy patron, the Storyteller should have him
make tempting offers in times of Pakpao’s greatest
need: hiding her from a Wyld Hunt in his sanctum;
offering her assets and resources to advance her plans
that would require significant effort to acquire oth-
erwise; feeding her key information about Zhaojūn’s
power blocs in time to thwart one of their schemes.
Every favor owed him is another string with which
to manipulate his champion, slowly steering her into
alignment with his own will — or so he hopes.
Even if Pakpao defies Karana or thwarts his schemes
outright, the god will continue to seek her out. For all
that he thinks he holds the strings in their relation-
ship, the pride he takes in his Chosen and his dreams
for what she might become bind him to her; he can’t
abandon his efforts to win her over.
The Puppeteer has the power to redefine her relationship
with her patron. She might choose to pledge herself to
his cause, joining in his efforts to subvert the Immaculate
Order, Realm hegemony, and the reigning High Queen
of Zhaojūn. She might use social influence of her own
to win Karana over to her own agenda or to rebuke him
into leaving her alone. If she must, she might kill him. The
Storyteller should discuss whatever plans the Puppeteer’s
player has for Karana with her and incorporate opportu-
nities for her to pursue those goals into the game.
Foes and Rivals
A member of the Cult of the Marionette’s inner cir-
cle, Davian Doll-Eye is named for his porcelain eye,
which can see any heart’s desire, a gift from Karana for
Davian’s part in rebuilding the shattered god. While
other priests of the Cult pose as beggars, the handsome
and good-humored Davian moves through high soci-
ety; he’s recently captured the attention of Princess
Zhao Mnemonrai Chulin, second daughter to the
High Queen. He slowly turns her against her older
sister Feiyen in hopes of seeing her ascend as a High
Queen who’ll serve Karana’s will. Davian sees Pakpao
as a threat to his power within the Cult and envies the
blessing she’s received from Karana; he’s a staunch
adversary to those in the Cult who seek to broker an
alliance with her. While his piety does not permit him
to consider killing his god’s Chosen, he would gladly
see her in exile, serving Karana’s will somewhere far
away.
Once the Cult of the Marionette’s high priest, Cutter
took on that sobriquet after she abandoned the cult,
outraged that Karana chose an outsider as his champion
rather than her. She’s become an influential figure with-
in Goldenseal’s underground, allying with the Snakefire
Syndicate both to cut off the Cult’s financial lifeblood by
monopolizing the smuggling trade and to undermine
Realm hegemony through blackmail, economic manip-
ulation, and assassination. She longs to see Pakpao dead
by her own hand and her Exaltation returned to Karana
that he might choose more wisely the second time, but

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 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
WHO KNOWS?
Unless it’s uncovered in play, Pakpao’s identity as the Puppeteer isn’t widely known outside of the Cult of the
Marrionette’s inner circle. Others may already know if it would be narratively compelling for them to know,
unless they uncover it in play.
she lacks the power to do so, despite her best efforts to
acquire it. Moreover, Pakpao’s own schemes pose com-
plications for the Realm and the Cult; Cutter is patient
enough to let her rival do her work for her.
The implacable Zhao Meirun Hao is an official within
the Ministry of the Blue Robe and a longtime friend of
Pakpao’s husband Daopei. He’s spent a decade investi-
gating the Cult of the Marionette, convinced that the
seemingly defunct order was a façade for treasonous
conspiracy. He’s convinced the satrap V’neef Boru to
prioritize his investigation, providing both personnel
and funding. Hao has no idea his friend is married to
Karana’s Chosen. Such a discovery would be explo-
sive — even if Pakpao has no involvement with the
Cult, years of investigation in the face of threats and
assassination attempts have transformed diligence and
conviction into paranoia and irrational zeal.
Of course, Pakpao has potential enemies beyond these.
High Queen Zhao Mnemonrai Enzei would not
abide a rogue Chosen undermining her rule; between
the Zhao military and her influence over both the
satrap and garrison commander, she could easily mar-
shal powerful opposition to the Puppeteer. The local
Immaculate Order — which includes Enzei’s Dragon-
Blooded siblings — won’t permit an illicit Exigent to
disrupt the Perfected Hierarchy; such a Chosen must
either submit to Dragon-Blood rule and Immaculate
orthodoxy or die as an Anathema.
Character Creation
The Puppeteer uses the character creation rules for
Essence-based Exalted designed for Terrestrial play
(p. XX) with the following modifications:
Step One: The Puppeteer has Craft, Larceny, and
Performance as Puppeteer Abilities.
Traits
The Puppeteer is intended for Terrestrial play (p.
XX). She’s especially suited for inclusion in Dragon-
Blooded games: teaming up with a Sworn Kinship of
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EX3
outcastes fighting for dominance in the Meiyu Coast,
allying herself with Dynasts plotting to overthrow the
V’neef satrap to advance their own houses’ ambitions,
or joining forces with Immaculate shikari on a Wyld
Hunt against an Anathema who threatens her own
agenda.
Anima
The Puppeteer’s anima begins as a glowing colorless
vibration like the shimmer of a mirage. As it rises, it be-
comes an ever-shifting web of puppet strings in shades
of silver, violet, black, and white. Her iconic anima
might depict a towering spider whose many legs pull
Creation’s strings, a phantasmal audience that bursts
into applause at Pakpao’s heroics, a blurring overlap of
the silhouettes of those entangled in her schemes, or
the like.
Anima Effects
• Mistress of Puppets: Pakpao adds (Essence/2,
rounded up) non-Charm dice on puppetry-based
Performance rolls and can perform unrealistic
feats of incredibly lifelike puppetry with stunts.
She can pay three motes to use a puppet to take
a physical action out to short range, using the
lower of her (Dexterity + Performance) or the
normal dice pool for the action. She can’t use
puppets to attack unless she has Killer Puppet
Approach (p. XX), attempt feats of strength un-
less she has Iron Rod Spine (p. XX), or Shape
Sorcery unless she has Haunted Effigy Ritual (p.
XX).
• Puppet-Snaring Strings: For five motes, Pakpao
can make an entangle gambit, rolling ([Dexterity
or Wits] + [an appropriate Craft, Larceny, or
Thrown]) against an enemy within short range.
Martial Arts that use whips or similar weapons
can also be used to make entangle gambits. The
gambit’s difficulty is 2. Success tangles her ene-
my in strings of anima for one scene, increasing
his mobility penalty (Exalted, p. 591) by one and
rendering him vulnerable to certain Puppeteer
Charms. This power is free at bonfire anima.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• Puppeteer’s Innocent Smile: Once per day,
Pakpao may pay one Willpower when she
makes an influence roll to convince others of
her innocence or implicate someone else for her
misdeeds, adding (higher of Essence or 3) non-
Charm dice and reducing any penalties for mak-
ing implausible claims by (Essence). Characters
can’t spend Willpower to resist this influence
unless presented with evidence that directly
contradicts Pakpao’s claims.
Martial Arts
The Puppeteer is restricted by the Terrestrial keyword.
She’s limited in her ability to combine Martial Arts Charms
with her native Charms. When she makes a Martial Arts
attack, she can enhance it with Puppeteer Charms or
Martial Arts Charms, but not both, with the exception
of Excellencies and Versatile Charms. This doesn’t apply
to Charms that are permanent or provide ongoing benefits,
nor to actions other than attacking.
Sorcery
The Puppeteer is capable of initiating into both
Terrestrial Circle sorcery and Ivory Circle necroman-
cy, drawing on the darker aspects of her Exaltation
hinted at by Charms like Corpse-Puppet Reanimation
and Soul-Pattern Acquisition. A necromancer
Puppeteer who’s mastered such Charms might even
gain limited access to a Shadow Circle spell through
a Charm similar to the Sovereigns’ Sapphire Talisman
Apocrypha (p. XX). Such a Charm might require her to
prepare ornate funereal puppets as ritual foci, sacrifice
corpse-puppets to fuel the spell, or impose a similar
thematic condition or restriction.
As an Essence-based Exigent, Pakpao pays 9 experi-
ence for each spell.
Evocations
The Puppeteer is resonant with artifact puppets
(Arms of the Chosen, p. 16). With other artifacts, she’s
neutral with moonsilver and starmetal, and dissonant
with the other magical materials.
The Great Curse
The Puppeteer’s Great Curse manifests through a
ten-point Limit Track (p. XX). She rolls dice and gains
Limit equal to her successes, under the following
circumstances:
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• Once per scene, when she acts against a Major
Intimacy, she rolls one die (unless she’s already
rolled for acting against a Defining Intimacy).
Voluntarily weakening an Intimacy or spending
Willpower to resist influence it supports counts
as acting against it.
• Once per scene, when she acts against a Defining
Intimacy, she rolls two dice (or one die, if she’s al-
ready rolled for acting against a Major Intimacy).
• When the Puppeteer learns that she has unknow-
ingly acted in another’s service or to fulfill agendas
other than her own, or that she has otherwise been
manipulated or outwitted, she rolls three dice.
The Puppeteer loses one Limit for accomplishing a
legendary social goal (Exalted, p. 134). Her Limit re-
sets at a Limit Break’s end.
When the Puppeteer reaches Limit 10, she enters
Limit Break and is overcome by powerful and ex-
cessive passions, often rooted in excessive ambition,
ruthless manipulation, paranoia, or a need for control.
Examples include:
Seeing Only Puppets
The Puppeteer sees others as nothing more than dispos-
able tools to be used and sacrificed as her plans demand.
She will act to accomplish her goals in the most efficient
fashion possible, sparing no thought for how many of her
agents must die or the collateral damage of her actions.
Her Ties are suppressed completely for the duration.
Duration: Session. This ends if Pakpao sees how her
ruthlessness has harmed someone she has a positive
Major or Defining Tie to.
Tightening the Strings
The Puppeteer feels that she has lost control and will
go to any lengths to regain it over anyone and everyone,
abandoning subtlety for direct commands, coercion,
and intimidation. If others refuse to obey her, she must
force them to submit either through social maneuver-
ing or violence.
Duration: Session. This ends if Pakpao suffers a sig-
nificant defeat or setback as a result of her need for
control.
Longevity and Death
The Puppeteer has a lifespan of a few centuries. When
she dies, the gossamer strand of her Exaltation will
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER

VENUES OF INTRIGUE

Zhaojūn provides a built-in context for Pakpao’s political intrigues, but players and Storytellers should feel
free to relocate her to suit the needs of their game. Possibilities include:

• Pakpao can be transplated to Great Forks with few changes: Daopei would be an official in the Commission
of Unquestionable Justice (p. XX), while Karana’s defeat came at the hands of a rival god rather than the Im-
maculate Order.

• On the Blessed Isle, Pakpao might be a patrician married to a mortal Dynast, playing the Scarlet Dynasty’s
games of intrigue. The Cult of the Marionette would be much smaller in the Immaculate Order’s heartland,
perhaps a folk heresy spanning only a few villages or a prefecture.

• In Brightwork (Exalted
(Exalted,, p. 104) or elsewhere in the Azurite Empire, Pakpao might be either a native of a
colonized island, a child of a lowborn Azurite clan, or an escaped slave. Daopei would be a judge in Azure’s
magistracy, while Karana’s cult was proscribed by Azurite law. The Cult of the Marionette might be replaced
by a Tya chapterhouse whose inner circle reveres Karana as their patron

• In Fortitude (Exalted
(Exalted,, 82), Pakpao might be a more vicious figure, fitting the oft-violent politics of the ruling
gangs. Daopei might be a member of middling status in a prominent gang, like the God Killers or the Storm
Boys, or the leader of minor gang. Karana is a poor fit for a spirit native to Fortitude; he and his cult might hail
from a neighboring satrapy.

unspool from her soul and return to Karana to be spun • Securing direct or indirect control over a signif-
again. Whether there were any other Puppeteers be- icant organization, or substantially increasing
fore Pakpao is up to her player and the Storyteller. her existing control.

• Turning two significant enemies, rivals, or other

Character Advancement opposing forces against each other.
The Puppeteer uses Terrestrial advancement rules (p. XX). • Upholding a Major or Defining Tie using under-
handed, illegal, or subtle means, like infiltration,
Exigent Bonus theft, deception, or blackmail.

The Puppeteer receives Expression Bonuses (p. XX) as

normal and can earn a Role Bonus of 2 Exigent expe-
rience by:
• Intentionally ceding the “spotlight” of a scene’s
focus to another player character so that he can
express his character concept in an interesting
and dramatic fashion, or directly supporting
him in such a moment.
• Using a performance to advance her or her
Circle’s goals.
• Compromising someone in a position of power
— through blackmail, long-term manipulation,
Psyche effects, or the like — such that he’s will-
ing to abuse his authority and neglect his re-
sponsibilities to serve her agenda.
Charms
The Puppeteer’s Charms empower her not only as
a master of literal puppets, but also as a formidable
schemer and strategist, manipulating others and
planning ten steps ahead. Karana’s spider-like nature
is reflected in her Charms as well, letting her climb up
walls, swing on strings of Essence, or snare her ene-
mies within silken webs.
Excellencies
The Puppeteer can purchase Excellencies for each of
the Attributes. She receives two for free at character
creation; Excellencies beyond these must be purchased
separately. The maximum number of dice she can add
depends on the type of action she takes: (Dexterity +

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
specialty) for physical actions, (Manipulation + spe-
cialty) for social actions, and (Wits + specialty) for
mental actions. Automatic successes count as two dice
towards this limit. Static values like Evasion or Resolve
can be raised by half her dice cap, rounded down.
Unlike Exalted with Attribute-based Charms, Pakpao
can’t use the Strength Excellency to bolster damage
rolls or the Stamina Excellency to increase her soak.
Puppets and Crafting
Creating a puppet is a crafting project — typically a
basic project, though large or especially complicated
puppets may require a major project (Exalted, p. 240).
It’s also possible to create artifact puppets with supe-
rior and legendary projects; see page XX for examples.
Common Crafts used in creating puppets include
Carpentry, Dollmaking, or other Crafts appropriate to
the materials used.
Creation’s most elephantine puppets — those with
Legendary Size, requiring Poppet Titan Mastery (p.
XX) to animate — normally require teams of puppe-
teers to operate. They are exceedingly rare, typically
seen only at major festivals, certain religious ceremo-
nies, and the entertainment of the exceedingly wealthy.
Creating a Legendary Size puppet is a mundane supe-
rior project (Exalted, p. 241)
Corpse-Puppet Reanimation (p. XX) lets Pakpao an-
imate zombies as puppets; Statue-Awakening Strings
(p. XX) lets her animate various inanimate objects.
When Pakpao uses Puppeteer Charms that use craft-
ing projects to improve her puppets, she uses Medicine
for zombie puppets and the appropriate Craft for ani-
mated objects.
Puppetry Charms
Dancing Puppet Artistry
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao’s imbues one of her puppets with artistry and
grace beyond what any mortal hands could achieve.
Pakpao waives Mistress of Puppets’s cost (p. XX) and can
negate penalties for lacking appropriate equipment with
a stunt — e.g., picking a lock with a poppet’s spindly fin-
gers. If the puppet is particularly appropriate to the task,
it counts as exceptional equipment (Exalted, p. 580).
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EX3
Iron Rod Spine
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Dancing Puppet Artistry
Pakpao’s Essence suffuses her puppets with incredible
strength, allowing wood and wire to crack stone and
bend metal.
Pakpao can use Mistress of Puppets to make feats of
strength. If the puppet she’s using has Tiny Creature
or Minuscule Size (p. XX), she halves her Strength to
determine what feats it can attempt. If she controls a
Legendary Size puppet with Poppet Titan Mastery (p.
XX), she adds +5 to her effective Strength.
While Dancing Puppet Artistry is active, Pakpao adds
+1 to her effective Strength.
Killer Puppet Approach
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Uniform, Versatile
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Dancing Puppet Artistry
Pakpao draws no distinction between puppets and
weapons.
Pakpao can use Mistress of Puppets to make attacks.
Living Puppet Performance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Killer Puppet Approach
Any puppeteer can make a puppet seem to come alive;
Pakpao goes a step further, bringing her marionettes
to life with a combination of skillful puppeteering and
Essence.
Pakpao animates a puppet within close range under
her player’s control. Most use animated puppet traits;
those with animal shapes or other unusual designs
might have unique traits comparable to one-dot fa-
miliars (Exalted, p. 161). She can’t animate Legendary
Size puppets without Poppet Titan Mastery (p. XX).
Threads of Essence visibly connect the animated pup-
pet to Pakpao.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
ANIMATED PUPPETS
These traits can be used for animated puppets
that are roughly humanoid in form. They encom-
pass both poppets — puppets no larger than
a housecat, with the Tiny Creature Merit — and
mannequins, which range in size from a housecat
to a human.
Essence: 1; Willpower: 1; Join Battle: 5 dice
Health Levels: −0/−1/−2x2/−4/Incap. (Poppet);
−0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap. (Mannequin)
Actions: Appear Inanimate: 10 dice; Feats of
Strength: 8 dice (may attempt Strength 3 feats)
(Mannequin only); Fit Through Small Spaces: 8
dice (Poppet only); Senses: 5 dice; Stealth: 8 dice
for poppets (see Tiny Creature), 5 dice for manne-
quins; Threaten: 4 dice.
Appearance 1, Resolve 1, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 10 dice (Poppet: Damage 2B,
9B against enemies their size or smaller; Manne-
quin: Damage 12B)
Attack (Grapple): 7 dice (Poppet: 5 dice to con-
trol, can only grapple enemies their size or small-
er and can only savage grappled foes; Mannequin:
8 dice to control)
Combat Movement: 8 dice
Evasion: 3 for poppets (see Tiny Creature); 2 for
mannequins
Parry: 1 for poppets; 4 for mannequins.
Soak/Hardness: 1/0 for poppets; 8/0 for manne-
quins.
MERITS
Automaton: Puppets are immune to poison, dis-
ease, fatigue, and fear and have no need to eat,
drink, breathe, or sleep.
Mindless: Puppets treat all social influence as
unacceptable and have perfect morale.
Tiny Creature (Poppet only): Add +2 Evasion
against larger foes’ attacks. Larger characters
subtract two successes from Awareness-based
rolls to notice puppets.
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EX3
Pakpao can still use Mistress of Puppets to act through
an animated puppet with her own actions, using the
better of her or the puppet’s traits.
This Charm ends if a puppet goes beyond short range
from her, but they can use reflexive move actions
outside of their turn in combat to follow her when
she moves. Likewise, this Charm ends if Pakpao’s
incapacitated.
Pakpao can stack this Charm to animate multiple
puppets.
Corpse-Puppet Reanimation
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
Pakpao threads invisible strings of Essence through a
corpse, raising it as a shambling marionette.
Pakpao can use Living Puppet Performance on human
and human-like corpse to reanimate them as zombies
(Exalted, p. 502) that also count as animated puppets
(including the range restriction). Additionally, she
counts corpses as puppets for purposes of her other
Charms that involve them.
This Charm doesn’t halt the normal process of decay.
If Pakpao creates a corpse-puppet shortly after some-
one’s death, it might pass as alive for a few days, as long
as it doesn’t need to speak, but it will decay unless she
uses Impervious Poppet Technique (p. XX).
With an Essence 2 repurchase, Pakpao may pay a
three-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to create a su-
perior corpse-puppet that retains some of its former
intellect and the power of speech. It loses the Mindless
Merit and can use mundane traits it had in life in place
of zombie traits if they’re better. The Storyteller may
reduce these traits for deteriorated or dismembered
corpses.
Exquisite Mannequin Construction
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 2xp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
Rebuilding her puppets with skillful hands, Pakpao turns
the crudest of children’s toys into masterpieces worthy
of her craft.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Pakpao undertakes a major project (Exalted, p. 240)
to improve a puppet. It has difficulty 3 and takes one
week to complete. Success grants her puppet the fol-
lowing benefits while animated:
• +1 die on all physical dice pools.
• Five dots of mutations that reflect modifications
to the puppet’s construction — Unusual Hide or
Wings are valid options, but not Venomous.
• +2 soak and Hardness 4.
• Two additional −4 health levels.
A given puppet can only benefit from this Charm once.
This Charm’s experience point cost is waived the first
time Pakpao uses it. If an improved puppet is perma-
nently lost or destroyed, Pakpao regains all experience
spent enhancing it.
Menacing Puppet Ensemble
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
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EX3
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Killer Puppet Approach
Pakpao’s puppets move in on her foes with an eerie syn-
chrony, attacking with coordination beyond any living
pack hunter.
When Pakpao attacks through a puppet or one of her
animated puppets makes an attack, she adds the target’s
onslaught penalty, maximum (higher of her Essence or 3),
to the raw damage of a withering attack or adds that many
attack roll extra successes as dice of decisive damage.
Against enemies with an onslaught penalty of −2
or higher, animated puppets with Tiny Creature or
Minuscule Size ignore those Merits’ restrictions on
withering damage.
Effortless String-Pulling Mastery
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One tick
Prerequisite Charms: None
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Countless strings trail from Pakpao’s fingertips, con-
trolling her many puppets with the slightest of motions.
When Pakpao makes a flurry that includes a pup-
petry-based Performance action or an action taken
through a puppet, she reduces the penalty on each
flurried action by one and ignores the Defense penalty.
Ship-Self Puppetry
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Pilot
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Dancing Puppet Artistry,
Effortless String-Pulling Mastery
Pakpao crews a ship by herself, winding threads of
Essence through its rigging to make it her puppet.
Pakpao reduces penalties on Sail rolls or similar pilot-
ing rolls from poorly trained or insufficient crew by
(Essence), and she can take actions that would normal-
ly be impossible without sufficient crew. Vessels may
receive a +1 Speed bonus if going without crew frees up
a significant amount of weight.
If Pakpao has made the ship her lair with The Spider in
Her Web, she negates such penalties entirely.
Jumbled Toy Chest Silhouettes
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao bids one of her puppets sink into her shadow,
vanishing from the stage until she has need of it.
Pakpao banishes a puppet Elsewhere until she recalls
it from her shadow with a second use of this Charm.
Pakpao can banish Legendary Size puppets if she
knows Poppet Titan Mastery (p. XX), but this requires
a four-mote, one-Willpower surcharge and takes ten
minutes to absorb it into her shadow.
Characters capable of perceiving the dematerialized
can see the banished puppets as silhouetted figures
clambering within Pakpao’s shadow. She may have up
to (Essence x3) puppets Elsewhere at any given time.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, Pakpao may pay a three-
mote surcharge to banish or recall any object light enough
to hold in her hands or wear. If she recalls banished ar-
mor, she must still don it normally (Exalted, p. 591).
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EX3
With a third purchase at Essence 3, Pakpao may pay
a three-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to hide a
willing character no larger than her within her shad-
ow. He may emerge as a miscellaneous movement
action, without needing her to use this Charm again.
Pakpao’s shadow is inhospitable to life; characters
who need to breathe will suffocate if they remain
within it for more than (Stamina) hours, choking on
shadowy darkness.
Spider’s Cunning Strings
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Puppeteer spins threads of Essence to snag whatever
strategy, happenstance, or drama has kept from her.
Pakpao can use this Charm on her turn to cast a strand
at an unattended object that she could hold in her
hands or wear within short range, rolling ([Dexterity
or Wits] + [an appropriate Craft, Larceny, or Thrown])
at difficulty 2. If an enemy is within close range of
that object, he can oppose her roll with (Dexterity +
Athletics). If Pakpao succeeds, she pulls that object to
her, catching it at the start of her next turn. There must
be an unobstructed path for it to reach her. If Pakpao
uses this Charm on a puppet, she can retrieve it even if
she fails the roll; success pulls it to her instantly.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration
(p. XX), she may pay a two-mote surcharge to extend
this Charm’s range to medium.
Silken Lariat Technique
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dual, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spider’s Cunning Strings
The Puppeteer bedevils her foes with countless threads
of Essence.
Pakpao makes a withering or decisive attack against
an enemy within short range. Her threads are light
weapons (Accuracy +5 Close, +4 Short, +3 Medium, −0
Long, −2 Extreme; Damage +7, Overwhelming 1) with
the Bashing, Thrown (Short), Disarming, Flexible, and
Grappling tags. If she grapples an enemy from beyond
close range, she can only take restrain or drag actions,
and enemies can sever the thread — ending the grapple
— with a difficulty 3 gambit rolled against a Defense
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
of (higher of her Essence or 3). She can’t improve this
Defense with Charms.
Alternatively, Pakpao can weave a whip or sling (Exalted,
pp. 582, 587) from threads, reflexively readying it.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
she may pay a two-mote surcharge to extend an at-
tack’s range to medium.
Special activation rules: This Charm may be flurried.
Leash-Tugging Gesture
Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Decisive-only, Versatile
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Silken Lariat Technique
Pakpao snares distant foes with strands of Essence,
drawing them inexorably toward her.
Pakpao may pay a three-mote surcharge when she uses
Silken Lariat Technique to grapple from beyond close
range, instantly dragging her target into close range. If
she immediately ends the grapple to make a throw or
slam, she adds (Dexterity) to the number of forfeited
rounds of control she can benefit from.
Web-Spun Seal
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Spider’s Cunning Strings
Weaving strings around a portal or container, the
Puppeteer seals it shut.
Touching a door, window, container, or similar open-
ing, Pakpao adds +2 difficulty on lockpicking rolls,
feats of demolition, or other rolls to open or bypass it.
If a character fails a roll, Pakpao senses that someone’s
attempted to interfere with her seal.
If the Puppeteer knows God-Binding Strings (p. XX),
she can use this Charm on the entry to a god’s sanctum
or similar mystical portals, like a sorcerous gateway to
Hell, barring passage in both directions for one day. She
rolls (Wits + Occult) to determine the seal’s strength.
A character can make an opposed (Intelligence +
Occult) roll to break the seal; failure alerts Pakpao as
above. Characters whose Essence exceeds Pakpao’s
may spend one Willpower to pass through even after a
failed roll, but this doesn’t break the seal.
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EX3
This Charm can be stacked to seal up to (Essence x2)
openings.
Countless Puppets Chorus
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
Pakpao brings her performances to life with a cast of
living puppets, spinning countless strings of Essence to
animate her dramatis personae.
Pakpao reduces the base cost of activations of Living
Puppet Performance past the first to one mote. If she
ends the first commitment, she must commit enough
motes to bring another attunement to its full cost, or all
discounted uses end.
Dreaming Marionette Trance
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
Stilling her mind, the Puppeteer becomes her puppet.
Pakpao enters a state of meditation in which she proj-
ects her consciousness into a puppet, animating it as per
Living Puppet Performance, except that it need not re-
main within range of her body. She perceives the world
through the puppet’s senses; she’s still able to perceive
her surroundings but suffers a −3 penalty to do.
This Charm ends if Pakpao ceases meditating. If her
body is slain, her soul remains bound within the pup-
pet, animating it indefinitely, though her Exaltation
still returns to Karana. If she’s not the first Puppeteer,
Pakpao might encounter predecessors who’ve met this
fate as mentors, enemies, or narrative foils.
Lengthening Strings Concentration
Cost: —(+1m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
The Puppeteer has learned to wield her subtle strings
from greater distances.
Pakpao extends Living Puppet Performance’s range
to medium. Additionally, she can pay a one-mote,
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
one-Willpower surcharge to extend Mistress of
Puppets’ range to medium.
With Essence 3, both benefits extend to long range.
Smiling Assistant Approach
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lengthening Strings
Concentration
Granting an ally a measure of her own finesse, Pakpao
appoints him as her assistant puppeteer.
Pakpao passes control of one of her animated puppets
to an ally within close range; that puppet’s range be-
comes tied to that character rather than Pakpao. She
can still use Mistress of Puppets to allow her assistant
to act through the puppet but can’t do so herself.
With Puppet-God Awakening (p. XX), Pakpao’s assis-
tant can pay that Charm’s surcharge to use his magic
through the puppet, but Pakpao can’t do so.
Second Self Incarnation
Cost: —(3a); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
Pakpao’s puppets are an extension of her, her strings
seamlessly joining flesh with wood.
When Pakpao uses Mistress of Puppets (p. XX), its
cost is reduced to one mote and she isn’t limited by her
(Dexterity + Performance). If the puppet’s dice pool
for the action exceeds Pakpao’s own, her 10s reroll
non-1 failures.
At bonfire anima, Pakpao may expend her anima ban-
ner to add a free full Excellency on her roll.
Unseen String Confiscation
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Mute, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spider’s Cunning Strings
With the eye of a well-practiced thief, the Puppeteer uses
invisible strings to lift a purse or retrieve a key from a
guard’s belt.
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EX3
Pakpao uses her threads to make a disarm gambit or
pickpocketing roll against a character within short
range, rolling ([Dexterity or Wits] + [an appropriate
Craft, Larceny, or Thrown]). If she succeeds, other
characters can’t notice this theft for up to one minute
or (Essence) rounds in combat, unless circumstances
call attention to it, like trying to draw a stolen blade.
If Pakpao makes a disarm gambit with Silken Lariat
Technique (p. XX), she can use this Charm reflexively
with it to double 9s on the attack roll and waive the
gambit’s Initiative cost.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
she may pay a two-mote surcharge to extend this
Charm’s range to medium.
Reset: Once per scene.
Wooden Squire Strategy
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
Pakpao’s strings thrum in time with her battle-rhythm, a
conduit along which she and her puppets may share their
momentum.
After an animated puppet deals withering damage,
Pakpao can activate this Charm to transfer up to half
of the Initiative awarded by the attack, rounded up,
to herself. Alternatively, she can use it after she deals
withering damage to transfer Initiative to an animat-
ed puppet.
Reset: Once per round.
Puppet-God Awakening
Cost: —(+2m); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Second Self Incarnation
Divine Essence flows through Pakpao’s strings, raising
up her puppets and empowering them as Karana blessed
her.
Pakpao can use Supplemental and Reflexive Puppeteer
Charms with instant duration to enhance animated
puppets’ actions, paying a two-mote surcharge for
each Charm.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
If Pakpao possesses a puppet using Dreaming
Marionette Trance, she waives this surcharge and can
use Simple Charms through it as well. She’s not limited
to instant-duration Charms.
Statue-Awakening Strings
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Performance
The Puppeteer’s strings control stone and steel, bidding
statues walk off their pedestals to serve as her puppets.
Pakpao may pay a one-Willpower surcharge to use Living
Puppet Performance on statues and similar inanimate
objects with roughly human- or animal-like forms.
Animated objects using walking statue traits (Exalted, p.
500) and gain the Mindless Merit (p. XX). They count as
animated puppets (including the range restriction).
At the Storyteller’s discretion, specific animated ob-
ject’s traits may vary based on unusual features or the
materials used to make it — a statue of a dog might use
some of a dog’s special abilities and Merits; a scarecrow
might have fewer health levels and lower soak and
Hardness but higher Evasion and combat movement.
Additionally, Pakpao counts such objects as puppets
for purposes of her other Charms.
Living Shadow Pantomime
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Statue-Awakening Strings
Flexing her hands into impossible shapes, the Puppeteer’s
strings attach themselves to her foe’s shadow, dragging it
up from the ground to serve her.
Pakpao binds the shadow of a character within close
range, rolling (Manipulation + [an appropriate Craft,
Larceny, or Performance]) against his (higher of
Defense or Resolve) if he’s unwilling. Binding the
shadows of Legendary Size characters requires using
Poppet Titan Mastery (p. XX).
Shadow puppets use the Attributes, Abilities, special-
ties (or dice pools, for Quick Characters), Willpower,
health track, and Innate Merits of the characters
they belong to, and have mundane copies of their
equipment. They have Essence 1 and can’t use the
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original character’s magic or other traits. They count
as animated puppets (including the range restriction).
Additionally, they gain the following Merits:
• Dark Antagonism: Shadow puppets double 9s
on rolls opposing the character they belong to
and add +1 to all static values against that char-
acter’s actions.
• Living Shadow: Shadow puppets halve all de-
cisive damage dealt to them; attacks capable of
striking dematerialized characters ignore this.
Shadow puppets are immune to poison, disease,
and fatigue.
• Mindless: Shadow puppets treat all social influ-
ence as unacceptable and have perfect morale.
• Vanishing Shade: Shadow puppets double 9s on
Stealth rolls that benefit from darkness-based
concealment and on Larceny rolls made oppos-
ing a character who suffers a darkness-based
penalty.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
its range bonus applies to this Charm’s initial roll.
Unwilling Puppet Binding
Cost: 5m, 5i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: (1 + extra successes) rounds
Prerequisite Charms: Corpse-Puppet Reanimation,
Living Shadow Pantomime
Pakpao’s threads burrow into flesh and weave them-
selves among nerve and sinew, turning enemies into
helpless puppets dancing on her strings.
Pakpao rolls (Manipulation + [an appropriate Craft,
Larceny, or Thrown]) against the Defense of a crashed
enemy or trivial foe within short range. Success binds
him for (1 + extra successes) rounds. He counts as an
animated puppet for purposes of her Charms, but the
effects of Living Puppet Performance (including its
range limit) don’t apply. Binding Legendary Size ene-
mies requires using Poppet Titan Mastery (p. XX).
On each of the bound enemy’s turns, Pakpao may force
him to take a physical action or speech-based social
action of her choice, although she can’t force him to
use magic. If he wishes to take another action on his
turn, he must flurry. He can flurry actions that would
normally be incompatible, like two attacks, and com-
pelled actions never count as his attack or movement
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
action for the round. If Pakpao forces him to violate
one of his Major or Defining Intimacies, he may spend
one Willpower to resist, though it still counts against
his actions for that turn.
If Pakpao uses this Charm on an Exalt or other super-
natural character, she must use a miscellaneous action
on each of her turns to maintain the binding, which
counts as her attack for the round. If she doesn’t do
so, he acts freely on his next turn, though this Charm
doesn’t end.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration
(p. XX), its range bonus applies to this Charm.
Soul-Pattern Acquisition
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unwilling Puppet Binding
None can return the dead to life, but the Puppeteer’s
strings can snare the soul as the moment of death, trap-
ping it within the endless coils of her Essence until she
has need of it.
Pakpao can use this Charm when she or one of her
puppets kills a living character or when a willing living
character dies within long range of her. The deceased’s
higher soul (or similar, for non-humans) is bound, un-
able to pass on to Lethe or linger as a ghost.
When Pakpao uses Living Puppet Performance, she
may pay a five-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to im-
bue the puppet with the bound soul. The puppet uses
that character’s former social and mental Attributes,
Abilities, specialties (or social and mental dice pools,
for Quick Characters), and Willpower if they’re better
than its own. It can’t use his magic or other traits. The
soul controls the puppet, affording it a measure of
agency, but it suffers an unbreakable and unalterable
Defining Tie of obedience to Pakpao. However, this
affords an opportunity to free a trapped soul — if the
puppet is incapacitated by an attack capable of perma-
nently destroying spirits, like Ghost-Eating Technique
(Exalted, p. 354), the soul is destroyed…unless Pakpao
knows Broken Toy Revenge (p. XX).
If Pakpao knows God-Binding Strings (p. XX), she can
use this Charm when she or her puppets incapacitate
a ghost (without needing to use magic to destroy
it permanently) or when a ghost within long range
would pass on to Lethe. Uniquely powerful ghosts like
Deathlords are immune to this Charm.
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EX3
Pakpao can have up to (Essence) souls bound at a time.
She may choose to release a soul from this durance;
otherwise, they escape only upon her death.
Wooden Legion Cavalcade
Cost: —(+7m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Countless Puppets Chorus,
Menacing Puppet Ensemble
A single puppet isn’t enough for Pakpao’s artistic ambi-
tions; streaming countless threads from her hands, she
brings an army to life.
When Pakpao uses Living Puppet Performance, she
may pay a seven-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to
animate enough puppets to form a battle group of up
to Size (Wits/2, round up), with elite Drill and perfect
morale (Exalted, pp. 206-207, 210). It can’t benefit
from command actions by characters other than
Pakpao, unless she uses Smiling Assistant Approach to
pass control of the battle group to an ally.
Parading Puppet Formation
Cost: —(3i); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Wooden Legion Cavalcade
Pakpao’s puppet army marches in perfect synchrony, a
single will pulling ten thousand strings.
Pakpao doubles 9s on command actions targeting pup-
pet battle groups and can flurry them with non-attack
actions. For three Initiative, an order roll adds one die
per two successes to the battle group’s damage roll, maxi-
mum (Pakpao’s War), in addition to the attack roll bonus.
Strings of Stolen Divinity
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Puppet-God Awakening, Soul-
Pattern Acquisition
The souls trapped in Pakpao’s web shine with the last
embers of their power, imbuing her puppets with echoes
of what they once were.
When Pakpao uses Soul-Pattern Acquisition on a supernat-
ural being, she may choose up to (Essence) of his Charms
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
to preserve along with his soul. When she imbues that soul
into an animated puppet, it gains those Charms, though
Pakpao must pay their costs for him to use them. Pakpao
can’t combine these with her own Charms to enhance the
same action when she uses Puppet-God Awakening unless
all of the puppet’s Charms used are Eclipse Charms.
Soul Doll Exaltation
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Dreaming Marionette Trance,
Strings of Stolen Divinity
Unspooling her own soul and binding herself to an or-
nate ritual doll, Pakpao imbues it with an echo of her
own Essence and consciousness, that she might keep her
own counsel.
As part of the training time to learn this Charm,
Pakpao must undertake a mundane superior project
(Exalted, p. 243) to create a legendary masterpiece
of a puppet, her soul doll, from precious metals, fine
wood, gemstones, and potentially magical materials
and other exotic components. It must be small enough
to use poppet traits (p. XX).
Upon learning this Charm, the puppet is imbued with a
fragment of Pakpao’s soul. It’s permanently animated as
per Living Puppet Performance and receives the ben-
efits of Pakpao’s traits as per Soul-Pattern Acquisition.
It also gains (Pakpao’s Essence) Puppeteer Charms
that she knows and a pool of ten motes. Pakpao can still
pay those Charm’s costs on the doll’s behalf.
Living Puppet Performance’s range limit doesn’t
apply to the soul doll. When Pakpao uses Dreaming
Marionette Trance to possess it, she can continue to
act normally through her body.
Upon its creation, the soul doll has a perfect replica
of Pakpao’s consciousness and all her Intimacies.
However, it’s an entirely separate character, and may
grow and change in different ways than Pakpao does.
The soul doll counts as an artifact, though no attune-
ment cost is required. Pakpao can awaken Evocations
from it that reflect her personality, that of her soul
fragment (if it’s diverged from hers), and the materials
incorporated into the puppet.
Poppet Titan Mastery
Cost: —(+5m, 1wp; 5m, 1wp per turn); Mins: Essence 5
Type: Permanent
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GIANT PUPPETS
Essence: 1; Willpower: 1; Join Battle: 10 dice
Health Levels: −0x2/−1x5/−2x5/−4x10/Incap.
Actions: Appear Inanimate: 6 dice; Feats of
Strength: 14 dice (may attempt Strength 10 feats,
see Incredible Strength); Senses: 10 dice; Threat-
en: 12 dice.
Appearance 1, Resolve 1, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 12 dice (Damage 18B/5)
Attack (Grapple): 10 dice (10 dice to control;
giant puppets make unopposed control rolls
against smaller enemies unless they use magic
like Dragon Coil Technique.)
Combat Movement: 8 dice
Evasion 1, Parry 6
Soak/Hardness: 15/5
Merits
Automaton: Giant puppets are immune to poi-
son, disease, fatigue, and fear and have no need
to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep.
Incredible Might: Giant puppets double 8s on
feats of strength.
Legendary Size: Giant puppets suffer no on-
slaught penalties from the smaller enemies’
attacks unless inflicted by magic. They can’t be
crashed by smaller enemies’ withering attacks
unless they have 10+ post-soak damage, al-
though attackers gain the full amount of Initiative
damage dealt. Smaller enemies’ decisive attacks
can’t deal more than (attacker’s Strength + 3) lev-
els of damage to it, not counting levels added by
magic.
Mindless: Giant puppets treat all social influence
as unacceptable and have perfect morale.
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Iron Rod Spine, Lengthening
Strings Concentration, Wooden Legion Cavalcade
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Wooden giants and ersatz behemoths dance at Pakpao’s
will, maneuvered on countless strings that spill from her
anima to puppeteer such titans.
Pakpao may pay a five-mote, one-Willpower surcharge
when she uses Living Puppet Performance to animate
a Legendary Size puppet. Most use giant puppet traits;
those with unusual designs might have unique traits
comparable to three-dot familiars (Exalted, p. 161).
On each subsequent turn, Pakpao must pay five motes,
one Willpower and take a miscellaneous action to
control the puppet. This counts as her attack for the
round. If she doesn’t, the puppet’s next turn is skipped.
With Charms like Corpse-Puppet Reanimation or
Statute-Awakening Stringers, Poppet Titan Mastery
can be used to puppeteer the likes of undead giants,
colossal statues, and unpiloted warstriders.
Poppet Titan Mastery can also be used to enhance
Charms like Living Shadow Pantomime or Unwilling
Puppet Binding, letting Pakpao use them against
Legendary Size characters. The action needed to
control Legendary Size puppets replaces the one for
Unwilling Puppet Binding.
Lair Charms
The Spider in Her Web
Cost: 4m, 1wp (1m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao learned long ago that there’s no such thing as
safety, but with sufficient planning and paranoid vigi-
lance, she can make her lair a refuge from her enemies.
Pakpao creates a lair as a basic Craft project (Exalted,
p. 240) that takes a day. The lair must be an enclosed or
self-contained space and can only be large enough to
hold up to (Essence + Manipulation) people. It confers
the following benefits:
• Finding it requires a (Perception + [Awareness,
Investigation, or Survival]) roll against difficulty
(Pakpao’s Manipulation/2, rounded up). Trivial
characters can’t roll to notice it.
• Attempts to trespass, like lockpicking or sneak-
ing past a guard, suffer a penalty of (Pakpao’s
Essence).
183
EX3
• Pakpao and her allies count as having an appli-
cable Awareness specialty for all rolls within it.
• Pakpao can still make Perception rolls to detect
threats while sleeping in the lair and ignores
penalties for being asleep. She instantly awakens
upon a successful roll.
This Charm can be stacked to maintain up to (higher
of Essence or 3) lairs. Uses past the first cost one mote,
one Willpower.
Silken Sail Meditation
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Pilot
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Ship-Self Puppetry, The
Spider in Her Web
Pakpao need not go without her lair if she takes to the
seas; her ship is her sanctum and refuge.
When Pakpao uses The Spider in Her Web to claim a
ship as her lair, it confers additional benefits:
• It gains +1 Speed.
• Boarding actions against it suffer a penalty of
(Pakpao’s Essence).
• Pakpao and her allies count as having an appli-
cable Sail specialty for all rolls aboard it. This
counts toward her crew’s Sail rating when de-
termining the modifier she receives from them
(Exalted, p. 244).
• Pakpao can’t fall overboard, arresting any such
fall with strings of Essence.
Cobweb Palace Majesty
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: The Spider in Her Web,
Spider’s Cunning Strings
A fly might be forgiven for not recognizing the danger
of a spider’s web; those who would trespass on Pakpao’s
lair or seek to confront her within have no excuse for
their folly.
Pakpao weaves a vast web within her lair as a basic proj-
ect that takes a few minutes to complete, though larger
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
lairs claimed with Spider-Queen’s Tower may take up
to an hour. If she’s created an expansive lair with Secret
Empress Dominion, she can only weave a web through
a portion of it comparable to the size of her lesser lairs.
Once the web is spun, her lair gains the following
benefits:
• When an enemy enters it, he must roll (Perception
+ Awareness) or (Dexterity + Dodge) at difficulty
(Pakpao’s Manipulation) or become entangled
(p. XX) for as long as he remains within the lair.
• Entangled enemies’ mobility penalties apply on
all rolls and static values within the lair.
• Pakpao waives the cost of Spider’s Cunning
Strings.
Spider-Queen’s Tower
Cost: —(+6m); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: The Spider in Her Web
As Pakpao’s ambitions prosper, she turns her eyes to
mansions, palaces, and flagships, seeking a lair worthy
of the Puppeteer.
Pakpao may pay a six-mote surcharge when she uses
The Spider in Her Web to create a lair large enough to
hold ([Essence + Manipulation] x10) people as a major
project that takes a week to complete. Alternatively,
she can make an attuned demesne or manse a lair
regardless of its size, even if it’s not enclosed. Such
lairs count as two toward the limit on how many the
Puppeteer can have.
Secret Empress Domain
Cost: 20m, 2wp, 20gxp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spider-Queen’s Tower
Not content with safety, Pakpao seeks control.
To use this Charm, Pakpao must first establish a lair
enhanced with Spider-Queen’s Tower. She can expand
her lair’s boundaries to encompass a contiguous re-
gion of up to (Essence x10) miles square by spending
a month cultivating her influence locally, establishing
bolt holes and safehouses, and mastering every detail of
the lay of the land. If her lair is a ship or similar vehicle,
184
EX3
she may instead claim a similarly sized region that she
travels through: a seaport, a stretch of a trade route, the
only oasis along a desert road and its surroundings, etc.
She can’t claim it as her lair if authorities within the re-
gion are actively attempting to suppress her influence
or stop her activities or if a supernatural being who
occupies the region doesn’t consent.
If Pakpao is able to successfully expand her influence,
the entire region becomes her lair and she’s awarded
(Essence, maximum 5) white points. She no longer
needs to maintain her mote commitment to The Spider
in Her Web to empower it. She can only have one per-
manent lair at a time; if she wishes to create a new one,
she must revoke the previous lair’s status.
Empire of the Spider-Goddess
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Secret Empress Domain
Not content with ruling as a queen, the Puppeteer
enshrines herself as a living god, reigning over her web-
bound domain with miracles both gross and subtle.
Pakpao can hear any prayers made within a permanent
lair created with Secret Empress Domain, no matter
who or what they’re made to. The Storyteller should
inform Pakpao’s player of any prayers that are relevant
to her. Gleaning useful information from these prayers
or seeking out a specific suppliant’s prayer requires a
(Perception + Occult) roll against whatever difficulty
the Storyteller deems appropriate, or the Guile of a
character whose secrets it would compromise.
Pakpao also gains additional benefits within her Secret
Empress Domain for each of the following Charms she
knows:
• Anchored to the Sky: While Pakpao is at the
apex of the string she’s anchored to the sky,
she may move the anchor point one range band
in any direction, drifting along with it, so long
as it remains within the lair. She can’t ascend
more than (Essence – 1) range bands above the
ground.
• Corpse-Puppet Reanimation: When someone
dies within the lair, he is immediately animated
as a corpse-puppet. Such zombies mindlessly act
out a pantomime of their former lives, laboring
without tire, unless Pakpao uses Living Puppet
Performance to take control of them. When not
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
actively puppeteered, they’re trivial enemies. If
Pakpao knows Impervious Poppet Technique, it
applies to these zombies.
• Ghost-Catching Net: Strands of Essence tangle
around dematerialized characters within the
lair, making them visible to all. Pakpao may ex-
empt her allies from this.
• Playhouse-Haunting Phantasm: Pakpao may
pay a five-mote surcharge to use Playhouse-
Haunting Phantasm to travel to any location
within the lair, regardless of range.
• Soul-Pattern Acquisition: Pakpao senses each
death within her lair and may use Soul-Pattern
Acquisition to capture the deceased’s soul re-
gardless of range. The Storyteller should only
inform Pakpao’s player of deaths when it’s rele-
vant to her or the narrative.
• Speaking Puppet Trick: Pakpao can speak
through any puppet within her lair, regardless
of range.
Offensive Charms
Arrow-Guiding Thread
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Strings of Essence tether the Puppeteer’s missiles to her,
letting her direct them in flight as if pulling a mario-
nette’s strings.
Pakpao’s ranged attack ignores one point of Defense
bonus from cover. If it’s withering, she can determine
its Accuracy bonus as if she were one range band closer
or further away from her target.
If Pakpao knows Killer Puppet Approach, she can
use this Charm to enhance non-ranged attacks made
through puppets.
Strings Drawn Taut
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Arrow-Guiding Thread
185
EX3
Pakpao builds tension to launch her missiles, whether
drawing back a bowstring or contracting her muscles as
she prepares to hurl a javelin.
Pakpao’s ranged attack adds (Essence) raw withering
damage or doubles 10s on a decisive damage roll. If she
crashes her enemy or deals 3+ decisive damage, she knocks
him back one range band. This Charm is incompatible with
weapons that don’t add Strength to withering damage.
If Pakpao knows Killer Puppet Approach, she can
use this Charm to enhance non-ranged attacks made
through puppets.
Empty Hands Reversal
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Tangling her enemy’s weapon with strings of Essence,
Pakpao plucks it from his hand.
When Pakpao makes a disarm gambit against an entan-
gled enemy or while using a Disarming weapon, she
doubles 9s on the attack and Initiative rolls.
If Pakpao uses Spider’s Cunning Strings (p. XX) on
the disarmed weapon, her target’s 1s and 2s subtract
successes on his roll opposing her.
Entangling Snare Technique
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Those caught in the Puppeteer’s threads struggle to es-
cape in vain.
Pakpao doubles 9s on the attack roll and Initiative roll
of an entangle gambit (p. XX).
A second purchase of this Charm halves the gambit’s
Initiative cost, rounded down. Against lower-Initiative
enemies, the Initiative cost is waived entirely.
Eightfold Weaver’s Embrace
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Strings of Essence trail from Pakpao’s fingers, binding Duration: Instant

her foe and reinforcing her grasp. Prerequisite Charms: Eightfold Weaver’s Embrace

Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a grap- Clinging tight to her foe, Pakpao refuses to be parted
ple control roll. If her foe is entangled (p. XX), she from him.
rerolls 5s as well.
When an enemy attacks Pakpao, she doesn’t lose
Lightning-Sharp Garotte a round of grapple control unless she’s damaged.
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1 Alternatively, she can restrain or drag a foe by expend-
Type: Supplemental ing only one round of grapple control.
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant Hidden Venom Palm
Prerequisite Charms: Eightfold Weaver’s Embrace Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Looping wires of Essence around her foe’s neck or joints, Keywords: None
the Puppeteer cuts through flesh. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao adds her current rounds of grapple control
as dice of post-soak damage on a withering savaging The Puppeteer’s foes may laugh off a glancing blow only
attack, maximum (Strength), or as dice on a decisive to discover that it’s far more insidious than it seemed.
savaging attack, maximum (Essence).
Pakpao reflexively poisons a weapon, even a Thrown
Iron Wire Reinforcement weapon that lacks the Poisonable tag. Alternatively,
Cost: 1m, 2i; Mins: Essence 1 she applies poison to an animated puppet within close
Type: Reflexive range, letting it convey that venom with its next deci-
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform sive attack.

186
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 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Knife-Twisting Subtlety
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Long accustomed to working from the shadows, the
Puppeteer has honed the art of secret murder to a science.
Pakpao adds (higher of Essence or 3) to a withering at-
tack’s Overwhelming rating or ignores that many points of
Hardness against a decisive attack. If it’s a surprise attack
or her enemy is entangled, she also adds (higher of Essence
or 3) dice of post-soak withering damage or adds dice equal
to the extra successes of her attack as decisive damage.
Unseen Strike Precision
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Knife-Twisting Subtlety
For those caught off-guard by the Puppeteer, a split sec-
ond is the difference between life and death.
Pakpao adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice
on a surprise attack.
Deadly Squad Tactics
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unseen Strike Precision
Seizing on an opening created by one of her allies, the
Puppeteer strikes with impossible speed.
When one of Pakpao’s allies would act before her in
a round, she may use this Charm to take her turn in
his place, with his player’s consent. He takes his turn
that round based on Pakpao’s Initiative at the time she
uses this Charm. If this lets her act before all enemies
and she makes an attack, it becomes a surprise attack
(Exalted, p. 203). If her ally then uses his turn to attack
the same enemy, it’s also a surprise attack.
Ruthless Mastermind Art
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
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EX3
The Puppeteer and her agents work in tandem to clear
the way for a devastating blow.
Pakpao adds (Wits) dice on a distract gambit’s attack
roll. If the gambit benefits an animated puppet, the
onslaught penalty inflicted by both the gambit and the
enhanced attack increase by one.
Averted Eyes Ambush
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Knife-Twisting Subtlety,
Ruthless Mastermind Art
Pakpao stands at the center of the battlefield’s chaos, us-
ing puppets and agents to overwhelm her enemy’s guard
and test his vulnerabilities.
On a successful distract gambit, the enhanced attack
becomes a surprise attack (Exalted, p. 203). If the ben-
eficiary is one of Pakpao’s puppets, she doesn’t lose the
Initiative granted to it.
Cunning Spider Craft
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Entangling Snare Technique,
any one of Eightfold Weaver’s Embrace, Empty Hands
Reversal, or Ruthless Mastermind Art
Pakpao weaves devious snares to trap her foes.
When Pakpao makes an entangle gambit, she can pay
a one-Willpower surcharge and +3 to the gambit’s dif-
ficulty to also apply the effect of another gambit, based
on which of this Charm’s prerequisites she has: grap-
ple for Eightfold Weaver’s Embrace, disarm for Empty
Hands Reversal, or distract for Ruthless Mastermind
Art.
If the Storyteller deems that circumstances make a
unique gambit possible, Pakpao can also combine it
with an entangle gambit, without needing a specific
Charm.
Behemoth-Leashing Tactic
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Iron Wire Reinforcement
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
There is no dragon or giant too large to be brought to heel
by the insistent tug of Pakpao’s threads.
Pakpao adds a free full Excellency on a grapple attack
roll against an entangled enemy (p. XX) and can clinch
him even if he has Legendary Size. She can’t slam or
throw Legendary Size foes.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by successfully
entangling a nontrivial enemy.
Haunted Carousel Storm
Cost: 5m, 4i, 1wp (4i per round); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Silken Lariat Technique,
Strings Drawn Taut, Unseen String Confiscation
Pakpao casts off countless strings, attaching them to
whatever debris or errant trinkets might be at hand and
spinning them around her to fill the air with flying perils.
Pakpao creates an environmental hazard with diffi-
culty (Dexterity or Wits) and Damage (Essence, maxi-
mum 5)/round. It extends out to close range from her
and follows her as she moves. The hazard’s damage is
typically bashing but may be lethal if the surrounding
debris is sufficiently dangerous. Pakpao receives light
cover (Exalted, p. 199) from this hazard. It also pro-
vides a constant supply of improvised ammunition
and thrown weapons, which she may ready reflexively.
She doesn’t suffer improvised weapon penalties when
using them.
Enemies can weaken this hazard by knocking aside the
debris attached to Pakpao’s strings with disarm gam-
bits, reducing its difficulty by one for each successful
gambit. These gambits are rolled against Defense
(Pakpao’s Essence); she can’t enhance this. If the haz-
ard’s difficulty is reduced to zero, this Charm ends.
Pakpao must pay four Initiative at the start of each
subsequent turn or this Charm ends.
With a repurchase, the hazard’s range extends to short.
Violent Knickknack Hurricane
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Haunted Carousel Storm
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Pakpao’s whirlwind of debris comes to a rapid halt,
launching everything on her strings at a single foe in a
coordinated barrage.
While using this Charm’s prerequisite, Pakpao may
end it to make an undodgeable (Dexterity + [Archery
or Thrown] decisive attack against an enemy within
medium range by flinging the gathered debris at him.
It has base damage (5 + hazard’s difficulty + attack
roll extra successes), ignoring Hardness. This doesn’t
include Pakpao’s Initiative or reset it.
An enemy damaged by this attack is knocked prone.
If he takes 3+ levels of damage, he’s buried under the
debris and can’t rise from prone until it’s been cleared
away with a Strength 3 feat of strength at difficulty
(Pakpao’s Stamina).
If Pakpao uses Haunted Carousel Storm again on her
next turn, she waives its initial Initiative and Willpower
cost (though not the recurring Initiative cost).
If Pakpao has Haunted Carousel Storm’s second pur-
chase, the attack’s range extends to long.
Jeweled Web Plunder
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Empty Hands Reversal, Knife-
Twisting Subtlety, Unseen String Confiscation
Those caught in Pakpao’s web are ripe for the picking.
Pakpao may pay a one-Willpower surcharge when she
uses Spider’s Cunning String to retrieve an artifact
weapon after a successful disarm gambit, breaking the
wielder’s attunement if successful. She may reflexively
attune to it.
Reset: Once per scene.
Trapdoor Shadow Binding
Cost: 10m, 5i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Iron Wire Reinforcement,
Jumbled Toy Chest Silhouettes (x3)
Countless strings of darkness emerge from Pakpao’s
shadow to enfold her helpless prey in a web of night
before dragging him into her shadow’s depths.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
While grappling an entangled enemy (p. XX), Pakpao
can use this Charm on her turn to trap him inside her
shadow for the remainder of the clinch. Pakpao doesn’t
suffer any penalties for grappling him and she doesn’t
lose rounds of control for being attacked or damaged
by other enemies. The only actions she can take against
him are holds and drags; doing so only costs her one
round of control. The only actions her victim can take
from within her shadow are attacks and influence rolls
against her, actions to interact with objects stored us-
ing Jumbled Toy Chest Silhouettes, or mental actions.
The victim’s disappearance goes unwitnessed by other
characters and he can’t be detected within the shadow
except by those capable of perceiving dematerialized
characters. Likewise, other characters are incapable
of attacking him or the like unless they use magic to
interact with the dematerialized.
If Pakpao knows Living Shadow Pantomime (p. XX),
she may use it reflexively with this Charm, animat-
ing her victim’s shadow without needing to roll. It
can attack him without needing magic to strike the
dematerialized.
Defensive Charms
Weaving Through the Fray
Cost: 1m, 1i; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao flits between blades and arrows as if hanging
from invisible strings.
Pakpao ignores up to one point of Defense penalty.
Against lower-Initiative enemies or entangled enemies
(p. XX), she ignores (Essence) points of penalty. This
can’t negate penalties from surprise attacks.
Anticipated Trick Approach
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Weaving Through the Fray
Those who’d trick the Puppeteer find her a difficult mark.
Pakpao adds +1 non-Charm Defense against a gambit.
If the gambit misses, the Initiative the attacker loses
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for missing increases to the gambit’s Initiative cost, if
it’s higher.
Using this Charm together with Weaving Through
the Fray waives that Charm’s Initiative cost and lets
Pakpao negate all penalties to her Defense (except
from surprise attacks). Such uses aren’t Perilous.
Discarded Puppet Sacrifice
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Weaving Through the Fray
Pakpao is no stranger to sacrifice; if she must cut loose a
puppet to survive, so be it.
When Pakpao’s attacked, she may allow a willing ally
within close range to intercede per the defend other
action. If an animated puppet defends Pakpao, it adds
(her Essence/2, rounded up) Parry. She can reflexively
drag a puppet into close range to protect her, without
counting as its move action.
Undaunted by Flies
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Those caught in the Puppeteer’s web pose little threat to
her.
When an entangled enemy attacks Pakpao, his mobility
penalty applies on his attack roll.
Captured Prey Humiliation
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Undaunted by Flies
Pakpao can’t help but savor her trapped foe’s futile at-
tempts to escape.
Pakpao adds +1 non-Charm Defense against an attack
made by an entangled enemy. If she successfully de-
fends, he loses Initiative equal to his mobility penalty
(including mobility penalties from sources other than
entanglement), maximum (Pakpao’s higher of Essence
or 3).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Cold-Hearted Betrayal Style
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Discarded Puppet Sacrifice
With cold calculation, the Puppeteer uses her allies as
human shields.
When an enemy attacks Pakpao while she’s protected by an
ally’s defend other and beats her protector’s Parry, he must
direct the attack against her protector, rather than her.
Spider-and-Frog Companionship
Cost: —(+2m); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Undaunted by Flies
Spinning her web across the battlefield, Pakpao defends
those closest to her heart.
Pakpao may pay a two-mote surcharge to use Undaunted
by Flies when an entangled enemy within short range
attacks one of her allies. If she uses this Charm to pro-
tect an animated puppet, she waives this surcharge.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
its range increase applies to this Charm as well.
Arrow-Gathering Web
Cost: 5m, 1i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Reflexive
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spider’s Cunning Strings,
Strings Drawn Taut, Weaving Through the Fray
The Puppeteer snags an arrow in flight and sends it hur-
tling in a new direction.
When an enemy within short range of Pakpao makes a
ranged attack against her, she clashes with a decisive
attack. If successful, she doesn’t roll damage or reset
Initiative; instead, that attack is redirected against an en-
emy within the lesser of that attack’s range or short range.
The attack and all effects enhancing it are rerolled, using
the same dice pool, against the new target. Any Initiative a
withering attack would grant the attacker goes to Pakpao
instead. This doesn’t count as her attack for the round.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
its range bonus applies to this Charm.
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Bone-Bending Puppetry Trick
Cost: 4m, 4i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Arrow-Gathering Web, Captured
Prey Humiliation, Unseen String Confiscation
As Pakpao’s foe moves to strike her, the strings wrapped
around his limbs twist and pull them awry.
After an entangled enemy’s attack roll hits Pakpao, but before
the damage roll, she can use this Charm to roll (Wits + [an
appropriate Craft, Larceny, or Thrown]), adding non-Charm
dice equal to his mobility penalty. Each success negates one
level of damage. If this reduces the attack’s damage to zero,
her attacker loses Initiative equal to any excess successes.
Reset: Once per day unless reset by succeeding on an
entangle gambit against a nontrivial enemy with 5+
extra successes on the Initiative roll.
Endurance and Healing Charms
Gallows Marionette Impression
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Suppressing her breath and heartbeat, Pakpao collapses
to the ground like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
Pakpao rolls ([Appearance or Stamina] + [Medicine,
Resistance, or Stealth]) to feign death. Wound penalties
add non-Charm dice on the roll instead of subtracting.
Characters can oppose this roll with (Perception +
[Awareness, Investigation, or Medicine]) to realize
Pakpao’s still alive. Moving, speaking, or taking overt
actions spoils this deception, although she may be able
to convince characters that previously failed to see
through the false death that she’s undead.
Living Puppet Reconstruction
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Not satisfied with her own Exalted body, the Puppeteer
replaces flesh and bone with burnished wood, carved
bamboo, polished ceramic, and iron wire.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Pakpao can purchase this Charm up to (Stamina) times.
Each purchase grants one of the following benefits:
• Body Without Breath: Pakpao can go up to
([Essence + Stamina + Resistance]) minutes
without air before suffocating, or (Essence +
[Stamina x2]) rounds in combat. With five pur-
chases of this Charm, she no longer needs to
breathe.
• Plague Victim’s Doll Approach: Pakpao adds a
bonus die on rolls against disease for each pur-
chase of this Charm.
• Pristine Porcelain Splendor: Pakpao adds a
bonus die on rolls against poison for each pur-
chase of this Charm.
• Puppet Never Sleeps: Pakpao no longer needs
sleep. She gains the benefits of a full night’s rest
from eight hours of any activity that doesn’t
require significant physical exertion. With
five purchases of this Charm, she’s immune
to fatigue penalties and needs only an hour of
low-exertion to gain the benefits of a night’s rest
— though she can still only do so once per day.
• Hollow Appetite Satiation: Pakpao adds (high-
er of Essence or 3) to her Stamina to determine
how long she can go before succumbing to star-
vation or dehydration (Exalted, p. 230). With
five purchases of this Charm, she no longer
needs to eat or drink.
With three purchases of this Charm, the Puppeteer
ceases to heal naturally, requiring the use of Cracked
Porcelain Restoration or other healing magic.
With five purchases, Pakpao ceases to age, prolonging
her lifespan indefinitely.
Cracked Porcelain Restoration
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Reconstruction
Pakpao has rebuilt her body once, and she’ll do it again,
as many times as she must, to fulfill her ambitions.
Pakpao can use puppet-making Crafts (p. XX) to repair
her own body, healing a level of bashing damage as a ba-
sic project or a level of lethal damage as a major project
(Exalted, p. 240). The roll’s difficulty is (Pakpao’s wound
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penalty + 1). The amount of time needed to complete the
project likewise depends on her current wound penalty:
ten minutes at −0, one hour at −1, four hours at −2, or
one day at −4. She can use Swift Dollmaker Style (p. XX)
to reduce this by one step (e.g., ten minutes at −1) or
complete the project instantly while at −0.
With three purchases of Living Puppet Reconstruction,
Pakpao can use this Charm to convert a level of aggravat-
ed damage to a level of lethal damage as a major project.
This Charm can also be used on automatons and similar
constructs if one of the above Crafts is involved in their
design, letting Pakpao repair damage as above rather
than using the normal process. With Statue-Awakening
Strings (p. XX), Pakpao can use it on automata of any
design and on Alchemical Exalted. With Corpse-Puppet
Reanimation (p. XX), she can repair zombies and simi-
lar corporeal undead, including Abyssals and Liminals.
Iterations of the Self
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Cracked Porcelain Restoration
Tinkering with her increasingly artificial body, the
Puppeteer remakes herself to better serve her agenda.
Pakpao can use Cracked Porcelain Restoration to
perform the following projects in addition to healing
damage:
• She may grant herself one dot of Appearance,
Dexterity, Perception, Stamina, or Strength as
a training effect (p. XX). This is a major project
with difficulty (current rating + 1) that takes
(current rating + 1) weeks — or that many days, if
she uses Swift Dollmaker Style (p. XX).
• She can grant herself a mutation with a rating of
up to (Stamina) dots as a training effect. It must
be compatible with a humanoid body plan — she
could gain Ambidextrous, Giant, Unusual Hide,
but not Extra Limbs or Wings. This is a major
project with difficulty (mutation dots) that takes
(mutation dots) days — or one hour, if she uses
Swift Dollmaker Style.
• She can make an alteration to one aspect of her
appearance: increasing or reducing her height
by up to 10 inches; increasing or decreasing her
weight by up to 10%; altering her apparent age;
changing or removing sexual characteristics;
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
changing skin tone, eye color, and hair color
and length; or a cosmetic change like adding
or removing scars or birthmarks. Small-scale
changes are difficulty 3 basic projects that take
an hour; alterations affecting Pakpao’s entire
body are difficulty 5 major projects that take a
day. Swift Dollmaker Style accelerates this proj-
ect per its usual effect.
Poppet-Mending Chirurgeon
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Cracked Porcelain Restoration
Experience has taught Pakpao that the differences be-
tween a puppet and a human body are negligible.
Pakpao can use Cracked Porcelain Restoration to heal
other characters. Those who benefit this may be left
with visible prosthetics or grafts of artificial material
— burnt skin patched over with cured leather, broken
bones extracted and replaced with sturdy wooden rods
that bulge under skin, etc. — at the discretion of that
character’s player. If this healing reduces her patient’s
wound penalty, Pakpao receives (higher of Essence or
3) silver points and one gold point in addition to any
received for completing the project.
Once a character has been treated with Cracked
Porcelain Restoration, he must receive at least a day of
bedrest or fully heal all damage before he can benefit
from it again.
With an Essence 2 repurchase of this Charm, Pakpao
may use Cracked Porcelain Restoration on others to
convey the benefits of Iterations of the Self, Phantom
Limb Reconstruction, or another such Charm that she
knows rather than healing damage.
Ox-Body Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Though she’s loath to test the limits of her endurance, the
Puppeteer is more durable than any mortal.
Pakpao gains additional health levels based on her
Stamina rating.
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• Stamina 1-2: Two −2 levels.
• Stamina 3-4: One −1 level and one −2 level.
• Stamina 5: Two −1 levels.
This Charm may be purchased (Stamina) times. If
the Puppeteer’s Stamina increases, her health levels
change to reflect her new rating.
Resilient Construction Technique
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Withering-only
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Living Puppet Reconstruction
or Ox-Body Technique
Essence suffuses Pakpao’s flesh with the resilience of
hardened wood and iron wire.
Pakpao adds a bonus to her natural soak equal to her
total purchases of Living Puppet Reconstruction or
Ox-Body Technique, whichever is higher. This isn’t
compatible with armor.
Phantom Limb Reconstruction
Cost: —(+5m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Cracked Porcelain Restoration
(x2), Iterations of the Self
Even the most gruesome injuries mean nothing to a liv-
ing puppet; why mourn what can be replaced?
Pakpao may pay a five-mote, one-Willpower surcharge
when she uses Cracked Porcelain Restoration to un-
dertake a project to repair one of her crippling injuries
as a mundane superior project, reattaching severed
limbs or replacing damaged body parts with sophisti-
cated prosthetics.
The project has a one-month interval and a difficulty,
goal number, and terminus based on the injury’s sever-
ity. For injuries that could be accepted to negate one or
two levels of damage (Exalted, p. 201), the project has
difficulty 5, goal number 20, and no terminus. For 3-4
level injuries, the project has difficulty 6, goal number
40, and terminus 15. For 5+ level injuries, it has difficul-
ty 7, goal number 60, and terminus 10.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER

Pakpao reduces the project’s difficulty by one for each
purchase of Living Puppet Reconstruction she has past the
first, and divides the project’s interval by the total number
of purchases she has. With three purchases, she can pay
silver points instead of gold for such projects; with five
purchases, the craft point cost is waived. She doesn’t gain
these benefits when repairing others’ crippling injuries.
Reset: Once per story.
Vital Organ Rearrangement
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Gallows Marionette
Impression, Living Puppet Reconstruction (x3)
The Puppeteer’s vital organs have been repositioned and
concealed in fortified compartments inside her heavily
rebuilt body, turning what should be fatal blows into
glancing injuries.
with medical treatment, as usual. If she survives until
the scene ends, her Incapacitated level heals.
To fatally wound Pakpao, an enemy who realizes she
isn’t dead must use a miscellaneous action to find
and destroy either her heart or brain, which can’t be
flurried. Being submerged in lava or suffering similarly
indiscriminate destructive force can also kill her.
The repositioning and fortification of Pakpao’s vitals
also renders her especially resilient to crippling effects
or other attacks that target specific organs, like Heart-
Ripping Claw (Exalted, p. 456) or jigsaw organ con-
dition. She gains +1 non-Charm Defense against such
effects and doubles 9s on rolls opposing them.
Self-Strung Marionette Anatomy
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Vital Organ Rearrangement

When Pakpao is incapacitated, she may use Gallows Pakpao’s body is no longer constrained by mortal anatomy,
Marionette Impression for free to fall into a death- a living masterpiece whose detachable limbs can be pup-
like torpor. She can’t act but isn’t at immediate risk of peteered with the strings that have replaced her nerve and
death, and can be brought back from incapacitation sinew.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

SELF-STRUNG MARIONETTE ANATOMY AND POWER LEVEL

Self-Strung Marionette Anatomy’s repurchase offers a defense against crippling injuries that’s even more
absolute than the best that Solars get, Unbreakable Warrior’s Mastery (Exalted, p. 378), even though the Pup-
peteer is weaker. Why does Pakpao get such a strong Charm? Being able to detach and control her limbs is a
flavorful combination of her core themes of puppetry and the extensive bodily transformations of the Charm’s
prerequisites. Being able to control your own severed limbs is such a logical (and exciting!) countermeasure
to crippling injuries that it makes sense to stretch the limits for Pakpao here. It’s also purely defensive and
personal in scale, making it much less likely that this disparity will ruin a player’s fun or have unwanted
consequences on the setting. Finally, it’s both more expensive than Unbreakable Warrior’s Mastery and has a
higher Essence minimum and more prerequisites, as appropriate for a more comprehensive defense.

Pakpao detaches a body part, which remains animated
and mobile. It’s not an independent character — she must
take any actions she wishes the body part to perform (and
can use Charms to benefit them), and attacks against it are
resolved as attacks against her. In all other respects, it’s
treated as an animated puppet (p. XX), including range
limits. While that body part is detached, Pakpao suffers
the effects of a corresponding crippling injury (Exalted, p.
201) on actions impeded by her rearranged anatomy. She
can reattach the body part with a miscellaneous action.
If Pakpao is separated from the detached body part —
e.g., if an enemy grapples it, drags it beyond the range
of her puppetry, and then runs off with it — it won’t
decay or deteriorate as long as this Charm remains
active. If she ends it prematurely, she loses the option
to reattach the body part and it decays normally. This
Charm can’t be forcibly ended by any means; only
Pakpao’s player can choose to end it.
on strands of Essence. If any roll is necessary for this
movement, Pakpao makes it reflexively and adds (high-
er of Essence or 3) dice.
She can also use this Charm to enhance her movement
along other ropes, wires, or threads, like maneuvering
through a ship’s rigging, walking a tightrope, or escaping
a spider’s web. She ignores difficult terrain from these.
Swift Exeunt Departure
Cost: 3m, 2i; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Along a Thread
When the time comes for her to leave the stage, the
Puppeteer doesn’t outstay her welcome, vanishing be-
hind the curtain.

With an Essence 4 repurchase, if Pakpao suffers a crip-
pling injury or similar dismemberment, she may pay
a five-mote surcharge to use this Charm reflexively
to both animate the severed body part and to let her
subsequently reattach it, as above.
Pakopao can use this Charm after defending against
an attack by a lower-Initiative enemy or an entangled
enemy to swing one range band in any direction on a
thread of Essence. This doesn’t count as her movement
action.

Dancing Spider Stride

Mobility Charms
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Along a Thread Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental
Prerequisite Charms: None
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant The Puppeteer moves with a speed and finesse beyond
Prerequisite Charms: None anything on only two legs.
The Puppeteer moves with the grace of a spider within When Pakpao makes a rush or disengage, her 10s sub-
her web. tract one die from opposing rolls, maximum (higher of
Essence or 3). Against entangled enemies (p. XX), 9s
Pakpao can use a reflexive move action to move one
also subtract dice.
range band in any direction, swinging or climbing

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 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER

Ascending Strand Approach Duration: Instant

Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Along a Thread, Dancing
Spider Stride
The Puppeteer isn’t bound by the invisible strings of
gravity as others are.
Pakpao can run up walls and other vertical surfaces,
even upside-down along a ceiling, as long as she main-
tains constant movement. However, she can’t use this
movement to disengage or withdraw. If she ends her
movement somewhere she couldn’t normally stand
and then fails to renew this Charm on her next turn,
she falls and suffers damage normally.
This Charm’s cost is waived when it’s used solely to
move up or along the underside of a thread, rope, wire,
or the like.
Invisible Strings Sway
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Puppeteer lurches upward unnaturally, as if she
danced from invisible strings.
Pakpao rolls (Wits + Performance) to rise from prone
reflexively on her turn, drawn up off the ground by
unseen strings. This may have other benefits adjudi-
cated by the Storyteller: e.g., if the Puppeteer is pinned
beneath rubble, she might also treat this as a feat of
strength to lift it. Both uses of this Charm count as the
Puppeteer’s move action.
If Pakpao knows Living Puppet Performance, she can
use this on behalf of animated puppets.
Self-Puppetry Promenade
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Invisible Strings Sway
Weaving invisible strings of Essence through her own
sinews and tendons, the Puppeteer manipulates her own
body with eerie precision and finesse.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Pakpao treats the strings running through her as ex-
ceptional equipment (Exalted, p. 580) on movement
rolls and reduces her mobility penalty by one.
If Pakpao knows Living Puppet Performance, she ex-
tends this Charm’s benefits to her animated puppets.
Tightened String Abseil
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One round
Prerequisite Charms: Invisible Strings Sway
The Puppeteer grabs hold of an unseen string, stopping
herself in midair like a dangling puppet — or a spider
surveying her domain.
Pakpao slows her descent while falling, descending
only one range band that round instead of immediately
plummeting to the ground. That range band doesn’t
count when determining the falling damage she suf-
fers. She may move one range band horizontally in the
air, which doesn’t count as her move action.
Impossible Puppet-Body Contortion
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Puppeteer’s body twists and flexes to a gruesome
degree, moving as if she had a puppet’s strings instead
of bones.
When Pakpao rolls to escape restraints, oppose a grap-
ple control roll, or squeeze through a tight space, she
doubles 9s. She can always attempt to fit through an
opening as long as it’s no smaller than her head, and
the base difficulty for such rolls can’t exceed 5.
Stalk the Twitching Fly
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Puppeteer effortlessly outmaneuvers those caught
in her strings, slackening the line as she puts distance
between them or drifting along in his wake as he desper-
ately tries to outrun her.
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Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a rush
or disengage roll. If her enemy is entangled (p. XX),
she also rerolls 5s, gains one Initiative on a successful
rush, and doesn’t lose Initiative for disengaging.
Bound Prey Approach
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Stalk the Twitching Fly
With a gentle tug of her silken leash, Pakpao brings her
foe to heel.
When an entangled enemy within short range makes
a movement roll, Pakpao doubles his mobility penalty
for the roll (including mobility penalties from sources
other than entanglement).
Broken Doll Dance
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Impossible Puppet-Body
Contortion, Invisible Strings Sway
The Puppeteer moves in ways the human body was
never meant to, terrifying those who witness the visceral
wrongness of this display.
Pakpao gains the Hideous Merit (Exalted, p. 162).
An enemy whose Resolve is beaten by her roll for an
opposed movement action is overcome with fear, suf-
fering a −3 penalty on his roll opposing that action.
If Pakpao knows Living Puppet Performance, she ex-
tends this Charm’s benefits to her animated puppets.
Wire-Strung Acrobatics
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Tightened String Abseil
Pakpao need not sully her feet with dust or mud, lifted
imperceptibly off the ground on unseen strings.
When Pakpao moves between range bands by jumping
or swinging on a thread, she hangs from her strings in
midair at the end of her movement, letting her con-
tinue it on her next turn. She can’t use this Charm to
enhance that subsequent movement action.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Anchored to the Sky
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Wire-Strung Acrobatics
Pakpao ascends above the stage of the world on a strand
of Essence that rises to the heavens.
Pakpao anchors a thread of Essence to a point in the
air up to medium range vertically above her and with-
in short range horizontally of her. She can use move
actions to ascend or descend on this string or to swing
from it horizontally, out to short range horizontally
from her anchor. The string is visible but intangible to
other characters, even the dematerialized.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
she can instead anchor her thread to a point up to long
range above her and within medium range horizon-
tally of her and increases the distance she can swing
horizontally to medium.
Hunting Spider Pursuit
Cost: 4m, 2i (+1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bound Prey Approach,
Dancing Spider Stride
Pakpao’s prey cannot escape her; she pursues them inex-
orably as if pulled by invisible strings.
Pakpao rolls to rush an enemy from short range with
double 9s. On a success, she instantly moves into close
range, instead of the usual effect of a rush.
Against entangled enemies, Pakpao may pay a
one-Willpower surcharge to rush from medium range.
Sensory Charms
Always Watching Attitude
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao’s puppets twist their heads in eerie synchrony as
she scans her surroundings, lifeless eyes trailing her own.
197
EX3
Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on an
Awareness or Investigation roll. If at least one of her
animated puppets is within sensory range of her tar-
get, she rerolls 5s as well. If she enhances a case scene
roll, the time needed to complete it is divided by the
number of puppets within sensory range of her target
(maximum higher of Essence or 3).
Vibrating Thread Intuition
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The slightest tremor is like an earthquake to Pakpao’s
sensitive fingertips.
Pakpao adds (Dexterity) dice and doubles 9s on a
touch-based Perception roll. Alternatively, she can dis-
tinguish nearly imperceptible details by touch without
needing to roll, letting her identify familiar materials
by touch alone, read in total darkness by moving her
fingers over ink, etc.
Prickling Gooseflesh Warning
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Vibrating Thread Intuition
Hairs rising on the back of her neck, Pakpao’s entire
body goes on alert.
When Pakpao or one of her puppets comes within
close range of a hidden danger or threat, she rolls
(Perception + Awareness) to detect it, adding one die
for each puppet within sensory range of her target.
Whisper-Intercepting Wire
Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Vibrating Thread Intuition
Even a whisper is enough to disturb Pakpao’s intricate
web.
Pakpao may pay a three-mote surcharge to use
Vibrating Thread Intuition on a hearing-based
Perception roll. If she does so while holding a string,
rope, wire, or other line, she can do so as though she
were at any point along that line out to long range.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
With an Essence 3 repurchase, Pakpao may instead
pay a three-mote, one-Willpower surcharge, extending
this Charm’s range to (Essence x100) yards.
Glass-Eyed Watcher
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Always Watching Attitude,
Living Puppet Performance
Wherever her puppets are, Pakpao is too, always
watching.
Pakpao imbues a puppet with her own unceasing
vigilance. If something she’d be interested in occurs
within the puppet’s vicinity, she senses this and may
reflexively possess that puppet as per Dreaming
Marionette Trance (p. XX) for one scene to observe it.
However, the puppet isn’t animated; Pakpao can only
take mental actions or those that require no physical
action or movement.
This Charm ends if Pakpao goes more than (Essence
x5) miles from the puppet. She ignores this range limit
if it’s in a lair created with The Spider in Her Web (p.
XX).
Pakpao can stack this Charm to enchant up to
(Perception) puppets.
Alarum-Raising Sentry
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Glass-Eyed Watcher
Pakpao can’t be everywhere at once, but her faithful
agents keep her well-informed as her plan unfolds.
Pakpao appoints a willing character as a sentry and
specifies a condition under which he alerts her. When
that character becomes aware of the condition being
met, he sends Pakpao a mental alarum, waking her if
she’s asleep and sending her a one-sentence message,
to which she can send a one-message response. This
Charm ends if Pakpao goes more than (Essence x5)
miles from her agent.
Pakpao can stack this Charm to affect up to (Perception)
characters.
198
EX3
Beware the Unblinking Eye
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Glass-Eyed Watcher
Having deepened her understanding of her Essence and
art, Pakpao has learned to see a puppet’s unsettling face
in almost anything.
Pakpao can use Glass-Eyed Watcher on any object with
a face — a statue, a portrait, a mask, etc. Hastily made
objects, like a quick sketch or a face drawn in the sand,
impose a −3 penalty on actions Pakpao takes through
them.
Countless Glassy Eyes
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Glass-Eyed Watcher, The
Spider in Her Web
Even when the Puppeteer absents her lair, it remains
under her watchful eye.
When Pakpao uses Glass-Eyed Watcher on a puppet
within her lair, its costs only one mote and it doesn’t
count against how many puppets she can enchant with
that Charm as long it remains within her lair.
When something occurs within Pakpao’s lair that
catches her notice through a puppet, she may project
her senses into every puppet in the lair within vicinity
of that event, even those not previously enchanted.
While observing through them, she makes only one
Perception roll, adding dice equal to the puppets’
collective Size (Exalted, p. 206). She ignores sensory
penalties if the majority of puppets perceiving some-
thing are unimpeded by that penalty.
Influence Charms
Ersatz Troupe Performance
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
When her puppets take the stage beside her, Pakpao is
uplifted by a cast of her own making.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Pakpao doubles 9s on a puppetry-based Performance
roll and ignores multiple target penalties.
Paper Tiger Pantomime
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Ersatz Troupe Performance
Skittering horrors and menacing dolls dangle from
Pakpao’s strings, a cast of horrors suited for her audi-
ence’s worst nightmares.
When Pakpao stunts a threaten roll or a roll to inspire
fear with a description of her menacing puppets, she
adds a non-Charm success and converts the bonus die
from exceptional puppets to a non-Charm success. If
an affected target has a Tie of fear related to one of her
puppets — e.g., fear of spiders against a spider-shaped
puppet, fear of blood against one stained with gore —
he suffers a −3 penalty on all rolls opposing Pakpao or
her puppets for the rest of the scene unless he resists
with Willpower.
Pakpao can also use this Charm when one of her
animated puppets makes a threaten roll; no stunt is
necessary.
Pulling the Crowd’s Strings
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Ersatz Troupe Performance
When Pakpao performs, the difference between the audi-
ence and her puppets becomes immaterial.
When Pakpao makes a Performance-based inspire roll
through puppetry, affected characters whose Resolve
is beaten by 3+ successes must express the inspired
emotion in a way they believe will help win her favor,
gratitude, or infatuation.
Setting the Stage
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Pulling the Crowd’s Strings
Pakpao ensures that her affairs take place on her own
terms.
199
EX3
After at least an hour spent preparing for a performance
or social event, Pakpao rolls (Wits + [Performance or
Socialize]). If the event will take place in a lair created
with The Spider in Her Web (p. XX), she adds (higher
of Essence or 3) dice. She banks a pool of non-Charm
dice equal to her successes and may add up to (Essence)
dice on the following actions during the performance
or event:
• Influence rolls.
• Read intentions rolls.
• Profile character rolls.
• Guile, spending two dice per +1 bonus.
• Resolve, spending two dice per +1 bonus.
• Awareness rolls to detect hidden threats or Join
Battle.
• Larceny rolls to pickpocket, subtly administer
poison, or perform similar feats of sleight of
hand undetected.
Reset: Once per day.
Speaking Puppet Trick
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Ersatz Troupe Performance
Pakpao gives voice to her puppets with deft feats of
ventriloquism.
Pakpao’s voice appears to come from a point within
short range for a single influence roll or ten seconds
of regular speech. She may speak from concealment
without revealing her location, imposing −2 penalty on
Awareness rolls to locate her.
This Charm’s cost is waived when Pakpao uses it to
speak through one of her puppets.
Voice-Mocking Impression
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Ersatz Troupe Performance
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

The Puppeteer is a one-woman show, voicing countless char- Heckler’s Nightmare Retribution
acters and satirizing her rivals with scathing impressions. Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Pakpao flawlessly mimics, for a single influence roll or Keywords: None
ten seconds of regular speech, the voice of a character Duration: Instant
whose speech she’s spent at least an hour observing. Prerequisite Charms: Rapt Audience Entrapment
If Pakpao knows Corpse-Puppet Reanimation (p. XX), Those who jeer Pakpao’s performance swiftly learn the
she waives this Charm’s cost when mimicking the folly of their ways.
voices of her corpse-puppets.
When Pakpao rolls Join Battle while performing or en-
Rapt Audience Entrapment gaged in social interaction, she doubles 9s. If another
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1 character initiated hostilities and her Join Battle roll
Type: Supplemental beats him, she may reflexively use Puppet-Snaring
Keywords: None Strings to make an entangle gambit against him.
Duration: One performance
Prerequisite Charms: None Silk Collar Binding
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Pakpao’s strings control her puppets and her audience Type: Supplemental
alike, ensuring her show is not interrupted. Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
While Pakpao puts on a puppet show, onlookers must Prerequisite Charms: None
watch respectfully until she’s done. A character must
pay one Willpower to leave the performance before it is Obedience comes naturally to those bound by Pakpao’s
complete and two Willpower to attack or interrupt her. strings.
Characters who do so count as being entangled (p. XX) for
purposes of Puppeteer Charms for the rest of the scene, An entangled character’s mobility penalty applies to
though they don’t suffer the gambit’s mobility penalty. his Guile or Resolve against a roll made by Pakpao.

This Charm can’t be used in combat, but it remains Trust Will Break Your Heart
active if hostilities break out mid-performance. Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Captivating Spotlight Approach Keywords: None
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1 Duration: Instant
Type: Simple Prerequisite Charms: None
Keywords: None
Duration: One performance Everyone has their strings; sometimes it’s a mercy to set
Prerequisite Charms: Ersatz Troupe Performance, them free.
Rapt Audience Entrapment
Pakpao adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice
Radiating absolute confidence, Pakpao draws all eyes to on an instill roll to weaken a positive Tie or a persuade
herself. roll to overturn influence that was supported by a pos-
itive Tie (Exalted, p. 221).
As Pakpao puts on a puppet show, she makes a special
([Charisma or Manipulation] + Performance) inspire Universal Story Instincts
roll against all characters who witness it. Affected Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
characters suffer a −3 penalty on Perception-based Type: Supplemental
rolls to pay attention to anything but her for as long as Keywords: None
she performs. She can’t take any non-reflexive actions Duration: One performance
while performing. Prerequisite Charms: None
If Pakpao knows Smiling Assistant Approach, she may Countless tongues are spoken in Zhaojūn, yet Pakpao
use it to use Captivating Spotlight Approach on behalf knows there’s only one that matters.
of an ally within long range, letting his performance
distract from her and her other agents.

200
EX3
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER

Pakpao’s performance ignores the Resolve bonus for Illusion of Freedom

lacking a common language (Exalted, p. 221) and can
convey far more detail and complexity than usual
through puppetry, though highly abstract concepts or
complicated technical information remain beyond her.
Empress-Shaming Satire
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Pulling the Crowd’s Strings
Slanderous accusations and treasonous incitement seem
nothing more than witty repartee upon the stage.
When Pakpao makes a Performance-based inspire,
instill or persuade roll, audience members affected
by it can’t form negative Ties to her based on her per-
formance’s content unless they resist that influence.
Characters unable to do so may spend one Willpower
to resist this effect separately.
Reset: Once per scene.
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Pulling the Crowd’s Strings
The most pitiful puppet is one who can’t see its own strings.
Pakpao makes a Manipulation-based persuade roll
over the course of at least one minute, using subtext
and innuendo to guide her audience to certain con-
clusions without any overt effort. All witnesses roll
(Perception + Socialize) opposing her influence roll;
those who fail don’t recognize Pakpao attempted to
influence them and can’t bolster their Resolve with
negative Ties toward her. Affected characters believe
Pakpao’s influence to be their own original idea, while
ignoring or dismissing out of hand what she said.
Knotted Heartstrings Trick
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Silk Collar Binding

201
EX3
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
With the right words, Pakpao binds her victims as surely
as with silk or wire.
Characters under the effects of one of Pakpao’s inspire,
persuade, or threaten rolls count as being entangled (p.
XX) for purposes of Puppeteer Charms for the rest of
the scene, though they don’t suffer the gambit’s mobil-
ity penalty. Such characters can’t spend Willpower to
interrupt or attack her while she uses Rapt Audience
Entrapment
If Pakpao knows Heckler’s Nightmare Retribution, she
adds (Essence) non-Charm dice on Join Battle rolls as
long as at least one opposing character is entangled.
Leave Them Wanting More
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Captivating Spotlight
Approach
The dreams and fantasies that come to life at the end of
Pakpao’s strings provide an escape from harsh reality;
who could be blamed for wanting to return to that?
Pakpao makes a puppetry-based (Manipulation +
Performance) inspire roll against a single member
of her audience. If she succeeds, he gains a Minor
Obsession (Exalted, p. 169) with Pakpao and her art. If
he goes more than a day without seeing a performance
or interacting with Pakpao at length, he suffers a −1
penalty on mental and social rolls until he does. After
a week, this penalty increases to −2; after a month, −3.
Resisting this influence requires entering a Decision
Point and citing a Major or Defining Intimacy to spend
one Willpower.
The Obsession fades after (6 − target’s Integrity) days,
but this duration resets if the victim fails a Willpower
roll against his Obsession.
With an Essence 3 repurchase, Pakpao may target mul-
tiple characters, paying five motes for each target past
the first. She ignores multiple target penalties.
Reset: Once per scene.
Silken Gala Entrapment
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Setting the Stage
202
EX3
Banquets, festivals, and informal get-togethers are just an-
other kind of web to Pakpao, a trap for her unwary guests.
While attending a performance or social event prepared
with Setting the Stage, Pakpao may expend five banked
dice in place of one Willpower when paying the costs
of Curtain Fugue Dream, Empress-Shaming Satire,
Hidden Target Innuendo, Illusion of Choice, Leave Them
Wanting More, or Rumors Like Sharpened Knives.
Talented Understudy Technique
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Pulling the Crowd’s Strings
Wrapping herself in silky allure, the Puppeteer becomes
whatever her mark needs her to be.
Pakpao makes a special Appearance- or Manipulation-
based instill roll against a single target to convince
him that she’s the perfect candidate for a role she
knows he’s looking for someone to fill — to a student,
she seems a perfect teacher; to a merchant-prince, a
promising associate; to a thief, the ideal victim. If she
succeeds, she may treat his strongest Intimacy related
to that role — a student’s desire to be out from under
her family’s control, a merchant prince’s commercial
ambitions, a thief’s desperation to feed his family — as
a Tie to her, with whatever emotional context best fits
that relationship. This lasts until he resists her influ-
ence by entering a Decision Point and citing another
Intimacy of equal or greater intensity to spend one
Willpower.
Beloved Imposter Insinuation
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Talented Understudy
Technique
Like a puppet carved into a mocking parody of a prince,
Pakpao takes to the stage under another’s name.
When Pakpao makes a Manipulation-based roll to
convince targets that she’s someone else, affected
characters treat the instilled Intimacy of belief as one
step higher in intensity for the rest of the scene and
suffer a −3 penalty on rolls opposing Pakpao’s disguise
as the impersonated character and rolls against her
Guile that would reveal contradictory information. If
she strengthens such an Intimacy to Defining with this
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Charm, that character suffers −2 Resolve against her
influence that scene.
Targets who’ve never met the character Pakpao im-
personates face to face increase the cost to resist this
influence by one Willpower.
Cutting the Mind’s Strings
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Illusion of Freedom, Rapt
Audience Entrapment
The Puppeteer takes no risks with her secrets, ensuring
that her agents, operatives, and confidantes can’t unwit-
tingly reveal vital information.
After at least an hour spent hypnotizing or condition-
ing a willing character (including herself ), Pakpao can
suppress any or all of his memories of her, her plans, or
anything he’s done on her behalf. Alternatively, she can
restore memories she suppressed with a previous use.
Reset: This Charm can only be used on a character
once per story. Restoring memories doesn’t count
against this.
Curtain Fugue Dream
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cutting the Mind’s Strings
Pakpao draws her audience into an immersion so deep
that they cease to see her, aware only of the emotion her
performance provokes.
All characters who witness Pakpao’s puppetry-based
Performance action must roll (Perception + Integrity)
opposing her influence roll. If she didn’t make an in-
fluence roll with Performance, she rolls (Manipulation
+ Performance) opposing them. Characters who fail
forget all details about the performance and Pakpao’s
identity. This doesn’t negate the effects of her influ-
ence roll; the performance’s impact remains even if it’s
forgotten.
If someone reminds an affected character of Pakpao’s
identity or her performance or calls his attention to his
lack of memories, he may pay one Willpower to regain
his memories for one scene. Once he’s done so three
times, he regains those memories permanently.
203
EX3
If Pakpao knows Anonymity is Power (p. XX), she can
use this Charm reflexively when it ends to suppress
the memories of all characters who served her as part
of the granted Merits without needing to roll.
Backstage Whisper Proposition
Cost: 8m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Curtain Fugue Dream
Lulling an audience member into a receptive trance-like
state, Pakpao can embed her instructions into his sub-
conscious mind.
After using Curtain Fugue Dream, Pakpao may use
this Charm in the same scene to make a Manipulation-
based persuade roll against an affected character. His
Resolve isn’t modified by Intimacies. After Pakpao’s in-
fluence roll, her victim forgets that she made it, as per
Curtain Fugue Dream. It’s included in the memories
that he regains when he spends Willpower to resist
that Charm.
Insidious Whispering Spider
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Cutting the Mind’s Strings
Pakpao’s presence lingers in the minds of her agents and
dupes like a spider scurrying through the web of their
memories, waiting for its moment to strike.
When Pakpao uses Cutting the Mind’s Strings or
Curtain Fugue Dream, she may choose not to erase her
targets’ memories immediately, but to instead specify a
trigger condition for all targets. Once an affected char-
acter becomes aware of that condition being met, his
memories are erased per that Charm. Likewise, when
she uses either Charm, she may specify a condition
that will restore targets’ memories.
Hidden Target Innuendo
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Empress-Shaming Satire,
Illusion of Freedom
Pakpao’s words aren’t always meant for the one she
speaks to.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
After an influence roll against a single character fails
to beat its target’s Resolve, Pakpao may use this Charm
to reveal that she was actually addressing another
character who heard her speak, employing innuendo
and body language to secretly convey her message. She
makes a new influence roll against him that receives
the benefits of all non-Excellency Charms used to en-
hance the first roll.
Reset: Once per scene.
Rumors Like Sharpened Knives
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Hidden Target Innuendo
Would-be informants, spies, and grasses serve Pakpao’s
will even as they work against her.
Pakpao makes a Manipulation-based influence roll
against a single target. He doesn’t suffer the normal
effect of that influence, instead treating it as a persuade
roll to relay Pakpao’s message to a character chosen by
her, believing this to be his own idea as per Illusion of
Freedom (p. XX). Once he delivers the message to its
intended recipient, Pakpao’s influence roll is applied
against his Resolve as if she’d targeted him directly.
Reset: This Charm can’t be used to relay a message to
a given character more than once per story.
Nemesis-Proclaiming Rumors
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Rumors Like Sharpened
Knives, Trust Will Break Your Heart
No story is complete without its villain; those who stand
in the Puppeteer’s way find themselves cast in this role.
Pakpao mounts a campaign of rumors against a charac-
ter with a negative Major or Defining Tie toward her,
spending at least (10 – Essence) days spreading them
within a community or organization. She must interact
with a significant portion of the group’s membership; if
it’s infeasible for her to do so within ten days, she can’t
target this group. Upon completing this campaign,
she rolls (Manipulation + [Bureaucracy, Presence, or
Socialize]) against the Resolve of all other characters
in that group. (Treat them as a single audience except
for noteworthy or powerful characters).
204
EX3
Affected characters form a negative Minor Tie toward
that character with a context chosen by Pakpao or
weaken a positive Tie to him if they have one instead.
The designated nemesis’ influence rolls against affect-
ed characters suffer a penalty equal to the intensity
of their negative Tie toward him. Affected characters
can’t voluntarily weaken negative Ties to him or form
or strengthen positive Ties to him for this Charm’s du-
ration unless they spend (Pakpao’s Essence/2, rounded
up) Willpower each time. Once an affected character
has spent Willpower this way three times, he’s freed
from this influence.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by accomplishing
a major character or story goal (Exalted, p. 170) by
winning a noteworthy victory over her designated
nemesis: besting him in combat, swaying an audience
against her in a debate, driving a rival business led by
him into bankruptcy, etc.
Gossamer Cobweb Fabrication
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Curtain Fugue Dream
Pakpao weaves false memories out of words and
Essence, ensnaring her victims within stories that never
happened.
Pakpao makes a special Manipulation-based instill roll
against a single character to embed a false memory of
up to five minutes in length that involves her or the
events of a performance or social event that she put
on. Penalties for making implausible claims (Exalted,
p. 215) subtract successes instead of dice from her
roll. If he encounters evidence that contradicts this
false memory, he can spend one Willpower to resist.
A second use of this Charm can delete the implanted
memory.
When Pakpao uses Cutting the Mind’s Strings to erase
memories, she can use this Charm reflexively, waiving
its cost, to embed new memories in place of the sup-
pressed ones. Likewise, when she restores memories
with that Charm, she can use this one for free to erase
implanted memories.
Reset: This Charm can only be used against a given
character once per story. Deleting implanted memo-
ries doesn’t count against this limit.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER

Vanishing Puppeteer Mystery Duration: Instant

Cost: —(+5m); Mins: Essence 4 Prerequisite Charms: Beating Heart’s Trail
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None Pakpao gleans the truth of a person from how he’s spoken
Duration: Permanent of by his closest friends and most hated foes, like sensing
Prerequisite Charms: Backstage Whisper vibrations from afar.
Proposition
Pakpao profiles a character by interacting with some-
Veiled in the mystique of the stage, the Puppeteer fades one he has a Tie toward, rolling against the lower of
from memory. that chracter’s Guile and the Guile of the character she
converses with, adding (Intimacy) non-Charm dice. If
Pakpao may pay a five-mote surcharge to use Curtain that person has little or inaccurate knowledge about
Fugue Dream to enhance any influence rolls or a the profiled character, Pakpao suffers an appropriate
Manipulation roll with any Ability. penalty.

Reset: Pakpao can’t use this Charm to profile a charac-

Scrutiny Charms
Know the Heart’s Strings
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
A careful student of human behavior, the Puppeteer is
quick to recognize the ties that bind people together.
Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a read
intentions roll. If she succeeds with 3+ extra successes
and discovers a Tie to an individual, she learns an addi-
tional fact about that relationship, gleaning it from his
tone, body language, and what he leaves unsaid.
Beating Heart’s Trail
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Know the Heart’s Strings
Pakpao is deeply attuned to the strands of emotion and
obligation that bind people to each other, mapping out
the web of relationships that is society.
When Pakpao discerns one of a character’s Ties with a
read intentions roll, she can use this Charm to discern
the distance and direction to that Tie’s object. She adds
(target’s Intimacy) non-Charm dice on Survival rolls to
track or navigate to that character.
Heart-Unraveling Hearsay
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
ter more than once per story.
Fluttering Heartbeat Vibration
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Know the Heart’s Strings,
Vibrating Thread Intuition
Attuned to the threads of feeling and intention woven
around her, Pakpao senses those whose hearts hold feel-
ings for her.
When a character with a Tie toward Pakpao comes
within close range, her player may activate this Charm
to identify him and discern the Tie’s intensity, though
not its emotional context. If she makes a read inten-
tions roll to discern that Tie later in the scene, she
rerolls 6s until they cease to appear.
When an enemy with a Tie to Pakpao makes a surprise
attack against her from close range, she reflexively
makes a read intentions roll. Success negates the
Defense penalty.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, Pakpao can sense Ties
toward groups she belongs to. She can intuitively dis-
tinguish between Ties to herself and those to groups,
but can’t identify what group someone has a Tie for.
Understanding the Audience
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Ersatz Troupe Performance,
Know the Heart’s Strings

205
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Immersed within her performance, Pakpao becomes one
with her audience, learning what they have in common.
A Performance roll against multiple characters also
counts as a read intentions roll against them as an au-
dience (Exalted, p. 223). Success reveals a custom, tra-
dition, or belief shared by the audience: the etiquette
of the High Queen’s court, the prevailing philosophy
among an audience of Zhao scholars, Hammer Gang
toughs’ preferred game of chance, etc. If the Storyteller
doesn’t have an answer in mind, Pakpao’s player should
provide one, as if introducing a fact.
The next time Pakpao makes an influence roll that
leverages this knowledge against that audience or an-
other audience sharing the same custom, tradition, or
belief, they suffer −1 Resolve.
Reset: Once per day.
Thorns-and-Roses Eloquence
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Pulling the Crowd’s Strings,
Understanding the Audience
Once the Puppeteer glimpses your heart, she knows
where to aim the knife.
Pakpao makes an influence roll leveraging an Intimacy
she’s discovered with a read intentions roll or a cus-
tom, tradition, or belief discerned by Understanding
the Audience, adding (Perception/2, rounded up) non-
Charm dice. Characters whose Intimacies are Major or
Defining must spend an additional Willpower to resist.
Unknown Adversary Revelation
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Know the Heart’s Strings,
Prickling Gooseflesh Warning
Pakpao’s unconscious mind sifts through the endless
web of her memories, seeking hidden dangers she’s
overlooked.
After eight hours of sleep or meditation, Pakpao
rolls ([Intelligence or Perception] + [Awareness or
Investigation]) to determine the identity of the person
or group she’s aware of that currently poses the greatest
danger to her, rolling against the Guile of an individual
206
EX3
or the highest Guile among a group’s membership.
Success reveals that threat’s identity. For every three
extra successes, she can ask the Storyteller one of the
following questions:
• Do they think I suspect them?
• What do they hope to get from opposing me?
• Which of my secrets do they know?
• Do they have secrets I could use to blackmail
them into no longer being a threat?
If the Storyteller doesn’t have an answer in mind for
a question, Pakpao’s player should provide one, as if
introducing a fact.
This Charm is limited by Pakpao’s own knowledge.
If a character has consistently used magic capable
of perfectly concealing his hostile intentions from
her while interacting with her — like a Solar using
Heart-Eclipsing Shroud (Exalted, p. 400) — his iden-
tity can’t be revealed; Pakpao instead rolls against the
next-greatest threat. Likewise, Psyche effects that
tamper with relevant memories may likewise obscure
an identity from this Charm.
Reset: Once per story.
Tangled Web Meditation
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Beating Heart’s Trail,
Understanding the Audience
Meticulous in her observations of those around her,
Pakpao discerns the threads of romance, intrigue, and
enmity.
Pakpao makes a read intentions roll against all char-
acters she’s aware of. For each character whose Guile
she beats, she discerns his strongest Tie to another
character present in the scene.
Resolve Charms
No Tears Left to Shed
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Pakpao has known the world’s cruelty; her cold heart is
her shield.
Pakpao gains +2 Resolve. This is a non-Charm bonus
against influence that opposes a Major or Defining
Principle reflecting her ambitions, or an inspire roll or
roll to instill an emotion-based Intimacy that opposes
one of her Major or Defining Intimacies.
Inevitable Betrayal Anticipation
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: No Tears Left to Shed, Trust
Will Break Your Heart
Trust is a luxury, something for those who’ve never
known betrayal.
When Pakpao asserts her Resolve against influence
that opposes a Major or Defining Principle reflecting
her ambitions or an inspire roll or roll to instill an emo-
tion-based Intimacy that opposes one of her Major or
Defining Intimacies, she can reflexively instill herself
with a negative Minor Tie toward the character mak-
ing the roll. If she successfully asserts her Resolve,
she adds (Intimacy) dice on her next influence roll or
attack roll against him that scene.
Reset: Once per scene.
Point of No Return
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
“You’ve come too far to turn back,” Karana whispers.
How can Pakpao not agree?
Pakpao empowers a Principle that reflects one of her
plans or agendas, gaining +2 Resolve against influence
it opposes. This ends if Pakpao violates that Principle.
Reset: Once per story.
Beating Heart Vivisection
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Inevitable Betrayal
Anticipation
207
EX3
Prizing freedom above all else, Pakpao cuts herself free
from the strings of love and hate that bind her.
When Pakpao enters a Decision Point to resist influ-
ence that leveraged one of her Ties, she may shed that
Tie completely instead of citing an opposing Intimacy
to let her resist with Willpower. For the rest of the
story, she can’t voluntarily form or strengthen that Tie
and gains one Limit whenever she acts in a way that
would have upheld that Tie.
Criticism-Deflecting Approach
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Illusion of Freedom, No Tears
Left to Shed
With deft witticisms and unmatched grace, Pakpao tugs
the strings of social interaction to change the meaning of
a rival’s words.
After an influence roll that fails to beat her Resolve,
Pakpao can use this Charm to redirect it against anoth-
er character who witnessed but wasn’t targeted by the
influence. The influence roll and all effects enhancing
it are rerolled, using the same dice pool, against the
new target.
Unfaltering Cast Approach
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: No Tears Left to Shed, Point of
No Return
Pakpao’s adamant confidence in her plans reassures
those who put her faith in her against her enemy’s words.
Pakpao can use this Charm after an influence roll that
fails to beat her Resolve but would overcome that of
other targets, forcing the opposing character to reroll
a single successful die for each 1, starting with 7s and
going up. If this Charm prevents a character whom she
has a positive Major or Defining Tie toward from being
influenced, she gains one Willpower.
Guile Charms
Placid Smile Masquerade
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Accustomed to being underestimated, Pakpao is happy
to help others make fools of themselves.
Pakpao gains +1 Guile. Against characters with
Intimacies reflecting feelings of self-importance and
superiority to Pakpao, this increases to +2.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, Pakpao may pay a
one-Willpower surcharge to extend this Charm’s du-
ration to one day.
Always a Scheme
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Placid Smile Masquerade
A versatile performer, Pakpao has a smile, a nod, and a
lie for every occasion.
Upon purchasing this Charm, Pakpao’s player chooses two
of the following conditions, adding them to the circumstanc-
es under which Placid Smile Masquerade’s Guile bonus
increases to +2. If two or more such conditions are met, the
bonus increases to +3. Additional conditions can be pur-
chased for three experience points or one bonus point each.
• Calculating Mastermind Approach: The roll
opposing Pakpao’s Guile risks revealing infor-
mation that could threaten or interfere with one
of her Principles reflecting her ambitions.
• Corruption Breeds Negligence: Pakpao has
successfully influenced the opposing character
this session with a bargain roll to bribe him or a
threaten roll to blackmail him.
• Enticing Distraction Allure: Pakpao’s
Appearance exceeds the opposing character’s
Resolve.
• Lost in the Ensemble: Pakpao is putting on a
puppetry-based performance.
• Love is Endless Lies: The opposing character
has a positive Tie to Pakpao.
• Puppet Mask Infiltration: Pakpao is in disguise
and the roll opposing her Guile risks exposing
her.
208
EX3
Veiled Intentions Cant
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Always a Scheme
Eavesdroppers hear only small talk and meaningless
pleasantries as the Puppeteer plots with co-conspirators
or relays instructions to her agents.
Pakpao and up to (higher of Essence or 3) other charac-
ters may carry on a conversation while seeming to discuss
something else entirely, conveying their true meaning
through wordplay, body language, and subtle gestures.
Outsiders can only detect the coded communication
if they’re specifically watching for such tricks or have
superhuman or magically enhanced senses, rolling
(Perception + Awareness) against the Guile of a char-
acter communicating in this way. Success lets them
notice the communication, but not understand it.
Blithe Acceptance Feint
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Placid Smile Masquerade
Presenting a façade of guileless naïveté, Pakpao plays
along with those who would prey on her while biding her
time for betrayal.
When Pakpao successfully asserts her Resolve against
an influence roll, she may use this Charm to make a
special (Manipulation + [Performance or Socialize])
instill roll against the character who made that influ-
ence. If Pakpao succeeds, that character believes his
influence succeeded. If he makes a roll opposing her
Guile that scene that could reveal information that
contradicts this belief, he suffers a (higher of Pakpao’s
Essence or 3) penalty.
Unwitting Disclosure Contingency
Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Know the Heart’s Strings,
Placid Smile Masquerade
No secret can be kept forever, but the Puppeteer is ready
for every eventuality.
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
After a character Pakpao’s aware of successfully makes
a roll opposing her Guile, she may use this Charm to
make a special read intentions roll against him. Success
reveals what he learned from his roll. She can leverage
what he learned with her influence rolls as though it
were a Minor Intimacy for the rest of the scene.
Foe-Snaring Ruse
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Placid Smile Masquerade
Those taken in by Pakpao’s wiles dance from her strings
without ever knowing it.
Pakpao gains +1 non-Charm Guile against a character
she’s aware of. If she successfully asserts her Guile against
an opposing character, he counts as entangled (p. XX) for
purposes of her Charms for the rest of the scene.
Masquerade-Upholding Gesture
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Veiled Intentions Cant
An invisible string slips from Pakpao’s finger, hastily
jerking an ally out of the path of social disaster.
When Pakpao perceives a character attempting to
read the intentions of an ally within close range, she
may let him use her Manipulation in place of his own
when calculating Guile. If his Manipulation equals or
exceeds hers, he instead gains +1 non-Charm Guile.
If Pakpao knows Lengthening Strings Concentration,
its range increase applies to this Charm as well.
Perfect Plan Satisfaction
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Always a Scheme (Calculating
Mastermind Approach), Point of No Return
A creature of powerful ambition and paranoid secrecy,
the Puppeteer takes silent satisfaction in knowing her
enemies know nothing.
When Pakpao successfully conceals her plan or agenda
from someone who would meaningfully threaten it
209
EX3
— whether by asserting Guile, with a conceal evidence
roll, or otherwise — she gains one Willpower.
This Charm can only be used once per day. With an
Essence 3 repurchase, it can be used once per scene.
Puppeteer’s Subtle Sign
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Veiled Intentions Cant
Even when Pakpao’s schemes demand the utmost silence,
she makes her will known to her agents with wordless grace.
Pakpao and her allies no longer need to speak to com-
municate with each other when using Veiled Intentions
Cant and such communication transcends language
barriers, though characters unfamiliar with each other
may suffer penalties on initial communication until
they’ve grown accustomed. They gain +1 Guile against
rolls that would reveal this communication.
False Heartstring Trick
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blithe Acceptance Feint, Foe-
Snaring Ruse
Grabbing hold of whatever’s at hand as if she’d always held it
dear, Pakpao conceals her true feelings behind affected passions.
When a read intentions action or other effect would
reveal one of Pakpao’s Ties, she can use this Charm
to instantly form a Minor Tie to a character or group
present in the scene, revealing this Tie to the opposing
character instead of the other Intimacy. Pakpao can’t
voluntarily weaken this Tie for the rest of the story.
Ever-Vigilant Watcher
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: False Heartstring Trick,
Unwitting Disclosure Contingency
Pakpao’s keen intuition for intrigue reveals those who
would spy on her.
When a character Pakpao’s unaware of rolls opposing her
Guile, she may use an opposed read intentions roll in place
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
of her Guile, circumventing the penalty for being unaware
of observers. In addition to negating the opposing roll, suc-
cess reveals the opposing character’s location to her. If he’s
in concealment, she senses his presence, but can’t pinpoint
his location unless her successes beat his Stealth roll.
Hollow Marionette Loyalty
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Insidious Whispering Spider,
Masquerade-Upholding Gesture
Those who enter the Puppeteer’s confidence can’t break
her trust lightly — if at all.
When an ally or character working on Pakpao’s behalf is
questioned about her or her operations, she can activate
this Charm to suppress some or all of memories about her,
her activities, or his work on her behalf as per Cutting the
Mind’s Strings, retroactively revealing that she’s imposed
a trigger condition for this erasure that’s just been met.
The Puppeteer doesn’t become aware of this.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by accomplishing a
legendary social goal (Exalted, p. 134) through subtle
means with the assistance of others, whether they
know it or not.
Subterfuge Charms
Backstage Storage Style
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Like any good stage manager, Pakpao keeps all manner
of surprises concealed from her audience.
Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a conceal ev-
idence roll or other roll that involves keeping an object from
being noticed, such as sleight of hand or subtly poisoning a
drink. If she’s hiding a puppet, she rerolls 5s as well.
If Pakpao knows Living Puppet Performance, she can
also use this Charm on Larceny and Stealth rolls made
by animated puppets, rerolling 5s in addition to 6s.
Striking the Set
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
210
EX3
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Backstage Storage Style
Under the Puppeteer’s diligent scrutiny, no prop is left
out of place; who could tell she had ever taken the stage?
When Pakpao uses Backstage Storage Style, she com-
pletes the enhanced roll instantly. If she does take the full
fifteen minutes to complete the roll, she rerolls 5s until
they cease to appear even when not hiding a puppet.
Shun the Spotlight
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
As the curtain closes, the Puppeteer’s true work begins.
Pakpao adds (higher of Essence or 3) dice on a Stealth roll
and rerolls 6s until they cease to appear. If she ends a perfor-
mance by rolling Stealth, opposing characters whose Resolve
was beaten by her influence roll suffer a −3 penalty on their
roll against her Stealth. She may use that roll instead of roll-
ing Join Battle if this coincides with hostilities breaking out.
Assassin in the Chorus
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shun the Spotlight
Surrounded by clattering puppets and loyal agents, the
Puppeteer seems to vanish from the battlefield.
Pakpao reduces the penalty for attempting Stealth in
combat by one. Each ally within close range of her in-
creases this reduction by one. If she beats the opposing
rolls of all enemies, she gains one Initiative.
Fade Into the Cast
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shun the Spotlight
Basking in the beauty and drama of the playhouse, the
Puppeteer vanishes backstage.
Pakpao doubles 9s on a Stealth roll as long as one of the
following is true:
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
• She uses a crowd of people for concealment.
• She uses puppets, costumes, and other props for
concealment.
• She’s succeeded on a Performance roll against
multiple characters opposing her Stealth.
• She’s disguised and it hasn’t been seen through
by any of the characters opposing her Stealth.
Phantom Troupe Technique
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Shun the Spotlight
When the curtain drops at a show’s end, the cast vanish-
es at once behind its dark folds.
When Pakpao and her allies make simultaneous Stealth
rolls, every two dice added on her roll by any means
add a bonus die on each ally’s roll, maximum (higher
of Pakpao’s Essence or 3).
Violence as Spectacle
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Rapt Audience Entrapment,
Shun the Spotlight
Pakpao’s audience will cheer and applaud even the worst
and bloodiest acts committed in the name of her ambi-
tion if only she gives them permission.
Pakpao makes a special (Manipulation + Performance)
instill roll against all witnesses to a fight, passing it
off as an artistic performance. Affected characters
accept her explanation and can’t spend Willpower to
resist unless this would endanger one of his Major or
Defining Intimacies or the circumstances of the fight
change dramatically in a way that contradicts Pakpao’s
lie.
Special activation rules: This Charm can be flurried.
Silk Widow’s Lesson
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
211
EX3
Poison is a fact of life for diplomats, spies, and revo-
lutionaries; Karana’s venomous Essence has honed
Pakpao’s understanding of it.
Pakpao adds doubles 9s on a non-attack roll involving
poison — Resistance rolls opposing it, Awareness rolls
to detect it, Larceny rolls to poison others undetected,
Medicine rolls to treat poison, Craft rolls to create
it, etc. She can introduce facts about poison without
needing a Lore background.
Utmost Immersion Masquerade
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The stage transforms those who play upon it, casting
them in new roles.
Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a dis-
guise roll and can use it either for herself or a puppet
(which need not be animated). As long as she has ac-
cess to appropriate props and supplies, she can create
incredible disguises for her puppets, even making
them seem like living humans — though she must use
Living Puppet Performance to provide movement and
Speaking Puppet Trick to provide speech.
Costume-Donning Flourish
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Utmost Immersion
Masquerade
Pakpao is ready to take the stage at a moment’s notice,
using threads of Essence to don her costume and gather
her props.
Pakpao can complete a disguise roll in one minute
or complete a minute’s worth of work to don or doff
armor (Exalted, p. 591) in (mobility penalty + 1) turns.
Ingenue’s Grand Debut
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Utmost Immersion
Masquerade
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Losing herself in a role, Pakpao takes on the semblance of the
character she plays with posture and body language alone.
Pakpao rolls to disguise herself through acting exer-
cises with (Manipulation + [Larceny or Performance]),
ignoring up to (Essence) points of penalty for lacking
equipment or disguising her ethnicity, sex, or body
type. While disguised, she adds (Essence) non-Charm
dice on inspire rolls and acting-based Performance
rolls.
Pakpao can use this Charm to impersonate specific
characters but must first prepare for the part, spend-
ing (10 – Essence) days playing that role in shows and
theatrical performances. While thus disguised, this
Charm’s benefit also applies to influence rolls that
leverage Ties to the impersonated character.
If Pakpao knows Costume-Donning Flourish, she
can use it reflexively to speed her roll, waiving its
Willpower cost.
The Curtain Falls
Cost: 4m, 2i; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute, Perilous
212
EX3
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Phantom Troupe Technique
Pakpao bids the curtain fall with a deft gesture, even if
she isn’t on the stage; her threads seize hold of her sur-
roundings to improvise one for her.
Pakpao rolls (Wits + [an appropriate Craft, Larceny,
or Performance]) to create concealment from her sur-
roundings: pulling a large canvas down from nearby
construction, collecting fallen leaves into a heap large
enough to hide her, or extinguishing a nearby light
source. The roll’s difficulty depends on how much her
surroundings give her to work with to create conceal-
ment. If she or any of her allies roll to enter Stealth in
the round she used this Charm, they add (her Essence)
dice.
Subtle Thread Technique
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Shun the Spotlight, Spider’s
Cunning Strings
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Refining her subtle Essence, Pakpao weaves invisible
threads.
Spider’s Cunning Strings is Mute for this Charm’s du-
ration. Any threads that Pakpao creates with it or other
Puppeteer Charms or anima powers, like Living Puppet
Performance or Lock-Binding Thread, are nearly invisi-
ble, requiring a difficulty 7 (Perception + Awareness) roll
to spot. Trivial characters can’t roll to see her threads.
In combat, the first time Pakpao makes an entangle
gambit, an attack with Silken Lariat Technique, or an-
other thread-based attack against an enemy who fails
his roll to see the threads, it becomes a surprise attack
(Exalted, p. 203). Once she does so, her foes are suffi-
ciently on guard to defend against her threads even if
they can’t see them clearly.
Anonymity is Power
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Beloved Imposter Insinuation,
Ingenue’s Grand Debut
Calling in favors, revealing hidden resources, and tug-
ging at society’s strings, the Puppeteer weaves a new
identity for herself.
Pakpao spends (10 – Essence) days to establish a cover
identity, rolling to disguise herself as her alter ego with
a full Excellency and double 9s. Every three success-
es on the disguise roll lets her gain one dot of Allies,
Backing, Followers, Influence, Resources, or Retainers
as part of her cover.
Once the story ends, these Merits are lost as the
recruited characters return to their lives, unless the
Storyteller deems Pakpao’s treatment of them qualifies
to retain them long-term as Story Merits (Exalted, p.
158). If Pakpao uses this Charm to reestablish a previ-
ous cover identity, they’ll return to her service as long
as they weren’t mistreated and are capable of doing so.
Reset: Once per story.
Hidden Web Entrapment
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Assassin in the Chorus,
Backstage Storage Style, Entangling Snare Technique
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EX3
Spinning snares and nets from Essence, Pakpao strews
the battlefield with traps before the battle ever begins.
When an enemy within medium range takes a move
action, Pakpao can use this Charm to reveal he’s fallen
into a trap, reflexively rolling an unblockable entangle
gambit against him with (Wits + [an applicable Craft,
Larceny, or Survival]). If circumstances render this im-
plausible — for instance, because she’s been ambushed
on unfamiliar ground — the Storyteller may require a
stunt to explain how she devised the trap so quickly.
If Pakpao has a relevant Craft, a successful gambit
grants three silver points. If a nontrivial opponent is
incapacitated or surrenders while entangled, she also
gains (his Essence) gold points.
If Pakpao uses Cunning Spider Craft (p. XX) to combine
a grapple with this entangle gambit, she uses her attack
roll as the control roll as well, opposed by her victim’s
(Dexterity + Dodge) roll. Pakpao can’t take the usual special
grapple actions but doesn’t suffer any penalties. A trapped
character or one of his allies can spend their entire turn to
reduce the clinch’s rounds of control by two. Attacking or
damaging Pakpao doesn’t subtract rounds of control.
If Pakpao knows The Spider in Her Web (p. XX), she
waives this Charm’s Willpower cost within her lair.
Reset: Once per scene.
Overlooked Prop Pageantry
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blithe Acceptance Feint,
Captivating Spotlight Approach, Striking the Set
Pakpao employs distracting banter and mesmerizing
inflection to misdirect onlookers, whether concealing a
naked blade as she approaches her victim or chatting
with a stolen necklace’s owner while wearing it.
Pakpao makes a special Manipulation-based instill roll
against a single character. If she succeeds, she prevents him
from noticing a single object no larger than herself with any
sense but touch. She must continue speaking to maintain
this deception; doing so is reflexive. If he’s attacked with a
weapon that’s been hidden from him, it counts as a surprise
attack (Exalted, p. 203) but ends this Charm.
Alternatively, she can conceal an animated puppet no larg-
er than herself. This functions as though the puppet had
established concealment against this Charm’s victim with
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
a successful Stealth roll, including the potential to make
unexpected attacks. If that puppet breaks concealment by
attacking or taking other overt actions, this Charm ends.
If this Charm’s misdirection endangers one of its vic-
tim’s Major or Defining Intimacies, he may pay one
Willpower to resist.
If Pakpao knows Secret Empress Domain (p. XX), she can
use this Charm within her lair to instead conceal a struc-
ture that spans up to (Essence/2, rounded up) range bands
from her target. If this put him in danger — e.g., because
he can’t see the burning building he’s about to walk past
— he becomes aware of the peril in time to make a roll to
mitigate the harm he suffers, if not avoid it outright.
Reset: Once per day. This Charm can’t be used against
a character more than once per story.
Playhouse-Haunting Phantasm
Cost: 5m, 2i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Along a Thread, Assassin in
the Chorus, Fade Into the Cast
Whether navigating trapdoors and secret passage-
ways or scuttling along catwalks and chandeliers, the
Puppeteer moves in secret behind the scenes.
To use this Charm, Pakpao must be in concealment and
meet at least two of the criteria for Fade Into the Cast
(p. XX). She vanishes and reappears within another
point within (Essence/2, rounded up) range bands
without needing to roll Stealth. There must be a path
from her location to her destination and it must both
have sufficient concealment for her to hide there and
let her satisfy two of Fade Into the Cast’s criteria after
moving.
If Pakpao knows The Spider in Her Web, she waives
this Charm’s Willpower cost within her lair.
Reset: This Charm can only be used once per scene.
Devious Mastermind Genius
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Always a Scheme (Puppet
Mask Infiltration), Backstage Storage Style, Utmost
Immersion Masquerade
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Pakpao is the perfect infiltrator; she has foreseen every
twist and turn and prepared for every contingency.
To use this Charm, Pakpao must be disguised from all
characters present. She reveals that she’s previously
hidden some piece of evidence that could compromise
her identity in the recent past, making a conceal evi-
dence roll with double 7s. She can’t conceal anything
that’s present in the current scene.
If Pakpao subsequently deflects suspicion or casts
aspersions on others in the scene she used this Charm
with an influence roll that refers to the concealed evi-
dence, she doubles 7s.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by accomplishing a
legendary social goal (Exalted, p. 134) through decep-
tion or betrayal.
Empty Puppet Revelation
Cost: 5m, 3i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute, Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Costume-Donning Flourish,
Living Puppet Performance
Pakpao and her puppets are one; strike her down and all
you will find is cracked paint and splintered wood.
Pakpao clashes an attack against her with a (Manipulation
+ [Larceny or Stealth]) roll. If she succeeds, she exchang-
es places with an animated puppet, revealing that both
of them have been cunningly disguised all along. Her
enemy resolves his attack as usual against the puppet, but
still suffers the penalties for losing a clash. This Charm
can’t be used against enemies using magic like Eye of the
Unconquered Sun (Exalted, p. 273).
Reset: Once per day.
Stepping Backstage Approach
Cost: 4m, 3i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fade Into the Cast, Swift
Exeunt Departure
Departing the stage, Pakpao recedes into the darkness
behind the curtain.
When Pakpao reflexively moves away from an enemy
after successfully disengaging or uses Swift Exeunt
Departure, she may reflexively roll (Dexterity +
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Stealth) to establish concealment if her new location
offers sufficient cover for her to hide.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by dealing 3+ deci-
sive damage to a nontrivial enemy with an unexpected
attack.
Knowledge Charms
Feverish Brow Discernment
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao effortlessly espies the thousand frailties of the
body.
Pakpao doubles 9s on a diagnosis roll (Exalted, p. 237)
or a roll to introduce a fact about an ailment suffered
by one of her patients. If she uses Vibrating Thread
Intuition with this Charm, she may complete a diagno-
sis roll instantly by touching her patient.
Sinew-Severing Precision
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Feverish Brow Discernment
Muscle, nerve, and sinew bind together the human
body like countless strings; it is no great effort for the
Puppeteer to snip one of them.
An enemy damaged by Pakpao’s decisive attack in-
creases his wound penalty by one as a crippling effect.
Multiple uses of this Charm stack this increased penal-
ty to a maximum of (Essence/2, rounded up).
Hard-Earned Wisdom
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao has learned many lessons in life; her mind quick-
ened by Essence, she dispenses practical knowledge.
When Pakpao introduces and challenges facts, she can
use Craft, Larceny, or Performance specialties as Lore
specialties and adds them to such rolls. If she has such
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EX3
a specialty, she can use its associated Ability in place
of Lore to determine if she qualifies to introduce a fact
(Exalted, p. 237).
For two motes, Pakpao doubles 9s on any roll to intro-
duce or challenge a fact.
Stage-and-Shadow Apprenticeship
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (Wits) days
Prerequisite Charms: Hard-Earned Wisdom
Pakpao rose from lowly origins; she knows that same
potential exists in every beggar, orphan, or servant.
After an hour spent training a character, Pakpao grants him
up to three temporary specialties in any of Craft, Larceny,
Performance, Socialize, or Stealth for this Charm’s dura-
tion and instills him with a Tie of loyalty to her, which he
can’t resist with Willpower unless he rejects this Charm’s
benefits. He can purchase any of these temporary special-
ties permanently as a training effect (p. XX).
Agent-Priming Indoctrination
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Stage-and-Shadow
Apprenticeship
Pakpao’s plans demand more than she could do alone;
her agents and assets have both their skills and their
loyalties honed under her instruction.
Under Pakpao’s tutelage, a single character may incur
experience debt (p. XX) to gain a dot of Dexterity, Wits, or
Manipulation and up to (Pakpao’s Essence) dots or special-
ties in Craft, Larceny, Performance, Socialize, or Stealth.
He also gains a Minor Principle, chosen by Pakpao’s player,
that reflects his commitment to one of her plans or agen-
das and the part she wishes him to play in it.
The training time is unaffected, other than any benefit
Pakpao’s training would provide normally (Exalted, p. 178).
Victory by Subtle Means
Cost: 1m, 2i; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Any two of Feverish Brow
Discernment, Hidden Venom Palm, Silk Widow’s Lesson
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Pakpao destroys her enemies from within, carrying on idle con-
versation with them as her poison seeps through their veins.
When Pakpao poisons someone — either with a
decisive attack or through other vectors — she adds
(Essence − 1) intervals to her poison’s duration. If she’s
successfully diagnosed her target that scene, this in-
creases to (Essence) intervals and he can’t reduce the
poison’s duration below one interval no matter how
many successes he rolls.
Crafting Charms
Careful Stitch Method
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao can’t abide sloppy stitches, shoddy handiwork,
or cutting corners.
Pakpao rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a Craft roll.
If she’s crafting a puppet, she rerolls 5s as well and gains
one silver point for each rerolled die that shows a success.
Impervious Poppet Technique
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple or Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Careful Stitch Method
Pakpao imbues a sliver of her own Essence into one
of her puppets, giving carved wood and silk string the
strength of steel.
Pakpao can use this Charm to render a puppet su-
pernaturally durable after a scene spent repairing
or maintaining it; she can use this Charm reflexively
upon crafting a puppet. She permanently adds (higher
of Essence or 3) to the difficulty of feats of demolition
and other rolls to destroy the puppet.
When an enemy attacks a puppet enhanced with
this Charm, Pakpao can use this Charm reflexively,
subtracting (Wits) dice from a withering or decisive
damage roll. If she’s protecting the puppet with a de-
fend other action, she waives this Charm’s cost.
If Pakpao knows Corpse-Puppet Reanimation, she can
use this Charm on corpses, halting the decay process
and preserving them indefinitely.
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EX3
Ceaseless Pursuit of Perfection
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao endleslys hones her artistry, whether carving wood,
oiling joints, or contemplating her next great project.
Pakpao reduces the cost of rolling for major projects by
(Essence) silver points. When crafting puppets, this in-
creases to (higher of Essence or applicable Craft) silver
points for major projects and (Essence) gold points for
superior projects.
With an Essence 3 repurchase, Pakpao reduces the cost
of all her crafting by (higher of Essence or applicable
Craft) for major projects and (Essence) for superior
projects. When crafting puppets, she reduces the costs
of major, superior, and legendary projects by (higher of
Essence or applicable Craft) points.
Swift Dollmaker Style
Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Puppeteer assembles her menagerie with all the
speed and grace her title is due.
When Pakpao undertakes a basic or major project to
create or repair a puppet or that uses thread, rope,
or wire, or the like as raw materials, she completes it
with incredible speed, typically in seconds or minutes.
Some may take longer at the Storyteller’s discretion.
A second purchase of this Charm lets Pakpao use it to
enhance any basic or major project using a Craft she
has 4+ dots in. However, its benefit is reduced: She
multiplies the rate at which she works by (Essence +
1), reducing the time to complete the project to a min-
imum of one minute.
Ever-Present Companion Doll
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Swift Dollmaker Style
Pakpao is never without a puppet; how else could she be
the Puppeteer?
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
Pakpao reveals a puppet that she’s previously created
— anything she could feasibly create as a major project.
It’s extraordinary equipment (Exalted, p. 580). If it’s
small enough for to plausibly have concealed on her
person, she may reveal it instantly; if not, her player
declares a nearby location where it’s stashed. She
gains crafting points for succeeding as though she’d
completed a basic project (Exalted, p. 240).
If Pakpao knows Statue-Animating Strings (p. XX), she
can use this Charm to reveal an object it could animate
that could be created with a basic project using one of
her Crafts. If she knows Corpse-Puppet Reanimation
(p. XX), she can use it to reveal a zombie she’s stashed
away.
Reset: Once per scene.
Maker’s Many Limbs
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One batch of projects
Prerequisite Charms: Swift Dollmaker Style
Embodying Karana’s eightfold power of action, Pakpao
brings forth abundant wonders.
Pakpao undertakes up to (Wits) simultaneous basic or
major projects to create or repair identical or extreme-
ly similar objects — a set of poppets depicting various
characters, formal outfits for her entire circle, a batch
of identical swords, etc. She makes a single roll for all
these projects and need only pay the cost of Charms
that enhance those projects once. Major projects use a
single project slot and Pakpao need only pay their craft
point cost once (Exalted, p. 240). She only receives
craft point awards for meeting basic objectives once
for the entire batch but receives (Wits) additional sil-
ver points as long as she meets one objective.
Army-Upkeep Whirlwind Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Maker’s Many Limbs
Pakpao’s handiwork is unimpeachable; there’s nary a
scratch, crack, or chip to be found on any of her countless
puppets.
Pakpao can use Maker’s Many Limbs to undertake
superior projects to repair artifacts and to perform a
217
EX3
batch of repair projects even if the repaired objects are
unrelated to each other, rolling with the lowest of her
applicable Crafts. When she uses it to perform basic or
major projects, she waives its cost and can undertake
up to (Essence + Wits + applicable Craft) such projects.
Broken Toy Revenge
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Impervious Poppet
Technique, Living Puppet Performance
Even if nothing is left of her puppets but splintered wood
and shattered metal, still Pakpao’s performance goes on,
flinders and fragments dancing on her strings.
Pakpao’s animated puppets can continue to act even
after they’re incapacitated, suffering a −6 wound pen-
alty. She can use Living Puppet Performance on pup-
pets that have been destroyed by feats of demolition or
the like, animating them with a health track filled with
lethal damage.
Puppet Legion Preparation
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Ever-Present Companion Doll,
Wooden Legion Cavalcade
With a twist of her strings, Pakpao reveals the countless
puppets she’s secreted away in advance, calling upon her
hidden army.
When Pakpao uses Wooden Legion Cavalcade, she
may use Ever-Present Companion Doll to reveal she’s
created enough puppets to form a Size (Essence/2,
rounded up) battle group to animate with that Charm.
Mysticism Charms
Quivering Spirit Discernment
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Pakpao senses the subtle vibrations of the spirit world as
though it were a string held in her hand.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Pakpao can sense the presence and location of demate-
rialized characters within medium range and can hear
their speech, though she can’t see them or hear any
other noises they might make. The penalty she suffers
for being unable to see dematerialized characters she
attacks with Spirit-Flaying Lash or similar magic is
reduced to −1.
If Pakpao knows Vibrating Thread Intuition (p. XX),
this Charm’s range extends to long.
Spirit-Flaying Lash
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Quivering Spirit Discernment
Striking with a cruel power born of hatred for divine
hypocrisy, Pakpao imposes her own justice on the gods.
Pakpao can attack a dematerialized character with an
attack. If she can’t see her target, she suffers a −3 pen-
alty. If she knows Living Puppet Performance, she can
use this Charm to enhance attacks made by animated
puppets.
God-Binding Strings
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Flaying Lash
Flooding her strings with Essence, Pakpao anchors a
spirit to the physical world.
Pakpao makes an entangle gambit against a demateri-
alized enemy, waiving Puppet-Snaring Strings’ mote
cost. She gains Spirit-Flaying Lash’s benefits for free.
On a success, the entangled enemy is also rendered
material and can’t dematerialize for one round, plus
an additional round for every two successes on the
Initiative roll.
Ghost-Catching Net
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Entangling Snare Technique,
God-Binding Strings
Weaving a web of subtle Essence, Pakpao catches way-
ward spirits like flies.
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Pakpao makes an entangle gambit against all demateri-
alized enemies within medium range that she’s aware
of, waiving its mote cost. She makes a single attack roll
and Initiative roll.
Pakpao can use God-Binding Strings reflexively to
enhance this entangle gambit, waiving that Charm’s
Willpower cost.
Sorcery
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Any two of Hard-Earned
Wisdom, Point of No Return, or Quivering Spirit
Discernment
The Puppeteer has glimpsed the subtle strings that run
through the cosmos and been forever changed by it.
She may use Terrestrial Circle sorcery. She learns one
Terrestrial spell — her control spell — and one shaping
ritual for free.
Haunted Effigy Ritual
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Dancing Puppet Artistry,
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Pakpao’s puppets are foci for her mystic will as she chan-
nels sorcerous power along their strings.
Pakpao can use Mistress of Puppets (p. XX) to Shape
Sorcery through a puppet. When she casts a spell that
would benefit her, like Invulnerable Skin of Bronze,
she may transfer its benefits to an animated puppet.
Artifact Puppets
While the Puppeteer can lay claim to all manner
of mundane puppets — and expand the meaning of
“puppet” to encompass corpses, shadows, and statues
— some of her most powerful feats may require her
to create or retrieve unique, magical puppets, each a
storied artifact in its own right. Three examples follow
here, crafted in ages past by artisans who could never
anticipate how their creations might function in the
hands of Creation’s true Puppeteer. Other puppet
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER

artifacts exist throughout the world, and more yet wait Doll. None of these copies are quite as large as the orig-
to be either commissioned or created by the Puppeteer inal and each has its own unique design and aesthetic
herself. flourishes.

Artifact puppets typically cost three motes to attune.
When Pakpao uses Living Puppet Performance (p.
XX) on an attuned artifact puppet, its cost is reduced
by three motes.
The artifacts presented here include only a limited
number of example Evocations; Pakpao is capable
of awakening more, as usual for any artifact. Other
characters would awaken different Evocations for
these puppets, focused on using them in performances
rather than as animated minions.
Okyi, the Infinite Doll
(Moonsilver Puppet, Artifact •••)
Okyi is an unassuming wooden doll in the shape of a
woman wearing a turtle’s shell, roughly the size of a
dog. Its wood is ashen white, shot through with whorls
and knots of flowing moonsilver. Countless copies of
itself are hidden within seeming impossible compart-
ments across Okyi, earning it the title of the Infinite
Attuning to Okyi costs three motes. It has the following
traits while animated:
Essence: 1; Willpower: 1; Join Battle: 8 dice
Health Levels: −0x2/−1x2/−2x2/−4x2/Incap.
Actions: Appear Inanimate: 10 dice; Feats of Strength:
8 dice (may attempt Strength 3 feats); Senses: 8 dice;
Stealth: 8 dice; Threaten: 6 dice.
Appearance 1, Resolve 1, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 11 dice (Damage 15B/3)
Attack (Grapple): 7 dice (8 dice to control)
Combat Movement: 10 dice
Evasion 4, Parry 2
Soak/Hardness: 12/4
MERITS
Automaton: Okyi is immune to poison, disease,
fatigue, and fear and doesn’t need to eat, drink, breathe,
or sleep.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Mindless: Okyi treats all social influence as unaccept-
able and has perfect morale.
Evocations of Okyi
Okyi’s compartments can store up to (its master’s
Essence) objects small enough to be held in the palm
of one’s hand or a single object no larger than the doll.
Storing or retrieving objects can be done reflexively.
Other characters suffer a −4 penalty on rolls to detect
stored objects unless they have applicable magic or
superhuman senses.
Puzzle-Box Multitude Technique
Cost: —(+5m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Living Puppet Performance
Endless puppets lie nested within Okyi’s compartments,
awaiting only a puppeteer’s hand to beckon them forth
onto their strings.
When Pakpao uses Living Puppet Performance to
animate Okyi, she may pay a five-mote, one-Willpower
surcharge to also animate (higher of Essence or 3) of
its replicas, which emerge from within its compart-
ments. They use mannequin traits (p. XX), but their
range limit is tied to Okyi rather than the Puppeteer.
If Okyi is incapacitated or is no longer animated, its
copies likewise fall inanimate.
Alternatively, when Pakpao uses Wooden Legion
Cavalcade, she may pay this surcharge to have Okyi
unleash enough replicas to form a Size 3 battle group,
animating both it and the battle group as above. If she
uses Puppet Legion Preparation with this, she instead
creates a Size 4 battle group.
Hundredfold
(Starmetal Puppet, Artifact ••••)
Hundredfold is, at first glance, a large, folded sheet of
pristine blue paper. Closer inspection reveals that it is
unnaturally pristine, that it has no fixed size, and that
its edges are gilt with razor-sharp starmetal. Its origins
are murky even to Sidereal historians: some believe
it to be a memorandum that circulated through the
Celestial Bureaucracy for a century before it awakened
to consciousness; others a weapon created by Kolos,
the Scroll-Case Lion, either at a sorcerer’s behest or
for their own indecipherable reasons.
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EX3
Hundredfold can be folded and unfolded into intricate
origami shapes far beyond the limits of ordinary paper,
but it exhibits a hint of mischievous self-awareness
even while it isn’t animated; it may unfold itself from
shapes it dislikes or correct errors made by its master
with silent superciliousness. While animated with
Living Puppet Performance, it typically folds itself into
a tiny paper doll with a jellyfish-like shape.
Attuning to Hundredfold costs three motes. It has the
following traits while animated:
Essence: 1; Willpower: 3; Join Battle: 8 dice
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x2/−4/Incap.
Actions: Appear Inanimate: 14 dice; Fit Through Small
Spaces: 14 dice; Senses: 8 dice; Stealth: 10 dice (see
Tiny Creature)
Appearance 1, Resolve 1, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Slash): 11 dice (Damage 3L/3, 12L/3 against
enemies its size or smaller)
Combat Movement: 10 dice
Evasion 4 (see Tiny Creature); Parry 1
Soak/Hardness: 5/4
MERITS
Automaton: Hundredfold is immune to poison,
disease, fatigue, and fear and doesn’t need to eat, drink,
breathe, or sleep.
Mindless: Hundredfold treats all social influence as un-
acceptable and has perfect morale.
Tiny Creature: Add +2 Evasion against larger foes’
attacks. Larger characters subtract two successes from
Awareness-based rolls to notice Hundredfold.
Evocations of Hundredfold
When Hundredfold is animated, its master grants one of
the Balanced, Chopping, Flexible, Piercing, or Reaching
tags to its attacks. At the start of Hundredfold’s turn, its
master may choose a different tag.
Origami Menagerie Approach
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Living Puppet Performance
Hundredfold reshapes itself at Pakpao’s command, fold-
ing and unfolding itself to assume new forms.
While Hundredfold is animated, Pakpao can use this
Evocation to make it expand to the size of a young
 CHAPTER SIX: THE PUPPETEER
child, losing the Tiny Creature Merit but removing the
restrictions on its withering damage. Alternatively,
she can grant it up to (higher of Essence or 3) dots of
mutations that can be represented as alterations to its
folded-paper form. The chosen benefit lasts for the
remainder of Living Puppet Performance’s duration or
until Pakpao uses this Evocation again.
Blazing Fang Smile
(Red Jade Puppet, Artifact •••••)
Originally commissioned by Shogun Taharu Nibona for
an elaborate festival commemorating her consolidation
of power across the Blessed Isle, Blazing Fang Smile is
a dragon-puppet nearly thirty feet long, wrought from
red jade and the silk of countless anuhles. A troupe of
Dragon-Blooded performers and their mortal assistant
brought the dragon to life in a performance to celebrate
their shogun. The festival continued to be observed even
after Nibona fell to the Pigsty Coup, used to legitimize
successive warlords’ claims to being shogun. The Great
Contagion extinguished this tradition, and Blazing Fang
Smile has since been lost to history.
Attuning to Blazing Fang Smile costs three motes. It
has the following traits while animated with Poppet
Titan Mastery:
Essence: 1; Willpower: 1; Join Battle: 10 dice
Health Levels: −0x2/−1x6/−2x6/−4x10/Incap.
Speed Bonus: +4
Actions: Appear Inanimate: 6 dice; Feats of Strength:
14 dice (may attempt Strength 10 feats, see Incredible
Strength); Senses: 10 dice; Threaten: 12 dice.
Appearance 1, Resolve 1, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 12 dice (Damage 18B/5)
Attack (Grapple): 10 dice (10 dice to control; giant
puppets make unopposed control rolls against smaller
enemies unless they use magic like Dragon Coil Tech-
nique.)
Combat Movement: 12 dice
Evasion 1, Parry 6
Soak/Hardness: 15/5
MERITS
Automaton: Blazing Fang Smile is immune to poison,
disease, fatigue, and fear and doesn’t need to eat, drink,
breathe, or sleep.
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Incredible Might: Blazing Fang Smile doubles 8s on
feats of strength.
Legendary Size: Blazing Fang Smile suffers no on-
slaught penalties from the smaller enemies’ attacks
unless inflicted by magic. It can’t be crashed by smaller
enemies’ withering attacks unless they have 10+ post-
soak damage, although attackers gain the full amount
of Initiative damage dealt. Smaller enemies’ decisive
attacks can’t deal more than (attacker’s Strength + 3)
levels of damage to it, not counting levels added by
magic.
Mindless: Blazing Fang Smile treats all social influence
as unacceptable and has perfect morale.
Evocations of Blazing Fang Smile
Blazing Fang Smile is capable of flight while animated
and ridden by Pakpao and can carry up to (Pakpao’s
Essence x2) other riders. It can’t ascend higher than
long range above the ground. Outside of combat, it flies
at one hundred miles per hour. If Pakpao has Blazing
Fang Smile take no actions other than to fly, she waives
Poppet Titan Mastery’s recurring Willpower and mote
cost.
Flaming Comet Parade
Cost: 3m, 2i; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Poppet Titan Mastery
Blazing Fang Smile smolders and coils upon itself, build-
ing unstoppable power before descending upon Pakpao’s
foe with the force of a falling star.
While riding an animated Blazing Fang Smile, Pakpao
can use this Evocation on its turn to have it aim at an
enemy at short or medium range. On its next turn, as
long as the chosen enemy is still within medium range,
Blazing Fang Smile rockets into close range with him
and makes a decisive attack, adding attack roll extra
successes as dice of decisive damage. This counts as its
move action and can’t be flurried. If Blazing Fang Smile
moves over flammable terrain within short range be-
neath it to make this attack, that terrain catches flame,
burning as a bonfire (Damage 4L/round, Difficulty 5)
for the rest of the scene.
“Never challenge the Downcast Eyes,” Sabriye’s aunt had warned her. “Of all the rats in Wu-Jian, they’re
the nastiest by far. Not even rats,” she’d corrected herself, “they’re like mice. Meaner than rats, you
know. Bolder. That’s why savants use them in their studies, alchemists make ‘em lap up potions for
their experiments. They don’t show fear, and they’re more foolish for it. The mice, not the Downcast
Eyes.”
Sabriye was forced to agree with her aunt, years later. The Downcast Eye who’d come to stymie her
investigations into the cult had indeed been the subject of some experimentation. The youth’s muscles
bulged unseemly, channeling some sort of hell-sent Essence in order to swell so. His leg, so like the
tree trunks Sabriye had once heard described somewhere in a story, smashed to splinters the beam
that supported the roof she stood upon. The roof cast itself downward, and Sabriye along with it. A
heartbeat later, he was upon her. She could actually see his heart clench and unclench, molten-bright
beneath his translucent, smoke-blackened skin. His next blow was faster than the first, and she went
spinning into the catwalks and through suspended bridges beyond their battlegrounds. Down she fell,
deeper into the levels of Wu-Jian.
She might have touched the very ground beneath the city, the dirty floor that had not seen sunlight
beyond her own in decades. But a tarp fluttered loose from a shop; and a rope’s knot slipped, coils
spiraling into the abyss after her; and the hard wooden walls that would have broken her gently warped
to absorb her impact and flung her back out to tarp and rope and safety, wrapping her in the city’s
embrace. Hers was a daystar that fell to earth not with a bang, but with a whimper, in an open-air eatery
serving an entire neighborhood with skewers of charred and dubious meat.
“You said you wouldn’t do this again after the goblin whale,” Sabriye whispered to the darkness, under
the deafening tones of the youth’s roar and the thousands screaming in terror at the battle. Even this far
below, she heard his thundering footfalls and the demon’s power that dwelled within him, drowning out
all sound. And yet, she was heard.
“I said that, yeah,” Revana Quin answered. “But you knew I was lying, and here we are.” The older Exalt
was all hard lines and crooked smiles, wearing simple leggings and a tunic from some local shop,
Sabriye knew. She stepped out from behind a cart selling fried squid balls and pork buns, placing
herself between the gently wrapped younger Exalt and the people being flung high into the air by the
rapidly approaching Downcast Eye.
He did not forget his hard-won training in his demonic rage. The youth corkscrewed his fist to put more
power from his swollen biceps into the blow. Revana Quin’s rear foot and upper body swept back as she
began to pivot, moving fast, but not fast enough. His fist did not shatter her sternum and punch a hole to
her heart but connected insteadwith the side of her chin.
Sabriye yelped as the side of a residential structure on the other side of the two fighters crumbled in the
force of the blow. It collapsed, revealing a honeycombed nest of shocked families in various states of
relaxation. Revana Quin was unmoved, smiling, and even the youth was somewhat nonplussed by the
response. He responded with a second mighty blow, this one a kick tracing the arc of a rainbow, meant
to shatter her knees. And yet when his foot stopped upon her outstretched joint, it was the eatery itself
that shattered, splintering downward and scattering porcelain and bamboo across the walkways to
tumble down as Sabriye had.
“A little help?” Revana’s voice was more plaintive than her demeanor let on. Sabriye shook herself loose
from the tarp, dropping to the ground and freed her daggers. There was no rest in Wu-Jian, not for the
wicked and not for the righteous.

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 Chapter Seven
The Architects
As cities form and grow, they shelter not only mortals,
but also the myriad gods who oversee the things of
city life — gods of markets, neighborhoods, streets,
and buildings. The ranks of the divine also swell with
gods who oversee discord between neighbors, privy-
spread illnesses, and the dark alleys where contraband
is bought and sold. Foremost among these is the city
father, god of the city itself — and above even him is
Wun Ja, Goddess of the Shining Metropolis, She Who
Hath Laid Ten Thousand Bricks.
The Architects are Exigents who are Chosen by both
Wun Ja and a city father, empowered as a hero and
champion for a city. To them, the city isn’t just home,
but a purpose, a confidante, a weapon, and countless
allies and informants. Woe betide any who trifles with
her on her turf, for an Architect has myriad ways to
excise a threat to her city.
Chosen of Wun Ja
Wun Ja was once one of the greatest gods. In the by-
gone First Age, the Exalted built city upon magnificent
city across Creation’s face, many of which eclipsed the
Second Age’s greatest metropolises. Wun Ja’s standing
in Heaven has fallen, yet she retains many connections
from better days and has leaned upon them to buoy
her fortunes. She’s traded countless favors and broken
law after law to preserve her divine portfolio. Though
her methods may be corrupt, her conviction in uphold-
ing the well-being of cities won her the flame of the
Exigence when she cried out to the Unconquered Sun
to help save a city on the verge of annihilation.
Wun Ja’s Chosen are many compared to other
Exigents, though still rare within Creation. Rather
than empowering each Exaltation herself and risking
her own destruction, Wun Ja chooses an Architect
through a city father, who bears the brunt of diminish-
ment for her. Unlike other Exigents created by multi-
ple gods, the shared nature of an Architect’s patrons
and their divine purviews brings their Essence into
harmony, avoiding the problems that normally befall
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joint Exigents. While ultimately empowered by Wun
Ja, each Architect is uniquely shaped by the city she’s
spiritually connected to. The Architect of Azure might
be a pirate warlord whose magic is as much of her
fleet as of the streets; the Architect of Dajaz might be a
sybarite to match even the most besotted Cynis scion,
quietly ruling her city’s famous underworld with an
iron fist. The city god chooses someone who exempli-
fies their city’s nature, for good or for ill — and the god
rarely gives consideration to mortal authorities’ best
interests and desires.
Architects are Chosen to protect cities against threats
from within and without, to help expand cities by
conquest or diplomacy, to forge ties of diplomacy
and commerce between cities, to overthrow corrupt
or ineffective municipal governments, to lead urban
cultural and intellectual movements to greatness, and
more. Once the crisis they were created for is past, the
Architects find themselves potentially beholden to two
masters — while Wun Ja and the city fathers share
much in common, they still have their own ambitions
and may find themselves at cross-purposes; which of
their patrons, if either, the Architect sides with can
play a significant role in her days to come.
City Fathers and Architects
A city father’s role within the Celestial Bureaucracy is
to oversee her city and send occasional reports to the
Bureau of Humanity. Heavenly law prohibits city gods
from directly ruling over their cities, though plenty
corruptly exert their influence on a city’s mortal gover-
nance or rule outright in defiance of a law with few left
to enforce it. They often take after their cities. In part,
this is a numinous manifestation of their divine office,
but even beyond that, one cannot live in and be the god
of a place without being in some way influenced by its
culture.
Enjora is the city mother of Imensc, a fortified haven
carved into the stone and ice of a cliff near Mela’s
Fangs by the nomadic peoples who first settled the
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
area. She’s an implacable protector of her city but gla-
cially slow-moving, occasionally overlooking import-
ant affairs that happen too quickly for her to notice,
like sicknesses and sea raids. An Architect of Imensc
might be Chosen to confront such a peril to the city,
a steadfast paragon and watcher from the walls
who embodies the fortress-city’s strength and
can endure the icy wastes beyond it, focusing
on the Attributes of Perception, Stamina,
and Strength.
Ato-Prin is city parent of Atossok, a trade-city
built around a Southwestern oasis. Clothed
in colorful batiks and adorned with
sparkling jewels, they’re a striking
presence on the city’s market
days and festivities. Though
the Diamond Road trade
route has made both
Atossok and Ato-Prin
very wealthy, it also
brings foreign influ-
ences aplenty; the
city’s baths ran red with the
blood of trade delega- tions
during the infamous massacres that
stain the city’s history. Ato-Prin
keeps watch over the city’s peace
but is ill-versed in the schemes
and skullduggery plied by foreign
and Atossoki merchants alike. An
Architect of Atossok might possess
supernal power in this arena, able
to deal with cutthroat merchants
on their own terms, focusing
on the Attributes of Dexterity,
Manipulation, Wits.
Hadarath, found in the Great
Western Ocean’s Spindrift
Archipelago, is a ruined city of
the First Age, populated by a
small community of humans
seeking shelter amid the ruins
as well as a larger population of
Dragon Kings, prehuman sauri-
ans whose ancestors founded Hadarath and
other great cities and kingdoms. In the Second
Age, most Dragon Kings are still young by their
species’ standards, yet to awaken to their full
mental and spiritual potential. Hadarath’s
Dragon Kings largely disregard its
human populace but have occasional
dealings with them: commerce, cul-
ture, religion, crime, and romance bridge
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the divide between species. The current city father,
Far-Flung Clarion, is a nostalgia-ridden romantic
who walks the ruined city’s streets to mourn its lost
greatness. He favors the Dragon Kings over mortals,
taking a saurian form wreathed with flaming
glyphs from their High Holy Speech. While he
has little predilection toward Exalting a human
champion, circumstances may force his hand
to protect his cherished ruins and Dragon
Kings. An Architect of Hadarath could inter-
cede between communities to bring humans
and Dragon Kings closer together or exemplify
the city’s intellectual and philosophical
legacy to stave off threats, focusing
on the Attributes of Charisma,
Intelligence, and Stamina.
Brick by Brick
Though each Architect
reflects the city that em-
powers her, they’re all
bound together by Wun
Ja’s Essence and by the idea
that is the idealized city. Still, no two
Architects are wholly identical. As
city gods take on their cities’ natures
and qualities, so too do those natures
and qualities express themselves in
their Architects’ magic. And while
they may draw upon that magic in
any city, and even outside of one to
a certain extent, they’re at their
most puissant within the city
they were Chosen to serve.
An Architect is often known by
her city’s populace; beloved,
revered, and sometimes even
worshipped as part of her city
god’s cult practice (though
not in those cities where the
Immaculate Order is strong).
Others remain hidden or take
pains to conceal their identity when
acting publicly, the better to act quietly on
their patrons’ behalf.
The Immaculate Order favors Architects willing
to embrace the Philosophy and work to uphold
order. Few know a city as well as an Architect,
and few can root out corruption, malfeasance,
and treason so well. When Architects actively
oppose Immaculate teachings, the Order at-
tempts to eliminate them or bring them to heel.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Often, this provokes a flurry of activity not only in the
city in question, but in Heaven, where Wun Ja and her
associates leverage their political power to rein in the
Immaculates.
Character Creation
Architects use the character creation rules for
Attribute-based Exalted designed for Terrestrial play
(p. XX) with the following modifications:
Step One: In addition to coming up with your charac-
ter concept, you’ll also determine which city she’s the
Architect of — her home city. Choose three Attributes that
best fit your vision of the city, the Foundation Attributes
that your Architect has an inherent affinity for, as well as
one Favored Attribute. Additionally, choose one magical
material that best fits your vision of the city. If you choose
jade, narrow it down to a single color (p. XX).
Step Two: You receive the three Foundation Attributes
you chose for your home city, plus one Favored
Attribute. At least one of your Foundation or Favored
Attributes must be in your primary category, and at
least one must be in your secondary category.
Step Five: Choose 15 Charms in addition to two
Excellencies. Each Excellency must be in a Foundation
or Favored Attribute.
Step Six: Architects don’t have a Limit Trigger.
Step Seven: Architects spend bonus points as follows:
Foundation or Favored Attribute 3 per dot
Non-Foundation, Non-Favored Attribute 4 per dot
Ability 2 per dot
Specialty 1 aqueducts, sewers, and other sanitary infrastruc-
Merits 1 per dot
Foundation or Favored Charm 4
Non-Foundation, non-Favored Charm 5
Spell (Intelligence Foundation or Favored) 4 ture; military bases; dueling culture; metalwork-
Spell (Intelligence non-Foun- 5 ing; winches, pulleys, and cables.
dation, non-Favored)
Evocation 4 other transportation infrastructure; caravanse-
Willpower 2 per dot
Traits
Architects are intended for Terrestrial play (p. XX).
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CITIES AND FOUNDATION ATTRIBUTES
To help pick Foundation Attributes for your home
city, the following are a list of traits and city fea-
tures associated with each Attribute.
Appearance: actors; sex workers; fashion and
traditional clothing; entertainment; festivals; or-
namental architecture; public art; monuments;
palaces; parks and gardens.
Charisma: artists; musicians; poets; actors; mer-
chants; priests; philosophers; politics; cultural in-
fluence; legal systems; public forums; markets;
temples; diplomacy.
Dexterity: athletes; artisans; couriers; cavalry;
archers; roads, bridges, and other transporta-
tion infrastructure; crime; hunting; exploration;
mounted travel; espionage; crime.
Intelligence: savants; scavenger princes; ar-
tisans; physicians; shamans; thaumaturges;
sorcerers; libraries; academies; hospitals; bu-
reaucracy; banking; artifacts; manses; sorcerous
workings.
Manipulation: merchants; actors; charlatans
and confidence men; propaganda; politics; official
corruption; markets; legal systems; crime; gam-
bling; secret societies; insular communities.
Perception: scouts; bounty hunters; shamans;
criminal investigations; secret police; surveil-
lance; espionage; diplomacy; exploration; elevat-
ed structures and terrain.
Stamina: manual laborers; cataphracts and oth-
er armored soldiers; city walls and fortifications;
ture; dams; ruins; fertile farmland; granaries;
mines; harsh weather and environments.
Strength: manual laborers; soldiers; mercenar-
ies; athletes; warmongering; imposing architec-
Wits: civic tradition; hunting; roads, bridges, and
rais, hostels, and other itinerant lodgings; shan-
tytowns, tenements, and slums; lighthouses; wil-
derness reserves; exploration; seaports and trade
routes.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Anima
The anima banners of Architects vary widely among in-
dividuals, always shining in colors that are emblematic
of the Architect’s home city: the hues of sunset over a
seaport, the banners that mark a city’s many temples,
a city’s soil and the stone from which its structures are
quarried. It’s very common for Architect anima ban-
ners to include more than just visual displays, often
manifesting her city’s sounds and scents.
An Architect’s iconic anima banner might be a symbol as-
sociated with her home city, an animal native to her home
city, prominent aspects of urban life in her home city, or a
structure or monument — either real or idealized.
Architects can spend one mote to perform one of the
following effects:
• Manifest a sound or smell associated with their
home city, or a phantasmagorical visual display
of a symbol associated with it. These are obvi-
ously illusory if examined but suffice to confirm
the Exigent’s identity as the Architect of her
home city to the learned.
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EX3
• Sense the direction and approximate distance to
the nearest city within (Essence x5) miles.
Anima Effects
An Architect’s anima effects depend on the Foundation
Attributes chosen for her city:
• Appearance—Picturesque Vista Embodiment:
Once per day, the Architect can add (higher of
Essence or 3) non-Charm dice on an influence
roll with any Attribute to instill a Tie of lust or
attraction toward herself or a to seduce some-
one with a persuade or bargain roll. If she has
Hideous, this applies to threaten rolls instead.
• Charisma—Never a Stranger: The Architect
ignores up to (Essence) points of penalties on
influence rolls with any Attribute caused by
faux pas, unfamiliarity with local customs or
group dynamics, or inappropriate clothing or
demeanor. She can pay three motes to treat any
negative Ties a character has towards foreigners
or outsiders that applies to her as one level of
intensity lower for a single influence roll.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• Dexterity—Bounding Steeplejack Hustle: For
five motes, the Architect can use her reflexive
move action to leap an entire range band ver-
tically or horizontally without needing to roll
and suffers no falling damage for the rest of the
round. At bonfire, this power is free.
• Intelligence—Living Library Concentration:
The Architect adds +2 non-Charm Resolve
against Psyche effects that affect or alter her
thoughts, memories, or emotions. She adds
(Essence) non-Charm dice on Mental Attribute
rolls involving memory.
• Manipulation—Enigmatic Charlatan Smile:
Once per day, the Architect may Mute a single
mote cost.
• Perception—Eye for Detail: The Architect
ignores up to (Essence) points of penalties on
Perception rolls based on the environment or
other poor conditions. She can spend three
motes to reroll 1s until they cease to appear on a
(Perception + Awareness) roll.
• Stamina—Built from Brick: For two motes, the
Architect gains +(higher of Essence or 3) soak or
Hardness 4 against an attack.
• Strength—Load-Bearing Might: For two
motes, the Architect adds (Essence) to the raw
damage of a withering attack or as non-Charm
dice on a feat of strength roll
• Wits—Backstreet-and-Alley Compendium:
The Architect has a perfect mental map of every
city she’s been in, able to discern the exact dis-
tance and route to any urban location she’s been
to before. She adds (Essence) non-Charm dice
on rolls to navigate to or within a city, rolls to
withdraw from combat within a city (Exalted, p.
199), or rolls with any Attribute to find or learn
of an urban location.
Martial Arts
Architects are restricted by the Terrestrial keyword
(Exalted, p. 427) when using Martial Arts. They’re
limited in their ability to combine Martial Arts
Charms with their native Charms. When they make
a Martial Arts attack, they can enhance it with
either Architect Charms or Martial Arts Charms,
but not both, with the exception of Excellencies and
Versatile Charms. This doesn’t apply to Charms that
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EX3
EXAMPLE HOME CITIES
The following list of Foundation Attributes and
magical material resonances for various cities
is intended to help in coming up with them for
your own home city, and to provide a quick and
easy choice if you’re playing an Architect of one
of these cities and like the selection. It’s not set
in stone — none of these cities canonically have
Architects, and you can pick a different set of traits
for one of these cities if the one provided isn’t a
good fit for your vision of that city.
Chiaroscuro: Charisma, Stamina, Wits; Chiar-
oscuro glass.
Fortitude: Manipulation, Stamina, Strength;
soulsteel.
Gem: Charisma, Intelligence, Perception; ada-
mant.
Great Forks: Appearance, Charisma, Stamina;
starmetal.
The Imperial City: Appearance, Charisma, Ma-
nipulation; red jade.
Lookshy: Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength; white
jade.
Sijan: Charisma, Intelligence, Perception; soul-
steel.
Whitewall: Dexterity, Stamina, Wits; blue jade.
are permanent or provide ongoing benefits, nor to
actions other than attacking.
Sorcery and Necromancy
Architects are capable of initiating into Terrestrial
Circle sorcery. Architects of cities touched by death,
like Sijan, might be able to master Ivory Circle necro-
mancy instead of learning sorcery. Their Intelligence
Attribute determines whether they receive the Favored
Attribute discount on spells.
Evocations
At character creation, an Architect’s player chooses one
magical material — treating each color of jade as a sep-
arate material — or other exotic material that best fits
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS

the Architect’s home city thematically: black jade for a

prominent seaport, starmetal for a city of many temples,
Longevity and Death
soulsteel for a city where an ancestor cult is prominent
An Architect’s lifespan is no greater than a mortal’s,
or a shadowland lies nearby, etc. The Architect is neutral
but time spent in her home city doesn’t count toward
with the chosen material and dissonant with all other
this span. An Architect’s Exaltation does not persist
materials (Arms of the Chosen, p. 16).
beyond her death.

The Great Curse New Merits

The Architects’ Great Curse is subtle but insidious,
Architect of a Thousand Schools (0) — Innate
slowly dissolving the boundaries between the Architect
and her home city. She experiences thoughts, emotions, Prerequisite: Architect of a city with a prominent
and impulses that originate from her city’s nature, or culture or institution of martial arts or similar ties to
from the goals and ideals of prominent factions within martial arts.
the city or the city father. Unlike Solars and Lunars,
The Architect’s battle prowess exemplifies her home
Architects don’t have a Limit track or experience Limit
city’s martial traditions, drawing from the city’s
Break. While the Great Curse still influences their be-
Essence to transcend her limits. She gains the Martial
havior, its manifestations are determined solely by an
Artist Merit for free and isn’t limited by the Terrestrial
Architect’s player.
keyword when using Martial Arts Charms.
Roleplaying a manifestation of the Great Curse is re-
Drawback: The Architect receives one fewer Foundation
warded with Architect Experience (p. XX). However,
Attribute from her home city at character creation.
no matter how dire the Great Curse is for the Architect
She still receives the anima effect for the Attribute she
and other characters, it’s never an excuse to ruin other
forgoes.
players’ fun at the table. If a dramatic moment caused
by the Great Curse isn’t something that the entire group Architect of the Tower Arcane (0) — Innate
can appreciate, it doesn’t award Architect Experience.
Prerequisite: Architect of a city with a prominent cul-
ture or institution of sorcery or similar ties to sorcery.
Some example manifestations of the Architects’ Great
Curse include:
Sorcerous power suffuses the Architect’s home city,
tracing out a vast sigil in streets and bridges that the
• An Architect taking significant and self-sacrific-
Architect has internalized within her Essence. She
ing risks to defend her home city.
automatically gains Terrestrial Circle Sorcery and
• An Architect responding to an insult with lethal can learn Terrestrial Circle spells for eight experience
force, as would be appropriate by the customs points each. She can also initiate into the Celestial
and laws of her home city. Circle of sorcery, learning Celestial spells for ten expe-
rience points each.
• The Architect of a city ruled by powerful crim-
inal syndicates committing a spree of impulsive Drawback: The Architect chooses one fewer
crimes that don’t serve her goals and draw un- Foundation Attribute for her home city at character
wanted attention. creation. She still receives the anima effect for the
Attribute she forgoes.
• The Architect of a prominent center of schol-
arship becoming so lost in the big picture that
they fail to notice the material conditions and
Character Advancement
suffering of others around them. Architects use Terrestrial advancement rules (p. XX).
• An Architect who is despised by a broad swath
of her home city’s populace succumbing to de- Exigent Experience
spair and irrational self-criticism.
In addition to experience awarded each session,
• An Architect overindulging in her city father’s Architects can earn Exigent experience (p. XX). They
preferred vices, to the detriment of her allies receive Expression Bonuses as normal, but don’t
and followers.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
receive Role Bonuses — instead, they can receive a
Foundation Bonus of 2 Exigent experience by:
• Intentionally ceding the “spotlight” of a scene’s
focus to another player character so that he can
express his character concept in an interesting
and dramatic fashion, or directly supporting
him in such a moment.
• Roleplaying the effects of the Great Curse in a
way that reveals something about the character,
develops her personality, or provides a character
moment that everyone at the table enjoys.
• Enduring significant peril to protect a city or
its city father; creating a lasting and meaningful
change to a city; advancing one of the character
or her Circle’s goals by inspiring others to up-
hold the traditions, laws, and customs of a city;
resolving a dispute between a city’s populace
and a city father or other urban deity; or uphold-
ing a Major or Defining Intimacy by engaging
with a city’s government, legal system, or simi-
larly prominent institutions or organizations.
Charms
Excellencies
Architects must purchase individual Excellencies for
each Attribute, other than the two free Excellencies
they receive at character creation. They may add up to
(Attribute) dice to rolls, or (Attribute + Essence, max-
imum 10) in cities. Automatic successes count as two
dice towards this limit. Static values such as Evasion or
Resolve can be raised by half her dice cap, rounded down.
In addition to adding dice to (Attribute + Ability) rolls,
the Strength Excellency can add dice to Strength-based
withering damage before soak, while the Stamina
Excellency can raise soak. This costs one mote per
damage die or point of soak, maximum (Attribute/2,
rounded down), or ([Attribute + Essence] / 2, rounded
down) in cities. These limits only apply to Excellencies,
not to other magic that adds damage or soak. Players
must declare these Excellencies before rolling.
New Keywords
Keystone: Keystone Charms can be learned as Charms
of alternative Attributes if the Architect has them
as Foundation Attributes, using different minimum
Attributes and potentially enjoying Keystone discounts.
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EX3
Keystone Charms have alternative prerequisite Charms
from this second Attribute, unless they have no prereq-
uisite Charms or their prerequisites also have Keystone.
This extends to the Attribute minimums of any auto-
matic upgrades or repurchases of the Charm, but not to
any dice rolls or other calculations involved.
Metropolis: Charms with the Metropolis keyword
have an enhanced effect when used within a city or a
specific urban environment. Most of the time, it should
be obvious whether characters are in a city or not. If
there’s any ambiguity, the Storyteller resolves it. The
most important criteria in evaluating whether a given
location counts as a city are whether they are perma-
nent settlements, whether they are densely populated,
and whether they have defined boundaries. These aren’t
the only considerations, nor are they absolute rules, but
they should be sufficient for resolving most ambiguities.
Appearance (Influence)
Heart-Baring Sculpture Stance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Appearance 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s every gesture and change of expression
conveys more than words ever could, radiant with passion.
Anyone who can see the Architect can discern her cur-
rent emotional state without needing to roll, and she
suffers −1 Guile to conceal emotion-based Intimacies.
Any character whose emotional state is the same as
or similar to hers is treated as having a Minor Tie of
sympathy toward her. If the Architect succeeds on an
Appearance-based influence roll against such a char-
acter, that Tie becomes permanent unless the target
spends Willpower to resist her roll.
An Appearance 3, Essence 2 repurchase lets the Architect
apply this Charm’s effects to one of her emotion-based
Intimacies rather than her current emotional state.
Monument-Unveiling Flourish
Cost: 2m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Baring Sculpture Stance
Those who trespass upon the Architect’s innermost feel-
ings find her more compelling than they expected.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
When a character takes an action opposing the
Architect’s Guile, she may use this Charm to let him suc-
ceed automatically without needing to roll. Revealing
her true self has a powerful impact on the character
reading her: she reflexively makes an Appearance-
based inspire, instill, or threaten roll against the char-
acter reading her, adding (Guile/2, rounded up) non-
Charm dice. This calculation includes any bonuses to
the Architect’s Guile against that roll.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds non-Charm
successes instead.
Sympathetic Stranger Entreaty
Cost: 2m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Baring Sculpture
Stance
The city laughs with the Architect when she rejoices and
weeps with her when she grieves.
The Architect doubles 9s on an inspire roll with any
Attribute to convey whatever emotion she’s currently
feeling. Her Appearance adds bonus dice (Exalted, p.
218).
If the Exalt has Heart-Baring Sculpture Stance’s
Essence 2 repurchase, this Charm can enhance rolls to
instill any emotion-based Intimacy she possesses.
Plaza-Captivating Allure
Cost: 2m; Mins: Appearance 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect dazzles crowds with her poise and confi-
dence, catching the eye of everyone she walks by on the
city streets.
The Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on
an influence roll and ignores the penalty for targeting
multiple characters.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect also rerolls 5s until
they cease to appear.
Blue Light District Appeal
Cost: 3m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
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EX3
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Evoking the allure of the city and its sensuous distractions,
the Architect captivates others with her confident poise.
The Architect makes a persuade roll to seduce a single tar-
get. Success also instills a Tie of sexual or romantic desire
toward the Architect unless he resists the persuade roll.
Metropolis: The Architect converts up to (Essence)
dice added by her Appearance to non-Charm successes
Urban Legend Notoriety
Cost: 3m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect attunes herself to the terrors that haunt
the darkest reaches of a city’s psyche, making all who see
her remember what it was like to be a frightened child.
The Architect doubles 9s on an Appearance- or
Charisma-based threaten roll and counts as Hideous.
If she breaks concealment by speaking, targets who
were unaware of her suffer −1 Resolve against the roll.
Crowd-Panicking Intensity
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Plaza-Captivating Allure,
Urban Legend Notoriety
The Architect’s menacing presence turns milling crowds
into stampedes of panicked animals.
The Architect makes an (Appearance + [Presence or
Socialize]) threaten roll to terrify all enemies who can
see her into fleeing from her, ignoring the penalty for
multiple targets. On each of their turns, they must use
their reflexive move action to move away from her. If
an affected character is unable to do so, he loses (her
Essence) Initiative. Battle groups suffer a Resolve pen-
alty against this roll based on their Drill: −4 for poor, −2
for average, or −0 for elite.
Metropolis: In cities, each character whose Resolve is
beaten by the Architect’s roll loses one Initiative, even
if he resists with Willpower.
Reset: Once per scene.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Living Monument Inspiration
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Plaza-Captivating Appeal
The Architect’s presence bolsters the people’s will, giving
them a symbol they can believe in.
The Architect grants +1 Resolve against an influence
roll to any number of characters that can perceive her.
If a character has a positive Tie to the Architect that
supports the influence, she can’t grant him this bonus.
If at least one of these characters successfully asserts
his Resolve against the influence, the Architect gains
one Willpower.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm, with
Towering Skyline Travelogue as its prerequisite.
Perfection of Aesthetics
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Blue Light District Appeal,
Plaza-Captivating Allure
The Architect embodies the idealized aesthetics of
her home city, the scintillating allure of its thousand
temptations.
The Architect gains a bonus dot of Appearance, which
can raise her Appearance above 5. Anyone who sees
her immediately recognizes her as a citizen of her
home city. This can’t be concealed by any means.
Metropolis: In urban venues for entertainment of any
kind — theaters, gladiatorial arenas, gambling halls,
bordellos, drug dens, etc. — this Charm’s Willpower
cost is waived.
Welcoming Alehouse Appeal
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Psyche
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Perfection of Aesthetics
The Architect’s beauty is more intoxicating than the
wares of any wine merchant or opium dealer.
232
EX3
When a character sees the Architect for the first
time in a scene, her player may have him roll (Wits +
Integrity) at a difficulty of (Architect’s Appearance,
including bonus dots). If he fails, he’s treated as having
a Major Tie of interest toward the Architect for the
scene. The Architect may choose to have this instead
impose a Major Tie of infatuation on characters with
a compatible sexual orientation (unless their player
invokes the Red Rule, Exalted, p. 222). Affected char-
acters also suffer a −2 penalty on all rolls, being ren-
dered as uncoordinated and mentally foggy as if they’d
overindulged in liquor or drugs. For characters with an
existing Addiction (Exalted, p. 167), the object of their
Addiction becomes being in the Architect’s presence.
If the Architect has the Hideous Merit, using this
Charm requires a stunt to describe how she takes in
observers.
Metropolis: In urban venues where alcohol, narcot-
ics, or similar vices are on offer, 1s on rolls to resist this
Charm subtract successes.
Triumphal Procession Attainment
Cost: 6m, 1wp (4m per round); Mins: Appearance 5,
Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Baring Sculpture
Stance, Living Monument Inspiration,
The Architect seems like victory personified, inspiring
citizens to heroism.
Allies who can see the Architect add one die on at-
tack rolls, +1 raw damage on withering attacks, and
+2 Resolve against fear-based influence. Allied battle
groups with poor Drill gain average Drill as long as
they can see her.
The Architect must pay four motes for each round after
the first she wishes to maintain the effects of this Charm.
Metropolis: While in a city or fighting in defense of
a city, the mote cost to maintain this Charm in subse-
quent rounds is waived.
Civic Unity Icon
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Triumphal Procession
Attainment
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
The Architect is a symbol that the entire city rallies
around, uniting them against a common foe.
The Architect chooses a city and makes a special
(Appearance + [Performance, Presence, or Socialize])
inspire roll to stir civic spirit in characters from that
city. Affected characters are treated as having a Major
Tie of solidarity toward all other residents of that city
and a Major Tie of opposition toward anything that
poses a threat to the entire city for the rest of the scene.
The inspired action (Exalted, p. 217) must support one
of these two Intimacies.
Metropolis: If the Architect uses this Charm in the
chosen city or while fighting in its defense, this influ-
ence costs two Willpower to resist.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm with
Shun the Outsider as its prerequisite.
Entourage-Attracting Presence
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Welcoming Alehouse Appeal
Strangers are drawn to the Architect like iron filings to a
lodestone, following after her in great crowds.
The Architect rolls (Appearance + [Performance,
Presence, or Socialize]). Every three successes lets
her immediately gain one dot of Allies, Command,
Contacts, Cult, Followers, Mentor, or Retainers. The
characters these Merits represent don’t gain any
Intimacy toward the Architect, but they’re willing to
work with her in the role defined by that Merit. She
can’t choose a specific character to recruit with this;
she must take whoever comes to her.
At the end of the story, the Merits are lost as the re-
cruited characters return to their lives, unless the
Storyteller deems that the Architect’s treatment of
them qualifies to retain them long-term as Story Merits
(Exalted, p. 158).
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can gain dots of
Influence within the city, Backing in an organization
operating entirely within the city, or Resources, im-
pressing others with charm, looks, or sheer confidence.
Reset: Once per story.
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EX3
City-Avatar Embodiment
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Civic Unity Icon
The Architect embodies the multitude and speaks in ten
thousand voices, more like a teeming throng or a colorful
festival to those who see her than a single person.
The Architect gains the following benefits:
• Ties to her as an individual can’t support or
oppose her influence rolls. Instead, Ties to the
Architect’s home city or to a group that has a
sizable or noteworthy presence in that city do so
as though they were Ties to her.
• Her instill, persuade, and threaten rolls auto-
matically succeed against trivial characters, and
they can’t resist with Willpower.
• She can understand and be understood in all
languages that have a large or noteworthy com-
munity of speakers within her home city.
• Her influence rolls benefit from Plaza-
Captivating Allure for free.
• She waives Living Monument Inspiration’s
Willpower cost.
• She recovers Essence more rapidly in social
situations. Once each character has had the op-
portunity to make a social action in an exchange,
she gains five motes, repeating this for subse-
quent “rounds” of social interaction.
Metropolis: In a city, the Architect may draw on that
city rather than her home city for this Charm’s benefits.
Appearance (Subterfuge)
Citizen of All Nations
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect blends in with the crowd, seeming a soldier
in Lookshy, a Delzahn in Chiaroscuro, or a patrician in
the Imperial City.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
After spending a minute observing or contemplating
the local culture, the Architect makes an ([Appearance
or Manipulation] + [Larceny, Performance, or
Socialize]) disguise roll with double 9s to pass herself
off as a local. She needs no tools or additional time to
do so and doesn’t suffer a penalty for disguising herself
as a different ethnicity. She can’t use this Charm to
impersonate specific individuals.
While the Architect maintains this disguise, she gains
a temporary Socialize specialty in the culture she has
disguised herself as a member of.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation
Charm.
Boulevard-and-Avenue Emissary
Cost: 3m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation)
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Citizen of All Nations
The Architect wraps herself in the ambiance of a city,
taking on its mannerisms, vernacular, and ineffable style.
Anyone who sees the Architect perceives her as a long-
time resident of the nearest city and is treated as hav-
ing a Minor Tie of familiarity toward her. This doesn’t
guarantee hospitality, only that she will be received
with whatever welcome is due a city-dweller.
This Charm can be used reflexively with One of
Thousands, letting the Architect use it without need-
ing to spend time immersed in a culture and making it
possible to impersonate specific individuals.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation Charm.
Shadowed Alley Disappearance
Cost: 2m; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s surroundings conspire to conceal her:
falling leaves whirl about her, smoke drifts from forges
to obscure her, and shadows lengthen.
When the Architect makes a Stealth roll, opposing rolls
suffer a −1 penalty. This increases to −2 if she’s taken
cover behind an artificial structure, or −3 for full cover.
234
EX3
Nobody Important Stance
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Shadowed Alley
Disappearance
The Architect cloaks herself in anonymity, a mysterious
figure amid the bustle and commotion of the city.
The Architect rolls ([Appearance or Manipulation] +
[Larceny, Stealth, or Survival]) to obscure her identity.
Shadows hide her face, drifting smoke or clouds of
dust obscure her appearance, the chatter of the crowd
drowns out any identifying details of her voice, and
the like. Characters attempting to discern any details
about her identity must make an opposed roll with
(Perception + Awareness). Read intentions and profile
character rolls can still reveal information unrelated to
her identity.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm is Mute.
Hidden Among the Colonnades
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis, Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nobody Important Stance
The Architect fades into the city, passing herself off as
part of a wall through subtle shifts in her bearing or
hiding in a signpost’s shadow.
The Architect can roll Stealth without concealment,
although she suffers a −3 penalty. If her surroundings
add any situational dice to her roll, each die added also
negates a point of this penalty.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds (Appearance)
dice on the roll.
Neighbor’s Frieze Symmetry
Cost: —; Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation), Metropolis
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Citizen of All Nations
The Architect steps into the role of one of a city’s people,
taking up residence in his life.
The Architect can use Citizen of All Nations to imper-
sonate characters who belong to a local culture. If she’s
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS

lowered the penalty for impersonating a character by While moving with or standing in a crowd, the Architect
studying her target (Exalted, p. 224), rolls opposing adds that crowd’s effective Size in non-Charm dice on
her disguise suffer a penalty equal to the points of pen- Stealth rolls and rolls to disguise herself with A Face in
alty she negated on the disguise roll. the Crowd or Citizen of All Nations.

Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can commit an
additional three motes to mimic a being’s supernatural
nature: manifesting the anima banner and Caste Mark
or Aspect markings of an impersonated Exalt, creating
cosmetic supernatural displays suitable to imitating
the appearance of spirits and other creatures, etc.
Metropolis: In cities, rolls opposing the enhanced
actions suffer a −4 penalty unless enhanced by magic.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation
Charm.

Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a Foundation Embassy of the Streets

Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation Charm.
One of Thousands
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation), Metropolis,
Mute
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Boulevard-and-Avenue
Emissary
The Architect walks into a crowd and abandons all trac-
es of her original identity, her features indistinguishable
from those of the people around her.
Cost: —(4m per ally); Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: One of Thousands
There’s room for plenty amidst the hurly-burly of the city.
When the Architect uses Boulevard-and-Avenue
Emissary, Citizen of All Nations, or One of Thousands,
she can confer that Charm’s benefits on her allies, pay-
ing four motes per ally.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation Charm.

235
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

A Face in the Crowd If she flurries a command action with an influence roll,
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 3 neither action suffers flurry penalties, nor does her
Type: Simple Defense. Beating the Resolve of at least one nontriv-
Keywords: Metropolis, Mute ial enemy grants her one Initiative, even if he spends
Duration: Instant Willpower to resist.
Prerequisite Charms: Citizen of All Nations
Metropolis: With actions other than influence rolls,
Vanishing into the tumult of the crowd, the Architect the penalty on both actions is reduced by one point,
emerges wearing another face. and the Architect’s Defense isn’t penalized.

The Architect makes a disguise roll instantly by en- Mass Panic Technique
tering a crowd large enough to obscure her from view. Cost: 6m; Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
She needs no tools or props and negates the penalty for Type: Supplemental
impersonating a specific character. Her disguise roll Keywords: Metropolis
also counts as a Stealth roll to establish concealment. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crowd-Panicking Intensity,
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm’s Willpower cost is Urban Legend Notoriety
waived as long as the Architect’s disguise fits into the
crowd: ducking into a theater might let her emerge dressed The Architect’s terrifying mien turns even the most sea-
for an evening at the opera, while a bustling teahouse soned of armies into shambolic mobs, scattering them
might help her take on the guise of an evening raconteur. from the battlefield.

Appearance (Warfare) The Architect adds (Archery, Brawl, Martial Arts,

Melee, Thrown, or War) dice on a threaten roll, an in-
Frontline Daring Exploits spire roll to spread fear, or an instill roll to create Ties
of fear. Affected characters lose (Architect’s Essence/2,
Cost: 2m; Mins: Appearance 2, Essence 1
round up) Initiative. Battle groups instead lose that
Type: Supplemental
much Magnitude. If this causes a battle group to make
Keywords: Metropolis
a rout check, it rolls at +1 difficulty.
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None Metropolis: In cities or while fighting in defense of a
city, the Initiative lost increases to (Essence), and the
The Architect’s presence inspires those who fight along-
Architect gains up to (higher of Essence or 3) of the
side her.
total Initiative lost by her targets.
The Architect can make a command action with
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by landing a deci-
(Appearance + [Archery, Brawl, Martial Arts, Melee,
sive attack and then building to Initiative 6+.
Thrown, or War]), rerolling 6s until they cease to
appear. Regimented Rabble Approach
Metropolis: In cities or while fighting in defense of Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 4, Essence 2
a city, the Architect gains one Initiative if at least one Type: Reflexive
rerolled die shows a success. Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Mob-Inspiring Presence Prerequisite Charms: Frontline Daring Exploits,
Cost: 5m; Mins: Appearance 2, Essence 1 Mob-Inspiring Presence
Type: Reflexive
Under the Architect’s command, street urchins and
Keywords: Metropolis
drunkards fight with the discipline of hardened veterans.
Duration: One tick
Prerequisite Charms: None Allied battle groups may use the Architect’s Appearance
(including any bonus dots) in place of their Willpower
The Architect leads by example.
when making a rout check. They don’t suffer increased
The Architect can flurry a command action using any difficulty on rout checks or rally rolls targeting them
Attribute with another action, although not an attack. for having poor or average Drill.

236
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 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Metropolis: The Drill of allied battle groups increases
by one step.
Beacon of Triumphant Prowess
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Appearance 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Regimented Rabble Approach
The Architect’s battlefield triumphs encourage the forces
over her command, urging them onward to victory.
The Architect can use this Charm when she deals deci-
sive damage to a nontrivial enemy or affects a nontrivial
enemy with an influence roll, designating an allied battle
group. If that battle group uses its next action to attack
the Architect’s target, it adds (her Archery, Brawl, Martial
Arts, Melee, Thrown, or War) dice on the damage roll.
Metropolis: In cities or while fighting in defense of a
city, the battle group adds successes on the damage roll
instead of dice.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by having a battle
group under the benefits of the Architect’s order ac-
tion incapacitate a nontrivial enemy or cause a battle
group to lose Size.
Charisma (Influence)
Crowd-Pleasing Cadence
Cost: 2m; Mins: Charisma 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s rhetoric borrows both the salesman’s
patter and the zealot’s conviction, swaying crowds with
well-chosen words.
The Architect’s influence rolls with any Attribute ig-
nore multiple target penalties. She can use Excellencies
to add successes on influence rolls instead of dice for
two motes each.
Eight Directions Diplomacy
Cost: 5m; Mins: Charisma 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
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EX3
The Architect upholds society’s order, negotiating resolu-
tions to conflicts that would weaken or subvert that order.
The Architect gains the following benefits:
• She affects the bearing of a master diplomat.
Characters facing problems that could be solved
by diplomacy, negotiation, or mediation will
seek her out as the solution to their problem,
treating this as a Minor Tie of trust in her.
• She adds an automatic success on rolls to intro-
duce or challenge facts relating to local customs,
etiquette, or laws.
• She gains +1 Resolve against influence that
would cause her to act against the best interests
of someone who she’s representing as a diplo-
mat, advocate, or the like.
• Once per day, she can negate a botch on a
Bureaucracy or influence roll, simply failing
instead.
Common Parlance Tactic
Cost: 3m; Mins: Charisma 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Intelligence)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Eight Directions Diplomacy
The Architect boasts an intuitive understanding of
language, discerning meaning in foreign tongues and
cobbling together pidgin phrases that are understood no
matter how far she wanders.
The Architect can understand or convey an influence
roll or a single sentence to speakers of a language that
she doesn’t know. This doesn’t reduce the Resolve
bonus for lacking a common language (Exalted, p.
221). She can’t translate or convey complex or abstract
ideas, nor does this fluency extend to writing.
Keystone: An Architect with Intelligence as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as an Intelligence
Charm, with The City Remembers as its prerequisite.
Call to Action
Cost: 3m; Mins: Charisma 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
As a pillar of the community, the Architect is a beacon of
civil pride and leadership.
The Architect doubles 9s on a persuade roll targeting
a group or on an instill or inspire roll targeting a group
that’s made to promote peace, efficiency, or unity.
Metropolis: In cities, characters can’t cite Principles
of apathy, sloth, laziness, or overindulgence in a
Decision Point to resist an enhanced persuade action.
Labor-Empowering Campaign
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Charisma 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: Call to Action
The Architect is an inspiring leader, whether amidst the
halls of civic government or toiling at a construction site.
The Architect enhances a project (Exalted, p. 226) or
other bureaucratic task, multiplying the speed at which
an organization makes progress by (higher of Essence
or 3). This Charm cannot speed a bureaucratic task
that would normally take more than (Essence) years.
Metropolis: If this Charm enhances a project that
takes place entirely within a city, those who work
on it gain a Minor Intimacy of pride in their work,
camaraderie with their fellow laborers, or some other
Intimacy that motivates them to work on it. Upon the
project’s completion, this Intimacy increases to Major.
Towering Skyline Travelogue
Cost: 2m; Mins: Charisma 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s speech depicts the city in vivid detail,
capturing its scenic views and seedy underbelly alike.
When the Architect makes an influence roll with any
Attribute to instill a Tie towards a city or its population,
institutions, or customs, or to persuade characters to
act based on such a Tie, she adds (higher of Essence
or 3) dice and rolls an additional non-Charm die for
each 10.
Metropolis: If the Architect is in the city of which she
speaks, she rolls additional dice for 9s as well as 10s.
238
EX3
Heart-Swaying Architecture
Cost: 6m; Mins: Charisma 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Towering Skyline Travelogue
The Architect’s Essence intensifies the emotional impact
of architecture.
The Architect chooses an artificial structure within long
range and an emotion appropriate to its form, function,
or history, like safety for a soaring wall or excitement for
a new theater. Other characters within long range of that
structure — or the particular segment where the Architect
used this Charm, for extremely large structures — add +1
Resolve against influence opposed to that emotion but
suffer −1 Resolve against influence that aligns with it.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm’s duration becomes
one day.
Eminence of the Dutiful Host
Cost: 3m; Mins: Charisma 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Swaying Architecture
The Architect takes advantage of the emotional primacy
of home, tugging on heartstrings and foundations alike.
The Architect adds a non-Charm die on an instill, per-
suade, or bargain roll with any Attribute for each of the
following criteria she satisfies:
• Her influence appeals to hospitality, social obli-
gations, or civic spirit.
• She’s provided food, water, or shelter to her in-
fluence’s targets within the last day.
• Her influence’s targets are in a structure that
they believe the Architect lives in or owns.
Reset: Once per scene.
Bustling Plaza Interlocution
Cost: 1m, 1wp (3m per language not spoken); Mins:
Charisma 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Intelligence)
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Common Parlance Tactic
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
The Architect brings strangers from different lands
together in business dealings, criminal schemes, and
romance, filling in what’s lost in translation.
As long as the Architect is actively involved in a con-
versation or social gathering, characters can commu-
nicate with each other regardless of language, getting
by on pidgin, cognates, and the Architect’s translation.
Unlike when speaking through a translator normally,
characters can make influence rolls and even use
Charms through the translated statements. Even
highly complicated or abstract ideas can be conveyed,
though doing so may take longer than it would between
characters who share a tongue.
Ordinarily, the Architect must know each language in-
volved in a conversation or social gathering to provide
this Charm’s benefit. For each such language she doesn’t
know, she must commit three motes, an abstraction
representing frequent use of this Charm’s prerequisite
to pick up bits and pieces of other languages.
Keystone: An Architect with Intelligence as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as an Intelligence Charm.
Clarion Voice Technique
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Charisma 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Call to Action, Crowd-
Pleasing Cadence
The Architect speaks to the city with a voice like a tolling
bell tower.
The Architect makes a spoken influence roll with
any Attribute or ten seconds of regular speech that
can be heard clearly out to (Essence + 1) range bands.
Distance-based and environmental penalties on the
roll are reduced by (higher of Essence or 3), and she
can be heard over even the loudest noises.
Metropolis: When speaking from an urban tower or
other elevated artificial structure, the Architect can
be heard out to (Essence + Charisma) range bands by
characters who are beneath her position.
Villain-Abjuring Covenant
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Charisma 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (Essence + Charisma) days
239
EX3
Prerequisite Charms: Call to Action, Towering
Skyline Travelogue
The Architect casts out those the community cannot
abide, marking them as outsiders within their own homes.
The Architect touches a character and rolls (Charisma
+ [Bureaucracy, Presence, or Socialize]) against his
Resolve. If successful, she leaves some form of visible
mark on him that brands him as persona non grata.
Anyone who resides in the same city or community
as the marked character and has a Resolve lower than
the Architect’s Charisma is treated as having a Minor
Tie of contempt toward him unless they spend one
Willpower to resist. Outsiders, like traveling merchants
and other itinerants, and residents with negative
Major or Defining Ties toward the city are unaffected
and must glean the mark’s meaning from observing the
behavior of others.
If the Architect welcomes the target back into the
community, the mark vanishes and this Charm ends.
With Charisma 4, the marked character withers away
under the Architect’s opprobrium. He suffers a −3 pen-
alty on rolls to obtain or maintain access to food, water,
or shelter by any means within the city or community
where he resides. Even if he succeeds, anything he eats
or drinks tastes of grime and ash.
Shun the Outsider
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Charisma 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Villain-Abjuring Covenant
The Architect inveighs against foreign demagogues and
outlandish philosophies, arguing in defense of the city’s ways.
When a character who can hear the Architect enters
a Decision Point due to influence that opposes the
culture, norms, laws, or political agendas of the city he
resides in, he can cite her words as though they were a
Major Intimacy to justify spending Willpower.
With a Charisma 5, Essence 3 repurchase, when multiple
residents of the same city enter Decision Points in response
to the same influence, the Architect may pay a one-Willpow-
er surcharge to extend this Charm’s benefits to all of them.
Metropolis: If the Architect uses this Charm within
the city her target resides in, her words count as a
Defining Intimacy instead.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Charisma (Warfare)
Civic Recruitment Methodology
Cost: 3m; Mins: Charisma 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect rallies others to fight for her cause with
well-chosen words and fervent passion.
The Architect adds (higher of Essence or 3) bonus dice
and rolls an additional non-Charm die for each 10 on
a rally or rally for numbers action, or an influence roll
to recruit troops. This includes persuade, bargain, and
threaten rolls to convince recruits to join, as well as in-
still and inspire rolls to create Intimacies or emotions
that support the Architect’s recruitment.
Metropolis: In cities, Intimacies that penalize a
character’s Resolve against influence enhanced by this
Charm increase their penalty by one point.
Mob-to-Militia Exhortation
Cost: 3m; Mins: Charisma 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Under the Architect’s leadership, a makeshift citizen’s
battalion fights like a trained legion.
The Architect adds a non-Charm success on an order
action and halves any penalties from the battle group’s
Drill, rounded down.
Metropolis: While fighting in or in defense of a city,
the battle group targeted by the Architect’s order gains
+1 Defense until the Architect’s next turn.
Panic-Subduing Confidence
Cost: 3m (+2m); Mins: Charisma 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Civic Recruitment Methodology
The Architect’s courageous presence and inspiring words
strengthen her soldiers’ morale.
The Architect grants an allied battle group +2 non-Charm
Resolve against fear-based influence or doubles 9s on a battle
240
EX3
group’s rout check. The battle group must be able to hear her
or otherwise receive her signals to benefit from this Charm.
Metropolis: While fighting in or in defense of a city, the
Architect can pay a two-mote surcharge to bolster her
forces’ courage. If the targeted battle group successfully
asserts its Resolve or succeeds on its rout check, it gains
perfect morale for the rest of the round. With Charisma
5, Essence 4, the Architect can pay a two-mote, one-Will-
power surcharge to extend this to one scene.
Homeward Banner Militia
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Charisma 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Mob-to-Militia Exhortation,
Panic-Subduing Confidence
The Architect exalts those who fight in the city’s name,
leading them to triumph and glory.
While the Architect leads a battle group that’s part of
a city’s official military, has been hired by a city’s gov-
ernment, or is fighting within or in defense of a city, its
Drill increases by one step and it gains Might 1.
Metropolis: When fighting in or in defense of the
Architect’s home city, the battle group gains Might 2.
Dexterity (Offense)
Civic Armory Summons
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Strength), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The city ensures its champion doesn’t fight empty-handed,
delivering her weapon to her on a gust of wind, by a passing
yeddim’s careless footfalls, or by a helpful street urchin.
The Architect calls a weapon within short range to her
hand; it reaches her at the start of her next turn as long
as a clear path exists. She can’t steal weapons, only call
her weapons to hand.
Alternatively, the Architect can add (Dexterity or
Strength) non-Charm dice on a roll to scavenge ammuni-
tion (Exalted, p. 202), gathering scattered missiles to her.
Metropolis: In cities, if an obstacle blocks a weapon’s
path, the Architect can roll ([Dexterity or Strength] + ap-
propriate combat Ability) against difficulty 4+ to bypass it.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS

Keystone: An Architect with Strength as a Foundation Keystone: An Architect with Strength as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Strength Charm. Attribute may learn this as a Strength Charm.

Blade-Beckoning Requisition Hammer Strikes Nail

Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1 Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Strength), Metropolis Keywords: Metropolis, Uniform
Duration: Instant Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Civic Armory Summons Prerequisite Charms: None

The Architect draws swords from cobblestones and ar-
rows from midden heaps, making the city her weapon.
Touching an artificial structure, the Architect draws a
mundane weapon from it. She can choose any weapon
that the Storyteller agrees is a good fit for that structure.
Should the Architect need to call the weapon to her
or scavenge ammunition for it with Civic Armory
Summons, she may do so for one mote.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can confer an ad-
ditional tag on the weapon based on the form, function,
or composition of the structure she drew it from.
The Architect strikes with unmatched precision and finesse.
The Architect negates up to (Essence) points of penalty
on an attack roll from visual obstructions or environ-
mental factors and ignores the Defense bonus of ene-
mies in light cover. If she makes a gambit, a chopping
attack, a piercing attack, or a smash attack (Exalted,
pp. 585-586), the Initiative cost is reduced by one.
Metropolis: In cities, any excess points of penalty
negation beyond the applicable penalties on the attack
roll are converted to bonus dice.

241
EX3
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Runaway Cart Swiftness
Cost: 4m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Her instinct for danger honed by city living, the Architect
acts on adrenaline and reflex to cut down attackers.
This Charm must be used at the start of the round. The
Architect adds (higher of Essence or 3) to her Initiative
to determine when she acts. If she takes her turn before
any enemy acts in the round, she gains one Initiative.
Metropolis: In cities, the bonus to the Architect’s
effective Initiative increases to (Essence + Dexterity)
and the Initiative awarded for going before all enemies
increase to (Essence/2, rounded up).
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Overwhelming Hustle Strike
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis, Withering-
only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Runaway Cart Swiftness
The Architect strikes with the speed of a cutpurse’s nim-
ble fingers or a rat’s excited scurry, overwhelming foes
with her swift barrage.
The Architect makes two withering attacks against a
single enemy. She only gains Initiative from the attack
that deals the highest damage, maximum (Essence +
Wits). If she’s dual wielding two identical weapons,
this increases to (Essence + Wits + 1).
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect need only pay the
cost of non-Excellency Charms once to apply their
effects to both attacks.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by crashing an
enemy and then landing a decisive attack against him
on or before her next turn.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Discreet Killing Speed
Cost: 2m, 2i; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
242
EX3
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Overwhelming Hustle Strike
Hapless bystanders startle and turn to look as the
Architect attacks, but she moves faster than their eyes
can follow.
To use this Charm, the Architect must act before all
enemies in a round. She makes a withering or decisive
attack, which is automatically a surprise attack (Exalted,
p. 203). If she used Runaway Cart Swiftness at the start of
the round, she adds an automatic success on the attack roll.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by landing a deci-
sive attack that resets the Architect’s Initiative.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Crack-in-the-Wall Precision
Cost: 6m; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Hammer Strikes Nail
A wall is only as strong as its weakest brick, and the
Architect is unerring as she strikes it.
The Architect can use this Charm after an attack roll,
ignoring (1 + extra successes, maximum 5) points of
armored soak or Hardness.
Metropolis: In cities, any excess points left over
after reducing armored soak or Hardness to zero are
converted to dice of decisive damage or post-soak
withering damage.
Pugnacious Street Tough Reflex
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Discreet Killing Speed
The Architect instinctively senses the perfect moment to
strike and seizes it with unmatched speed.
If the Architect wins Join Battle, she may reflexively
make a decisive attack, readying a weapon to do so if
necessary. She can use Discreet Killing Speed reflex-
ively to enhance the attack.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
If the Architect acts before all enemies in a round while
benefiting from Runaway Cart Swiftness and crashes
an enemy, she can use this Charm to attack him.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Overeager Killer Haste
Cost: 7m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Pugnacious Street Tough
Reflex
The Architect is a frenetic blur of violence, distilling
every act of aggression a city might see in a day into a
split-second of absolute speed.
The Architect makes up to (Essence, maximum 5)
decisive attacks against one or more enemies. She
doesn’t need to use the same Ability for all attacks and
may reflexively change weapons between attacks. Her
Initiative is divided evenly among all attacks, rounded
up, and doesn’t reset until the final attack is completed,
assuming at least one hit.
If the Architect acts before all enemies in a round while
benefiting from Runaway Cart Swiftness, she can make
(Essence + 1) attacks instead.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by landing a with-
ering attack that leaves her with an Initiative higher
than those of all enemies.
Dexterity (Defense)
Steadfast Sentry Attitude
Cost: 2i; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect fends off her enemy’s blows as if she were
a seasoned city dweller regarding an errant pigeon with
jaded disinterest.
The Architect adds +1 Defense and can defend against
attack rolls with successes equal to her Defense.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm loses the Perilous
keyword and the Architect can spend herself into neg-
ative Initiative using it.
243
EX3
Defense of the Hearth
Cost: 2m, 1i; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Sentry Attitude
The Architect permits no imperfection in her guard, like
a draftsman correcting flaws in a blueprint.
The Architect negates one point of penalty to her
Defense. This increases if she benefits from cover, ne-
gating two points for light cover, three points for heavy
cover, or four points for full cover.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect negates an addi-
tional point of penalty.
Guardian of the Polis
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Defense of the Hearth
The Architect offers shelter to allies and innocents, call-
ing on the city to defend them.
The Architect provides the benefits of a defend other
action against a single attack to an ally within close
range. That ally can reflexively roll to take cover if his
surroundings permit.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can use this Charm to
protect allies within short range, causing the city’s struc-
tures to interpose themselves between allies and attacks.
Unhesitating Retribution Manner
Cost: 4m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Runaway Cart Swiftness,
Steadfast Sentry Attitude
There’s little forgiveness to be found in the city, and less
to stay the Architect’s hand from vengeance.
The Architect can use this Charm when an enemy with
lower Initiative attacks her. If he misses, she makes a
decisive counterattack.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds (higher of
Essence or 3) to her effective Initiative to determine if
she can make a counterattack.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Baffling Detour Defense
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Sentry Attitude
The Architect’s quick footwork and lightning reflexes
leave her enemies as disoriented as a rustic bumpkin
caught in city traffic.
After a decisive attack misses her, the Architect can
use this Charm to make her attacker lose one Initiative.
Metropolis: The Architect gains one Initiative.
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by taking a full
defense or succeeding on a take cover action.
Under-the-Eaves Refuge
Cost: 2m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect finds safety in the city’s nooks and crannies,
weaving between columns or fitting herself into tight spaces.
The Architect doubles 9s on a take cover action. If she
flurries it with another action, the flurry penalty on both
actions is lowered by one and her Defense isn’t penalized.
Metropolis: In cities, successfully taking cover grants
one Initiative.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Balustrade Runner Stride
Cost: 2m, 3i; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Under-the-Eaves Refuge
The Architect nimbly maneuvers through the city to
evade her foes.
The Architect can use this Charm when she defends
against an attack that misses her Defense by at least
two successes, letting her move one range band hori-
zontally or reflexively roll to take cover.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can do both.
244
EX3
Wayward Debris Whirlwind
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Steadfast Sentry Attitude,
Under-the-Eaves Refuge
Calling upon the city’s fury, the Architect kicks up a
whirlwind heavy with the detritus of the streets.
The Architect can use take cover actions to drag dust,
trash, and various miscellany into this whirlwind,
providing light cover. If her surroundings allow — for
example, if she’s at a construction site with numerous
loose bricks to drag into the vortex — this becomes
heavy cover. While she has cover from this Charm,
rush and disengage rolls against her suffer a −1 penalty.
Metropolis: In cities, while the Architect has cover,
she rolls a single die of decisive damage against all
enemies within close range at the start of each of her
turns. Any Hardness negates this damage.
Rat Strikes Snake
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Clash, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Overwhelming Hustle Strike,
Unhesitating Retribution Manner
The Architect moves to meet violence with violence,
striking with the speed of everything that moves through
the city’s streets.
The Architect clashes an attack against her with a de-
cisive attack, adding (Essence/2, round up) successes
on her attack roll. This counts as her attack for the
round.
Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect clashes an en-
emy with lower Initiative, this doesn’t count as her
attack for the round.
Dexterity (Mobility)
House Spider’s Secret
Cost: 1m; Mins: Dexterity 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: None
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
The city knows the Architect, bearing her up with its own
strength.
The Architect doubles 9s on rolls to maintain her
balance and can stand or run on artificial surfaces too
narrow or weak to support her normally.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect automatically
succeeds on all balance rolls, and enjoys this Charm’s
second effect while on natural surfaces, whether a
dead branch or the cobwebs between an abandoned
tenement’s rafters.
Danger-Evading Causeway
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Even in the most perilous streets, the city offers the be-
leaguered Architect an avenue for escape.
The Architect adds (Athletics, Stealth, or Survival)
dice on a disengage or withdraw roll. A successful
roll grants one Initiative, or two if she’s successfully
defended against a nontrivial enemy’s attack since her
last turn.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Every Road a Shortcut
Cost: 2m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
At home amid the wayward streets of labyrinthine cities,
the Architect outpaces her rivals with a city-dweller’s
speed and cunning.
The Architect adds a non-Charm success on a roll for a
movement action with any Attribute.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect ignores the penal-
ty from non-magical difficult terrain (Exalted, p. 199),
though she must still use two movement actions to
cross a single band of difficult terrain.
Ascending Causeway Stride
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
245
EX3
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Every Road a Shortcut, House
Spider’s Secret
The Architect knows the city’s every nook and cranny,
seeking handholds and footholds by reflex as she scales
great towers or crumbling tenements.
As long as the Architect maintains constant movement,
she can run up walls and other artificial vertical sur-
faces, even upside-down along a ceiling. However, she
cannot disengage or withdraw with this movement. If
she ends her movement somewhere she couldn’t nor-
mally stand and then fails to renew this Charm on her
next turn, she falls and suffers damage normally.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm is compatible with
disengage and withdraw actions.
Crowd-Avoiding Grace
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Every Road a Shortcut, Under-
the-Eaves Refuge
The Architect maneuvers over rooftops, up walls, and
through narrow alleyways with the nimble grace of a
squirrel or a street urchin.
The Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a
rush, disengage, or withdraw roll, or any roll required
to climb or swim. If she stunts with a description of
how she uses or benefits from an artificial structure, she
treats it as exceptional equipment (Exalted, p. 580).
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect rerolls 5s until
they cease to appear as well.
Pave the Way
Cost: 5m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Shaping (Terrain)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crowd-Avoiding Grace
Where the Architect walks, the road follows.
When the Architect moves through a range band
with a movement action, she permanently transforms
the ground beneath her feet to flagstones, bricks,
cobblestones, gravel road, or the like. This can negate
some difficult terrain, although it won’t affect terrain
that results from obstructions or other factors a road
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
wouldn’t mitigate: it would help crossing over uneven
ground or iced-over terrain, but not in moving through
overgrown brambles or a tightly packed alehouse. Only
solid surfaces can be affected.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm, with First-in-
Line Celerity and Footbridge-and-Causeway Journey
as its prerequisites.
Road-Shepherding Sojourn
Cost: —(+5m, 1wp); Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Pave the Way
The Architect forges trade routes and spreads infrastruc-
ture, expanding the city’s boundaries as she journeys
onward.
The Architect may pay a five-mote, one-Willpower sur-
charge to extend Pave the Way’s duration to one day. The
roads left by extended travel with Pave the Way are per-
manent fixtures, though wide enough only for one person.
Metropolis: While traveling within or toward a city,
the Architect can maintain a speed of (Essence x10)
miles per hour over open terrain.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Portal to Portal
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crowd-Avoiding Grace
The city opens its doors to the Architect, revealing im-
possible passageways.
The Architect steps through a door, window, or similar
portal, and emerges from another such opening within
medium range. This counts as her movement action for
the round. She can’t travel through locked or barred
portals unless she first bypasses that obstruction.
A second purchase of this Charm lets the Architect
bring up to (Essence x2) characters with her through
the doorway.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm’s range extends to long.
Its Willpower cost is waived when used at short range.
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Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm, with
Gewgaw-and-Bauble Arsenal as its prerequisite.
Singularity of Doors
Cost: —; Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Portal to Portal
No door in the city is beyond the Architect’s divine access.
When the Architect uses Portal to Portal in a city, she
can travel to any doorway or similar opening in that
city that she’s been to before.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by a legendary so-
cial goal that benefits a city.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
The Key to Anywhere
Cost: —(+15m, 2wp); Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Singularity of Doors
All cities welcome the stewardship of Wun Ja’s Chosen,
opening their secret gates to the Architect.
When the Architect uses Singularity of Doors, she may pay
a fifteen-mote, two-Willpower surcharge to travel to any
city within the same realm of existence, appearing from a
door or other portal near the city’s most frequently used
entrance. She can use this Charm to make a “return trip”
from a previous use without counting towards Singularity
of Doors’ once-per-story limitation. If she uses it to travel
to a city based on credible information of a city-wide threat,
it likewise doesn’t count against the limit.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Dexterity (Subterfuge)
Thief-in-the-Night Understanding
Cost: 1m; Mins: Dexterity 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS

The Architect has the reflexes and instincts of a master Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect’s Stealth roll
criminal. beats all opposing rolls, this Charm’s cost is refunded.

The Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on
a Stealth roll, or a Larceny roll to pick locks, steal, or
perform sleight of hand
Metropolis: In cities, characters who don’t reside in
that city suffer a −1 penalty on the opposed roll, easily
taken in by the Architect’s wiles.
Back Alley Cutthroat Stance
Cost: 1i per point of penalty; Mins: Dexterity 2,
Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thief-in-the-Night
Understanding
The Architect is experienced in dealing out death unseen.
The Architect reduces the penalty she suffers for using
Stealth in combat, paying one Initiative per point of
penalty negated.
Every Door Opened
Cost: 5m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation), Metropolis,
Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect is invested with spiritual authority to
go wherever she must, finding every door and gateway
unlocked to her hand.
A mundane lock that bars the Architect’s entry or pas-
sage through a door, window, or similar portal unlocks
itself. Against magical locks, she rolls (Dexterity +
Larceny) to open them instantly and without needing
tools, rerolling 6s until they cease to appear.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can use this as a
Simple Charm to extend its remit beyond inanimate
obstacles: for one scene, characters who would nor-
mally prevent her from entering a location will let her
pass as though they were expecting her, unless this

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
opposes an Intimacy or they have been specifically
warned about letting her in.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation
Charm.
Gutter-Lurking Cunning
Cost: 3m; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thief-in-the-Night
Understanding, Under-the-Eaves Refuge
The Architect finds refuge in blind spots and hidey-holes,
evading and outwitting her foes.
The Architect rolls (Dexterity + [Dodge or Stealth])
to enter concealment. If there’s something for her to
take cover behind, this also counts as a roll to do so.
1s on opposing rolls subtract successes, maximum
(Architect’s Essence).
Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect is rolling to take
cover behind heavy or full cover, 2s on opposing rolls
subtract successes as well.
Knife-in-the-Back Finesse
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Back Alley Cutthroat Stance
The Architect strikes from the cities’ shadows.
The Architect adds (Essence, maximum 5) dice of
post-soak withering damage or decisive damage on
an unexpected attack. If she misses, she can reflexively
roll to reestablish Stealth, doubling the penalty for
Stealth in combat.
Murder on a Misty Road
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Knife-in-the-Back Finesse
The Architect and her band of guttersnipes move unseen
through the city streets to catch her enemy unawares.
The Architect rolls a Strategic Maneuver to enact an
Ambush stratagem with ([Dexterity or Manipulation]
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EX3
+ [Larceny, Stealth, or War]), rerolling 6s until they
cease to appear. Any extra successes on her roll are
added as bonus dice on her Join Battle roll and those
of all allied battle groups in that combat. She can’t use
this Charm if she commands a Size 4+ battle group.
Metropolis: While fighting in or in defense of a city,
the Architect rerolls 5s until they cease to appear as
well.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation
Charm, with Cunning Rat Enterprise as its prerequisite.
Wall-Diving Foray
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Dexterity 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Crowd-Avoiding Grace, Every
Door Opened
The Architect walks through walls and lurks in crawl-
spaces, moving through architecture as if it were air.
The Architect can enter and move through a struc-
ture’s architecture. While within it, she has full cover
against attacks unless an enemy uses a feat of strength,
gambit, or appropriate stunt to breach the structure.
If this Charm ends while she’s within the structure,
she’s forced out where she entered it, suffering a level
of unpreventable bashing damage.
Reset: Once per day.
Intelligence (Knowledge)
The City Remembers
Cost: 4m; Mins: Intelligence 1, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The city has a thousand stories, and the Architect knows
them all.
The Architect doubles 9s on a roll to introduce or
challenge a fact and can draw on her home city as a
Lore background. This encompasses information
about topics and subjects that are prominent in the
city, but not every piece of information to be found in
it. An Architect whose home city has a significant tra-
dition of metalworking or a prominent metalworking
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
industry could introduce facts relating to metallurgy
and related topics, but one whose home city just has a
blacksmith or two in it wouldn’t.
Metropolis: In the Architect’s home city, she doubles
8s instead if she uses that city as her Lore background.
Citywise Factotum Education
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: The City Remembers
The Architect’s mind is a storehouse of wisdom gleaned
from the city: schoolhouse lessons, tricks of the local
trades, and more.
After (10 – Intelligence) hours studying, researching,
or listening to local gossip, the Architect gains a Lore
specialty in a topic related to her home city, per this
Charm’s prerequisite. If she knows Peripatetic Sage’s
Footsteps, she can use this Charm to gain a Lore spe-
cialty from any city she’s in.
Once per story, if the Architect spends experience
points to permanently learn a specialty acquired
through this Charm, the cost is discounted to one ex-
perience point.
Metropolis: In the Architect’s home city, this Charm’s
Willpower cost is waived.
Citizen-Shaping Curriculum
Cost: 7m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Citywise Factotum Education
The Architect’s teachings mold callow youths and ap-
prentices into knowledgeable experts.
Under the Architect’s training, a single student can in-
cur experience debt (p. XX) to gain up to one dot in any
one of her Foundation Attributes and up to (Architect’s
Essence) in dots or specialties in certain Abilities, de-
pending on her Foundations:
• Appearance: Integrity, Larceny, Performance,
Presence, Stealth
• Charisma: Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Performance,
Presence, War
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• Dexterity: Archery, Dodge, Larceny, Stealth,
Thrown
• Intelligence: Craft, Linguistics, Lore, Medicine,
Occult
• Manipulation: Bureaucracy, Larceny, Presence,
Socialize, Stealth
• Perception: Awareness, Investigation, Medicine,
Occult, Survival
• Stamina: Athletics, Craft, Integrity, Resistance,
Survival
• Strength: Athletics, Brawl, Martial Arts, Melee,
War
• Wits: Awareness, Integrity, Ride, Sail, Survival
As part of this training, the Architect’s student gains
a Minor Tie toward her home city, with an emotional
context chosen by the Architect.
Metropolis: In urban schools, libraries, archives, and other
places of learning, this Charm’s Willpower cost is waived.
Expert-Procuring Contacts
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The City Remembers
The Architect’s greatest knowledge is in knowing where
to turn when something falls beyond her expertise.
The Architect rolls ([Charisma or Intelligence] + [Larceny,
Lore, Socialize]) to introduce the fact that there’s a nearby
expert on a Lore background she doesn’t possess with a
positive Minor Tie toward her. If that character success-
fully introduces a fact that meaningfully advances the
story, the Architect gains that Lore background.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doubles 9s on rolls
to introduce an expert in that city.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by succeeding on
a difficulty 7+ introduce fact roll that meaningfully
advances the story.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm, with
Eight Directions Diplomacy as its prerequisite.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Midnight Oil Endeavor
Cost: 4m; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Stamina), Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The City Remembers
The Architect teeters on the brink of burnout, making
great intellectual accomplishments on sleepless nights,
endless pots of coffee, and harsh tobacco smoke.
The Architect negates penalties on a non-extended
Intelligence action from fatigue, deprivation, alcohol,
other drugs, or poison, and adds up to (higher of
Essence or 3) points of penalty as non-Charm dice. If
the action takes at least (8 – penalties negated by this
Charm) hours, she gains the benefits of a full night’s
sleep. She cans still only gain this benefit once per day.
Keystone: An Architect with Stamina as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Stamina Charm, with
Stolen Moments Catnap as its prerequisite.
Territory-Mapping Insight
Cost: —; Mins: Intelligence 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Perception, Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect knows the city as she knows her own name.
The Architect adds (higher of Essence or 3) dice on
rolls to notice, examine, or understand features of an
artificial structures or to introduce or challenge a fact
about them: noticing a hidden path, deducing what
buildings a subterranean tunnel runs below, recalling
the names of every street in the city, or revealing that
a particular neighborhood is a hotbed for the opium
trade, and so on. She doesn’t need a Lore background
to introduce such facts.
Metropolis: In cities, the bonus is non-Charm.
Keystone: An Architect with Perception or Wits as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Perception
Charm.
Uncertain Avenue Distraction
Cost: 5m; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Territory-Mapping Insight
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EX3
The Architect molds the city into a trap, stranding her
foes in narrow streets and unfamiliar alleys.
The Architect rolls (Intelligence + Craft) against the
Evasion of a character within long range. Success trans-
forms the ground beneath his feet to difficult terrain.
This typically takes the form of obstacles and obstruc-
tions germane to the local area — an alleyway narrow-
ing into a choke point, a pile of construction materials
repositioning itself in an enemy’s way, etc. — although
the Architect can use other options at the Storyteller’s
discretion, like swapping a well-paved road for the bro-
ken-down cobbles of a nearby boulevard.
Metropolis: In cities, a successful roll also causes the
Architect’s target to lose (her Essence) Initiative.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm, with Where
All Roads Lead as its prerequisite.
Alleyway Chirurgeon Expertise
Cost: 3m; Mins: Intelligence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The structure and composition of the body is simply an-
other kind of architecture, one that the Exigent can mend
and repair as if restoring a run-down tenement.
The Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on a
roll to treat poison, disease, or similar ailments. If she
stunts her roll in a way that builds off a fact she’s previ-
ously introduced about a city, she adds (Lore) dice and
also rerolls 5s until they cease to appear.
Metropolis: If the Architect is in the city she intro-
duced the fact about, the added dice are non-Charm.
Miasma-Dispelling Purity
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Stackable
Duration: (Essence + Intelligence) days
Prerequisite Charms: Alleyway Chirurgeon
Expertise
The Architect’s purifying Essence scours away the city’s
grime and muck.
The Architect cleanses the area out to medium range
from her location, sanitizing and sterilizing it with
expert methods. Resistance rolls against poison and
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
disease and Medicine rolls in the affected area add
(Architect’s Essence) non-Charm dice, and characters
in it aren’t susceptible to infected wounds.
The Architect can stack this Charm to create up to
(Essence) sterile zones.
Metropolis: In urban hospitals, physician’s practices,
or other places of healing and medicine, this Charm’s
duration is Indefinite and it affects an area out to long
range.
Peripatetic Sage’s Footsteps
Cost: —; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: The City Remembers
Every city has its wisdom to offer; the Architect has
learned to listen.
While in a city, the Architect can use The City
Remembers to use it as a Lore background. She doesn’t
enjoy the Metropolis benefit of The City Remembers
unless she is in a repository of knowledge: a library, a
records office, a museum, etc.
If the Architect has empowered an Intimacy related to
a city with Civic Spirit Dedication (p. XX), she use it
for The City Remembers even while she isn’t there.
Museum-Mind Atelier
Cost: 2m; Mins: Intelligence 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Citywise Factotum Education,
Peripatetic Sage’s Footsteps
The Architect’s memory palace stretches on block after
block, honing her recollection beyond all limits.
Reliving her memory of a single scene’s worth of
events, the Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to
appear on a roll to introduce or challenge a relevant
fact, or on any mental Attribute roll that memory is
germane to. Alternatively, she can reflexively add +1
non-Charm Resolve against an effect that would alter
her memories or create false memories.
Metropolis: In an urban location where the recalled
memory occurred, the Architect rerolls 5s until they
cease to appear or increases the Resolve bonus to +2.
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EX3
Shifting Streets Approach
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Uncertain Avenue Distraction,
Peripatetic Sage’s Footsteps
Shops and row houses scrabble to clear out of the
Architect’s path, while walls and bridges twist away
from her foes’ feet.
The Architect can reposition an artificial structure that
fills no more than (Essence/2, rounded up) range bands
or a similarly sized segment of a larger structure to a
nearby location, clearing a path or blocking an existing
one. Moving a segment can include shifting architectural
features, like repositioning a door on a wall. A tenement
shifts on its foundations to block off a road; bricks shift
and realign themselves as a patio moves from one side
of a manor to another; a mine shaft twists to circumvent
a blockage. There aren’t fixed limits to how fast or far it
moves, but its motion is as unobtrusive and has as little
effect on its surroundings as possible while still moving
however fast and far is necessary to clear the Architect’s
way or create a blockade.
If the Architect has an applicable Craft, she receives
craft points for meeting objectives with this Charm as
though she’d completed a major project (Exalted, p.
240).
Reset: Once per day. At Essence 4, this becomes once
per scene.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm with City-
Sworn Covenant and Uncertain Avenue Distraction as
its prerequisites.
Neighborhood Defense Technique
Cost: 3m, 3i; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shifting Streets Approach
The city becomes a weapon against the Architect’s foes,
dropping bricks down from nearby buildings, rolling
barrels down streets, or sending statues lunging at them.
The Architect creates a one-time environmental hazard
centered at a point in or on an artificial structure with-
in medium range. It extends out to short range from
that point and has difficulty 4 and Damage (Essence),
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
dealing bashing or lethal as appropriate to the form and
function of the structure it was created from.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can commit this
Charm’s mote cost and pay an additional Willpower to
make the hazard last one scene.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Door-Denying Laughter
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis, Shaping
(Terrain)
Duration: (1 + extra successes) days
Prerequisite Charms: Shifting Streets Approach
Remove the door and any house may become a prison.
While within an artificial structure, the Architect rolls
(Intelligence + [Craft, Larceny, or Occult]) against
the Resolve of an enemy within medium range. In
combat, this is a gambit, with a difficulty of (target’s
Willpower/2, rounded up). If she succeeds, that char-
acter can’t leave the structure for (1 + Intelligence roll
extra successes) days. If he would exit the structure,
he instead returns to the point where he entered it.
This only affects physical travel — walking out a door,
jumping off a roof, or smashing down a wall to walk out
would all be affected, but not teleportation or the like.
A character motivated to leave by a Major or Defining
Intimacy can spend one Willpower to roll (Wits +
[Integrity, Larceny, or Survival]) against the Architect’s
Intelligence roll successes to break free. If he fails, he
can’t try again for an hour.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doubles 9s on the roll.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Intelligence (Mysticism)
God-Pleasing Performance
Cost: 5m; Mins: Intelligence 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma)
Duration: One performance
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect recites hymns, performs sacred dances, or
swings about a censer, filling the city with pleasing songs
and scents to appease its supernatural denizens.
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EX3
While the Architect puts on such a performance, spirits
or fae who can observe it suffer −1 Resolve. If a positive
Tie toward a mortal or group penalizes their Resolve,
that penalty is increased by one. While using this Charm,
the Architect can’t take non-reflexive actions.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm.
Keeper of the Necropolis
Cost: 5m; Mins: Intelligence 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Perception), Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect stands at the graveyard’s threshold, seek-
ing the wisdom of the city’s ghostly dead while turning
back threats to the living.
The Architect gains the following benefits:
• She draws the notice of the dead. The undead
are treated as having a Minor Tie of curiosity to-
ward her. If the Architect provided that charac-
ter’s corpse with a proper burial or funereal rite,
this Tie is instead treated as one of gratitude.
• If she buries or performs funeral rites for a mor-
tal, his lower soul is appeased and won’t linger
as a hungry ghost.
• She adds an automatic success on rolls to in-
troduce or challenge a fact about the undead,
shadowlands, funereal practices, statistics about
death, or cultural and philosophical understand-
ings of death.
• She adds an automatic success on influence
rolls, read intentions rolls, and profile character
rolls against the undead.
Metropolis: In urban graveyards, mausoleums, funer-
al homes, or other places where the dead are prepared
and put to rest, this Charm’s cost is waived.
Keystone: An Architect with Perception as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Perception Charm.
Barring the Spirit Door
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Stackable
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Upstart gods who disrespect the city’s Chosen may find
themselves on the wrong side of their own temple’s doors.
The Architect touches a door, window, or other open-
ing and renders it impassable to dematerialized beings.
They can’t circumvent this by moving through the wall
next to the sealed door; the only way in is to material-
ize and open the door or to find another entrance.
The Architect can stack multiple uses of this Charm to
ward up to (Essence x2) portals.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm’s duration becomes
one day. If the Architect uses it multiple times in the
same scene, she waives the Willpower cost of all uses
past the first.
Trinket Shrine Enticement
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma), Metropolis
Duration: (Charisma + Intelligence) days
Prerequisite Charms: God-Pleasing Performance
Like a market vendor attracting customers to her stall,
the Architect draws the eyes of the gods to a seat of mor-
tal worship.
To use this Charm, the Architect must either construct
a shrine, altar, or similar feature as a major project
with an appropriate Craft or spend a scene tending to
an existing shrine. Under her care, it becomes a beacon
for spirits and fae:
• Spirits and fae within (Essence x5) miles sense
the shrine’s presence and add (Architect’s
Essence) automatic successes on Awareness,
Investigation, and Survival rolls to find or nav-
igate to it.
• Spirits and fae who can see the shrine are treat-
ed as having a Minor Tie of gratitude toward any
who offer them worship.
• The shrine soothes spirits and fae who can see it;
they can’t initiative hostilities unless they spend
one Willpower or have Essence higher than the
Architect’s.
Metropolis: In urban temples, shrines, and other plac-
es of worship or spiritual experiences, this Charm’s
duration becomes Indefinite.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm.
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EX3
Doors of the City Unseen
Cost: 3m; Mins: Intelligence 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Barring the Spirit Door,
Trinket Shrine Enticement
Mystical gateways open and close at the Architect’s
command.
The Architect rolls a gambit with (Intelligence + Occult)
against the Resolve of a spirit within short range to force
it to either materialize or dematerialize. The gambit’s dif-
ficulty is (spirit’s Essence + 2). Success forces it to either
materialize or dematerialize at no cost. The Architect
may prevent the spirit from reversing this change for
(Architect’s Essence) rounds. A spirit whose Essence
exceeds the Architect’s can pay one Willpower to resist.
If the Architect uses this Charm on an allied spirit, no
attack roll is necessary. Elementals and other spirits
incapable of dematerializing can’t be dematerialized
with this gambit
Tutelary Divinity Embodiment
Cost: —; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma)
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Doors of the City Unseen
The Architect may don the mantle of the city’s spirits,
calling forth their miracles.
The Architect may learn Eclipse Charms from the gods
of cities and features closely intertwined with cities,
such as roads, walls, and markets, or from any other
supernatural being whose nature and Essence is tied to
a city or a closely related concept. Doing so costs eight
experience points and requires that she train with that
character. She waives the experience cost of the first
Charm she learns this way.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm, with
Heart-Swaying Architecture and Trinket Shrine
Enticement as prerequisites.
Intelligence (Crafting)
Brick-and-Mortar Sage
Cost: —; Mins: Intelligence 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect intuitively understands the principles by
which buildings and cities are wrought.
Once per scene, the Architect gains two silver points
upon satisfying one of the following criteria:
• Completing a Craft project that benefits a city or
a group within a city.
• Introducing or challenging a fact about archi-
tecture, engineering, urban planning, or a city.
• Succeeding on a feat of demolition to damage or
destroy an artificial structure.
• Attuning to a demesne or manse or socketing a
hearthstone for the first time.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm instead grants (high-
er of Essence or 3) silver points.
Fortification-Augmenting Tactic
Cost: 7m; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Brick-and-Mortar Sage
The Architect lends her strength to the city, fortifying it
against threats within and without.
The Architect reinforces a touched object for a scene,
adding (Essence/2, rounded up) to the minimum
Strength necessary to attempt a feat of demolition
against it and +1 difficulty. Objects so fragile that they
normally wouldn’t require a roll to destroy instead re-
quire a feat with minimum Strength 3 and difficulty 1.
Metropolis: In cities, the feat’s minimum Strength
and difficulty both increase by an additional +1.
Workman Blames No Tool
Cost: 8m; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s cunning and ingenuity make up for the
shortfalls in her resources, producing masterpieces that
far outshine the workshops in which they were made.
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EX3
The Architect undertakes a basic or major project,
dividing the time needed to complete it by (lowest of
Dexterity, Intelligence, or Perception), minimum one
minute, and ignores up to (Essence) points of penalty
from the poor quality of any tools or materials.
Metropolis: In urban workshops, smithies, and
other places of professional crafting, the time needed
is divided by ([lowest of Dexterity, Intelligence, or
Perception] + 1).
Seasoned Tinker Ingenuity
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 4, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brick-and-Mortar Sage,
Workman Blames No Tool
The Architect finds opportunity in failure, understand-
ing and transcending the flaws of her design.
The Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to appear on
a Craft roll. Each rerolled die that becomes a success
awards her a silver point, or a gold point if it’s a 10.
Metropolis: In urban workshops, smithies, and oth-
er places of professional crafting, the Architect also
rerolls 5s until they cease to appear, awarding craft
points as above.
Towering Achievement Motivation
Cost: 4m, 1wp, 1sxp per die; Mins: Intelligence 5,
Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Seasoned Tinker Ingenuity
The Architect’s brilliance spurs her towards greater
feats of construction and design.
The Architect adds up to (Essence) non-Charm dice
on a Craft roll. Each silver point spent on this Charm
also counts toward the silver point cost to complete a
major project; every two silver points spent on it count
as one gold point towards the cost of rolling for a supe-
rior project (Exalted, pp. 240-241).
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds non-Charm
successes instead.
Golem-Raising Invocation
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis, Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Brick-and-Mortar Sage
The Architect breathes life into the city’s clay, creating a
powerful guardian.
The Architect creates a golem out of clay, stone, metal,
wood, trash, or other substances as a major project
with a Craft suitable to the chosen material, which
requires one hour to complete.
The Architect can stack this Charm up to (Essence)
times to create that many golems.
Metropolis: In cities, the golem adds (Architect’s
Essence) bonus dice on all actions and +(Architect’s
Essence/2, rounded up) Defense, Guile, and Resolve.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm, with Hidden
Compartment Ingenuity as its prerequisite.
City-Uplifting Masterworks
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Towering Achievement
Motivation
Every loom, forge, and canvas in the city calls out for the
Architect, awaiting the hand of a true master.
The Architect doubles 9s on a Craft roll. She gains one
silver point for each 7 and 8 on the roll and one gold
point for each 9 and 10.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by spending 10 gold
points.
Rampart-Rearing Meditation
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Intelligence 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fortification-Augmenting
Tactic
The Architect raises up mighty fortifications out of noth-
ing, shaping dirt, stone, and wood into a bulwark against
the mightiest siege.
The Architect makes a Strategic Maneuver roll in
combat to enact a Fortifications stratagem, adding
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EX3
GOLEM
Essence: 1; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 9 dice
Health Levels: −0x4/−1x2/−2/−4/Incap.
Actions: Crafting: 6 dice; Disguise Itself as the
Architect: 6 dice; Feats of Strength: 9 dice (may
attempt Strength 5 feats); Senses: 7 dice; Threat-
en: 6 dice.
Appearance 1, Resolve 4, Guile 4
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 9 dice (Damage 12B/3)
Attack (Grapple): 7 dice (9 dice to control)
Combat Movement: 6 dice
Evasion: 3, Parry: 5
Soak/Hardness: 10/4
INTIMACIES
Defining Tie: The Architect (Obedience).
MERITS
Automaton: Golems are immune to poison,
disease, fatigue, and fear and don’t need to eat,
drink, breathe, or sleep.
Mechanical Mind: Social influence can’t affect a
golem’s Major and Defining Intimacies, nor can it
raise new Intimacies to Major or Defining.
(Essence) non-Charm dice. Bricks piece themselves
together into walls, trees or wooden buildings shape
themselves into palisades, and trash and wreckage
accumulate into makeshift barricades. This Charm can
also be used to raise structures comparable to those in-
volved in a Fortifications stratagem outside of combat.
If the Architect has an applicable Craft, she receives
craft points for meeting objectives with this Charm as
though she’d completed a major project (Exalted, p.
240).
Reset: Once per story.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm, with
Bolthole-and-Cache Method as its prerequisite.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Special: This Charm can only be purchased if the Exalt

Sorcery has the Architect of the Tower Arcane Merit (p. XX).
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery The spiritual tower of the Architect’s enlightenment
Cost: —; Mins: Intelligence 3, Essence 1 is centered within the city-sigil of her soul, suffusing
Type: Permanent her with power untold like dragon lines empowering a
Keywords: None manse.
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Any four Mental Attribute The Architect can use Celestial Circle sorcery. She
Charms learns one shaping ritual and one Celestial Circle spell,
which becomes her control spell. Further Celestial
The Architect has built a tower of enlightenment brick by Circle spells cost 10 experience points each.
brick within her soul, ascending to touch the mysteries of
the Emerald Circle.
Manipulation (Influence)
The Architect can use Terrestrial Circle sorcery. She
learns one shaping ritual (Exalted, p. 466) and one All-Knowing Busybody
Terrestrial Circle spell, which becomes her control Cost: 5m; Mins: Manipulation 2, Essence 1
spell. Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Celestial Circle Sorcery Duration: One scene
Cost: —; Mins: Intelligence 4, Essence 3 Prerequisite Charms: None
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None The Architect aligns her Essence with the flow of news
Duration: Permanent and rumor through the city, establishing herself as a
Prerequisite Charms: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery, any prince of gossips, yentas, and busybodies.
five Terrestrial Circle spells
The Architect gains the following benefits:

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 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
• She stands out as an eminent gossip. Anyone
looking to spread or hear news, rumors, or gos-
sip will perceive her as the ideal person to share
stories with, treating this a Minor Tie of fascina-
tion toward her.
• If she successfully reads the intentions of a
character who’s shared news, rumors, or gossip
with her that scene, she can discern whether his
stories are mostly true or mostly false.
• She ignores one point of penalty from mak-
ing implausible claims on instill rolls with any
Attribute to convince people to believe in news,
rumors, or gossip she reports.
• She reduces Scandal-Dishing Incitement’s cost
by two motes.
Scandal-Dishing Incitement
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Manipulation 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: All-Knowing Busybody
The Architect is a perfect audience for any busybody,
convincing strangers to share their choicest gossip with
her.
The Architect makes a special (Manipulation +
[Presence or Socialize]) roll, doubling 9s, against a
single character. Success convinces him to share what-
ever piece of information, rumor, story, or the like he
considers his “best” with her — typically the one he
thinks would get the most dramatic reaction from her,
though some characters may have other priorities in
gossiping. He can’t use Intimacies of distrust or sus-
picion toward strangers, foreigners, or lower social
classes to resist in the Decision Point. The Architect is
not perceived as the source of this influence.
Enticing Weakness Feint
Cost: 5mp; Mins: Manipulation 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Swindlers and cardsharps meet their match in the
Architect, taken for all they’re worth by a seemingly
hapless mark.
The Architect makes a special (Manipulation + [Larceny
or Presence]) instill roll, doubling 9s. Characters
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EX3
whose Resolve is beaten perceive her as someone eas-
ily cheated or hustled in games of chance or skill or in
physical contests, which is treated as a Minor Intimacy
for the scene. If they have another Intimacy that would
support cheating or taking advantage of her, they must
attempt to do so unless they enter a Decision Point and
spend one Willpower. The Architect is not perceived
as the source of this influence.
With a Manipulation 4 repurchase of this Charm, the
Architect can use this Charm for three motes, one
Willpower to cause affected characters to perceive her
as someone they could overcome by physical force or
defeat in combat and prompts them to do so if they have
a supporting Intimacy; this otherwise functions as above.
Crooked Scales Profit
Cost: 5m; Mins: Manipulation 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
A master of cheating the unwary, the Architect polishes
glass to a diamond sheen, passes off counterfeit coinage
without care, and makes even the most miserable nags
seem like proud stallions.
When the Architect makes a bargain roll to sell a sin-
gle character something that’s defective, counterfeit,
or otherwise less valuable than it appears to be, its
Resource value is treated as (Essence/2, rounded up)
dots higher, up to the Resources value of the genuine
article in perfect condition, when determining how
great a price the target will pay for it. Her customers
may be irate if they later notice the flaws in their pur-
chase, but it won’t occur to them to examine the goods
in the scene this Charm is used unless they pay one
Willpower.
Metropolis: In urban markets or other places of com-
merce, the Architect doubles 9s.
Lawyer-Devouring Calumny
Cost: 5m; Mins: Manipulation 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Even the most experienced of magistrates and legal
savants struggle to unravel the Architect’s pack of lies,
stymied at every turn by bribed witnesses, forged docu-
ments, and spoliated evidence.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Architect doubles 9s on rolls to conceal evidence with
(Manipulation + [Bureaucracy, Larceny, or Socialize]).
With Manipulation 4, Essence 2, a character who
makes an Investigation roll to uncover the hidden
evidence and fails suffers a −3 penalty on subsequent
Investigation rolls, Bureaucracy rolls, influence rolls,
read intentions rolls, and tracking rolls that would
meaningfully advance an investigation into the matter
the hidden evidence concerns. This penalty lasts the
rest of the story or until that character wins a note-
worthy victory over the Architect — typically, but not
necessarily, in the context of the investigation.
Practiced Con Artist Patter
Cost: —; Mins: Manipulation 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The more audacious the Architect’s lies, the more com-
pelling her delivery.
The Architect rolls an additional non-Charm die for
each 10 on an instill roll to convince others of a lie. If
she suffers a penalty on the roll for making implausible
claims, she gains motes equal to the penalty, which
must be spent to enhance that influence roll.
Reset: Once per scene.
Lies-Upon-Lies Approach
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Manipulation 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Practiced Con Artist Patter
The Architect’s lies build on each other, the first decep-
tion laying the foundation for a house of iniquities.
If the target of the Architect’s bargain, threaten, or
persuade roll has a Principle based on his belief in a lie,
she doubles 9s. If her roll has multiple targets, all must
have an Intimacy for her to receive this benefit. If that
Intimacy is Defining, the cost to resist increases by one
Willpower.
Greased Palm Dealings
Cost: 4m; Mins: Manipulation 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Charisma), Metropolis, Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lies-Upon-Lies Approach
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EX3
The Architect moves within the halls of power with the un-
earned confidence of the ambitious, charming politicians and
community leaders with honeyed words and generous gifts.
When the Architect makes a bargain roll with any
Attribute, targets can’t defend against the influence with
Intimacies that involve opposition to any crimes, abuses
of power, or dereliction of duty that they’d be commit-
ting by accepting the bargain. This includes bolstering
their Resolve and citing them in Decision Points.
Metropolis: In urban governmental buildings, admin-
istrative bureaus, courts, or other venues for legitimate
political or business dealings, anyone whose Resolve
is penalized by an Intimacy can’t take offense at the
Architect’s offer or form a negative Tie to her because
of it unless they pay one Willpower. This is separate
from the cost of resisting the influence.
Keystone: An Architect with Charisma as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Charisma Charm, with
Call to Action and Eight Directions Diplomacy as its
prerequisite.
Cunning Rat Enterprise
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Manipulation 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Stackable
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: Lawyer-Devouring Calumny,
Practiced Con Artist Patter
The Architect sows chaos, leaving behind a wake of em-
bezzled funds, forged records, and endless bureaucratic
memoranda.
After at least one scene spent sabotaging a project or
bureaucratic task, the Architect rolls (Manipulation +
[Bureaucracy, Larceny, or Socialize]) opposing the highest
appropriate (Attribute + Ability) roll of any involved group
member. Success doubles the time needed to complete the
project and imposes a −1 penalty on any non-physical rolls
made in furtherance of the project. Characters with a per-
manent Willpower higher than the Architect’s successes
are immune to this penalty. This Charm can be negated by
magic such as Bureau-Reforming Kata (Exalted, p. 286).
The Architect can stack up to (Essence) uses of this
Charm to sabotage multiple projects.
Metropolis: When sabotaging a project that takes
place entirely in a city, the time necessary to complete
it is multiplied by (Architect’s Essence) and the penal-
ty rises to −2.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Reset: This Charm can’t be used against an organiza-
tion more than once per story, even if it targets projects
led by different characters within that organization.
Friend-of-a-Friend Deception
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Manipulation 4, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Greased Palm Dealings
The Architect employs leading questions, cold reading,
and a knowledge of common local names to convince her
mark they share a mutual friend.
When the Architect makes a persuade roll against a
single character, it’s automatically supported by one
of his positive Ties toward an individual, chosen by
the Storyteller. If the Architect succeeds, her target
believes that she’s a friend of the person he has that
Tie for, gaining a Minor Intimacy reflecting this. The
Storyteller should choose the Tie that will have the
most dramatic, interesting, or entertaining impact on
the game.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by instilling a nar-
ratively relevant character with a positive Tie toward
the Architect and then raising it to Defining intensity.
Password-and-Handshake Insinuation
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Manipulation 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Mute
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Cunning Rat Enterprise
The Architect insinuates herself into the ranks of city
government, business concerns, and concerned citizens,
needing no formal authority when everyone already
answers to her.
After spending (10 – Essence) days interacting with
an organization, the Architect rolls (Manipulation +
[Bureaucracy, Larceny, or Socialize]) against the high-
est Resolve among its members. Success grants the
following benefits:
• Characters assume the Architect is a member of
that organization in a position of at least some
small influence or prestige unless they have a
concrete reason to believe otherwise, potentially
affecting which of their Intimacies are relevant
to influence rolls.
259
EX3
• The Architect adds (Essence) successes on influ-
ence rolls to convince others she’s a member of that
group or disguise rolls to pass herself off as a mem-
ber (but not to impersonate specific members).
• The Architect adds +2 Guile against any roll that
would reveal she isn’t a member of that group.
Metropolis: If the Architect targets an organization
that operates entirely within a single city, she doubles
8s on her roll.
Reset: Once per story.
Manipulation (Guile)
Impeccable Swindler’s Confidence
Cost: 3m; Mins: Manipulation 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute, Keystone (Wits)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Assured of her spiritual authority as Chosen of the City,
the Architect is imperturbable.
The Architect may substitute her base Guile for her
base Resolve or vice versa. If her Guile and Resolve
are equal, opposing rolls with successes equal to those
traits still fail.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Upstanding Citizen Ruse
Cost: 3m; Mins: Manipulation 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect is unreadable, seemingly honest and
trustworthy even as she passes off powdered pepper as
firedust or fleeces marks in a rigged game of dice.
The Architect gains +2 Guile. If the opposing roll
would reveal her intent to deceive someone or commit
a crime, this increases to +3.
Metropolis: In cities, the bonus is non-Charm.
As Seen by Others’ Eyes
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Manipulation 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Keywords: Keystone (Appearance), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Upstanding Citizen Ruse
The Architect feigns boorish manners or plays to precon-
ceptions, easily written off as just another oaf from this
or that city.
The Architect gains +1 Guile against a read intentions
roll. If the opposing character fails, he believes that
he’s succeeded, but what’s revealed to him is a stereo-
typical result for a citizen of the Architect’s home city
or of the city she’s in. If she’s disguised herself with
Citizen of All Nations, she can give a result consistent
with her disguise instead.
Metropolis: In the Architect’s home city, this bonus is
non-Charm.
Keystone: An Architect with Appearance as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as an Appearance
Charm with Citizen of All Nations as its prerequisite.
Perception (Senses)
Blind Alley Intuition
Cost: 1m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect has a sixth sense for knowing when she’s
being watched, sensing the stranger that walks behind
her and the eyes that gaze from within the crowd.
When a character fails an Awareness roll, tracking roll,
read intentions roll, or profile character roll against the
Architect, she can use this Charm to roll (Perception +
Awareness). A single success reveals that she’s being
observed or pursued; beating the watcher’s Guile re-
veals his precise location. If the Architect rolls 3+ extra
successes, her player receives a clue to his identity or
methods from the Storyteller.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds non-Charm
dice on her roll for each 1 or 2 on the failed roll.
City Watch Approach
Cost: 5m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
260
EX3
The Architect keeps watch over the city, the intensity of her
gaze striking fear into the hearts of those who would evade it.
The Architect gains the following benefits:
• She adds an automatic success on sight-based
Awareness rolls.
• Her visual range is extended, letting her make
out fine details clearly out to (Essence x10) yards
• She ignores one point of penalty due to darkness
or visual obstruction.
• While she stands watch over a location, characters
attempting to circumvent her surveillance are
treated as having a Minor Tie of fear toward her.
Sentry Tower Perspective
Cost: 1m; Mins: Perception 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: City Watch Approach
The Architect watches from the eaves, a centurion of the
city skyline.
When the Architect makes a vision-based Awareness
roll, tracking roll, or case scene roll to detect or exam-
ine something at least one range band below her cur-
rent position, she rerolls 6s until they cease to appear.
Metropolis: When observing from an urban tower or
other elevated artificial structure, the Architect rerolls
5s until they cease to appear and ignores penalties
from distance.
Inquisitive Rat’s Whisker
Cost: 5m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Whether it’s the moldering stench of garbage or the tan-
talizing aroma of wine and perfume, the Architect’s nose
is keenly receptive to the city’s scents.
The Architect gains the following benefits:
• She adds an automatic success on scent- and
taste-based Awareness rolls.
• She adds an automatic success on Survival rolls
for tracking and foraging.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS

• She can identify the kind of substance that’s the hearing the deception in his heartbeat.
source of a scent or the composition of any food
or drink she consumes without needing a roll, so • She can hear sounds as quiet as a whisper clearly
long as she’s familiar with that substance. out to long range, at no penalty.

• She can resist ingested or inhaled poisons with
(Perception + Awareness) instead of (Stamina +
Resistance), her keen senses detecting the poi-
son before she consumes it.
Thousand Footfall Drumbeat
Cost: 5m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect has learned to hear the city’s music, the
thrumming vibrations and riotous sounds of life.
The Architect gains the following benefits:
• She adds an automatic success on hearing- and
touch-based Awareness rolls.
• She adds an automatic success on read inten-
tions rolls that would reveal a character is lying,
• She can identify substances and textures she’s
familiar with by touch.
Overheard Echo Eavesdropping
Cost: 3m; Mins: Perception 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Footfall Drumbeat
Brigands, crooks, and conspirators may hide their plot-
ting in the city’s hurly burly, but the Architect hears all.
A hearing-based Perception roll ignores (higher of Essence
or 3) points of penalty from distance, background noise, or
listening through obstructions made of stone, wood, or
weaker materials. If the Architect is specifically listening
to make out what someone’s saying, she doubles 9s.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doubles 9s even
when not eavesdropping.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
City-Surveilling Sentinel
Cost: —(7m, 1wp); Mins: Perception 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: City Watch Approach,
Inquisitive Rat’s Whisker, Thousand Footfall Drumbeat
The Architect is a living watchtower, her senses honed to
extraordinary vigilance.
The Architect can activate all of this Charm’s pre-
requisites simultaneously for seven motes and one
Willpower. While all three of those Charms are active,
the successes added by them are non-Charm.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm extends its prerequi-
sites’ duration to Indefinite. They end if the Architect
leaves the city after at least one scene.
Needle-and-Haystack Approach
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: (Essence) days
Prerequisite Charms: Blind Alley Intuition
You can escape the Architect, but not the city.
When the Architect succeeds on an Awareness roll
opposing a character’s Larceny or Stealth or a profile
character roll, she can use this Charm to attune her
senses to him. She can intuitively sense the direction
and distance toward him and doubles 9s on Perception-
based rolls to locate or detect him as long as he remains
within (Essence x5) miles. If she tracks him, this in-
tuition negates any penalties she would suffer from
having only poor-quality tracks or no tracks.
Metropolis: While the Architect and her target are in
the same city, she can sense him regardless of range.
Perception (Scrutiny)
Market-Reading Glance
Cost: 2m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect susses out the ebb and flow of commerce.
262
EX3
The Architect rolls read intentions with (Perception +
[Bureaucracy or Socialize]). Success reveals whether her
target is a merchant, vendor, or other purveyor of goods
and services, as well as the general nature of his trade and a
sense of how expensive he is compared to others in his field.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect also discerns
whichever of that character’s Intimacies would be
most relevant and advantageous in negotiating a good
deal with him.
Through the Peephole
Cost: 2m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect watches from the city’s shadows, bearing
witness to those who think they’re alone.
The Architect rerolls 6s until they cease to appear
on a Perception-based Awareness, Investigation, or
Socialize roll. If she’s watching a target from Stealth
or while disguised, she rerolls 5s until they cease to
appear as well.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doesn’t need to be
in Stealth or disguise to reroll 5s.
City Mouse Eye
Cost: 3m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Through the Peephole
The Architect sees how people fit into the city.
The Architect adds (Perception) dice on a profile
character or read intentions roll, or a roll opposing a
disguise. In addition to usual benefits, success also re-
veals whether he’s a member of a specific local culture
or a culture of her home city.
Scandalous Agora Rumors
Cost: 4m; Mins: Perception 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: City Mouse Eye
The Architect hears the secret voice of the city in the
words of drunks, gossipmongers, and street urchins.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
The Architect spends a scene of listening to gossip or
gathering information within a community and rolls
(Perception + Socialize). The difficulty is 3+, depending on
the community’s size and secretiveness. If successful, her
player asks the Storyteller one of the following questions,
plus an additional question for every 3 extra successes:
• What’s the public most concerned with?
• How is a certain character or group perceived by
the public?
• Who holds the most power in this community?
• Who can I talk to for more information about
something that concerns this community?
If the Storyteller doesn’t have an answer in mind for a
question, the Architect’s player should provide one, as
if introducing a fact.
Reset: Once per scene.
Where the Heart Is
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: City Mouse Eye
To see into a stranger’s home is to see into their soul.
The Architect makes a read intentions or profile
character roll against a character who isn’t present
by spending a scene examining a location of personal
significance to him — his home, his workplace, his
favorite teahouse, etc. If her target has left little or
misleading evidence of himself behind, the Architect
suffers a commensurate penalty on her roll.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect completes this
examination instantly.
Reset: The Architect can’t use this Charm against a
character more than once per story.
Hometown’s Heart Awareness
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: City Mouse Eye
The passions of a city’s people suffuse its streets, leaving
emotional fingerprints visible to the Architect.
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The Architect rolls read intentions against all char-
acters she can perceive, treating all trivial characters
as a single audience (Exalted, p. 223). Success reveals
the current emotional state of each character whose
Guile she beat and the overall emotional tenor of the
area — the fear of a neighborhood stalked by a grisly
serial killer, the fiery anger of a teahouse frequented by
political dissidents, the haughty arrogance of a prince-
ling’s gala, etc.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds (Essence)
non-Charm dice on the roll.
Watchful Gargoyle Premonition
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 4, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Where The Heart Is
An ever-vigilant guardian, the Architect senses threats
to her city.
The Architect makes a case scene roll to examine
a building, doubling 9s, opposing the highest Guile
among characters in the building or who reside in
it. Success reveals if there’s any activity taking place
within it that would disrupt the surrounding area’s
order or if there are any malevolent intentions directed
at the structure or its contents (like a gang of thieves
planning to rob a palace’s vaults).
Metropolis: In cities, successfully thwarting a dan-
ger revealed by this Charm grants the Architect one
Willpower.
Walls-Have-Eyes Technique
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Watchful Gargoyle
Premonition
The Architect attunes her senses to the city’s pulse,
feeling the ebb and flow of life and activity through its
infrastructure.
Touching a road, wall, aqueduct, or other artificial
structure, the Architect displaces her senses to another
point on that structure no more than (Essence) range
bands away from her. She perceives everything around
the chosen point as though she were physically there.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can shift the point
from which she perceives by one range band, out to a
maximum of (Essence + Perception) bands, as a reflex-
ive action. This counts as her movement action for the
round.
Forgotten Keepsake Inquisition
Cost: 15m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Walls-Have-Eyes Technique
The Architect knows the measure of a blacksmith by
her tools and sums up the lives of drunkards from the
contents of their pockets.
Touching an object, the Architect rolls (Perception +
[Investigation or an appropriate Craft]) against the
Guile of that object’s most recent owner. Success reveals
the owner’s identity and a clue from the Storyteller
about the object’s significance to that — sensing the
murderous intent ringing through Ah’aja Proudeye’s
favorite knife, intuiting that a beautiful agate necklace
was given to Uwen Dannab as a bribe, etc.
If the object’s most recent owner is dead, a single
success reveals this fact along with a hint about its sig-
nificance to the deceased — or his ghost. If it’s unclear
whether the object has an owner, like a pebble in the
woods, this Charm’s cost is refunded and it doesn’t
count against the reset.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doubles 9s on the
roll, and gains one Willpower upon success.
Reset: Once per day.
All-Seeing Panopticon Stance
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Perception 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Metropolis
Prerequisite Charms: Walls-Have-Eyes Technique
The Architect’s senses pervade the city, watching from
the stone eyes of every statue that lines the streets and
listening at every threshold.
To use this Charm, the Architect must be inside or
touching an artificial structure or have projected her
senses into it with Walls-Have-Eyes Technique. She
rolls (Perception + Awareness) to detect a specific
person, object, activity, or sensory stimulus within that
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structure or out to close range of its exterior. Success
lets her perceive it with all her senses as though she
was right next to it. If she searches for a person, this
also counts as a profile character roll against him.
If the structure is too large to fit within (Essence) range
bands, the Architect must instead focus her search to a
segment of that size. The chosen segment can be as far as
(Essence) miles away from her, if the structure’s that large.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doubles 7s on this
roll and can search a structure up to (Essence x2) range
bands in breadth.
Reset: Once per day.
Perception (Mysticism)
Shrine-Tender’s Subtle Eye
Cost: 4m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect perceives the ethereal dwelling-places
of the spirits as easily as she might people watch at a
teahouse or market square.
The Architect can perceive (but not touch) dematerial-
ized entities. However, her spiritual perception inflicts
a −1 penalty on all actions that require attention, focus,
or situational awareness.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect doesn’t suffer a
penalty.
Shrine-Tender’s Banishing Chant
Cost: 2m; Mins: Perception 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis, Uniform, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shrine-Tender’s Subtle Eye
Unruly gods and malign demons must contend with the
city’s champion, words of power burning on her tongue.
The Architect can attack a dematerialized character. If she
can’t see him, her attack suffers a −3 penalty. If Shrine-Tender’s
Subtle Eye is active, it doesn’t penalize the attack roll.
Metropolis: The Architect adds an automatic success
on the attack roll.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Stamina (Defense)
Living Wall Fortification
Cost: 4m; Mins: Stamina 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Steadfast as a city’s fortifications, the Architect shrugs
off blows that would kill lesser warriors.
The Architect gains +(higher of Essence or 3) soak or
Hardness 4.
Metropolis: In cities, this Charm’s duration lasts until
the Architect’s next turn.
Becoming the Tower
Cost: 3m (+1wp); Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant or One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Living Wall Fortification
The Architect armors herself with the city, girding her-
self with a street’s cobblestones or a rooftop’s tiles.
Touching an artificial structure, the Architect armors
herself in its substance. This counts as mundane ar-
mor; whether it is light, medium, or heavy depends on
the substance from which it’s formed, as do any tags.
Drawing armor from a stone wall would yield heavy
armor, while doing so from a delicate garden lattice
would yield light armor with the Buoyant tag.
If the Architect’s already wearing armor, she can pay
a one-Willpower surcharge and commit this Charm’s
mote cost to fuse with that armor as part of this trans-
formation, enjoying the best of both armors’ traits
and applying this Charm’s benefits to her armor. With
Essence 3, this effect’s duration becomes Indefinite.
Unbroken Foundation Approach
Cost: —; Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Living Wall Fortification
The Architect’s defense is deeply rooted, weathering blow
after blow as she patiently waits to seize the advantage.
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When the Architect’s soak reduces a withering attack
to minimum damage or her Hardness negates a deci-
sive attack, she gains 1 Initiative, maximum (Essence)
per round.
Rough Streets Endurance Method
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Living Wall Fortification
The Architect rolls with the worst of what the city can
throw at her, her body reinforced with Essence and her
fighting spirit unbreakable.
When determining if the Architect’s Hardness pre-
vents decisive damage, her attacker compares only
his Initiative to her Hardness, without considering
damage dice added by other sources. If his attack’s
damage roll doesn’t include his Initiative due to magic,
he compares the lower of his damage dice or his actual
Initiative to her Hardness.
If the Architect uses this Charm together with Living
Wall Fortification, the Hardness granted by that Charm
increases to (Essence + 3).
Brick-and-Mortar Ablation
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Rough Streets Endurance
Method
The Architect is not stopped by her wounds, fighting the
persistence and grit of the city’s most hardened brawlers
and scrappers.
The Architect can use this Charm after a decisive
damage roll against her. 1s on the damage roll subtract
successes, maximum (Essence).
If the Architect is unarmored or using Becoming the
Tower, this Charm’s cost is reduced by two motes.
Metropolis: In cities, 2s subtract successes as well.
Upright Rampart Stance
Cost: 5m; Mins: Stamina 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis, Uniform
Duration: One tick
Prerequisite Charms: Brick-and-Mortar Ablation
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Gritting her teeth against all opposition, the Architect
stands against her foes with the weight of the city’s walls
behind her.
The Architect gains +1 Defense and can’t be knocked
back by smash attacks, thrown in grapples, or shifted
by comparable mundane forces.
Metropolis: In cities, even magic is impeded, with
the Storyteller adjudicating the specific nature of the
defense based on the Charm being used: A Solar using
Heaven Thunder Hammer might be forced to halve
her damage successes when determining how far she
can knock the Architect.
Passage-Barring Tactic
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Intelligence), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unbroken Foundation
Approach
The Architect uses the terrain and the city’s architecture
against enemy armies, forcing them to fight her in a po-
sition she can defend.
The Architect adds (Essence) non-Charm dice on a roll
for a Strategic Placement stratagem (Exalted, p. 212)
to force an enemy to fight her at a choke point such as a
bridge, a narrow mountain pass, or a city’s gates. If she
meets the stratagem’s threshold, she can spend extra
successes to enact an Ambush stratagem as well.
Alternatively, she can use this Charm to add (Essence)
non-Charm dice on an order action while she and an al-
lied battle group are defending such a choke point, or on
an attack against an enemy battle group while doing so.
Metropolis: While fighting in or in defense of a city,
the Architect adds (Essence or Stamina) non-Charm
dice instead.
Keystone: An Architect with Intelligence as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as an Intelligence
Charm with Uncertain Avenue Distraction as its
prerequisite.
Keystone Aegis Transformation
Cost: —(+5m, 5i, 1wp); Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Becoming the Tower
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EX3
The Architect subsumes stone, iron, wood, and more into her
body, transforming herself into an incarnation of the city.
The Architect can pay a five-mote, five-Initiative,
one-Willpower surcharge when she uses Becoming
the Tower in a city to grant it the traits of artifact ar-
mor. This transformation adds a non-Charm success
on rolls against disease and poison.
The Architect can repurchase this Charm any number of
times to awaken Evocations for this armor. Each city has a
separate Evocation tree for armor created from it, with the
Architect receiving one Evocation per repurchase for each
city. The armor’s Evocations are based on the Architect’s
personality and the city the armor was created from.
Stamina (Endurance)
Ox-Body Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Stamina 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect is endowed with superhuman vitality.
The Architect gains additional health levels based on
her Stamina rating:
Stamina 1-2: Two −2 levels.
Stamina 3-4: Two −2 levels and one −4 level.
Stamina 5: One −1 level and two −2 levels.
This Charm may be purchased (Stamina) times. If the
Architect’s Stamina increases, her health levels change
to reflect her new rating.
Stolen Moments Catnap
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Ox-Body Technique
The Architect draws on the hearty vitality of the city’s
toiling masses, recuperating from today’s wounds to face
tomorrow anew.
The Architect adds (higher of Essence or 3) dice on
rolls opposing poison and disease, and the rate at
which she heals naturally is multiplied by (Stamina).
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Metropolis: In cities, the added dice are non-Charm,
and the rate at which the Architect heals is multiplied
by (Stamina + 1).
The City Endures
Cost: 1m; Mins: Stamina 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect is as resilient as the most timeless cities,
withstanding plague, flame, and worse.
The Architect rerolls (Essence) non-1 failures on a roll
opposing poison, disease, or an environmental hazard.
Metropolis: As long as at least one rerolled die shows
a success, the Architect gains one Initiative.
Embodiment of Order
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Wits), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: The City Endures
The warping tides of chaos and curses of transformation
cannot tarnish the Architect in body or soul.
After a roll with any Attribute opposing a Shaping effect,
the Architect can use this Charm to roll an additional
(higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice. If the Shaping
effect is rolled against one of her static values, she may add
a +2 non-Charm bonus to that trait after the roll is made.
Metropolis: In cities, the Shaping effect can’t kill the
Architect or render her indefinitely incapable of taking
action even if she fails; such effects are mitigated to a
lesser version.
Keystone: An Architect with Wits as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Wits Charm.
Junkyard Colossus Technique
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Living Wall Fortification,
Ox-Body Technique
The Architect wears the city’s skin, stone and asphalt
permeating and reinforcing her body.
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The Architect rolls (Essence + Stamina), unmodified
by any other effects, to draw in nearby stone, garbage,
and the like. She gains temporary −1 health levels equal
to her successes. These are filled before any of her
other −1 levels when she’s damaged.
Damage to these health levels doesn’t heal naturally, but
it can be repaired, requiring a basic repair project for a
level of bashing damage or a major repair project for a
level of lethal damage (Exalted, 242). Basic projects take
one hour and have difficulty (Architect’s wound penalty
+ 2); major projects take eight hours and have difficulty
(wound penalty + 4). Aggravated damage can’t be re-
paired. Beyond such repairs, only magic that’s capable of
healing automata can heal this damage.
When this Charm ends, all temporary health levels
vanish and the Architect suffers the damage that was
stored in them. This is never fatal.
Metropolis: In urban workshops, smithies, and other
places of professional crafting, the Architect can heal
damage stored in these temporary health levels naturally.
Ruin-Raising Concentration
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Stamina 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Junkyard Colossus Technique,
The City Endures
The Architect envisions her body as a blueprint within
her mind’s eye, using will and Essence to right it where it
has strayed from the plan.
The Architect rolls (Stamina + [Integrity, Medicine, or
Resistance]) and spends her successes on the options
below:
1 success Purge one round of a poison’s du-
ration from the Architect’s system.
1+ successes Ignore one point of wound penalty
per success for one scene.
1+ successes Reduce a crippling effect’s penalty
by one point per success for a scene.
2 successes Heal a level of non-ag-
gravated damage.
2 successes Convert a level of aggra-
vated damage to lethal.
2+ successes Recover from a disease with
Morbidity (successes x2).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Metropolis: In a city, the Architect can spend ten suc-
cesses to recover from any crippling injury less severe
than total amputation.
Reset: Once per story.
Strength (Offense)
Brick-Knuckle Brawler
Cost: 1m; Mins: Strength 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect transmutes her skin into cobblestone and
brick, landing punches with the weight of a city behind
them.
The Architect deals lethal damage with an unarmed
decisive attack or grants a withering unarmed
attack Overwhelming (Strength). Alternatively, she
can use this Charm when she tries to block an attack
barehanded, granting +1 Parry and letting her block
decisive damage.
Fists of the City
Cost: 1m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Brick-Knuckle Brawler
The Architect draws the stone, steel, and detritus of the
city into her body, diffusing its substance through her
limbs.
Touching a mundane object light enough for her to lift
with one hand, the Architect merges with it with her
body, granting her unarmed attacks a tag appropriate
to its nature. This can’t grant the Archery, Crossbow,
Flame, Powerful, or Thrown tags.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds one die on all
unarmed attack rolls.
Crashing Demolition Barrage
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Strength 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None

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 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
WEAPON COMPATIBILITY
Architect Strength Charms — and, unless other-
wise specified, all Strength Charms — are incom-
patible with weapons that don’t use Strength to
determine withering damage, like firewands and
siege weapons.
A broken signpost or a loose cobblestone is as deadly in
the Architect’s hands as any weapon forged.
The Architect waives the Initiative cost for attacking
with improvised weapons. She can pay two motes when
she makes a decisive attack with an improvised weapon
to strike with such force that her weapon breaks, adding
an automatic success on the damage roll.
Alehouse Pankratiast Technique
Cost: 2m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Coming down on a foe like a ton of bricks, the Architect
forces him into a pin or hold.
The Architect rolls an additional non-Charm die for
each 10 on the attack roll, Initiative roll, and control
roll of a grapple gambit.
Metropolis: In cities, the gambit’s Initiative cost is
reduced by one.
Enemy-Evicting Thew
Cost: 3m; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Alehouse Pankratiast
Technique
The Architect flings unwanted guests through teahouse
windows and off balconies.
When the Architect throws or slams a grappled enemy,
she ignores soak or Hardness equal to the rounds of
control she forfeited.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds (Essence)
to the maximum number of rounds of control she can
receive benefits for forfeiting.
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Arm Like a Catapult
Cost: 3m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s hurled spear or loosed arrow flies across
the battlefield with incredible force to strike distant foes.
The Architect extends a ranged attack’s range by one
band, maximum long range, and adds +1 Overwhelming.
If her weapon already has long range, she instead adds
+(Strength/2, rounded up) Overwhelming.
A Stamina 4, Essence 2 repurchase lets the Architect
use this Charm with close range attacks, striking at
short range by throwing her weapon. This is incom-
patible with natural weapons.
Metropolis: The Overwhelming bonus is added to raw
withering damage as well.
Strength of the Masses
Cost: 4m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis, Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect swings her fists with the force of a wrecking
crew’s hammers, demolishing opponents blow by blow.
The Architect adds (Essence) to a withering attack’s
raw damage and Overwhelming.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect instead adds
(Strength) if it’s higher.
Battering Ram Impact
Cost: 5m; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dual, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Strength of the Masses
Building force and momentum, the Architect lets fly a
blow that sends her enemies toward the skyline.
The Architect makes a withering or decisive attack;
she may use her movement action to leap one range
band in any direction before she does so. She can’t
attack enemies beyond short range, even if her weapon
normally could. An enemy that takes 5+ withering
damage or any decisive damage is knocked back
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
one range band. If the Architect’s weapon has the
Smashing tag, her foe is knocked prone in addition to
being knocked back.
Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect knocks an enemy
into an obstacle or surface, she rolls an additional die of
withering damage or decisive damage, ignoring soak
and Hardness. Decisive damage is normally bashing,
although some objects may inflict lethal damage.
Brute Force Approach
Cost: 5m; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Strength of the Masses
The Architect’s blows land as though she were stone and
metal rather than flesh and blood.
The Architect adds up to (Strength/2, rounded up)
extra successes as dice to a decisive attack’s damage
and doubles 10s on the damage roll.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds up to
(Strength) extra successes as damage dice instead.
Ruthless Sucker Punch
Cost: 4m; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Keystone (Dexterity)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Strength of the Masses
Unashamed of fighting dirty, the Architect pummels
unwary foes.
An unexpected attack adds (Stealth) dice to the post-
soak withering damage or decisive damage.
Keystone: An Architect with Dexterity as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Dexterity Charm, with
Thief-in-the-Night Understanding as its prerequisite.
Impromptu Demolition Technique
Cost: 4m, 1i; Mins: Strength 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Battering Ram Impact or
Enemy-Evicting Thew
A pile of bricks or a demolished hovel makes a perfect
place for the Architect’s foes to lie very still and contem-
plate the error of crossing her.
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EX3
If the Architect knocks an enemy into an obstacle or
surface with an attack — a smash attack, a throw or
slam out of a grapple, or an attack enhanced with mag-
ic like Battering Ram Impact — she brings down a pile
of rubble on him or otherwise leave him trapped in the
aftermath of his impact. He can’t take any movement
actions until he or an ally clears the obstruction with
a feat of strength at difficulty (Architect’s Essence or
Strength). The feat requires Strength 3+ to attempt.
Metropolis: In cities, the point where the enemy im-
pacted the obstacle or surface becomes difficult terrain.
Overpowering Blockbuster Strike
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brute Force Approach
The Architect’s blows scatter mobs and shatter stone,
unleashing a shockwave to shake the city’s streets.
The Architect makes a withering attack against up to
(Essence) enemies within close range of her. If she’s
wielding a ranged weapon, she can instead make this
attack against all enemies within close range of a point
within its range if she aims first. She doesn’t gain any
other benefits of aiming; she must take additional aim
actions if she wishes to attack at medium range or be-
yond or to add aim dice on the attack roll.
The Architect rolls withering damage separately
against each enemy. She only gains full Initiative from
the single highest damage roll; other damage rolls only
grant one Initiative each.
Metropolis: In cities, the force of the Architect’s blow
shatters the ground beneath each damaged enemy,
making it difficult terrain (Exalted, p. 199).
Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by landing a
decisive attack from Initiative 15+ that resets the
Architect’s Initiative.
Staggering Haymaker Blow
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brute Force Approach
The Architect hits her enemy like a hard day’s work or a
terrible hangover, leaving him in no condition to contend
against one of her strength.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
To use this Charm, the Architect must have 12+
Initiative. She makes a decisive attack, adding an
automatic success on the damage roll. If she deals 3+
decisive damage, her enemy is stunned, applying his
onslaught penalty to any rolls he makes until his next
turn ends. Even after his onslaught penalty refreshes,
it applies until his turn ends.
Metropolis: In cities, dealing 3+ decisive damage also
increases the attack’s onslaught penalty by one.
City-Shifting Quake
Cost: —(+4m, 4i); Mins: Strength 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Perilous, Withering-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Overpowering Blockbuster
Strike
The Architect’s blows shake the city to its foundation,
shattering walls and bringing down tenements on her foes.
When the Architect uses Overpowering Blockbuster
Strike’s Metropolis effect to create difficult terrain,
she can pay a four-mote, four-Initiative surcharge to
redouble her blow, creating an environmental hazard
from flying rubble and debris that engulfs all enemies
damaged by her withering attack. This hazard has a
difficulty equal to her attack roll successes; she divides
her Initiative evenly among all enemies, rounding up,
to determine the damage rolled against them. This re-
sets the Architect’s Initiative. Scenery out to medium
range from the Architect suffers as much damage as
the Storyteller feels appropriate from her blow.
Reset: Once per scene.
Strength (Feats of Strength)
Girder-Toting Civic Spirit
Cost: 4m; Mins: Strength 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The strength of a city is in its people, as many hands may
raise up wonders impossible for any lone mortal.
The Architect adds +2 to her effective Strength to de-
termine if she can attempt a feat of strength and adds
(higher of Essence or 3) dice. If her effective Strength
exceeds the feat’s minimum, each excess dot adds one
bonus die.
271
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Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect performs a feat
of strength as part of constructing, maintaining, or
defending civic infrastructure, or performs a feat of
demolition at the direction of a city’s leader of govern-
ing body, the added dice are non-Charm.
Twenty Oxen Strong
Cost: 3m; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect is a one-woman labor force, tirelessly rais-
ing up walls and pillars or smashing them down.
The Architect ignores fatigue penalties and wound
penalties on a feat of strength and halves the amount
of time needed to complete it.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect can complete a
feat instantly if the Storyteller deems it feasible, such
as bashing down a brick wall. Even if not, the time
required to complete it is dramatically accelerated.
Audacious Wrecker Cunning
Cost: 4m; Mins: Strength 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One tick
Prerequisite Charms: Twenty Oxen Strong
The Architect is a wily brawler, using her brawn to out-
wit her foes.
The Architect flurries a feat of strength with another
action, reducing the penalty on both actions by one and
ignoring the Defense penalty. If a successful feat gives
her an advantage over an enemy, she gains one Initiative.
Metropolis: The Initiative awarded by a successful
feat increases to (Essence/2, rounded up).
Beast of Burden Sympathy
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Girder-Toting Civic Spirit
Tapping reserves of strength beyond what she can con-
sciously access, the Architect pushes past her limits.
The Architect adds (higher of Essence or 3) to her
effective Strength to determine if she can attempt a
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
feat. If this would raise her Strength above the neces-
sary minimum, each excess point adds an automatic
success.
Metropolis: In cities, the first use of this Charm each
day doesn’t count toward requiring a reset.
Reset: Once per day.
Wall-Tumbling Crash
Cost: 2m; Mins: Strength 5, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Girder-Toting Civic Spirit
When it comes time to tear down, the Architect stands
ready.
The Architect doubles 9s on a feat of demolition,
the Initiative roll of a disarm gambit, or a Strategic
Maneuver opposing a Fortifications stratagem.
Wrecking Ball Smash
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Impromptu Demolition
Technique, Wall-Tumbling Crash
The Architect flings her enemies with force enough to
crash through iron and stone, ejecting them from her city
like unruly patrons through a teahouse window.
When the Architect knocks an enemy into a surface
with a smash attack, grapple, or magic like Battering
Ram Impact, she may reflexively use this Charm,
rolling a (Strength + appropriate combat Ability) feat
of demolition to destroy that surface. If she used a
decisive attack to knock her enemy back, she adds her
damage successes to her effective Strength to deter-
mine if she can attempt the feat.
If the Architect succeeds, her victim suffers an addi-
tional (Architect’s Essence) dice of bashing damage,
ignoring Hardness, as he slams into that surface hard
enough to break it and is flung back an additional range
band.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by entering close
range of an enemy after previously knocking him back
at least one range band and then landing a decisive
attack from Initiative 12+ against him.
272
EX3
Titan of the Crowds
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Strength 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis, Perilous
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: Beast of Burden Sympathy,
City-Shifting Quake
The Architect’s eyes glow bright with her anima’s colors
as she draws upon the city’s might, borrowing force from
every blow of a blacksmith’s hammer, every sword-arm
honed in training, every laboring beast of burden.
The Architect gains the benefits of Legendary Size (p.
XX). She doesn’t actually grow larger, although to some
onlookers she may appear to, especially while her anima
banner is visible. These benefits represent her power to
embody the strength of an entire city and the extraordi-
nary spiritual pressure exerted by her Essence.
Metropolis: In cities, the first use of this Charm each
scene waives its Willpower cost.
Wits (Initiative)
First-in-Line Celerity
Cost: 4m; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Laborers who rise before dawn and savants working through
the night are still too slow to keep up with the Architect.
The Architect adds (Essence/2, rounded up) automat-
ic success on a Join Battle roll and can roll with (Wits +
[Athletics, Awareness, or War]). She can also roll with
Ride while mounted, Sail while aboard a ship, or other
Abilities the Storyteller deems appropriate for her
circumstances, though she can’t use combat Abilities.
Metropolis: In cities, the added successes are
non-Charm.
Alarum-Raising Concentration
Cost: 4m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Perception), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: First-in-Line Celerity
The city is filled with hidden dangers, but the Architect is
not caught unawares.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
The Architect’s Join Battle roll also counts as a roll
opposing the Stealth of all concealed enemies. If a con-
cealed enemy’s Join Battle roll is lower than hers, he’s
treated as having one fewer Stealth success to deter-
mine if the Architect spots him. Successfully detecting
at least one hidden enemy awards one Initiative.
Metropolis: In cities, a concealed enemy whose Join
Battle roll is beaten by the Architect’s permanently
subtracts one from his total Stealth successes, rather
than only applying the penalty for the Architect’s roll.
The city itself refuses to hide him.
Keystone: An Architect with Perception as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Perception
Charm, with Inquisitive Rat’s Whisker, Thousand
Footfall Drumbeat, or Watching the Panopticon as its
prerequisite.
Canny Rat Instincts
Cost: 4m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Alarum-Raising
Concentration
The Architect has an intuitive awareness of her sur-
roundings that taps into the city’s whispers, the countless
tiny details overlooked by most city-goers.
The Architect doubles 9s on a Join Battle roll. If she
wins Join Battle, she may reflexively take an action
with any Attribute. This can be any action that could
normally be used in combat, but if she uses it to attack
or move, it counts against the limit on doing so for the
round.
Steel-Nerved Reflexes
Cost: 2m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Dexterity), Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect’s quick wits give her an edge over her
enemies.
The Architect waives the Initiative cost of delaying her
turn or taking a full defense. If she acts act before all
enemies in a round, this Charm’s mote cost is waived.
Keystone: An Architect with Dexterity as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Dexterity Charm.
273
EX3
Preemptive Strife Anticipation
Cost: 2m; Mins: Wits 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: First-in-Line Celerity
The Architect anticipates her enemies’ strategy as if its
blueprints were laid out before her, denying them every
tactical advantage.
When the Architect rolls Join Battle, she gains a special
pool of Initiative equal to the 9s and 10s on the roll. Any
withering damage she suffers strips Initiative from
this pool first before affecting her actual Initiative.
This special pool of Initiative can’t be used for any
other purpose.
Metropolis: In cities, if a withering attack deals
enough damage to empty this Charm’s Initiative pool,
any excess points of withering damage are negated
rather than being applied to the Architect’s actual
Initiative.
Streetwise Hellion Ways
Cost: 3m; Mins: Wits 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Keystone (Dexterity), Metropolis,
Withering-only
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Preemptive Strife Anticipation
The Architect receives a hell-raiser’s due, acclaimed for
her prowess by street urchins, alehouse crowds, and the
very stones of the city itself.
The Architect gains +1 Resolve against any influence
that would cause her to doubt her chances for victory
in a fight and adds +1 to the amount of Initiative she
receives from Initiative Breaks (Exalted, p. 194).
Metropolis: In cities, both the Resolve bonus and the
Initiative bonus increase to +2.
Keystone: An Architect with Dexterity as a Foundation
Attribute may learn this as a Dexterity Charm, with
Crack-in-the-Wall Precision as its prerequisite.
Unsleeping City Invigoration
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Wits 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Streetwise Hellion Ways
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Architect taps into the city’s vitality, moving as if
every ounce of tea, coffee, and cocaine in the city flowed
through her veins.
When the Architect rolls Join Battle or resets to base
Initiative, she adds (Essence/2, rounded up) to her
base Initiative. This Charm’s Willpower cost is waived
if used to enhance a Join Battle roll.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect adds (Essence)
instead.
Reset: Once per day. Using this Charm to enhance Join
Battle rolls doesn’t count against the reset.
Wits (Resolve)
Civic Spirit Dedication
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
A hundred cultures mingle in the cities of Creation, and
the Architect may embrace them with her whole heart.
After spending a scene interacting within the culture
of a city — including enclaves of that culture outside of
the city itself — the Architect forms a Minor Principle
reflecting that city’s culture, norms, laws, or politi-
cal agendas. She gains +2 Resolve against influence
opposing that Principle, and it can’t be fully eroded,
only reduced to Minor intensity. The Architect can’t
voluntarily weaken the Principle while this Charm is
active; once it ends, the Principle still remains, but can
be eroded normally.
Reset: Once per story. If the Architect maintains it
through multiple stories, she cannot use it again until
she’s ended and a new story begins.
Heart-Sheltering Solidarity
Cost: 3m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect is one with the city and its people, and her
conviction in this is not easily shaken.
The Architect adds +2 Resolve. This bonus is non-
Charm if the influence opposes a positive Major or
Defining Tie the Architect has toward a city, a citywide
274
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THE CITY’S PRINCIPLES
Examples of Principles that could be conferred by
Civic Spirit Dedication include:
Chiaroscuro: The wonders of the First Age lie
waiting to be claimed by the fearless and the wise.
Fortitude: Strength and ruthlessness rise above
all else.
Gem: Profit is what’s most important.
Great Forks: Luxuries and sensual pleasures
make life worth living.
The Imperial City: The Immaculate Philosophy
offers social order and spiritual fulfillment.
Lookshy: If you want peace, prepare for war.
Sijan: The dead deserve respect.
Whitewall: The unknown is to be feared and
guarded against.
organization, or a resident of her home city, or if it
would cause her to feel or believe she is isolated or
alienated from others.
City-Sworn Covenant
Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Wits 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Civic Spirit Dedication
The Architect pledges herself to a city’s ways, engraving
them upon the stone tablet of her heart’s laws.
The Architect can pay a three-mote surcharge when
she uses Civic Spirit Dedication to further safeguard
the conferred Principle. Any character attempting
to weaken that Principle or make the Architect act
against it must make two separate influence rolls, us-
ing the lower result.
Fortified Mind Discipline
Cost: 5m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Sheltering Solidarity
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Essence reinforces the Architect’s mind against persua-
sion and subversion.
The Architect lowers the Willpower cost to resist in-
fluence by one point.
Metropolis: In cities, influence that opposes that
city’s culture, norms, laws, or political agendas has its
Willpower cost reduced by (Essence/2, rounded up).
Reset: Once per day, unless reset by accomplishing a
major character or story goal or legendary social goal
that benefits a city.
City Mouse Savvy
Cost: 8m; Mins: Wits 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fortified Mind Discipline
The Architect is not easily taken in, trusting her intuition
over the honeyed words of others.
The Architect can use this Charm after an influence
roll against her, adding +1 Resolve for each 1, maximum
+(Essence). If the influence opposes one of her Major
or Defining Ties toward a city, a citywide organization,
or a resident of her home city, this bonus is non-Charm.
Reset: Once per scene.
Incarnate Law Devotion
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Wits 4, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: City-Sworn Covenant
The Architect embodies the will of the people, an unfal-
tering paragon of civic virtue.
In a Decision Point, the Architect can cite her home
city or a city that she is currently in as though it were
a Major Intimacy to resist influence that opposes that
city’s culture, norms, laws, or political agenda.
If the Architect has taken on a Principle from the city
she cites with an active use of Civic Spirit Dedication,
this Charm’s cost is reduced by one mote. If she’s
enhanced it with City-Sworn Covenant, the discount
increases to two motes.
Metropolis: In the Architect’s home city, she can cite
it as a Defining Intimacy.
275
EX3
Sovereign Mind Bastion
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Wits 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Sheltering Solidarity,
City-Sworn Covenant
The Architect fortifies her mind with the city’s spirit, an
unassailable citadel against mind-warping magic.
If a Psyche effect would make the Architect act against a
positive Tie toward a city, a citywide organization, or a resi-
dent of her home city, she can negate that effect entirely. In
its place, she gains a Defining Principle reflecting her home
city’s culture, norms, laws, or political agendas, which she
can’t voluntarily erode until the story ends. Her player and
the Storyteller should work together to pick a Principle.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect may opt to gain a
Defining Principle based on that city. In her home city,
she can reset by raising the intensity of the Tie protect-
ed with this Charm to Defining (if it wasn’t already)
and upholding it through an impressive feat of one of
its Foundation Attributes. An Essence 5 repurchase of
this Charm extends this benefit to all cities.
Reset: Once per story.
Wits (Navigation)
Cleansing the Well
Cost: 5m; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Intelligence), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Architect brings life-giving water unto the city.
The Architect rolls ([Intelligence or Wits] + Ability) to
purify water, providing enough fresh water to sustain
a number of people equal to her successes for one
day. Any mundane poison or disease contained in it
is neutralized. The Ability rolled depends on how the
Architect actually purifies the water: Survival if she
boils it over a fire, Craft (Alchemy) if she treats it with
chemical reagents, Lore if she uses her knowledge of
the natural world to recognize signs of pure water,
Performance if she recites a prayer over the water, etc.
Characters who drink the water add an automatic
success on rolls against disease Morbidity for the rest
of the day.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect uses this Charm
to purify water from a well, cistern, aqueduct, or
similar infrastructure, the amount of water purified is
multiplied by ten and characters who willingly drink it
gain a Minor Tie of gratitude toward her.
Keystone: An Architect with Intelligence as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as an Intelligence
Charm.
Where All Roads Lead
Cost: 3m; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Cities shine like bright waypoints amid the wilderness to
the Architect, beacons by which she can always navigate.
The Architect doubles 9s on a Survival roll to navigate,
forage, or find shelter or a Sail roll to navigate a marine
hazard or adds +2 non-Charm Resolve against influ-
ence or mental attacks that would cause her to become
lost or disoriented.
Metropolis: While traveling within or toward a city,
the Architect ignores penalties from environmental
conditions or visual obstructions.
Fade Into Obscurity
Cost: 5m; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Keystone (Manipulation), Metropolis,
Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Where All Roads Lead
The Architect makes the streets and roadways her ac-
complices, leaving no trace upon ground that refuses to
accept her footprint.
The Architect adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-
Charm dice on a roll to conceal her tracks.
Metropolis: If the Architect is traveling entirely with-
in a city, tracking rolls not enhanced by magic suffer a
−4 penalty.
Keystone: An Architect with Manipulation as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as a Manipulation
Charm, with Lawyer-Devouring Calumny as its
prerequisite.
276
EX3
Shadow-Ferrying Route
Cost: 3m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fade Into Obscurity
The Architect smuggles her traveling companions past
watchful sentries and reaving bandits, keeping to the
backroads and sleeping in safehouses.
The Architect doubles 9s on a roll to conceal her tracks
or a roll to establish Stealth while making an overland
journey. If she’s traveling toward a bolthole created
with Bolthole-and-Cache Method (p. XX) that’s with-
in (Essence) miles, she also adds (Essence) non-Charm
dice.
Flowers Out of Stone
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Keystone (Intelligence), Metropolis
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cleansing the Well
The Architect channels the flow of vital energies through
a city to nourish flower boxes hung from windows or
private gardens behind high walls.
After a scene spent examining or tending to a garden,
greenhouse, collection of potted plants, park, or sim-
ilar locale of up to (Essence x 100) square yards, the
Architect blesses it with abundance. Rolls to forage
food or harvest herbal medicines from it receive
(Architect’s Essence) bonus dice, and foraging yields
twice as much food as usual. Any penalties such rolls
would suffer from bad weather, natural pests, or poor
soil conditions are halved, rounded down.
This blessing lasts for a month. The Architect can use
this Charm again to renew an existing blessing’s dura-
tion, waiving its Willpower cost.
With Wits 5, Essence 3, this Charm’s area increases to
(Essence x 2,000) square yards.
Metropolis: In cities, the blessing adds successes in-
stead of dice and lasts a year and a day. Characters who
eat food from the blessed garden for at least a week
gain a Minor Tie of gratitude toward the Architect that
can’t be voluntarily weakened until they’ve gone a day
without eating from it.
 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ARCHITECTS
Keystone: An Architect with Intelligence as a
Foundation Attribute may learn this as an Intelligence
Charm.
Footbridge-and-Causeway Journey
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Wits 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Where All Roads Lead
The Architect walks the roads between cities, bringing
her wisdom and authority wherever it’s needed.
The Architect and up to (Essence x2) others double
the distance they can cover with a single day’s march.
Metropolis: While traveling within or toward a
city, the Architect can bring up to (Essence + Wits +
Survival) characters.
Wits (Cache)
Hidden Compartment Ingenuity
Cost: 4m; Mins: Wits 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Under the floorboards, beneath a false bottom, or out in
the middenheap, the Architect conceals both tools and
secrets until she has need of them again.
The Architect rolls to conceal evidence with (Wits +
[Craft, Larceny, Stealth]), doubling 9s and taking only
a minute to complete.
Metropolis: In cities, the Architect completes the roll
instantly.
Bolthole-and-Cache Method
Cost: 5m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Metropolis, Stackable
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Hidden Compartment
Ingenuity
277
EX3
Down back alleys and into hidden spaces, the Architect
knows how to find the most unexpected of places.
The Architect rolls (Wits + Ability) to either create a
discreet hideout or reveal the existence of one, like
introducing a fact. She might use Survival to set up a
hunting blind, Craft to secretly renovate a teahouse’s
backroom, or Bureaucracy to anonymously rent a
cramped apartment. If the Architect uses Craft to cre-
ate a bolthole, she gains craft points as though she’d
completed a basic project.
The bolthole can be large enough to hold (Essence x2)
characters. Noticing a bolthole requires a (Perception
+ [Awareness, Investigation, or Survival]) roll oppos-
ing the Architect’s roll. The Architect and those she
reveals the bolthole to can perceive it unhindered.
The bolthole’s physical structure remains once this
Charm’s duration ends, but it is no longer concealed.
The Architect can stack this Charm to create up to
(Essence) boltholes.
Metropolis: In cities, if the Architect spends a day
preparing a bolthole, this Charm’s duration becomes
Indefinite.
Gewgaw-and-Bauble Arsenal
Cost: 4m; Mins: Wits 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bolthole-and-Cache Method
The Architect always has just the tool she needs.
The Architect retroactively possesses an object light
enough to hold or wear that’s in a bolthole created with
this Charm’s prerequisite or concealed with Hidden
Compartment Ingenuity. This isn’t literal teleporta-
tion, but a representation of the Architect’s foresight
and preparation.
An Essence 3 repurchase lets the Architect pay a
three-mote surcharge to summon an object too large
to hold as long as it could be lifted by a feat of strength
with a difficulty no higher than 5. She must spend five
minutes retrieving this object from whichever nearby
location she’s stashed in it offscreen.
Clear-Eyes Lai woke from fevered nightmares into the safety of his bedroom. Slick with sweat, he took in the
familiar opulence, the plaques and trophies commemorating accomplishments of his youth, and thought, What a
cruel dream this is. He had traveled the Wyld far, far too long to trust such comfort.
Lai threw off his bedding and endured ancient pain to channel Essence into scintillant arms and armor. A woman
with gray-flecked hair entered his room, alerted by light and sound, and Lai would have killed her if she hadn’t
countered his brilliant spear with her own shimmering shield.
“...Am I home?” Lai asked. “Have I found Uluiru at last, or another Wyld mirage?”
In response, the woman slid open a window and let in cold Northern air.
“Welcome home, cousin,” she said. “When I last saw you, I was young and you had sworn to liberate the Mountain-
Piercing Javelin from the Wyld. Now I am older, and you…?”
Lai felt the judgment in her question, and the sting of failure. Such casual cruelty was familiar; he truly was home.
“I remember your face, Jyu Bird-of-the-Summer, but I don’t recall you as a cousin, let alone a fellow Sovereign.”
Jyu sat respectfully but fearlessly at the edge of Lai’s bed. Her face revealed neither pain nor relief as her
shield sublimated into shining motes. Only her graying hair betrayed the cost of a Sovereign’s power. “Much has
changed,” said she. “Fortunately for you, I take no offense at your attempted assassination. I know how the Wyld
blends reality and fantasy. I dragged you, raving, from the bordermarch’s edge myself. You’ve been gone for thirty
years, Lai.”
Only that? thought Lai, though he dared not show emotion. Instead, he dismissed his brilliant arms and took a
formal sitting position. “My thanks cousin.” He released a breath. “It is true that I haven’t succeeded in my quest…
yet. I don’t relish facing Queen Ulu empty-handed, but I feel hale enough, and I’m sure she’s summoned me.”
Jyu allowed several moments of silence. “Much has changed.”
“You don’t mean...”
“The queen has been dead just shy of half a year, cousin.”
Lai paled. It was impossible to imagine immortal Queen Ulu’s passing, so he embraced the more familiar
suffering of guilt. “I… I should have been here. I could have done something.”
“You still can, cousin,” said Jyu, “though Uluiru’s time grows short. We stand upon the edge of chaos, yet no
Sovereign yet dares claim the crown.”
“The queen chose no heir?” He shakes his head. “Of course. None were worthy in those days.” Not even myself.
“We all want a worthy ruler who can keep the likes of Wise-Eyed Oja and Silken Lua at bay. Swan’s-Grace Thei had
the people’s adoration, but she’s paid a steep price for her gentle nature.”
Lai was overwhelmed by three decades of missed history and half-remembered names, but he was a Sovereign
of Uluiru, and the court’s movements were in his blood. Jyu had not saved him out of kindness. Though he
remembered her as the scion of an unremarkable family, Jyu now exuded ambition. Lai cut to the meat of her
budding argument:
“You want me to support your claim to the throne.”
Jyu smiled in satisfaction. “The Wyld hasn’t completely dulled your faculties.”
“Nor my ambition,” Lai hazarded, unsure if he spoke truly. “Why should I tie myself to your claim, and not my
own?”
“You’ll find the court has changed in your absence. Many of our cousins are complacent and don’t truly understand
the Wyld’s threat. They won’t forgive your failures as I might.” Jyu cocked her head. “Harbor your own ambitions if
you must, but consider if you wish to face the court with no allies at all.”
As Lai considered his cousin’s argument, he glanced around once more at his childhood room. He felt as trapped
as when he’d awoken. What a cruel dream this is, indeed.

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 Chapter Eight
The Sovereigns
of Uluiru
The god-kings of Uluiru blaze with glory. The best and
brightest of the royal family bathe in the rainbow flame
of dead gods; those who survive its overwhelming
power emerge from it Exalted.
The Sovereigns are bright — so terribly, wondrously
bright. To look on them is to be blinded with devotion
and pride. They weave magic from crystal and auroral
light, summoning prismatic armies or binding mon-
sters in a diamond’s facets. They intrigue against one
another, jockeying for position — most of all now that
the first and greatest of the Sovereigns, Queen Ulu, is
dead. More than anything else, they burn: The power
inside them is not wicked, but neither is it right. It
consumes them if they let it, quickens their worst in-
stincts, transfixes them with ceaseless pain, and turns
them into tyrants and torturers.
History
Sovereigns are born in the dark cradle of the earth, in
a cavern below their capital of Uluiru. Three hundred
years ago, the gem-god Cantata-of-the-Depths came
here with the flame of Exigence cradled in his hands,
knowing by myth, rumor, and instinct that this was
the barrow-hill of an ancient god felled in the Divine
Revolution. In pride and desperation, Cantata mingled
his own Essence with the dead god’s imperishable
blood; he was consumed in an instant, leaving a pool of
liquid fire. This is the Fount of Glories.
Until her death, Queen Ulu controlled access to
the Fount with icy efficiency, stationing demons,
elementals, and crystalline eidolons throughout the
caverns. Only members of her royal family are ever
permitted access, and even then, only those who prove
themselves.
Accordingly, candidates for the Sovereignty have tra-
ditionally been raised in an atmosphere of relentless
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one-upmanship — weighed and measured, every
success and failure becoming part of the quiet calculus
of who’d be allowed the opportunity to Exalt. This de-
manded, at a minimum, admirable performance in the
Forty-Four Distinctions, a grueling series of physical
competitions and civil exams. Beyond this, Queen Ulu
favored faithful service and bold action, especially in
any royal scion brave enough to slay, bargain with, or
outwit the Fair Folk.
Not all granted the opportunity to visit the Fount of
Glories did so immediately, or even at all. Some who
bathed themselves in its Essence were consumed by
the flames. Others emerged frail and strange, their
shriveled bodies ill-suited for the power they at-
tempted to channel. No consistent pattern has been
discerned in who succeeds and who fails, but theory
and superstition abound, and each branch of the royal
family has its own dubious regime of preparations: The
sorcerer Grim-Faced Tanoh subjected himself to doz-
ens of demonic possessions and exorcisms to strength-
en his spirit, while forge-master Hwei Burning-Heart
engaged in grueling austerities to accustom himself to
blinding light and fathomless heat.
While powerful, Sovereigns aren’t immortal — a fact
made clear by the death of Queen Ulu’s granddaughter
and chosen heir, Nuwa Lyre-Song. Slain by fae assassins,
the girl’s death prompted Queen Ulu into a one-wom-
an crusade…a crusade that ended with the queen as
dead as her heir. For six months, the Sovereigns have
mourned their queen. Ulu has been celebrated and
eulogized for weeks on end, her spirit propitiated with
countless sacrifices and prayers offered in her name by
priests and citizens alike. Her death, so soon after that
of her appointed heir, has thrown the Sovereign Host
into a time of uncertainty, danger, and ambition, with
the succession an open question.
When the proscribed mourning for Queen Ulu finally
concludes, power will pass to whoever seizes and
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

holds it best. Already, dozens of schemes are in motion, He would not remember until the Irugu were driven
pieces quietly moving into place across a from their home by the predations of the raksha
great gameboard in anticipation of the Winter Folk. On that long exodus through bitter snow,
first big play. he found strength in and for his people, bolstering
their spirits with song and stretching his own divine
power thin to bless them with fortitude and resolve.
Cantata-of- He became a grandfather to the Irugu, not just a pa-
the-Depths tron, and took their brave queen Ulu as his beloved
shortly before unmaking himself in the Fount
Long ago, before he was Cantata- of Glories.
of-the-Depths, he was a cavern
wisp — a minor god of gems
and trickery who led travelers
Fallen Aurora
astray when they entered his The Sovereigns’ other patron, the fallen
subterranean domain. The Irugu clan Incarna Aurora (p. XX), has many titles:
settled at his mountain’s foot, shep- Hopebringer, Lord of Delights, the
herds and farmers who eked out Muse of Seven-Colored Flame. The
a meager living from the land. shimmering curtains of the aurora
Children, brave and foolish, were his billowing robes, and he
would dare one another to danced in the night to remind
clamber down the dark mortals that the dawn would
and narrow caverns that come again. He was awe, fascina-
dotted the mountain in tion, midnight inspiration — the
search of shiny things. wondrous insight that blazed
Whether by pity, lone- brightest in the dark.
liness, or some small
spark of paternal pride, That is what the Sovereigns
the wisp became their say of him, and it has more
patron, guiding, protect- in it of aspiration and
ing, and singing for them myth-making than of his-
in his sunless home. In tory. They do not know
ten generations, he had of his role in the Divine
a new name in their Revolution, or even that
prayers: Cantata-of- he was once counted as
the-Depths! Cantata- a peer to the Highest of
of-the-Depths! Lord of Holies. All that is known
mine and gem, guiding is that he is gone, his ichor
song and watcher of mixed with Cantata’s own
ways! in the creation of the Fount
of Glories.
Now bold with praise,
Cantata accepted the
role of patron god of the To Reign in
Irugu, waxing with might
and majesty. He anointed Uluiru
kings and queens with dia-
Like a riot of color amidst the
mond dust, showered them
far Northwest’s fathomless
in gold and rubies that marked
white, Uluiru stands proudly in
their status as his beloved. He
an otherwise unhospitable land.
grew regal and vain, forgetting
It owes its bounty in equal mea-
that he had once been nothing
sure to the Sovereigns’ power
more than a tiny flame flickering
and its people’s sheer will, for
beneath the earth.
neither could long endure without
the other.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
While Exaltation raises a member of the royal family
into the ranks of the god-queens, the Sovereigns de-
pend on their positions in Uluiru’s many ministries
and provincial governments for political power. Most
eagerly seize positions when offered; Queen Ulu doled
them out judiciously to prevent any one Exalt from
growing too strong, but since her death, control over
the various levers of power has fallen into disarray.
Those ministries that once fell under Queen Ulu’s
direct control must now contend with pressure from
all sides, weighing one patron against another all while
maintaining the air of neutrality. Other ministries
change hands as currency in the game of Sovereign fa-
vor-trading, or are taken outright by those Sovereigns
who are willing to push their authority over another’s.
None of this is legal, but maintaining the thin veneer of
legitimacy requires the ministries and their Sovereign
overseers to pay at least grudging lip service to the
covenants laid down by their lost queen, finding some
obscure or ambiguous precedent to justify whatever
course they choose.
The Sovereigns represent an extremely formidable
power bloc in an otherwise lightly populated region.
While they only directly rule Uluiru and its surround-
ing provinces, they act as a local hegemon whose in-
fluence extends south for hundreds of miles until the
borders of Fajad. Within this domain, Uluiru is a hub
for trade, especially in the wealth of minerals that can
be mined from the North’s snow-capped mountains.
They export these goods to neighbors to the south and
west, bringing back food, medicine, cloth, and other
essentials of life.
The Realm has predictably cold relations with the
Sovereigns of Uluiru; both sides are far too much
alike to develop any real trust. Still, Queen Ulu sent
Sovereign envoys to the Imperial City from time to
time, usually when the Scarlet Empress or one of her
Great Houses had need of their unique talents. How
this relationship may change when someone finally
claims the empty throne of either the Realm or Uluiru
is anyone’s guess.
Further details about Uluiru and its politics can be
found in Across the Eight Directions.
The Fount of Glories
There’s nothing more precious to the Sovereigns and
to Uluiru than the Fount of Glories. While most know
it only in stories, every Sovereign has bathed in its
Essence and emerged Exalted. Unlike other sources
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of Exigent Exaltation, it appears well and truly inex-
haustible, having never guttered or dimmed no matter
how many Sovereigns emerged from it. Even so, Queen
Ulu was never eager to test the limits of her precious
miracle.
Even after Exalting, Sovereigns have been known to
visit the Fount when they must meet as equals rather
than rivals, trusting that none among their number
would endanger the very source of their power. Despite
three centuries of study, the Fount’s nature remains
enigmatic. At the least of its powers, it can serve as a
potent Means for sorcerous workings (Exalted, p. 487)
and as a source of raw Essence on par with the might-
iest demesnes. If a Sovereign could control access to it
as Ulu once did, she’d hold the future of Uluiru and the
entire Sovereignty in the hollow of her hand.
Perils of the Wyld
Living so near the edge of the world is a dangerous
proposition at the best of times, but Uluiru’s people
have a long, bitter history with the Fair Folk and Wyld-
things who lurk at their borders. For young Sovereigns
(and mortal candidates for the Sovereignty), returning
to court with fae war-trophies is a common way of
competing for prominence. This is balanced carefully
against a need to avoid unnecessarily antagonizing the
monsters at their doorstep; while the Sovereign Host
might be strong enough to stand against faerie armies,
this is never without cost. Some deal peacefully with
their raksha neighbors, engaging in a flourishing trade
in goblin treasures, studying the esoteric lore of the
Fair Folk, or taking fae paramours.
The greatest and most dangerous prize a Sovereign
could claim from the Wyld are the heads of Nuwa
Lyre-Song’s killers. Anyone able to bring some clarity
to Nuwa’s senseless death — and to Queen Ulu’s own
passing — would earn tremendous influence and ac-
claim. The assassins’ identities remain unknown; the
following examples are options for the Storyteller to
choose from or potentially use as antagonists unrelat-
ed to Uluiru.
If you include Hearteaters (p. XX) in your game,
these optionally canonical Exalted make natural foils
to the Sovereigns of Uluiru as the warped, monstrous
Chosen of Aurora. The Sovereigns know nothing of
their kindred Chosen, most likely presuming them to
be unbelievably puissant fae at first. Murdering Nuwa
may have been an opening bid to force Queen Ulu into
a misstep and leave her city open to infiltration. The
Hearteaters’ most likely endgame is seizing the Fount
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
of Glories, believing they can use it to gain greater
power or undo their corruption.
The warbands of the Thousand Talon Clan roam
across the Northwest, wielding lances of screaming
metal and riding unicorns caparisoned with ribbons of
woven lamentation. The nomadic court raids fae and
mortals alike, plundering treasure, seizing hostages,
and feasting on fear. The clan’s leader, the Talon-
Pierced Queen, is not an individual, but a title that
must be passed to another before the season’s end lest
its impaling thorns destroy her from within. Besieging
Uluiru would be an ordeal even for the Thousand Talon
Clan, but the events set in motion by Nuwa’s assassina-
tion have weakened the city’s defenses considerably.
The Mirror Domain is not one court, but two. Long
ago, some wrathful horror of the deep Wyld clove a
faerie court from their reflections; within the Mirror
Domain’s freehold, each Fair Folk’s reflection is it-
self a raksha. Fae courtiers scheme with and against
their reflections, though it’s not always clear which
is which: decades ago, the court of reflections staged
a political coup that inverted the Domain, changing
places with their originals. The shattered reflection
Irael, a prophetic anchorite, presides over the largest
of the court’s mercurial cliques; his foremost rivals
are the limb-witch Lady Maug and the sagacious ape
Wicked Money. If the Mirror Domain had a hand in
Nuwa’s assassination, it’s doubtless part of their end-
less intrigues, with one clique seeking to play Uluiru
against the others.
Mist, the Eternal Revolutionary (Exalted, p. 502)
is an adversary to all rulers. Murdering the heir to the
throne may simply be yet another bloody deed in his
unceasing pursuit of his Wyld-warped ambitions, or
it might have been part of a larger scheme to depose
Queen Ulu. Killing the eldest Sovereign in battle is
likely beyond Mist’s personal puissance; it’s possible
he’s allied with faerie courts or other powers of the
Wyld. With the current power vacuum in Uluiru, Mist
is left without anyone to oppose, but a Sovereign who
succeeds in claiming the throne may find herself faced
with a powerful enemy.
Sovereign Chronicles
The Sovereigns are one of that rare breed of Exigent
whose numbers can support self-contained chroni-
cles, with each player creating a Sovereign to engage
in a ruthless game of statecraft, guile, and glory. While
Sovereign chronicles follow many of the same story
beats as the Dragon-Blooded, they’re smaller and
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more intimate in scale. It’s all but certain that every
Sovereign knows each and every one of her peers, and
while the royal family has many branches, they’re just
that — branches of one family, far smaller than even
the smallest of the Great Houses but no less proud or
complex. When the Sovereigns contend for the throne,
it’s not against cousins six-times removed, but against
brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, parents and
children.
Sovereigns can do well in mixed games as well; their
overall strength make them a good fit for playing
with Dragon-Blooded. Playing up the similarities and
contrasts between these two types of Exalt can help
to emphasize the many ways in which family, duty,
and pride can manifest. They’re also particularly apt
in mixed-Exigent games: As a rare state openly ruled
by Exigents, Uluiru may serve as a sanctuary for other
Exigents, especially those who might serve as useful
allies, agents, and catspaws.
In games with Solars, Lunars, and other Exalted subject
to Realm propaganda, Sovereigns can be more difficult
to integrate. They lack the raw power of Solars and
Lunars, and their most powerful Charms often depend
on flaring their animas, announcing their presence
for miles around. While Sovereigns can distinguish
themselves in many roles as crafters, performers, so-
cialites, and lieutenants, they cannot compete directly
with Solars in the same areas of expertise — at least
not without approaching the issue laterally rather than
head-on.
Character Creation
Sovereigns use the character creation rules for Ability-
based Exalted designed for Terrestrial play (p. XX)
with the following modifications.
Step One: Choose your character’s Sovereign Aspect.
Step Three: Craft, Integrity, Performance, Socialize,
and War are their Sovereign Abilities, analogous to
Caste Abilities. Their Charms utilize only these five
Abilities.
Step Four: Sovereigns receive five free dots that can
be divided among Backing, Command, Contacts, Cult,
Followers, Influence, Resources, and Retainers to re-
flect their royal upbringing and social status.
Step Five: Sovereigns receive five free Excellencies
in addition to their starting Charms, which must be
chosen for their Sovereign or Favored Abilities.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

EXIGENT ASPECTS

Unlike other Exalted, Sovereign Aspects don’t have unique Abilities associated with them; all of them share
the five Sovereign Abilities. We recommend doing the same if you’re creating Castes or Aspects for an Exi-
gent that only has Charms for a limited selection of Abilities or Attributes (p. XX). The experience discount on
Charms is so valuable that any traits omitted from a Caste or Aspect selection would be must-haves when
selecting Favored traits, giving players fewer options when building their characters.

The lack of Aspect Abilities does make Sovereign Aspects less distinct from each other than the likes of
Solar Castes. Exigents have less need for that differentiation, as they’re most likely to appear in mixed circle
games — but even if you’re running an all-Sovereign game, the differences in their Aspects’ temperaments
and patchwork agony provides ample distinction.

Step Eight: Sovereigns have (Essence + 4) personal
motes and (30 + [Essence x4]) peripheral motes.
Traits
Sovereigns are intended for Terrestrial play (p. XX).
Aspects
The Sovereigns are divided into five Aspects, deter-
mined by their reaction to the ordeal of Exaltation,
that reflect both their power and their personality.
Their Aspects have few visible markings — most have
eyes to match their Aspect’s anima color, and at higher
Essence, their skin sometimes shines as if speckled
with gem-dust.
Shattered Imperfection Judgment: Once per day,
when the Sovereign attacks or makes an influence roll
against someone who’s violated or opposed one of her
Principles, she adds (Intimacy) non-Charm dice.
Exigent Experience
Once per session, Diamond Aspects earn 2 Exigent XP
when they:
• Advance their or their Circle’s goals by making a
significant sacrifice.
• Refuse to submit to another’s authority or ac-
cept someone’s help.
• Resist the influence or mind-warping magic of a
powerful enemy or rival.

Diamond Aspect • Uphold a positive Major or Defining Tie of pride

Some endure the Fount of Glories with stoic determi-
nation, Exalting into the Diamond Aspect. Exemplars
of will and certitude, they rule by righteousness, such
that even their greatest enemies must acknowledge
their virtue. They’re incorruptible judges, peerless
logicians, and warrior-philosophers. Resilient and
proud, they suffer the agonies of their patchwork
Essence silently, a burden borne in isolation that leaves
them cold, distant, and self-reliant to a fault.
Anima Powers
Adamant Will: For five motes, the Sovereign gains +1
non-Charm Resolve until her next turn. This increases
to +3 against Psyche effects, curses, and Shaping ef-
fects. This power is free at bonfire or higher.
Eternal Reign Persistence: For three motes, the
Sovereign ignores penalties from wounds, poison, and
crippling effects for one tick.
or ambition.
Emerald Aspect
Those who accept their agony in the Fount of Glories
as the price of power, clinging to their ambition even as
they burn, may Exalt into the Emerald Aspect. Possessed
of unslakable desires for wealth, power, or pleasure,
they rule by understanding the wants and needs of their
subordinates and rivals. They’re bespoke artificers,
manipulative power brokers, and purveyors of wonder
and vice. Self-indulgence is their only balm to their
patchwork Exaltation’s turmoil, predisposing them to
hedonism, ruthlessness, and thoughtless cruelty.
Anima Powers
Desires Laid Bare: For three motes, the Sovereign
adds (Anima) non-Charm dice on a read intentions roll
to discern Intimacies related to someone’s desires or
Awareness rolls to detect theft or oppose the Stealth of
someone who intends to steal from her.

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 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Dreams of Avarice: Once per day, when the Sovereign
upholds an Intimacy by indulging her desires, she
gains an additional Willpower and may raise her anima
to any level.
Glistening Jewel Temptation: For five motes, the
Sovereign’s influence roll treats Intimacies related to
her target’s desires as Ties of obligation to her. Their
effective intensity is reduced by one, minimum Minor.
This is free at bonfire anima or above.
Exigent Experience
Once per session, Emerald Aspects earn 2 Exigent XP
when they:
• Advance their or their Circle’s goals by using
wealth or playing on people’s desires.
• Convince a powerful character to become in-
debted to them.
• Endure significant peril to fulfill their desires.
• Sell something of significant value that they’ve
created, or give it as a gift, bribe, or similar.
Opal Aspect
Some who cannot bear the Fount of Glories reject its
agonizing reality, taking reprieve in delirium as they
Exalt into the Opal Aspect. Creatures of capricious
mischief, they rule by trickery, intrigue, and specta-
cle. They’re silver-tongued deceivers, unpredictable
tacticians, and wayfarers of the Wyld. The pain of
their patchwork Exaltation drives them into feverish
visions, disorienting confusion, and strange dreams,
predisposing them to fickleness, eccentricity, and an
unwise affinity for the fae.
Anima Powers
Ever-Welcome Guest: The Sovereign is easily trusted.
If someone has a Tie of distrust or fear that isn’t to her
as an individual but still applies to her, its intensity is
treated as one step lower for her.
Foxfire Trickster Mantle: Once per day, the Sovereign
adds (Anima) non-Charm dice on an inspire, instill, or
persuade roll. Inspire rolls increase the cost to resist by
one Willpower.
Opal’s Hidden Flame: For three motes, the Sovereign
ignores (Essence) point of penalties for implausible
claims on an influence roll or any penalties on a Stealth
roll. This power is Mute.
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Exigent Experience
Once per session, Opal Aspects earn 2 Exigent XP
when they:
• Advance their or their Circle’s goals through de-
ception, impersonation, or other underhanded
means.
• Help someone by guiding them through hostile
environs or a complicated social situation.
• Make a bargain with a dangerous or untrust-
worthy supernatural force.
• Uncover a useful secret about a powerful enemy
or rival.
Ruby Aspect
Some are overwhelmed by the Fount of Glories, suc-
cumbing to panic, desperation, or directionless rage
as they Exalt into the Ruby Aspect. Hearts aflame
with mighty passions, they rule by force, whether the
strength of their sword-arm or the ferocity of their
invective. They’re conquering generals, berserker
knights, and masters of brinkmanship. They seethe
with the pain of their patchwork Exaltation, especially
when their passions are roused, breeding volatility,
misguided wrath, and recklessness unchecked by
self-preservation.
Anima Powers
Blinding Aurora: For five motes, the Sovereign’s ani-
ma flares with blinding light, imposing a –1 penalty on
vision-based rolls against her as long as her anima’s
burning or higher. This increases to –2 and is free at
bonfire anima or above.
Crystal Heart Radiance: Once per day, when the
Sovereign takes a nonextended action to uphold an
emotion-based Intimacy, she adds (Intimacy) non-
Charm dice.
Unchecked Diva Bravado: The Sovereign ignores up
to (Essence) points of penalties she suffers as a result
of her own recklessness.
Exigent Experience
Once per session, Ruby Aspects earn 2 Exigent XP
when they:
• Advance their or their Circle’s goals with a show
of force — martial, political, or otherwise.
• Dramatically change a social institution.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• Publicly humiliate a powerful enemy or rival.
• Uphold a Major or Defining Intimacy by taking a
needless risk.
Sapphire Aspect
For some, the captivating sight of their reflection in the
Fount of Glories drowns out agony as they Exalt into
the Sapphire Aspect. Muses of enchanting beauty, they
seek the adulation, love, or obedience of those they rule.
They’re provocative artists, flamboyant duelists, and
seductive courtiers. Glory, acclaim, and applause soothe
their warped, patchwork Essence, while creative strug-
gles or failures exacerbate it, eroding their self-confi-
dence and leaving them overly dependent on others.
Anima Powers
Beloved By All the World: While the Sovereign’s
anima is at glowing or higher, other characters must
pay one Willpower to initiate hostilities against her
and her companions, unless provoked by their actions
or words. Once a character resists, he’s immune for the
rest of the day.
Crystalline Cynosure Radiance: For five motes, the
Sovereign adds a non-Charm success on rolls against
characters with Resolve lower than her Appearance
until her next turn. This is free at bonfire anima or
above.
Inspiring Grandeur: For three motes, add (Anima)
non-Charm dice on an influence roll involving awe,
reverence, or wonder, or that leverages Intimacies
based on those emotions.
Exigent Experience
Once per session, Sapphire Aspects earn 2 Exigent XP
when they:
• Advance their or their Circle’s goals through art-
istry, craftsmanship, or seduction.
• Cause a narratively significant character to form
a positive Major or Defining Tie toward them.
• Create a lasting and meaningful work of beauty.
• Uphold a Major or Defining Intimacy with the
aid of a patron, admirer, or similar backer, or
that of their subordinates (p XX).
Anima
A Sovereign’s anima banner encompass the colors of the
aurora, predominated by the gemstone hues of her Aspect.
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Their iconic animas might display a towering crystal giant
that reflects her self-image, a rain or precious gemstones or
a ferocious blizzard of sharp-edged diamonds, a garda bird
with wings of seven-colored flame, an extravagant palace,
a whirlwind of fireglass blades, a shrike overseeing a field
of crystal thorns, a dragon with gemstone scales, or the
like. Sovereigns often derive their personal heraldry from
their anima’s colors and iconic display.
Sovereigns with Fount-of-Glories Incarnation (p. XX)
are capable of reaching a level beyond bonfire: tran-
scendent anima.
In addition to the Aspect anima powers listed above,
Sovereigns can spend one mote to do one of the
following:
• Create a small decorative or ornamental object
of fireglass (p. XX) — elegant utensils, jeweled
decorations, glowing gemstones — that lasts un-
til the scene ends. They’re ill-suited to practical
use; relying on these constructs as equipment
imposes a penalty that’s only one less than the
penalty for using no equipment at all.
• Sense the direction and approximate distance of
the Fount of Glories.
Martial Arts
Sovereigns are restricted by the Terrestrial keyword
(Exalted, p. 427) when using Martial Arts. They’re
limited in their ability to combine Martial Arts Charms
with their native Charms. When they make a Martial
Arts attack, they can enhance it with either
Sovereign Charms or Martial Arts Charms, but not
both, with the exception of Excellencies and Versatile
Charms (p. XX). This doesn’t apply to Charms that are
permanent or provide ongoing benefits, nor to actions
other than attacking.
Sorcery
Sovereigns can initiate into Terrestrial Circle sorcery
or Ivory Circle necromancy, but not both. Their Occult
Ability determines whether they receive the Favored
Ability discount on spells.
Evocations
Sovereigns are neutral with adamant and dissonant
with all other materials. They can develop resonance
with adamant using Adamant Perfection Attainment
(p. XX).
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
MIRACLES OF ADAMANT
Adamant is to diamond as orichalcum is to gold:
superior not just in strength, but in spiritual maj-
esty. Lodes of adamant are most often found in
the distant North and South, born of extreme
temperatures, isolation, and stillness. Even in the
rough, it has shine and luster to match a master-
fully cut diamond. Most artificers grind it to dust
and alloy it with steel, much like jade; knapping
and carving it often produces superior designs
but requires rare tools and expertise.
Rare compared even to the other magical materi-
als and beyond the power of most Exalted to fully
resonate with, adamant is uncommonly used in
artifice, though it could be numbered as the sixth
of the five magical materials.
Adamant is associated with clarity, precision,
keen senses, and graceful action. Its Essence is
unyielding, timeless, and eternal. Adamant arti-
facts magnify, reflect, and refract, enhancing or
distorting traits like light split through a prism.
It’s also associated with sharpness, fascination,
illusion, scrying, logic, order, protection, and ex-
tremes temperatures — the heat of focused light
and the crystalline luster of ice.
Sample adamant artifacts include:
Diamond-Fire Ratha, a war chariot that crosses
unimpeded through snow and ice, its crystalline
wheels burning with colorless flame.
Elegant Snowfall Awning, a razor parasol that can
fend off any attack with paramount grace and un-
shakable fortitude.
The Empty-Heart Yumi, a powerbow whose
wielder may purge their emotions and irrational
thoughts as arrows of heat and cold.
The Eon Mantle, a suit of articulated plate that
holds back the travails of time, preserving its
wearer against age, wounds, and pestilence.
Facet Razor, a reaper daiklave whose blade is in-
finitely sharp, said to be capable of cutting through
anything in the hands of one who’s mastered it.
Sevenfold Harmony, an adamant harp, whose
seven strings each have a unique mesmeric pow-
er when strummed.
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The Great Curse
The Great Curse smolders within the Sovereigns,
a baleful flame that burns along the seams of their
patchwork Exigence. If their will falters, if the stress
becomes too much to bear, it will consume them from
within, an agonizing torment that drives them to acts
of cruelty and self-destruction.
Sovereigns’ Great Curse manifests through a ten-point
Limit Track (p. XX). They roll dice and gain Limit equal
to their successes under the following circumstances.
• Once per scene, when a Sovereign acts against
a Major Intimacy, she rolls one die (unless she’s
already rolled for acting against a Defining
Intimacy). Voluntarily weakening an Intimacy
or spending Willpower to resist influence it sup-
ports counts as acting against it.
• Once per scene, when a Sovereign acts against a
Defining Intimacy, she rolls two dice (or one die,
if she’s already rolled for acting against a Major
Intimacy).
• When a Sovereign allows a challenge to go
unanswered or submits to another character’s
authority, she rolls three dice. She doesn’t gain
Limit for submitting to characters for whom she
has a positive Major or Defining Tie or to other
Sovereigns.
Sovereigns lose one Limit for accomplishing a legend-
ary social goal (Exalted, p. 134). Additionally, they
lose one Limit for forcing a powerful and narra-
tively relevant enemy or rival to submit to their
authority.
When a Sovereign reaches Limit 10, she blazes with
white-hot Essence as her soul begins to immolate itself,
either immediately or at a suitably dramatic moment.
The Sovereign chooses which of the following Limit
Breaks she enters, either suffering the overwhelming
pain of Agony Cataclysmic and lashing out at those
around her or steeling herself in the Diamond Heart
Trance by suppressing emotion and empathy.
Agony Cataclysmic
The Sovereign’s body cracks and blisters, revealing not
flesh inside of her, but fiery anima. She is overwhelmed
by pain; her wound penalty is −4 unless it would normally
be higher. Driven by this pain, she lashes out, physically
or emotionally, at anyone and everyone at hand. She can
refrain from physically harming characters for whom
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
she has positive Ties. When her anima banner flares, it
sloughs off waves of molten glass; at the start of each of
her turns, she rolls (Anima) dice of withering damage
against all characters within close range, friend or foe.
She doesn’t gain Initiative from this. Crashed characters
suffer lethal decisive damage instead.
Duration: Scene. This ends if the Sovereign sees how
her actions have caused someone for whom she has a
positive Major or Defining Tie to fear or reject her.
Diamond Heart Trance
The Sovereign cages the roaring flame within her
through sheer will, her heart growing cold as crystal
as she numbs herself to passion as well as pain. Her
emotion-based Intimacies are suppressed, as if she
didn’t have them, and she can’t voluntarily form new
ones. She is neither willing nor able to consider the
emotions of others; while she need not be malicious,
she cares not whom she enrages, terrifies, or drives to
despair in pursuit of her goals.
Duration: Session. This ends if a character to whom
she has a positive Tie (suppressed or not) shows her
how her actions have harmed one of her suppressed
Major or Defining Intimacies.
Longevity and Death
Sovereigns live for centuries, although their full lifespans
remain uncertain. They begin to show signs of aging
sooner than other Exalted, though not as soon as mortals
—their unstable, patchwork Exigence burns away their
youth before their years. Like the Dragon-Blooded, a
Sovereign’s Exaltation is snuffed out when they perish,
but the Fount of Glories itself seems inexhaustible.
Character Advancement
Sovereigns use Terrestrial advancement rules (p. XX).
They receive Exigent Experience from Expression
Bonuses as usual and can earn Aspect Bonuses for
satisfying the criteria listed for their Aspect. Aspect
bonuses can also be earned by ceding the “spotlight” of
a scene’s focus to another player’s character to enable a
dramatic moment that supports his character concept,
or directly supporting him in such a moment.
Charms
Sovereign Charms reflect both Cantata-of-the-Depths’
past as trickster, savior, and tutelary god of the mines
and Aurora’s awe-inspiring beauty. They only have
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Charms for Craft, Integrity, Performance, Socialize,
and War, though their Charms encompass the full
range of Exalted competency.
Excellencies
Sovereigns have Excellencies for all twenty-five
Abilities. They must purchase individual Excellencies
for each Ability, other than the five free Excellencies
they receive at character creation.
Sovereigns may add up to (4 + Anima) dice to rolls.
Automatic successes count as two dice towards this
limit. Static values such as Evasion or Resolve can
be raised by half her dice limit, rounded down. An
action’s dice limit is determined before paying any
anima costs for Charms that enhance it.
Charm Concept: Fireglass
Many Sovereign Charms create things out of fire-
glass, crystalline light that shines with the colors of a
Sovereign’s anima. Fireglass is incredibly resilient and
grows only stronger as a Sovereign’s Essence increas-
es. The Strength minimum and difficulty needed to
destroy a Sovereign’s fireglass depend on her Essence,
as follows:
Essence Strength Minimum Difficulty
1-2 5 5-9
3-4 7 10-14
5+ 10 15-20
A character familiar with a Sovereign’s anima banner
can recognize her fireglass as her handiwork with a
difficulty 3 (Perception + Occult) roll.
Upon a Sovereign’s death, her fireglass shatters.
Charm Concept: Subordinates
Sovereigns are born to rule; their Charms hold espe-
cial power over those who serve them. Subordinates
include characters over whom a Sovereign holds
legitimate authority within an organization or culture
group (often represented by Backing). It also includes
characters in her debt, either financially or socially, or
characters currently deferring to her authority or ex-
pertise, like evacuees following her directions, though
this status ends once the debt is repaid or the char-
acter stops following the Sovereign’s directive for a
scene. Storyteller characters attached to the Sovereign
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

through the Command, Cult, Followers, Retainers, or
similar Merits are always subordinates unless story
events cause the Sovereign to lose the respective Merit.
Universal
Fount-of-Glories Incarnation
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s soul is a fathomless flame, a light to
equal that from which she arose in Exaltation.
The Sovereign gains access to a new level of anima
beyond bonfire: transcendent. At transcendent, her
anima banner rises up to the sky and fills the heavens
like an aurora, visible out to (Essence x10) miles. For
purposes of Charm calculations, transcendent anima is
valued as 4. Transcendent anima fades back to bonfire
at the end of the scene.
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Sovereign’s player
creates a new anima power that reflects her personality,
Aspect, and character concept, which can only be used
at transcendent anima. (See p. XX for advice on design-
ing anima powers). These anima powers are more pow-
erful than those typically possessed by Exalted intended
for Terrestrial play, approaching the level of Solar anima
powers. Example transcendent anima powers are below:
• Crystal-Fire Champion Mantle: While at tran-
scendent anima, the Sovereign adds (Essence/2,
rounded up) to her base Initiative.
• Glory Beyond Limit: Once per day, the
Sovereign may expend her transcendent ani-
ma and pay one Willpower to reset one of her
Charms.
• Nemesis-Slaying Halo: Once per day, the
Sovereign may expend her transcendent anima
when she makes a decisive attack against an
enemy she has a negative Major or Defining Tie
toward. If she succeeds, she doesn’t reset to base
Initiative.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• Reach for the Crown: Once per day, the
Sovereign can choose a Simple, Supplemental,
or Reflexive Sovereign Charm she doesn’t know,
although she must still meet its prerequisites.
She can use it while at transcendent anima.
Craft
Imperious Muse Inspiration
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign needs no muse but herself.
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Sovereign’s player
selects two of the options below. When she succeeds
on the specified influence roll against at least one non-
trivial character, she receives craft points as though
she’d completed a basic project (Exalted, p. 240). She
can purchase additional options for three experience
points or one bonus point each.
• Elegant Couture Acclamation: The Sovereign
receives craft points from Appearance-based
rolls that receive an equipment bonus from
clothing or jewelry she’s made.
• Graceful Violence Flourish: The Sovereign
receives craft points from threaten rolls using a
weapon she’s made to menace others.
• In-the-Rough Acquisition: The Sovereign re-
ceives craft points from bargain, persuade, or
threaten rolls to obtain tools or raw materials
necessary for her work.
• Jangling Coin Epiphany: The Sovereign re-
ceives craft points from bargain rolls to sell
goods she’s made or bribe others with them.
• Rainbow-Graced Atelier: The Sovereign re-
ceives craft points from Charisma-based rolls
targeting characters who are eating food pre-
pared by the Sovereign, admiring a gallery of her
art, or otherwise appreciating her crafts.
• Strumming Crystal Strings: The Sovereign re-
ceives craft points from Performance rolls using
instruments she’s made.
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CRAFT CHARMS
Sovereign Craft Charms draw on Cantata’s themes
of crystal, wealth, and exchange, especially in
creating and distributing tribute. They also reso-
nate with Cantata’s own journey from minor god
to major, allowing the Sovereigns to create and
uplift eidolons of their own making. Finally, Craft
is a repository for complex aurora-shaping magic
that demonstrate the Sovereign’s growing cre-
ative prowess.
As usual, if the Sovereign succeeds with 3+ threshold
successes against at least one target’s Resolve, she
gains three silver points per objective fulfilled.
Diamond Dust Insights
Cost: 4m, 1a; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Muse Inspiration
Like light through a prism, the Sovereign may transform
a single epiphany into many diffuse insights.
The Sovereign may exchange craft points for those
of a lower tier: one white point to two gold points or
one gold point to two silver points. Each use can only
convert one type of point, though there’s no limit on
how many can be exchanged.
With Essence 4, the Sovereign may pay a one-Willpow-
er surcharge to convert silver points to gold, paying
four silver points per gold point.
Secret Song of Crystal
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign hears the whispers of gemstones and pre-
cious metal that rise from the depths of the mines, the secret
song from which Cantata-of-the-Depths took his name.
The Sovereign adds non-Charm dice equal to her high-
est Craft involving metal, stone, or gems on Perception
rolls with any Ability to detect or examine any of those
substances. She can roll (Perception + [Awareness
or Investigation]) to sense the presence and location
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
of these substances when it would normally be im-
possible to do so, like sensing a vein of silver running
beneath a cavern floor she stands on.
Eyes-Like-Facets Trance
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (Essence + Perception) days
Prerequisite Charms: Secret Song of Crystal
The Sovereign imbues a sliver of her soul within a
gemstone.
By meditating, the Sovereign can extend her senses
through a gemstone enchanted with this Charm,
perceiving things as if she were at its current location.
Characters who can perceive the dematerialized
spirits can detect her presence in the gem while she’s
meditating, seeing her as a faintly glowing specter.
This Charm ends if the enchanted gem goes more than
(Essence x5) miles from her.
With three dots in an appropriate Craft, the Sovereign
can use this Charm on luxury goods other than gem-
stones — with Craft (Painting), she might see through
a portrait’s eyes; with Craft (Metalworking), she might
spy on a tiara’s wearer.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the Sovereign may pay
a three-mote surcharge to enchant a jewel to record all
that transpires nearby. Doing so has Indefinite duration
and waives this Charm’s range limit, but the Sovereign
can’t project her senses through the gem. Instead, by
touching it and meditating, she may experience events
that occurred near the gem as though she had projected
her senses through it for them. Reviewing the record-
ed events takes the same amount of time as the events
themselves, but the Sovereign may pinpoint an event
of interest within a gem’s record with a (Perception +
Craft) roll.
Eye for Avarice
Cost: 5m; Mins: Craft 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign knows what dreams of wealth dwell in the
hearts of princes and monks alike.
The Sovereign makes a special ([Perception or Wits]
+ Craft) read intentions action against a character.
Success reveals any Intimacies directly related to
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wealth, material possessions, or luxury. If the charac-
ter has no such Intimacies, the Sovereign still intuits
some lesser desire — a taste for red wine, love of ivory
baubles, or preference for blue silk over red.
In either case, if she leverages this information when
making a gift or bribe, she adds a non-Charm die on
her next bargain or instill roll against the character, or a
non-Charm success if she created the item personally.
Knowing the Creator’s Hand
Cost: 5m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Eye for Avarice or Imperious
Muse Inspiration
The Sovereign’s masterful eye for aesthetics and design
discerns much from her peers’ handiwork.
After a scene spent examining an object or structure,
the Sovereign makes a (Perception + Craft) read in-
tentions roll against its creator. Success reveals the
creator’s strongest Intimacy involved in creating it; if
he has no such Intimacies, she learns a useful piece of
information about his reasons for creating it.
If the Sovereign knows the creator personally, she
also learns his identity. Otherwise, she identifies him
automatically the first time she meets him unless he’s
in a disguise that’s inconsistent with him having been
its creator.
Treasured Keepsake Remembrance
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (Essence) days
Prerequisite Charms: Eyes-Like-Facets Trance or
Knowing the Creator’s Hand
No matter how prolific the Sovereign’s workshop, she
knows each and every bauble, portrait, and blade she’s
ever created.
The Sovereign can sense the approximate distance and
direction to an object or structure she’s created, a gem
enchanted with Eyes-Like-Facets Trance, or one of her
eidolons (p. XX). She doubles 9s on Survival rolls to
track it and Awareness and Investigation rolls to de-
tect or examine it. If it’s currently in the possession of
someone for whom she has a Tie, she adds (Intimacy)
dice on such rolls.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Greed-Stoking Technique
Cost: 2m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
There is no better salesman for a treasure than its own
artisan — who else knows its virtues so intimately?
When the Sovereign makes a bargain roll using some-
thing she has personally created, she doubles 9s and
may use Craft instead of Appearance when determin-
ing how many bonus dice she adds.
Inspired Lapidary Trance
Cost: 6m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: None
Treasures fall like flotsam from the Sovereign’s workshop
— rings and bangles, diadems and pendants, delicately
crafted and yet abandoned for the next project.
The Sovereign completes a basic or major project at
(Essence + 1) times her normal speed, to a maximum of
one hour for basic projects or one day major projects.
She must have suitable tools, and only the finest raw ma-
terials will do, increasing the cost of any materials she
needs by one dot of Resources. Objects created through
this Charm are always conspicuously ostentatious.
Loupe-and-Bit Trick
Cost: 3m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Shaping her Essence into fireglass, the Sovereign is pre-
pared for almost any occasion.
The Sovereign creates a piece of fireglass equipment
sized for personal use: diamond-fire mirrors, scintillat-
ing ballgowns, ropes of woven rainbow, or crystalline
coracles large enough for one. She can’t create weap-
ons or armor. If she has a relevant specialty or Ability
rated at 3+, these tools are exceptional equipment
(Exalted, p. 580).
Impervious Diamond Vault
Cost: 3m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
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Keywords: Stackable
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Loupe-and-Bit Trick
The Sovereign cannot trust mere steel and timber to guard
her treasure-house, sealing her vaults behind fireglass.
Touching a door, window, container, or similar open-
ing, the Sovereign encases it in fireglass, locking it
against all save her and those she permits. Rolls to pick
this magical lock are made at difficulty (Sovereign’s
Intelligence), or (Essence + Intelligence) for rolls not
enhanced by magic. Feats of demolition use the diffi-
culty for fireglass (p. XX).
The Sovereign can stack this Charm to maintain
(Essence x2) such seals.
Prismatic Design Realization
Cost: 5m; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One project
Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Muse Inspiration,
Loupe-and-Bit Trick
The Sovereign raises her blueprints off the page, creating
fireglass prototypes and crystalline models.
When the Sovereign adds a full Excellency on a Craft
roll, she rerolls 6s until they cease to appear. She must
have time and materials necessary to draw up designs
— she can’t use it to jury-rig a ship’s mast mid-combat.
If the Sovereign devotes herself to perfecting her
crystalline blueprints, doubling the necessary time,
she rerolls 5s as well. This benefit is incompatible with
Inspired Lapidary Trance.
Flawless Diamond Talent
Cost: —(+1wp, 1gxp); Mins: Craft 5, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Prismatic Design Realization
The Sovereign foresees her completed work in her fire-
glass designs, honing her art to sublime heights.
When the Sovereign uses Prismatic Design Realization,
she may pay a one-Willpower, one-gold-point sur-
charge. Each rerolled die that shows a success lets her
roll an additional non-Charm die. Successes on these
additional dice likewise let her roll further dice.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Vein-and-Ore Instinct
Cost: 3m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Heirs to Cantata’s prerogative as masters of the mine,
the Sovereign knows what lies beneath the earth.
The Sovereign doubles 9s on a Lore roll relating to
minerals, geology, and their cultural impact. This in-
cludes introducing or challenging a fact, and waives
the need for a relevant Lore background. She might
establish that black opals are endemic to the Snow
Shadow Province, point out that a building is struc-
turally unsound by noting the crisscrossed tunnels she
has sensed below it, or note that the grandees of Fajad
prefer rubies over emeralds. If she has a relevant Lore
specialty, she converts the die it adds to a non-Charm
success.
Starry Lapis Artistry
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign imbues her art with a measure of her own
glamour.
At the end of a basic or major project to create an art
object meant to be primarily aesthetic, such as a stat-
ue, mural, or jewelry, the Sovereign makes a special
([Charisma or Manipulation] + Craft) inspire roll to
evoke awe, joy, pride, or respect.
Characters who interact with the object are subject
to the inspire roll. A character may only be affected
by any given art object once, and only one object per
scene — the galleries of the Sovereigns may shine, but
the heart can only be so full. This magic lingers in the
object until the Sovereign ends her commitment to the
Charm, and for (Essence + Craft) days thereafter.
Soul-Baring Craftsmanship
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Starry Lapis Artistry
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Pouring her heart into her work, the Sovereign emerges
from her workshop with a manifestation of her inner-
most feelings.
The Sovereign can use Starry Lapis Artistry to make an
instill roll based on one of her Intimacies rather than
an inspire roll, adding (Intimacy) non-Charm dice.
If the Intimacy’s context changes during the effect’s
duration, so too does the object — if love curdles into
hate, her paintings subtly reveal a faithless lover’s cru-
elty and caprice, instilling disdain instead of devotion.
Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Loupe-and-Bit Trick
The Sovereign need not tend to labors beneath her notice,
creating faithful retainers from crystal and light.
The Sovereign creates an eidolon, a featureless con-
struct of fireglass the size of a person. Its intelligence is
comparable to that of a child or a well-trained animal;
while loyal, they struggle with complicated instruc-
tions or those that require them to make subjective
judgments. It understands all languages the Sovereign
knows, speaking in a voice like tinkling crystals.
The Sovereign can stack this Charm up to (Essence)
times to create that many eidolons.
With a Craft 5, Essence 3 repurchase, the Sovereign
can use this Charm over the course of a day to create
enough eidolons to form a battle group of up to Size
(Essence), paying two motes per point of Size and one
Willpower. When mased in battle, it has average Drill
and Might 1, but the Sovereign need not keep the eido-
lons together and can use them for any purpose. Any
existing eidolons are subsumed into this battle group,
and the Sovereign can’t create any more eidolons
while she maintains it. Eidolons enhanced by Emerald
Eidolon Awakening are an exception; the Sovereign
can have up to (Essence) of them in addition to the
battle group and can recreate preserved ones.
Emerald Eidolon Awakening
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 10gxp, 2xp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
EIDOLON
Essence: 1; Willpower: 1; Join Battle: 5 dice
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x3/−4x3/Incap.
Actions: Crafting: 8 dice; Feats of Strength: 4 dice
(can attempt Strength 5 feats); Investigation: 7
dice; Medical Treatment: 4 dice; Read Intentions:
6 dice; Senses: 8 dice; Social Influence: 6 dice;
Stealth: 4 dice; Subterfuge: 4 dice; Tracking: 4 dice
Appearance 1; Resolve 4; Guile 4
COMBAT
Attack (Unarmed): 7 dice (Damage 8B)
Attack (Grapple): 4 dice (1 die to control)
Combat Movement: 7 dice
Evasion 3, Parry 1
Soak/Hardness: 8/4
INTIMACIES
Defining Tie: The Sovereign (Obedience).
MERITS
Automaton: Eidolons are immune to poison,
disease, fatigue, and fear and don’t need to eat,
drink, breathe, or sleep.
Dutiful Retainer: Eidolons always count as their
creator’s subordinates (p. XX). They double 9s on
rolls outside of combat to obey her instructions if
they understand them.
Mechanical Mind: Social influence can’t affect an
eidolon’s Major and Defining Intimacies, nor can it
raise new Intimacies to Major or Defining.
The Sovereign transforms faceless drudges to unique in-
dividuals, refining her eidolons into gemstone champions.
The Sovereign undertakes a major project (Exalted, p. 240)
to give an eidolon a distinctive appearance and features.
This project has difficulty 3 and takes one week to com-
plete. Such rolls typically use Craft (Gemcutting), though
others can be used if appropriate, especially with a stunt.
Success grants the eidolon intelligence comparable to
an adult human and one of the following benefits:
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• Artificer’s Apprentice Tutelage: The eidolon’s
dice pool for crafting increases to 14 dice. It can
use this pool to make an influence roll against
a single target by creating something that will
provoke a response, similar to written influence.
Once per session, the Sovereign can reveal that
the eidolon previously completed a major proj-
ect with any Craft she has dots in.
• Crystal Courtier Enchantment: The eidolon’s
dice pools for investigation, read intentions,
social influence, and subterfuge increase to 10.
Its Appearance, Guile, and Resolve increase to
6. With a successful read intentions or profile
character roll, it also learns what its creator
would want it to do based on the information
revealed.
• Diamond Sage Enlightenment: The eidolon’s
dice pools for investigation, lore, medical treat-
ment, and mysticism increase to 10. It gains all
Lore backgrounds the Sovereign possesses and
any others appropriate to the eidolon’s expe-
riences. It can perceive and physically interact
with dematerialized characters.
• Jeweled Warrior Acclamation: The eidolon’s
dice pools for attacks, grapple control rolls,
combat movement, and Join Battle increase to
10. Its unarmed withering attack’s damage in-
creases to 13B/3. Its Parry increases to 5 and its
soak and Hardness increase to 14/10.
• Wicked Sapphire Assassin: The eidolon’s dice
pools for attacks, subterfuge, stealth, and Join
Battle increase to 10. Its Evasion increases to 5.
It has perfect balance and can move up walls and
similar surfaces or under upside-down on roofs
and the like, able to hang in place indefinitely.
An eidolon can only receive one of the above benefits;
the Sovereign may exchange benefits with a subse-
quent use of this Charm.
The Sovereign preserves the minds of these eidolons
within her Essence after Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon
ends; she may recreate them with a subsequent use.
She can’t do this for those destroyed by other means.
This Charm’s experience point cost is waived the first
time the Sovereign uses it. If the eidolon is destroyed,
the experience cost is refunded.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

Mirage-Self Sculpture Once a character comes within short or close range

Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon
The Sovereign acclaims herself in vainglorious splendor,
commemorating her visage in fireglass statuary so life-
like it can scarcely be distinguished from her.
The Sovereign creates a fireglass simulacrum of her-
self at a point within medium range. It’s remarkably
lifelike and can appear to take most actions she could,
but can’t speak, make sounds, or touch anything, and
has no scent. It can’t move beyond medium range from
her and vanishes if she moves further than medium
range from it.
The simulacrum has Evasion (Manipulation) against
attacks and dissipates into nothingness once struck.
Against attacks made from short or close range, its
Evasion falls to 0. As long as it isn’t hit, it continues
to convincingly imitate the Sovereign, though it can’t
take actions that require dice rolls.
of the decoy, he may roll (Perception + Awareness)
opposing the Sovereign’s (Manipulation + Craft) roll,
to which she adds (Anima) non-Charm dice, to notice
this deception and can warn his allies of it. Magic such
as Keen Sight Technique (Exalted, p. 267) lets charac-
ters make this roll at any range.
The Sovereign can use her simulacrum’s presence to
roll Stealth and establish concealment even without
a suitable hiding place. Enemies whose opposed rolls
fail believe she’s the simulacrum and it’s her, although
they can see through this concealment if they subse-
quently realize the simulacrum’s a fake.
If the Sovereign has an applicable Craft, she receives
craft points for meeting objectives with this Charm as
though she’d completed a basic project (Exalted, p.
240).
Flashing Topaz Improvisation
Cost: —(+2sxp or +5sxp); Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Inspired Lapidary Trance

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The Sovereign transforms raw materials into a finished
treasure with a single movement.
When the Sovereign uses Inspired Lapidary Trance,
she may pay two silver points to complete a basic
project instantly or five silver points to finish a major
project in no more than fifteen minutes.
If the Sovereign makes an influence roll in the same
scene that plays on her impressive speed and skill as a
craftswoman against characters who witnessed it, she
adds (Craft) bonus dice.
Hammer Guides the Smith
Cost: 2m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Loupe-and-Bit Trick
The Sovereign knows the right tool for the task, bringing
to bear her superior handiwork.
When using exceptional equipment on a roll with any
Ability, the Sovereign converts the die added to a non-
Charm success. If she has a Craft relevant to creating
that equipment or if it’s made of fireglass, 10s on the
roll grant silver points.
Fathomless Pocket Trick
Cost: 2m; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Hammer Guides the Smith
A Sovereign should never be bereft of her treasures; her
purse is as deep as her treasure vaults.
The Sovereign enchants a container no larger than
herself — a coin purse, a pocket, a chest, etc. — making
it capable of holding up to (Essence x2) objects light
enough for the Sovereign to hold or wear. Containers
that already have that capacity can instead hold up to
(Essence x4) such objects or a single object no larger
than she is.
Irresistible Amethyst Tribute
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Until the tribute is delivered
Prerequisite Charms: Eye for Avarice, Greed-
Stoking Technique
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The Sovereign wins hearts and curries favor with her
handiwork, her reputation shining as bright as her
treasures.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must first use Eye
for Avarice to identity something a character desires.
If she undertakes a basic, major, or superior project to
create that thing as a gift or bribe for that character,
she adds (Charisma or Manipulation) non-Charm dice
on each roll.
The tribute is exceptional equipment (Exalted, p.
580) for any influence roll the Sovereign makes as
she delivers it to its recipient. If the recipient must
enter a Decision Point to resist that influence, the only
Intimacies he can draw on are those involving asceti-
cism, temperance, self-restraint, or the like.
Stoking the Embers of Excess
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Irresistible Amethyst Tribute
Her smile brighter than sunlight through diamonds, the
Sovereign stirs greed in even the stoniest hearts.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must first use Eye
for Avarice to discover a character’s favored luxuries
or material possessions. She makes a ([Charisma or
Manipulation] + Craft) instill roll against that character
to strengthen that Intimacy (or create one). Any dice
added on the roll by Eye for Avarice are converted to
non-Charm successes. The instilled Intimacy counts
as an Obsession Derangement (Exalted, p. 169), which
can’t be weakened normally. This influence costs an
additional Willpower to resist unless the target has a
Principle of asceticism, temperance, self-restraint, or
the like whose intensity equals or exceeds that of his
Tie for the chosen luxury.
This Psyche effect last (6 – target’s Intimacy days), but
this duration resets each time he fails the Willpower
roll against his Obsession. Once it ends, the Intimacy
remains but is no longer considered a Derangement.
Normally, this Charm can only be used against a single
character. However, the Sovereign can use it to target
multiple characters who all share the same or an ex-
tremely similar desire.
Reset: Once per scene.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

ENCHANTMENT

Thaumaturgical enchantments cannot compete with the raw might of true artifacts; they rarely provide me-
chanical benefits, instead offering strange new powers and possibilities. For example, many two-dot ritu-
als allow craftsmen to use unorthodox materials in their projects: folding paper into knives sharp as steel,
sculpting clay shields as strong as iron, or creating crystal flutes that can make a hundred different bird calls.

Wonder-Working Enchantment
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Any three Craft Charms
The Sovereign is a prodigy of enchantment and the ten
thousand other small magics writ upon the world’s
foundations.
The Sovereign gains the Thaumaturgist Merit and may
learn up to three dots of thaumaturgical rituals at no cost,
although she must still find a teacher (Exalted, p. 490).
For rituals based on enchanting or enhancing objects or
materials, every two dots only counts as one toward the
limit on how many the Sovereign can learn for free.
Once the Sovereign has learned someone’s desires, she
inflames them well-chosen words.
When the Sovereign makes a bargain, inspire, or instill
roll, anyone whose Resolve against it is penalized by
an Intimacy involving wealth, material possessions, or
luxury increases the cost to resist by one Willpower
and must enter a Decision Point to do so.
Adamant Perfection Attainment
Cost: 1wp (10wxp per Evocation); Mins: Craft 5,
Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Hammer Guides the Smith,
Slumbering Secret Unearthed, Vein-and-Ore Instinct

Slumbering Secret Unearthed Clearing her mind of tumultuous emotions, the Sovereign
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2 attains a clarity and focus that resonates with adamant’s
Type: Simple Essence.
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant When the Sovereign attunes to an adamant artifact,
Prerequisite Charms: Secret Song of Crystal she may use this Charm to become resonant with it.
She may awaken its Evocations for ten white point
The Sovereign glimpses the truths of the world, seeing each, waiving their experience point cost. This Charm
the potential in the uncracked geode. need not be active for her to use those Evocations.

The Sovereign rolls ([Intelligence or Perception] +
[appropriate Craft or Occult]) to identify the nature and
function of an object, section of a structure, sorcerous
effect, or ongoing Evocation. For mundane things, the
difficulty is 1-5, depending on their complexity and
obscurity; for magical targets, the difficulty is ([Artifact,
Manse, or minimum Essence] + 3). If used on adamant
artifacts or their Evocations, Earth demesnes or manses,
or mundane objects or structures made primarily out of
stone, gems, or other minerals, the Sovereign doubles 9s.
Wyrm’s Appetite Instigation
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Greed-Stoking Technique
This resonance may be lost if the Sovereign’s emotions
overpower her: this Charm ends if she fails to resist a
successful inspire roll or similar emotion-based influ-
ence roll with Willpower. She doesn’t lose access to
any Evocations awakened with this Charm.
Diamond Champion Apotheosis
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 5wxp, 2xp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Emerald Eidolon Awakening
The Sovereign imbues her crystalline retainer with a
spark of her own divinity, empowering it as befits a god-
queen’s favored servant.

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The Sovereign undertakes a superior project (Exalted,
p. 241) to perfect an eidolon empowered with this
Charm’s prerequisite. It has difficulty 3, goal number
20, terminus 5, and an interval of one week. Success
grants the eidolon the following benefits:
• Its Willpower increases to (Sovereign’s Essence
+ 2).
• It gains a pool of twenty motes.
• It gains (Sovereign’s Essence) Eclipse Charms
(p. XX) appropriate to the blessing conferred
with Emerald Eidolon Awakening or the na-
ture of Aurora or Cantata-of-the-Depths. The
Sovereign can purchase additional Charms for it
for ten white points each.
• It can’t be permanently destroyed except by
magic like Ghost-Eating Technique. Otherwise,
the Sovereign can simply recreate it with a sub-
sequent use of Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon.
Every Work a Glory
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 1gxp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Flawless Diamond Talent
The Sovereign has refined her craft beyond all imper-
fection, her focus unwavering as she creates her latest
masterpiece.
The Sovereign doubles 9s on a Craft roll. Each die that
shows a doubled success awards a silver point; 10s
award a gold point instead. These awards are doubled
if she’s rolling to create an adamant artifact or to create
a gift or bribe with Irresistible Amethyst Tribute.
Reset: This Charm can only be used to enhance a
single project each story, but can enhance each of the
project’s intervals. Once the project’s completed, this
Charm can be reset for five white points.
Fireglass Promenade Unfurling
Cost: 4m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Flashing Topaz Improvisation,
Loupe-and-Bit Trick
Casting off a sheet of molten crystal from her anima, the
Sovereign raises up walls and bridges of fireglass.
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The Sovereign can use this Charm on her turn to
create a fireglass plane at a point within short range
to use as either a wall, ceiling, or a path. These planes
don’t need to attach to any surface and remain in place
even if conjured mid-air, floating like auroras. This
pane provides heavy cover to those behind it, may span
up to (Essence) range bands, and may protect those
behind it from environmental hazards such as toxic
rain or plumes of fire. These constructs dissipate at the
scene’s end.
Crystal Spire Conjuration
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite or One project
Prerequisite Charms: Fireglass Promenade
Unfurling
The Sovereign’s anima spreads like frost on glass as she
shapes it into walls and towers of crystal-light, raising
up a palace worthy of her.
The Sovereign creates a structure out of fireglass.
Creating a single room or a significant architectural
feature like a stairway takes an hour. The Sovereign
may spend as much time creating this structure as
she pleases, but once she stops working, the structure
is completed and can’t be further changed. If she
has Craft (Architecture), she receives craft points as
though she’d completed a basic project (Exalted, p.
241). Once this Charm ends, the fireglass structure
crumbles and collapses, though slowly enough to let
those within escape.
Alternatively, this Charm can greatly accelerate the
process of creating a manse (Exalted, p. 243) if this
Charm’s crystalline architecture is appropriate for
the demesne being capped. It can always be used on
Earth demesnes. The time necessary to complete the
project is halved and the Sovereign ignores penalties
from lacking a sufficient workforce. Such uses last the
duration of the project.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by spending five
white points.
Many-Hands Industry
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon,
Flashing Topaz Improvisation
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

The Sovereign’s crystalline servitors speed her labors in
the forge.
The Sovereign gains the following benefits when one
of her eidolons aids her with a craft project:
• She can use Inspired Lapidary Trance for five
motes, one Willpower to undertake superior
project to create an artifact whose rating is no
greater than the number of eidolons aiding her,
maximum (Essence) — or (Essence + 1) for ada-
mant artifacts. This speeds the rate at which she
works by (Essence/2, rounded up).
• She reduces Flashing Topaz Improvisation’s craft
point surcharge by one for each eidolon aiding her.
With Socialize 5, subordinates count as eidolons for
this purpose so long as they have a relevant dice pool
at 8+ dice or a relevant Craft at 3+.
Rainbow Palace Dominion
Cost: —(1wp or 5m, 1wp, 3a); Mins: Craft 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Crystal Spire Conjuration
The Sovereign draws strength from her seat of power,
invoking it as an unquestionable symbol of her authority.
As long as the Sovereign is attuned to a manse created
with Crystal Spire Conjuration or a manse that shares
its crystalline aesthetics, she gains the following
benefits:
• Once per day, she may pay one Willpower to roll
(Intelligence + Craft [Geomancy]). She gains
motes equal to her successes and levels of anima
equal to her 10s.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• She can observe the manse by meditating, let-
ting her make Perception-based rolls to observe
anything within it, adding (Manse) dice.
• While crafting within the manse, she halves the
silver and gold point costs of major and superior
projects, rounded down.
• Once per session, she may pay five motes, three
Willpower, and three anima to begin dissipating
into an aurora. This miscellaneous action can’t
be flurried. The Sovereign fully dissolves at the
start of her next turn unless she moves or is
knocked prone before then, reforming within
the nearest such manse in a prismatic display of
anima.
Diamond Gigantes Labors
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon,
Crystal Spire Conjuration
The Sovereign’s iconic anima swells and rises into a vast
image of her, crystallizing into fireglass to shape the
world to her will.
The Sovereign creates a fireglass colossus at a point
within long range and makes a feat of strength
through it, rolling (Strength + Craft), adding a free
full Excellency and treating the titan as exceptional
equipment (Exalted, p. 580). She can attempt feats
that require Strength 10 and is able to perform feats
that would ordinarily be impossible because of her size
and leverage (Exalted, p. 230).
Once the feat is completed, the colossus solidifies into
a statue, which can potentially maintain feats like
holding up a crumbling pillar indefinitely.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by spending five
white points.
Sorcery
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Cost: —; Mins: Craft 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Any four Craft Charms
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The Sovereign’s study of Creation’s physical substrate
bears fruit, blasting open her perception to the arcane
possibilities of sorcery.
The Sovereign can use Terrestrial Circle sorcery and
learns one shaping ritual (Exalted, p. 466) and one
Terrestrial Circle spell, which becomes her control
spell.
Sapphire Talisman Apocrypha
Cost: —(1 Limit); Mins: Craft 5, Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Any ten Terrestrial Circle
spells
Though the heights of sorcery are beyond the Sovereign, she
may tread a narrow and onerous path to greater wisdom.
The Sovereign creates a talisman that lets her cast a
spell of the Celestial Circle. As part of this Charm’s
training time, she must undertake a mundane superior
project (Exalted, p. 243) using Craft (Gemcutting)
or the like to create a fireglass talisman — a piece of
jewelry, crystalline sphere, gem-tipped scepter, or the
like — under the tutelage of a sorcerer who knows the
spell she seeks to master. While she wields or wears a
talisman, she may pay a one-Limit surcharge to cast its
spell. This doesn’t count as initiation into the Celestial
Circle for the purpose of sorcerous workings or grant a
new shaping ritual.
A lost or destroyed talisman can be recreated as a supe-
rior repair project.
Integrity
Diamond Mind Concentration
Cost: 2m; Mins: Integrity 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Strong of will and sharp of purpose, the Sovereign’s mind
is unrelenting.
The Sovereign negates up to (Integrity/2, round up)
points of wound penalties or penalties from other
distractions on mental actions with any Ability. This
isn’t compatible with attacks or extended actions.
Alternatively, she can reduce a penalty to her Resolve
from wounds, crippling, poison, or deprivation by one.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
INTEGRITY CHARMS
Sovereign Integrity Charms help them recon-
cile the dual influences on their Exaltation, fus-
ing Cantata and Aurora’s disparate powers into
something new. These Charms grant power over
spirits, as well as increased Resolve and the
ability to strengthen their Intimacies. It’s also the
Ability used for the Sovereigns to strengthen and
transform their own bodies.
Flawless Heart Technique
Cost: 5m; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Diamond Mind Concentration
Calculating her every move with logic and poise, the
Sovereign betrays no emotion.
The Sovereign gains +2 Resolve against inspire rolls,
instill rolls to create or strengthen emotion-based
Intimacies, or any influence that would leverage such
Intimacies. She suffers a −2 penalty on any such influ-
ence rolls she makes herself. She may also use Resolve
in place of Guile, receiving this Charm’s bonus against
effects that would reveal her emotional state or emo-
tion-based Intimacies
Blazing Crucible Inversion
Cost: —(+2m); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Diamond Mind Concentration
Time and pressure transform coal into diamonds and
heirs into Sovereigns.
The Sovereign may pay a two-mote surcharge to use
Diamond Mind Concentration to enhance a non-men-
tal action, including an attack. It’s still incompatible
with extended actions. Additionally, if the amount
of reduction exceeds her actual penalty, she adds the
difference in non-Charm dice, drawing focus from
adversity. This bonus can’t exceed the total penalty
negated by this Charm.
Ox-Body Technique
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
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Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Conditioning her body through a regimen of ruthless
austerities and Essence-focusing meditations, the
Sovereign hardens her flesh, giving it a faint sheen like
diamond dust.
The Sovereign gains additional health levels based on
her Stamina:
Stamina 1-2: One −2 level and one −4 level.
Stamina 3-4: One −2 level and two −4 levels.
Stamina 5: One −2 levels and three −4 levels.
This Charm may be purchased up to (Integrity) times.
If the Sovereign’s Stamina increases, her health levels
change to reflect her new rating.
Auroral Convalescence Method
Cost: 10m; Mins: Integrity 2, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dual
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Ox-Body Technique
Drawing her anima banner inward to suffuse her
wounds, the Sovereign restores herself to haleness.
The Sovereign multiplies the rate at which she heals
naturally (Exalted, p. 173) by (Essence + Anima, min-
imum 2). Her anima doesn’t fade while she’s resting.
If the Sovereign sleeps, meditates, or rests, a thin layer
of fireglass forms across her skin. This adds (Anima
+ 10) soak and grants Hardness (Essence + Stamina +
Anima), shattering if the attack hits. It also shatters if
the Sovereign takes any physical action or any action
involving physical activity.
Lustrous Body Perfection
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable, Withering-only
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Ox-Body Technique
The Sovereign embodies the resilience of mountains and
diamonds, enduring the harshest of ordeals unbroken.
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Sovereign’s player
chooses one of the following effects for each purchase
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
of Ox-Body Technique she has. Subsequent purchases of
Ox-Body Technique also unlock new effects. Each use of
this Charm applies one of the Sovereign’s learned effects.
• Diamond Among Glaciers: The Sovereign
ignores environmental penalties from cold
temperature, ice, or snow. She adds (Integrity)
soak against attacks based on ice or cold and
(Integrity) dice on rolls against cold-based envi-
ronmental hazards.
• Laughing at Sunfire: The Sovereign ignores en-
vironmental penalties from heat and smoke. She
adds (Integrity) soak against fire-based attacks
and (Integrity) dice on rolls against fire-based
environmental hazards
• Polished by the River: The Sovereign can
breathe water and suffers no penalties for acting
while underwater. However, her body becomes
incredibly dense, increasing her mobility penal-
ty by −1 on rolls to swim upward through water
and potentially causing other complications
outside of water.
• Unbowed by the Storm: The Sovereign ignores
environmental penalties from wind, precipi-
tation, and any airborne debris like dust, sand-
storms, or smoke. She adds (Integrity) dice on
rolls against environmental hazards based on
these things and on rolls to maintain her balance
under any circumstances.
• Untouched by Blight: The Sovereign adds
(Integrity) dice on rolls against poison and dis-
ease and adds her Integrity to her Stamina to
determine how long she can go without food,
water, and air (Exalted, p. 232).
The Sovereign can stack multiple versions of this Charm,
waiving the Willpower cost of uses beyond the first.
Subtle Realm Instincts
Cost: 4m; Mins: Integrity 1, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s crystalline sight reveals the invisible
eddies when the world of matter and spirit collide.
The Sovereign can perceive dematerialized characters
within short range. This extends to medium range at
burning anima and long range at bonfire or above.
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With an Integrity 2 repurchase, the Sovereign auto-
matically hears a faint crystalline chiming whenever
a dematerialized character comes within range of this
Charm, prompting her to activate it.
Skyfire-Between-Worlds Veil
Cost: 3m; Mins: Integrity 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Realm Instincts
The Sovereign’s concentration bridges the gap between
worlds as she refracts her very Essence like light through
a prism.
The Sovereign can attack a dematerialized enemy or
otherwise physically interact with one for a single roll
using any Ability. She suffers a −3 penalty if she can’t
perceive him.
This Charm’s cost is reduced by two motes if the
Sovereign uses it together with Convergence of Intent
(p. XX).
Fireglass Idol Incarnation
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Skyfire-Between-Worlds Veil
The Sovereign hails forth spirits into her dominion,
binding them within bodies of fireglass.
The Sovereign rolls ([Charisma, Intelligence, or Wits]
+ Integrity), adding (Anima) non-Charm dice, against
the Resolve of a dematerialized character within short
range. This extends to medium range at burning anima
and long range at bonfire or above.
If the Sovereign succeeds, her target is partially man-
ifested as fireglass for one round, plus an additional
round for every two extra successes. While in this
state, materialized characters can see and interact with
him normally, including damaging him with decisive
attacks. This fireglass shell can be destroyed as usual
with feats of demolition (p. XX).
Crystalline Focus Clarity
Cost: 3m; Mins: Integrity 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
The Sovereign’s eyes gloss over, transfigured into un-
blinking diamond.
The Sovereign ignores up to (higher of Essence or
3) points of vision-based penalties on a roll with any
Ability. If it’s a sight-based (Perception + [Awareness,
Investigation, Socialize, or Survival]) roll, she doubles 9s.
Convergence of Intent
Cost: 2m; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crystalline Focus Clarity
The Sovereign concentrates on an enemy like light
through a lens, focusing her every thought and sense
toward his defeat.
The Sovereign rerolls (Perception/2, rounded up) non-
1 failures on an attack roll. However, she suffers a −1
Defense penalty against attacks from characters other
than the one she attacked until her next turn.
Diamond Vantage Concentration
Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Convergence of Intent
Distance is no distraction for the Sovereign; her eyes are
keen enough to skim a hair from her quarry’s head at a
thousand paces.
When the Sovereign uses Convergence of Intent, she
may pay a three-mote surcharge to waive the need to
aim before making a ranged attack against an enemy at
medium or long range.
Every Strike, a Flaw
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Convergence of Intent
Focused on a single foe, the Sovereign sees every flaw in
his attacks magnified a hundredfold.
When the Sovereign damages an enemy using
Convergence of Intent, any attack rolls he makes
against her until her next turn subtract successes
equal to his 1s. If such an attack misses, it doesn’t inflict
onslaught.
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Sense the Soul’s Fire
Cost: 1m; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crystalline Focus Clarity
The Sovereign sees the souls of the Chosen laid bare in
their anima’s light.
When the Sovereign rolls with any Ability opposing the
Guile of an Exalt whose anima banner is flaring, she adds (his
Anima + 1) non-Charm dice. If successful, she also learns a
useful fact about his supernatural puissance: she might sense
that a Zenith Caste with numerous Integrity Charms will be
a difficult mark for her influence rolls, discern a Dragon-
Blood’s mastery of his ancestral daiklave’s Evocations, or tell
that a fellow Sovereign has initiated into sorcery.
Soul-Unveiling Puissance
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Sense the Soul’s Fire
Power calls to power, revealing the innermost secrets of
the mighty to the Sovereign.
The Sovereign can use Sense the Soul’s Fire on any
supernatural character who’s making an overt display
of his power. When used against certain kinds of being,
she learns additional information if successful:
• Elemental: She can tell whether an elemental’s
been sorcerously bound.
• Demons: She identifies the Circle the demon belongs
to and can tell whether it’s been sorcerously bound.
• Fae: She can tell whether a fae has preyed on hu-
mans within the last (Essence + Perception) days.
• Gods: She identifies a god’s purview — i.e.,
what’s he’s the god of — that he holds as part of
his position in the Celestial Bureaucracy.
• Undead: She learns the undead’s identity in life,
if she knew or had heard of him.
• Sorcerers: She identifies the highest Circle of
sorcery he’s initiated into.
• Thaumaturgists: She identifies all rituals he
knows.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
If the Sovereign uses this Charm against a character
who is more than one of the above — e.g. a god who
knows sorcery — she must choose which benefit she
gains, but can pick another option for every three extra
successes.
Iron-Eyed Augury
Cost: 2m; Mins: Integrity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s eyes glint blackish-gray as if wrought
from iron, seeing through illusions and faerie glamour.
The Sovereign gains +2 non-Charm Resolve against an
influence roll enhanced by fae magic or a Psyche effect
that would impede her senses or alter her perception.
Alternatively, she adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-
Charm dice on a roll with any Ability opposing such
an effect.
Prism-Flesh Insight
Cost: 4m; Mins: Integrity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
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Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Turning her senses inward, the Sovereign becomes aware
of her every flaw — and how they may be remedied.
The Sovereign makes a (Perception + [Integrity or
Medicine]) roll to diagnose any poisons, diseases, or
other physical afflictions she suffers. Once she’s used
this Charm to diagnose an ailment, she can activate it
again to reroll (Perception/2, rounded up) non-1 fail-
ures on a Medicine roll or other applicable roll to treat
it.
With an Integrity 4 repurchase, the Sovereign can use
this Charm to diagnose and treat others, sending sym-
pathetic vibrations of Essence through them.
Obsidian Tear Purgation
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prism-Flesh Insight
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
The Sovereign expels poison and disease from herself,
weeping obsidian-black tears as she purges them.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must first diagnose
a poison or disease she suffers from with Prism-Flesh
Insight; she then rolls (Wits + [Integrity or Resistance]),
doubling 9s, against that poison’s duration or disease’s
morbidity to expel it from her body. Prism-Flesh
Insight can enhance this roll.
Characters who examine the Sovereign’s tears with
Awareness, Investigation, or Medicine rolls can dis-
cern information as though they were examining the
poison or disease she suffered directly.
Refuse to Shatter
Cost: 5m; Mins: Integrity 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Flooding her body with white-hot Essence, the
Sovereign’s skin glows from within as if her veins coursed
with molten iron.
The Sovereign adds her base Resolve to her soak or
gains Hardness equal to it.
If the Sovereign is unarmored, this Charm’s cost is
reduced by her wound penalty.
Unbroken Crystal Resonance
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Ox-Body Technique, Refuse to
Shatter
Drawing strength from adversity, the Sovereign endures.
While unarmored, the Sovereign gains +1 soak for
each purchase of Ox-Body Technique she has. When
her soak reduces a withering attack to its minimum
damage or her Hardness negates a decisive attack, she
steals one Initiative from the attacker.
Chaos-Conquering Mantle
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: (Essence) hours
Prerequisite Charms: None
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Wreathed in her auroral anima, the Sovereign strides
out to conquer faerie kingdoms.
The Sovereign and any fireglass objects she’s created
are immune to exposure to the Wyld or to any other
environmental Shaping effects. If she knows Iron Vein
Inclusion, she gains +1 non-Charm Defense against fae.
With an Integrity 5, Essence 2 repurchase, the
Sovereign may pay a five-mote surcharge to extend
this Charm’s protection against Shaping to allies with-
in close range. At bonfire anima or higher, this extends
to short range.
Axiom-Honing Assertion
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Diamond Mind Concentration
The Sovereign closes herself off to all but the most beau-
tiful truths.
Before citing an Intimacy that isn’t based on emotion
in a Decision Point, the Sovereign may use this Charm
to strengthen that Intimacy by one step, at the cost of
diminishing one of her Major or Defining Intimacies
that are based on emotion by two steps. If the weakened
Intimacy supported the influence that prompted the
Decision Point, the reduction in its intensity doesn’t
affect the level of Intimacy necessary in the Decision
Point.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by upholding a
Defining Intimacy that isn’t based on emotion in a way
that advances the Sovereign’s goals.
Iron Vein Inclusion
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Iron-Eyed Augury
The Sovereign’s meditations have honed her against the
Wyld; veins of iron trace through her flesh, anima, and
fireglass.
Against fae and perils of the Wyld, the Sovereign adds
(higher of Essence or 3) soak and gains Hardness 4.
She can use Iron-Eyed Augury to enhance her Resolve
or rolls with any Ability against Shaping effects used by
fae or caused by the Wyld. Such effects can’t kill her or
render her indefinitely incapable of action; even if she
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
fails, they are mitigated or lessened — a curse meant to
transform her into a statue might petrify only part of
her body instead, for example.
Perfected Diamond Embodiment
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Auroral Convalescence
Method, Prism-Flesh Insight
The Sovereign’s anima banner holds maimed flesh to-
gether, reinforcing her wounded body with crystalline
light and heatless flame.
The Sovereign reduces any penalties she suffers from a
crippling effect by (Anima − 1). She adds (Anima) non-
Charm dice on rolls opposing that effect.
After one day, when this Charm ends, if the Sovereign
received a full night’s sleep during that day, the crip-
pling effect’s penalty is permanently reduced by one.
Once it’s reduced to zero, it’s permanently healed. This
doesn’t apply to amputated limbs, destroyed organs, or
crippling effects that don’t inflict penalties.
Desperate Soul-Fire Immolation
Cost: 3m, 1ahl; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Diamond Mind Concentration
Embracing the flame of Exaltation that burns within her,
the Sovereign draws power out of pain.
The Sovereign gains points of Initiative and levels
of anima equal to her wound penalty, maximum
(Integrity). This Charm’s health level cost is waived
if the Sovereign’s only undamaged health level is her
Incapacitated level.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by taking damage
to a −4 health level. Paying this Charm’s cost doesn’t
count.
All-Seeing Prism Panopticon
Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Crystalline Focus Clarity
The Sovereign’s awareness becomes a many-faceted
306
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gem, catching light from every direction.
When the Sovereign activates Crystalline Focus
Clarity, she may pay a three-mote surcharge to extend
its duration to one scene. While using it, she sees in
all directions, reducing the Defense penalty from un-
expected attacks by 1.
Burn For Me
Cost: 5m; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Blazing Crucible Inversion
The Sovereign breaks off a splinter of her own pain to
pierce her foe’s heart.
The Sovereign transfers her pain to a touched char-
acter (p. XX). She halves her wound penalty, rounded
up, and her victim’s wound penalty is increased by the
amount hers was reduced.
Sacred Presence Illumination
Cost: 5m; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Realm Instincts (x2)
The light of the Sovereign’s anima spreads through the
spirit world, casting it in stark relief.
While using Subtle Realm Instincts, the Sovereign may
invoke this Charm to render dematerialized characters
within its range visible as translucent outlines for the
rest of the scene, even if they leave its range.
Smoldering Divinity Revelation
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Sense the Soul’s Fire
The Sovereign senses the spiritual traces of Exalted an-
ima banners like the heat of embers licking at her feet.
Upon coming within close range of a location where an
Exalt’s anima has reached bonfire during the current
story, the Sovereign becomes aware of it and can use
this Charm to roll (Perception + Integrity), doubling
9s. She gains information based on her successes:
1-2 successes: A general sense of how long ago the
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
anima flared — minutes, hours, days, months, or longer.
3-4 successes: Precisely how long ago the anima
flared.
5+ successes: The type of Exalt whose anima flared,
if she’s personally encountered one of them, and
whether his Essence exceeds her own. If her successes
exceed the Exalt’s Guile, she learns his identity if she’s
interacted with him personally in the past.
Venom Jewel Mastery
Cost: —(1wp); Mins: Integrity 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Obsidian Tear Purgation
The Sovereign’s tears are as deadly as her hatred, crys-
tallizing into baleful gemstones.
When the Sovereign successfully uses Obsidian Tear
Purgation or Dying Ember Dirge against a poison or
disease, she may pay one Willpower to preserve the ex-
pelled ailment, crystallizing her or her patient’s tears
into a gemstone whose color reflects the ailment from
which it’s formed. She can reflexively crush it into
powder as she deposits it into food or drink or poisons
her weapon with it. For other characters, the jewel is
as durable as the Sovereign’s fireglass (p. XX).
Dying Ember Dirge
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prism-Flesh Insight (x2),
Obsidian Tear Purgation
Driving another to tears with harsh words or mournful
song, the Sovereign cleanses him of the maladies he
suffers.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must have used
Prism-Flesh Insight to diagnose another character
with a poison or disease. She makes a ([Charisma or
Manipulation] + [Performance or Presence]) inspire
roll to fill him with sorrow, which is also treated as a
roll against the poison’s duration or disease’s morbidi-
ty as per Obsidian Tear Purgation. The Sovereign must
both overcome her patient’s Resolve and the relevant
difficulty to purge the ailment from him.
Honing the Heart’s Facets
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Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Diamond Mind Concentration
The Sovereign perfects her will like a jeweler cutting a
precious stone, strengthening her innermost truths.
The Sovereign gains +2 Resolve against influence op-
posed by a Defining Intimacy and +1 Resolve against
influence opposed by a Major Intimacy. When she uses
Diamond Mind Concentration to bolster her Resolve
against such influence, its cost is reduced by one mote.
However, the Sovereign rolls an additional die for
Limit for acting against Intimacies; her inner turmoil
exacerbates the tension between her dual patrons’
Essence.
The Sovereign can’t willingly end this Charm’s dura-
tion prematurely.
Shadow-Diamond Imperfection
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Prism-Flesh Insight
The Sovereign senses any intrusion upon her mind or
soul as an imperfection within her flawless being.
The Sovereign can use Prism-Flesh Insight to diag-
nose a Derangement, Psyche effect, Shaping effect,
sorcerous curse, or possession she suffers from, rolling
(Perception + [Integrity or Occult]). Against effects
that couldn’t normally be diagnosed, the difficulty is
the Essence of the character who used it or the Guile
of a possessing spirit. If successful, she can use Prism-
Flesh Insight to enhance any rolls to stave off that
affliction’s effects or resist it, not just rolls to treat it.
If the Sovereign has Prism-Flesh Insight’s repurchase,
she can use this Charm on others.
Bleak Sapphire Bezoar
Cost: —(+4m); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Obsidian Tear Purgation,
Shadow-Diamond Imperfection
The crystalline flames of the Sovereign’s soul engulf and
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
imprison spirits who’d possess her.
The Sovereign may pay a four-mote surcharge to use
Obsidian Tear Purgation against a possessing spirit
she’s uncovered with Shadow-Diamond Imperfection,
rolling (Wits + [Integrity or Occult]) opposing its
Resolve. The possessing spirit can’t prevent her from
using this Charm.
If the Sovereign succeeds, she coughs up an ugly,
misshapen hunk of fireglass within which the spirit
is bound. Spirits whose Essence equals or exceeds the
Sovereign’s are bound within this stone for (1 + extra
successes) days; those with Essence less than hers are
imprisoned indefinitely. The Sovereign can communi-
cate with a bound spirit by touching the stone, allow-
ing each to attempt to influence the other. Destroying
the fireglass stone (p. XX) frees the bound spirit, but
even if freed, it can’t possess the Sovereign for the rest
of the story.
If the Sovereign knows Dying Ember Dirge, she may
pay a four-mote surcharge to use it to exorcise spirits
possessing others on a successful roll, as above.
Brow-Splitting Diamond
Cost: —(+4m or +9m); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Bleak Sapphire Bezoar
The Sovereign casts unwanted thoughts from her mind
in a moment of agony, drawing them bloody from her
brow.
The Sovereign may pay a four-mote surcharge to use
Obsidian Tear Purgation against a Derangement or
Psyche effect she’s identified with Shadow-Diamond
Imperfection. She can only use it against Psyche effects
when they would cause her to act against an Intimacy.
She rolls (Wits + [Integrity or Occult]), doubling 9s, op-
posing a Derangement’s (Intensity + 2) or an (Attribute
+ Ability) roll made by the character who used Psyche
effect — typically the same roll used for the effect itself.
If the Sovereign succeeds, that effect is broken; it crys-
tallizes into a gemstone that’s expelled painfully from
her brow, inflicting a level of unpreventable lethal
damage. If she fails, she can’t use it against that afflic-
tion for the rest of the story. A character examining the
crystal can attempt a difficulty 5 (Perception + Occult)
roll to determine the affliction’s nature and how it af-
fected the Sovereign.
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If the Sovereign knows Dying Ember Dirge, she
may pay a nine-mote surcharge to use it against
Derangements or Psyche effects. This requires an ex-
tended ([Charisma or Manipulation] + [Performance
or Presence]) roll with a one-month interval, goal
number 20, and terminus 5. Each interval’s roll is made
against the difficulty or opposing roll given above. She
need only spend a day interacting with her patient
each interval. If she succeeds, the patient expels a
crystalline splinter of the affliction, suffering a level
of unpreventable lethal damage. A Derangement’s
intensity is reduced by one, though not below Minor;
a Psyche effect’s Willpower cost to resist is reduced by
one, minimum one Willpower. The Sovereign can’t use
it against a given affliction more than once per story.
Reset: This Charm can only be used against Psyche
effects once per story unless reset by winning a note-
worthy victory over an enemy who’s successfully af-
flicted her with a Psyche effect: besting him in combat,
swaying an audience against her in a debate, driving
his business into bankruptcy, etc.
Crack the Cursed Opal
Cost: —(+9m); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Brow-Splitting Diamond
Baleful sorceries break against the Sovereign, caught
and crystallized within the diamond perfection of her
Essence.
The Sovereign may pay a nine-mote surcharge to use
Obsidian Tear Purgation against a sorcerous curse
she’s identified with Shadow-Diamond Imperfection,
though not a sorcerous working or Solar Circle sorcery.
She rolls (Wits + [Integrity or Occult]), doubling 9s, op-
posing an (Attribute + Occult) roll made by the oppos-
ing sorcerer — typically the same roll used for the effect
itself. Success breaks the curse; the Sovereign vomits it
up as a shower of tiny jewels and flecks of gemstone.
A character examining them can attempt a difficult 5
(Perception + Occult) roll to identify the curse’s effect;
sorcerers can study them to learn the spell crystallized
within. If she fails, the Sovereign can’t use this Charm
against that curse for the rest of the story.
If the Sovereign knows Dying Ember Dirge, she may
pay a nine-mote surcharge to use it to break valid
curses. This requires an extended ([Charisma or
Manipulation] + [Performance or Presence]) roll with
a one-month interval, goal number 20, and terminus
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
5. Each interval’s roll is made against an opposing roll
given above. She need only spend a day interacting
with her patient each interval. Success shatters the
curse as above.
Flawed Bloodstone Radiance
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Blazing Crucible Inversion,
Desperate Soul-Fire Immolation
The Sovereign finds beauty even in suffering, steeling
herself with renewed purpose.
When the Sovereign takes decisive damage or suffers
a setback as a result of failing an influence roll, she
gains one Willpower. She forms a negative Minor Tie
to a character involved in her suffering or strengthens
an existing Tie by one step.
Reset: Once per day unless reset by suffering enough
damage to increase the Sovereign’s wound penalty.
Soul-Fire Cataclysm
Cost: 5m, 4i, 1wp (4i per round); Mins: Integrity 5,
Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Burn for Me, Flawed
Bloodstone Radiance
The terrible flame of the Sovereign’s Exaltation erupts
from her anima and wounds, wreathing her in an inferno
of white-hot Essence.
The Sovereign emanates an environmental hazard
at close range, with difficulty (Charisma or Wits)
and Damage (higher of Anima or wound penalty,
maximum 5)L/round. At bonfire anima or higher, the
hazard extends to short range and gains +1 damage.
The Sovereign’s subordinates (p. XX) are immune to
this hazard. Scenery and mundane objects destroyed
by the hazard are transformed into solid fireglass, as
are those killed by it.
At the start of each turn, the Sovereign must pay four
Initiative to maintain this Charm; otherwise, it ends.
This Charm’s Initiative costs are waived while suffer-
ing Agony Cataclysmic (p. XX).
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Glory-Reviving Radiance
Cost: —(3m, 1wp); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Smoldering Divinity
Revelation
The Sovereign bears witness to the deeds of the Exalted
as visions within the lingering flames of their anima
banners.
When the Sovereign rolls 5+ successes for Smoldering
Divinity Revelation to detect an anima flare that oc-
curred up to (Essence + Perception) days ago, she may
pay three motes, one Willpower to relive the scene
in which it occurred, reconstructing events from the
faintest traces of Essence. If she has a Tie to the Exalt
whose anima flared, the number of days back she can
sense it is multiplied by (Intimacy).
Keen Adamant Focus
Cost: —(1m, 1wp); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Diamond Vantage
Concentration, Every Strike, A Flaw
The Sovereign’s eyes shine like molten jewels as she dis-
sects every fault and flaw in her target’s defenses, each
attack revealing an opening for the next.
When the Sovereign hits an enemy using Convergence
of Intent, she may pay one mote, one Willpower to
reflexively aim at him. She adds the bonus dice from
aiming to both the attack and damage roll.
Outshining Heaven’s Majesty
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Fireglass Idol Incarnation,
Sacred Presence Illumination
The Sovereign asserts her authority as god-king over the
spirit world, raising up countless idols to show Heaven’s
favor for her reign.
While using Sacred Presence Illumination, the
Sovereign waives Fireglass Idol Incarnation’s
Willpower cost against characters of equal or lesser
Essence. At bonfire anima or higher, dematerialized
characters within short range of her suffer the effects
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
of Fireglass Idol Incarnation, encased in shells of fire-
glass that shatter once they move out of range.
Wandering Aurora Soul
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Crystalline Focus Clarity,
Sacred Presence Illumination, Skyfire-Between-
Worlds Veil
The Sovereign’s consciousness flows into her anima,
taking on form as a living aurora.
While the Sovereign mediates, she casts off her anima
banner as a drifting aurora in the vague shape of a per-
son. She controls this aurora with her actions and uses
her own traits for it. She can’t use Charms through
it except those that enhance her Perception-based
rolls. Any decisive damage suffered by the aurora is
inflicted on the Sovereign; the wound’s pain rouses
the Sovereign’s Essence to a consuming pain. If it’s
dealt decisive damage enhanced by magic capable of
permanently destroying spirits, it dissipates and this
Charm ends.
The aurora is partially dematerialized — it’s still visible
and can be interacted with, but any physical actions
opposing it suffer a −2 penalty unless enhanced by
applicable magic or made by dematerialized charac-
ters. The aurora can pass through narrow spaces and
permeable barriers no matter how tight the gap is but
can’t pass through solid obstructions and can’t exert
any physical force.
Soul-Vessel Emissary
Cost: —(5m, 1wp); Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Wandering Aurora Soul
The Sovereign’s auroral emanation descends upon her
servants like a rainbow mantle, uplifting them as vessels
for her glory.
While using Wandering Aurora Soul, the Sovereign may
commit five motes and pay one Willpower to attempt
to possess a subordinate (p. XX), rolling (Manipulation
+ Integrity) against his Resolve. Possessing a mortal
subordinate gives the Sovereign complete control over
him; she dictates what actions he takes, shares his
senses, and can access his memories whenever they
become relevant. His actions still use his own traits
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and the Sovereign can’t use her Charms to enhance
them. If she tries to force him to act against one of
his Intimacies that equals or exceeds his strongest
positive Tie or Tie of fear toward her, he may spend
one Willpower to resist that compulsion and all similar
commands for one day.
Against supernatural subordinates, the Sovereign’s
power is limited. She can attempt to sway him with in-
fluence rolls; his Intimacies never modify his Resolve
against them. She can likewise use read intentions rolls
to understand her host, inflicting the −2 Guile penalty
for being unaware of her. The only other actions she
can take while possessing him are purely mental. The
Sovereign’s presence is revealed if she botches a roll
opposing her host.
While possessing her victim, other characters can’t
perceive or interact with the Sovereign without
applicable magic. She can be exorcised by magic like
Burning Exorcism Technique (Exalted, p. 356), though
she’s not subject to any bindings such magic imposes
on exorcised spirits.
Demon-Binding Diamond Wisdom
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Integrity 5, Craft 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Versatile
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fireglass Idol Incarnation,
Impervious Diamond Vault
The Sovereign binds that which she cannot kill, impris-
oning usurper gods and faerie princes within the perfec-
tion of her adamant blade.
When the Sovereign incapacitates a spirit or fae with
an adamant weapon, she may use this Charm to seal
him away within that artifact. His nature and person-
ality are subsumed into the artifact’s themes, allowing
wielders to awaken Evocations reflecting them. She
can also learn his Eclipse Charms as Evocations only
usable while she wields that weapon.
The Sovereign can’t seal more than one being in a
given weapon. Bound foes are freed if the artifact is
destroyed, the Sovereign goes a story without being
attuned to it, or the Sovereign dies.
Flayed Soul Malediction
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Fire Cataclysm
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Releasing a keening cry of pain that superheats the air
around her, the Sovereign lays a curse upon one with the
temerity to wrong her.
The Sovereign passes judgment on someone who’s
wronged her and caused her harm — physical, emo-
tional, or political — or someone for whom she has a
negative Major or Defining Tie. He must be within long
range. Before she rolls to impose her curse, the heat of
her rage manifests as a one-time environmental hazard
extending out to long range, with difficulty (Charisma
or Wits) and Damage 1L. Any flammable material in
range catches fire. Unlike Soul-Fire Cataclysm, the
Sovereign’s subordinates aren’t immune to this hazard.
Once this prologue is past, the Sovereign makes a spe-
cial ([Charisma or Wits] + Integrity) inspire roll against
her target’s Resolve. She negates wound penalties and
converts up to (Willpower/2, rounded up) points of
penalty to non-Charm successes. If the Sovereign suc-
ceeds, she curses her foe with soul-scorching flames,
sharing with him the agony of her Exaltation. This is
treated as though he were a Sovereign in Limit Break
(p. XX). He can freely choose to lash out in Agony
Cataclysmic, but steeling himself in the Diamond
Heart Trance requires him to enter a Decision Point,
calling on a Major or Defining Intimacy that gives him
reason to put the needs of others above his own in the
current scene, and costs three Willpower.
This Limit Break doesn’t reset the victim’s Willpower
or reduce his Limit to 0. Instead, the Sovereign gains
these benefits from the cathartic pleasure of seeing her
enemies brought low.
This curse lasts for the normal duration of the victim’s
chosen Limit Break. It’s considered a sorcerous curse
for purposes of magic capable of breaking or remedy-
ing them, as well as being a Psyche effect.
Reset: Once per story, unless reset by suffering a
significant defeat or setback at an enemy’s hands. It
doesn’t need to be reset if the hazard kills her target
before she can curse him.
Performance
Prismatic Phantasmagoria
Cost: 1m; Mins: Performance 1, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One performance
Prerequisite Charms: None
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PERFORMANCE CHARMS
Sovereign Performance Charms are firmly rooted
in Aurora’s role as a muse, and Cantata’s origin
as a wandering cavern-wisp and trickster. These
Charms are about inspiring awe and gathering
followers (sometimes literally), whether to pro-
tect them and deliver them safely through their
trials or to lead them astray.
The Sovereign’s virtuoso spirit overflows from her
performance as auroral imagery, expressing her most
profound passions.
The Sovereign can create illusions from heatless flame
in the colors of her anima as part of a performance,
letting her ignore multiple target penalties. They can
extend out to short range from her; individual illu-
sions can be up to the size of a person. Onlookers can
be convinced that these illusions are real with social
influence — potentially the Performance roll enhanced
by this Charm — but otherwise won’t be deceived by
them.
With Performance 5, Essence 3, the Sovereign can cre-
ate larger illusions, up to Legendary Size.
Blinding Glory Rebuke
Cost: 4m, 1i; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prismatic Phantasmagoria
Provoked by hostility or unwelcome discourse, the
Sovereign stokes her anima into a crucible of molten
light.
Before an enemy within close range makes an attack
or influence roll against the Sovereign, she makes a
(Appearance + Performance) counterattack opposing
his (Stamina + Resistance) roll, blinding him until the
end of his next turn if she succeeds. The −3 penalty
from blindness applies to an influence roll that pro-
voked this counterattack, the speaker’s focus broken
by the blinding flash.
This Charm’s range increases to short at glowing ani-
ma, medium at burning, and long at bonfire.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Shining Visage Defense
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 1, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Even the Sovereign’s enemies weep to raise arms against
her majesty and splendor.
The Sovereign may use Appearance or Charisma in-
stead of Dexterity to calculate her Defense.
Shall-We-Dance Invitation
Cost: 2m, 1i; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shining Visage Defense
The Sovereign dances away from an enemy’s blade, an-
ticipating his every move as if they were simply part of
her choreography.
The Sovereign negates a single point of penalty to her
Defense. If her Appearance (including bonus dots) is
higher than her attacker’s Resolve, she instead ignores
(higher of Essence or 3) points of penalty. This doesn’t
affect penalties from surprise attacks.
Bewildering Trickster Verse
Cost: 5m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Beguiling her foes with enchanting music or enticing dance,
the Sovereign delivers them into the hands of her allies.
The Sovereign rolls a distract gambit with ([Appearance
or Manipulation] + Performance) against the Resolve
of an enemy within short range. Up to (Anima) ex-
tra successes on the Initiative roll grant that much
additional Initiative to the gambit’s beneficiary (the
Sovereign doesn’t lose this Initiative).
At bonfire anima or higher, this Charm’s range extends
to medium.
Special activation rules: This Charm may be flurried.
Gala-Plundering Eloquence
Cost: 5m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
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Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Dazzling those around her with charming patter or
enticing looks, the Sovereign pilfers their treasures as
Cantata-of-the-Depths once tricked miners from their
finds.
The Sovereign rolls to pickpocket a character, discrete-
ly poison a dish, cheat at cards, or perform other feats
of legerdemain with ([Appearance or Manipulation]
+ Performance), doubling 9s. Successes on opposed
rolls against this deception can’t exceed the opposing
character’s Resolve.
Dazzling Aurora Flash
Cost: 5m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Prismatic Phantasmagoria,
Bewildering Trickster Verse or Gala-Plundering
Eloquence
The Sovereign’s anima banner erupts into a riot of
shimmering colors, concealing her own light within this
prismatic radiance.
All characters who can see the Sovereign’s anima
banner suffer a –(Anima) penalty on vision-based
Perception rolls for an instant. She treats her anima
banner’s level as one less for determining its impact on
a Stealth roll (p. XX).
Polished Pearl Debut
Cost: 3m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s favor draws all eyes to the object of her
attention, whether she sings a lover’s praises or merely
smiles upon a dutiful student.
When the Sovereign makes an instill roll with any
Ability to create or strengthen a positive Tie to some-
one other than herself, she doubles 9s. If she has a
positive Tie toward that character, she adds (Intimacy)
dice. If he’s a subordinate, she can use the value of his
positive Ties or Ties of fear toward her if they’re high-
er than her Tie for him.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Sapphire Mirror Proclamation
Cost: 3m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (Charisma) days
Prerequisite Charms: Polished Pearl Debut
The Sovereign’s praise cuts through even the most un-
wavering self-doubts and insecurity.
The Sovereign makes an instill roll against a single
character to create or strengthen either a positive Tie
toward himself or a Principle reflecting confidence or
self-esteem. He can’t resist with Willpower. Success
also grants him a temporary specialty based on what
the Sovereign praised about him.
This Charm’s cost is reduced by two motes when used
on the Sovereign’s subordinates (p. XX).
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the Sovereign may
pay a one-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to use this
Charm reflexively, letting her instill a character with
an Intimacy in time to use bolster his Resolve against
an influence roll or to cite it in a Decision Point.
Epic-Forging Inspiration
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Sapphire Mirror Proclamation
Those whose deeds catch the Sovereign’s attention are
immortalized in her art.
When the Sovereign witnesses someone else under-
take a difficult or dangerous task that upholds one of
her Major or Defining Intimacies, she rolls (Charisma
+ [Linguistics or Performance]), adding (Intimacy)
non-Charm dice. She banks a pool of non-Charm dice
equal to her successes. She can add up to (Essence)
dice on an influence roll with any Ability involving
the event that inspired her — inspire rolls to draw a
reaction from an audience, persuade rolls that appeal
to the ego of someone involved by promising to spread
his story, instill rolls to create Ties to those involved in
it or Principles based on the moral she gives the story,
etc. She can also add these dice on Craft rolls to create
objects that depict the inspiring event.
With Essence 3, if the Sovereign knows Illuminated
Mind Salon, she may extend its benefits to multiple
characters with a performance based on the inspiring
event, expending one banked die for each character
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past the first she extends its benefit to, maximum
(Essence x5).
Illuminated Mind Salon
Cost: 1m, 1wp, 1a; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Sapphire Mirror Proclamation
The Sovereign’s artistry inspires others to realize their
full potential; how else could they be worthy of her?
The Sovereign puts on a performance that uplifts a
single audience member. He can go into experience
debt (p. XX) to purchase one dot of an Attribute or
Ability or a specialty without needing to actively train.
Instead, he gradually internalizes the performance’s
lesson as he reflects on it, dividing the training time by
(higher of the Sovereign’s Essence or 3).
If the Sovereign makes an influence roll when she per-
forms with this Charm, her chosen student suffers −2
Resolve against it.
Seven-Toned Harmony
Cost: 5m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One tick
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s voice is many-toned; she harmonizes
with herself.
When the Sovereign flurries a Performance roll, she
reduces the penalty on each flurried action by one
and ignores the Defense penalty. She can flurry two
Performance actions, ignoring the flurry penalty
entirely.
Crystalline Polyphony Counterpoint
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Seven-Toned Harmony
Seamlessly weaving together countless melodies, the
Sovereign stirs the heart with complex compositions.
When the Sovereign uses Seven-Toned Harmony to
flurry an instill or inspire roll against a single character
with another influence roll against him that leverages
the instilled Intimacy or inspired emotion, she adds
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
her extra successes on the instill or inspire roll as bo-
nus dice on the second influence roll.
If the Sovereign knows One Voice, a Duet, its reflexive
influence roll can likewise confer this benefit, though
only one influence roll per turn can receive bonus dice
from this Charm.
Visage of the Northern Lights
Cost: 3m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s beauty is that of the midnight sky and
the lights that dance at the world’s edge.
The Sovereign converts (Anima + 1) dice added on an
influence roll by her Appearance to non-Charm suc-
cesses. She applies this bonus on inspire rolls.
Sway the Smitten
Cost: 2m; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
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Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Visage of the Northern Lights
Those who’ve given their hearts to the Sovereign are held
spellbound by her song.
The Sovereign doubles 9s on an influence roll against
a single character that’s supported by a Tie of love,
desire, or the like toward herself. Against subordinates
(p. XX), she doubles 9s if they have any positive Tie or
a Tie of fear toward herself.
All Eyes on the Queen
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Visage of the Northern Lights
Blazing with fire-bright glamour, the Sovereign demands
attention.
The Sovereign’s compelling presence inflicts a –3
penalty on any rolls her enemies make against char-
acters other than her. Enemies who can’t see her are
unaffected, unless the only reason they can’t see her is
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
blindness inflicted by Sovereign Charms. Rolls target-
ing multiple characters aren’t penalized as long as the
Sovereign is included.
Enemies can resist this by entering a Decision Point and
citing an Intimacy that equals or exceeds the intensity
of any positive Ties they have to the Sovereign or any
other Intimacies that would support being awestruck,
fascinated, or infatuated with her.
While using this Charm, Visage of the Northern Lights
converts all dice added by the Sovereign’s Appearance
to non-Charm successes. Its cost is waived on influ-
ence rolls to draw attention to her.
Will-o’-the-Wisp Allure
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Where the Sovereign goes, others naturally follow, drawn
to her grace and almost hypnotic song.
The Sovereign makes a (Social Attribute + [Performance
or Presence]) persuade roll, doubling 9s, to convince
others to accompany her on a journey. The intensity of
Intimacy needed to resist in a Decision Point increases
by one step; characters with a Defining Intimacy that
supports this influence instead can’t enter a Decision
Point unless the Sovereign leads them into danger.
Feverish Piping Rhythm
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bewildering Trickster Verse
Even the most well-disciplined soldiers break ranks to
hark to the Sovereign’s enthralling song.
When the Sovereign succeeds on a distract gambit
with Bewildering Trickster Verse, her target loses
Initiative equal to her attack roll extra successes, up
to a maximum of the total Initiative granted to the
gambit’s beneficiary, which the Sovereign doesn’t gain.
Outside of combat, the Sovereign can use Bewildering
Trickster Verse to lay the groundwork for an ally’s
Larceny roll or Manipulation-based influence roll.
Such uses don’t require an Initiative roll. If the
Sovereign beats her target’s Resolve, she adds (1 + extra
successes) dice to her ally’s roll. He must make that roll
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in the same scene and it can’t target anyone other than
the gambit’s victim.
Tithe of Applause
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Sapphire Mirror Proclamation
(x2)
Adulation for her protégés is like wine to the Sovereign’s
soul.
When a character accomplishes a significant social
goal with the Sovereign’s aid or guidance, she rolls
(Charisma + Performance). Each success awards ei-
ther one mote or one silver point. She can exchange
five successes for a point of Willpower.
Reset: Once per day.
Calamity-Soothing Song
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Will-o’-the-Wisp Allure
Singing a note so pure it stirs even a wildfire to tears, the
Sovereign quiets nature’s wrath.
The Sovereign rolls ([Appearance or Charisma] +
Performance) against the difficulty of a mundane envi-
ronmental hazard. Success reduces the hazard’s dam-
age by (1 + [extra successes/2, rounded up], minimum
1) for the scene.
If the Sovereign uses this Charm while leading a group
recruited with Will-o’-the-Wisp Allure or while using
Far-Wandering Anthem, she waives its Willpower cost.
With a Performance 5, Essence 3 repurchase, this
Charm can be used against supernatural hazards.
Reset: This Charm can only be used once per scene.
Special activation rules: The Sovereign can use this
Charm reflexively when she rolls against an environ-
mental hazard, using this Charm’s roll to resist and
weakening the hazard as above if she succeeds.
Far-Wandering Anthem
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: Will-o’-the-Wisp Allure
The Sovereign’s song guides her caravan as Cantata-of-
the-Depths once led his people to Uluiru.
The Sovereign and up to (Essence x2) others double
the distance they can cover with a single day’s march
and aren’t slowed by travel through snowy climes,
caves, and mountains. She need not perform continu-
ously; occasional walking songs or stories around the
campfire suffice.
Up to (Essence x5) subordinates don’t count against
the limit on the Sovereign’s traveling companions.
Nightmare Odyssey Aria
Cost: —(+5m); Mins: Performance 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Far-Wandering Anthem
The Sovereign’s harmony holds chaos at bay, forging a
path through the Wyld.
When the Sovereign uses Far-Wandering Anthem, she
may pay a five-mote surcharge to render herself and
her traveling companions immune to exposure to the
Wyld and other environmental Shaping effects.
Echoes of Enduring Courage
Cost: 5m, 1a; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: All Eyes on the Queen
The Sovereign’s radiance shines through terror and
confusion.
When a character makes a threaten roll or fear-based in-
fluence roll, the Sovereign and anyone who can perceive
her anima gain +2 Resolve against it. They can use posi-
tive Ties or Ties of fear toward her to bolster her Resolve
against that influence or in Decision Points against it.
One Voice, a Duet
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 5, Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Crystalline Polyphony
Counterpoint, Mirage-Self Sculpture
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There’s only one worthy to take the stage alongside the
Sovereign; thus, she doubles her stage presence in crystal
and flame.
Simulacra of the Sovereign created with Mirage-Self
Sculpture can speak, adding (higher of Essence or 3)
dice on her rolls opposing attempts to see through the
ruse.
Once per turn, the Sovereign may reflexively make an
influence roll with any Ability through her simula-
crum. She uses her own traits and can enhance it with
magic normally.
Rainbow Grace Bestowal
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: (Charisma) days
Prerequisite Charms: Sapphire Mirror Proclamation
(x2)
With the smallest kindness or gesture of encouragement,
the Sovereign spurs others to greatness.
Showing another her favor, the Sovereign rolls
(Essence + Performance), unmodified by any effects.
That character banks dice equal to her successes. He
may add up to (higher of his Essence or 3) of them on
an inspire roll and other emotion-based influence roll.
For influence involving emotions of awe, reverence, or
wonder, these bonus dice are converted to successes.
This Charm’s cost is reduced by two motes when used
on subordinates (p. XX).
The Sovereign can use this Charm on up to (Essence)
characters. Subordinates don’t count against this limit.
Siren of Safe Harbor
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 1a; Mins: Performance 4, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Far-Wandering Anthem,
Polished Pearl Debut
The Sovereign’s heart burns like a beacon-fire as she
sings for someone far away, calling him back to her.
The Sovereign calls out to someone for whom she
has a positive Major or Defining Tie within (Essence
x3) miles, rolling (Charisma + Performance) with
(Intimacy) bonus dice against his Resolve. She suffers
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
a −3 penalty if she hasn’t previously met him in person
or a −5 penalty if she knows barely anything about
him. If she succeeds, he becomes aware of her current
location and is convinced to seek her out, adding (her
Intimacy) dice on Athletics, Ride, Sail, and Survival
rolls to reach her.
If the Sovereign uses this Charm on a subordinate (p.
XX) or someone with a positive Major or Defining Tie
for her, its range increases to (Essence x100) miles.
Aurora Muse Inspiration
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Rainbow Grace Bestowal
The Sovereign is a muse to heroes, inspiring them to
feats of legendary prowess.
Characters with a positive Defining Tie toward the
Sovereign gain the following effects while blessed with
Rainbow Grace Bestowal:
Gracious Patron Appreciation: +2 Resolve against
any influence that would weaken their Defining Tie to
the Sovereign.
Inner Beauty Revelation: A bonus dot of Appearance,
which can raise their Appearance above 5. This doesn’t
stack with other magic that confers bonus dots of
Appearance.
Seven-Color Champion Aegis: They can spend dice
banked with Rainbow Grace Bestowal on any roll or
static value.
Midnight Dawn Kaleidoscope
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 3a (3i, 1wp per attack); Mins:
Performance 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blinding Glory Rebuke,
Dazzling Aurora Flash
The Sovereign’s anima banner refracts into a shimmer-
ing maelstrom of seven-colored light, overwhelming her
foes with blinding majesty.
The Sovereign rolls ([Charisma or Manipulation) +
Performance) to inspire awe, reverence, or wonder
against any number of characters within medium range
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who can see her anima banner, ignoring multiple tar-
get penalties. If she uses her Excellency to supplement
this, she calculates her maximum bonus before anima
is spent on this Charm. A character whose Resolve is
beaten must roll (Stamina + Resistance) opposing the
Sovereign’s influence roll to avoid being overwhelmed
by this prismatic display; if he fails, he’s blinded for
the rest of the scene (Exalted, p, 168). The penalty
from this blindness applies on influence rolls to speak
against the Sovereign or her subordinates; they cannot
see anything to criticize.
When a blinded enemy’s attack roll misses, the
Sovereign’s player may pay three Initiative, one
Willpower to redirect the attack against another char-
acter within its range, revealing her enemy attacked
the wrong character. The attack and all effects enhanc-
ing it are rerolled, using the same dice pool, against the
new target. Any Initiative a withering attack would
grant the attacker goes to the Sovereign instead.
Reset: Once per day.
Prima Donna Refutation
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 1a; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: All Eyes on the Queen,
Blinding Glory Rebuke
Resplendent in her many colors, the Sovereign refuses to
cede the stage to lesser talents.
When another character makes an influence roll, the
Sovereign may upstage him with a (Social Attribute +
Performance) roll. Each of her successes imposes a −1
penalty on his influence roll. If this reduces his dice
pool to 0, the Sovereign’s roll is treated as an influence
roll to instill all characters targeted by the other char-
acter’s influence with a Minor Tie of awe, reverence, or
wonder for the Sovereign.
Alternatively, when a character begins a supernatural
performance that doesn’t involve social influence, like
Battle Anthem of the Solar Exalted (Exalted, p. 365),
the Sovereign can use this Charm. She and the per-
former make opposed (Social Attribute + Performance)
rolls. If the Sovereign succeeds, the opposing magic is
negated and that character can’t use it again for the
rest of the scene.
Reset: Once per day.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Chaos-Quelling Virtuoso
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Prima Donna Refutation
Even the Wyld yields before the Sovereign’s performance;
she weaves its chaos into her harmony and thus renders
it powerless.
The Sovereign can use Prima Donna Refutation against
Psyche effects that don’t involve an influence roll and
Shaping effects, using (Charisma + Performance)
against the roll used for the effect. Against unrolled
effects, the character responsible makes an (Attribute
+ Ability) roll using the most appropriate pool. If the
Sovereign beats his roll, the effect is negated and its
targets are instilled with a Tie to her as usual.
Against the fae, Prima Donna Refutation subtracts suc-
cesses instead of dice, and its Willpower cost is waived.
Twice-Born Enchantress Tempo
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 5, Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: One Voice, a Duet, Terrestrial
Circle Sorcery
The Sovereign and her crystalline duettist sing the secret
harmonies of the cosmos, weaving sorcery with twin voices.
The Sovereign can use Seven-Toned Harmony to flurry
a Shape Sorcery roll with a Performance roll. At bonfire
anima, she can instead flurry it with any non-attack
action.
While using One Voice, a Duet, the Sovereign doesn’t
lose sorcerous motes if she goes a round without ac-
cumulating any; her simulacrum continues her spell’s
song. When she casts a spell, she may have it originate
from her simulacrum rather than herself. If she uses
a spell that effects only her, like Invulnerable Skin of
Bronze (Exalted, p. 474), the simulacrum gains these
benefits to the extent possible.
Shattered Rival Reversal
Cost: —; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Prima Donna Refutation
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Breaking her rival’s confidence, the Sovereign tempers
and renews her own.
When the Sovereign successfully uses Prima Donna
Refutation and the opposing character’s roll fails at
least one target, she upstages him:
• He loses motes equal to the Sovereign’s 9s and
10s, which she gains as a special pool of personal
motes. She can only spend these motes on magic
enhancing influence rolls, read intentions rolls,
Guile, or Resolve. They’re lost if not spent by the
scene’s end.
• If his dice pool was reduced to zero, he loses one
Willpower, which the Sovereign gains. If she
used Chaos-Quelling Virtuoso to negate an un-
rolled effect, the character responsible likewise
yields Willpower to her.
• His Appearance is treated as one lower for the
rest of the scene when calculating dice pools and
determining how many bonus dice it adds. The
Sovereign gains a bonus dot of Appearance for the
scene, which can raise her Appearance above 5.
• If he has a positive Tie toward himself, its in-
tensity is weakened by one step. The Sovereign
forms a positive Minor Tie to herself or strength-
ens an existing such Tie.
Slumbering Kingdom Sonata
Cost: 20m, 1wp; Mins: Performance 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: One performance
Prerequisite Charms: Calamity-Soothing Song
(x2), Fount-of-Glories Incarnation, Midnight Dawn
Kaleidoscope
Assuming Aurora’s mantle as Lord of Delights, the
Sovereign brings peaceful reverie to the masses with her
spellbinding performance.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must be at transcen-
dent anima. She makes a special (Social Attribute +
Performance) inspire roll against all characters within
long range; her anima banner spreads like an aurora to
encompass them. On each turn the Sovereign contin-
ues to perform, this influence (and her anima) expands
another range band outward, maximum (Appearance
+ Charisma + Manipulation) range bands. If precise
range bands aren’t relevant, the Storyteller can instead
have the influence gradually expand to a one-mile ra-
dius over the course of a few minutes.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Affected characters are inspired with peaceful calm as
a Defining Intimacy and must act on it by engaging in
leisure activities, indulgent pleasures, idle talk, relax-
ation, or the like. They can’t engage in any strenuous
activity unless doing so is supported by a Major or
Defining Intimacy and can’t take any hostile or violent
actions whatsoever — attacking, threaten rolls, de-
claring war on a neighboring kingdom, etc. — unless
someone else initiates hostilities. Trivial characters
may instead fall asleep for the duration; the Sovereign’s
player chooses which fate befalls them. The Sovereign’s
song also soothes all environmental hazards within its
range, as per Calamity-Soothing Song; this can reduce
hazards’ damage to 0.
This influence can be resisted in a Decision Point,
requiring a character to cite a Defining Intimacy and
pay three Willpower. Once a character has success-
fully asserted their Resolve against this influence or
resisted with Willpower, he’s immune for the rest of
its duration.
This Psyche effect lasts for as long as the Sovereign
continues to perform and for (extra successes against
a character’s Resolve) hours thereafter. She can’t take
non-reflexive actions while performing unless she
uses Many-Voiced Harmony to flurry. With One Voice,
a Duet, she may forgo her reflexive influence roll to
sustain the performance, letting her act freely on her
turn.
While the Sovereign performs, her anima is visible up
to (Essence x 20) miles; add +10 to this multiplier for
each range band the effect has extended past long (e.g.,
[Essence x30] at four bands and [Essence x40] at five).
Once she stops performing, her anima fades to dim.
Reset: Once per story.
Socialize
Imperious Command
Cost: 3m; Mins: Socialize 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign does not ask; she demands.
The Sovereign doubles 9s on a persuade or threaten roll
with any Ability that’s unambiguously phrased as a direct
order. Against subordinates (p. XX), any Resolve penalty
inflicted by Ties to the Sovereign is increased by one.
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SOCIALIZE CHARMS
Sovereign Socialize Charms are the truest blend
of their many themes, with a focus on subordi-
nate-superior relationships and reciprocity. These
are the Charms that give them their name and
empower them as the god-kings of Uluiru. They’re
also the Charms that draw most on Cantata’s life
as a power broker and patron god of mines and
the wealth of the earth.
By Her Leave
Cost: 3m; Mins: Socialize 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Command
The Sovereign dismisses flunkies, hangers-on, and rivals
with a sharp rebuke.
The Sovereign adds (higher of Essence or 3) dice on a
persuade or threaten roll with any Ability to dismiss
another character, whether sending someone away,
silencing someone with a gesture, using hostile body
language to convince someone to leave her alone, etc.
Her target can’t use negative Ties to the Sovereign or
Intimacies of pride, confidence, or authority to resist in
the Decision Point.
This Charm’s cost is waived against subordinates.
Sacrosanct Sovereign Personage
Cost: 4m, 1a, 2i; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: By Her Leave
Those who refuse to heed the Sovereign’s dismissal find
themselves forced back by the weight of her opprobrium.
When a character attempts to move into close range
with the Sovereign, she rolls (Charisma + Socialize)
opposing his ([Stamina or Strength] + Athletics) roll.
If she succeeds, he can’t close the distance, rebuffed
by her spiritual pressure. With 3+ extra successes, she
may knock him prone or force him back one range
band; with 5+, she may do both.
This Charm’s cost is waived against trivial characters.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Tribute Rightly Claimed
Cost: 5m, 1a; Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Command
All riches are due to the queen; her outstretched hand
cannot be denied.
The Sovereign makes a bargain, persuade, or threaten
roll with any Ability to convince someone to give her
something in his possession, adding (Charisma) non-
Charm dice. Her target can’t cite negative Ties to her
or an organization she belongs to or Intimacies op-
posed to authority figures and hierarchies in general to
resist this influence in a Decision Point. Subordinates
can only cite Ties toward that possession.
Reset: This Charm can’t be used against the same
character more than once per day.
Perfect Audience Exemplar
Cost: 5m; Mins: Socialize 2, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
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EX3
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
When even a god-queen listens with rapt attention, who
would dare disturb her entertainment?
While the Sovereign respectfully observes a perfor-
mance or participates in a ceremony or other formal
social event, other characters must pay one Willpower
to leave the event before it’s complete or two Willpower
to interrupt the event or attack a fellow participant.
Subordinates (p. XX) can’t resist with Willpower.
This Charm can’t be used in combat, but it remains
active if hostilities break out mid-event.
Wreathed in Glory
Cost: 3m; Mins: Socialize 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
The Sovereign embodies a grandeur beyond mortal ken,
radiating pride and majesty even before her anima blaz-
es to life.
The Sovereign adds (Anima + 1) dice and rerolls 6s
until they cease to appear on an inspire roll, a persuade
or bargain roll for seduction, or an instill roll to create
an emotion-based Tie to herself using any Ability. At
bonfire anima or higher, she rerolls 5s until they cease
to appear as well.
This Charm can’t enhance influence rolls against
Exalted whose current anima exceed the Sovereign’s.
Clothed in Flame
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Wreathed in Glory
The Sovereign clothes herself in gowns of woven
rainbows.
The Sovereign creates a bespoke outfit of fireglass
(p. XX); any mundane clothing she’s wearing is sent
Elsewhere, returning when this Charm ends. The
outfit is exceptional equipment (Exalted, p. 580) for
Appearance-based rolls, bargain and persuade rolls
for seduction, and rolls to instill Ties of lust, love, or
other attraction toward herself. If formal dress or
physical beauty are relevant, she converts the die from
equipment to a non-Charm success. At bonfire anima
or higher, she also gains a bonus dot of Appearance,
which can raise her Appearance above 5.
This Charm’s cost is reduced by one mote for each
of Loupe-and-Bit Trick (p. XX) and Radiant Warrior
Raiment (p. XX) the Sovereign knows.
Blessing of the Vasty Deep
Cost: 1m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign offers Cantata-of-the-Depths’ blessing to
those who toil beneath the earth, marking the recipients
of her favor.
The Sovereign blesses a character in a ceremony that
visibly marks him: anointing his brow with quartz dust,
tattooing him with her personal sigil, placing a fireglass
diadem on his brow, etc. He gains the following benefits:
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EX3
• He can see in the dark.
• He doubles 9s on rolls against the natural dan-
gers of mines, caves, and other underground
locales — environmental hazards, falls, etc.
• He doubles 9s on feats of demolition to break
through natural stone or similar rolls to bypass
underground obstacles.
• He counts as one of her subordinates (p. XX),
unless he’s Exalted.
This Charm ends if the Sovereign’s mark is removed.
The Sovereign can stack this Charm to benefit any
number of player characters and up to (Essence x2)
others. If she uses this Charm to bless herself, she
doesn’t count towards this limit.
Passel-Uplifting Privilege
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Blessing of the Vasty Deep
The Sovereign offers the mines’ favor to all who call upon
her and are willing to obey.
The Sovereign may pay a one-Willpower surcharge to
use Blessing of the Vasty Deep on a group of mortals or
eidolons, performing a ceremony in which they pledge
themselves to her and receive her mark in exchange. She
can bless mortal groups equivalent to Size (higher of
Essence or 3) and eidolon groups of any Size (Exalted,
p. 206). The blessed group doesn’t count toward the
limit on how many characters she can bless with that
Charm, though she can only bless one group at a time.
If the blessed group undertakes a project (Exalted, p.
226) or other bureaucratic task, the amount of time
necessary is divided by (Appearance, Charisma, or
Manipulation). This applies only to bureaucratic pro-
cesses like planning, authorization, and allocation of
resources, not physical labor. It can’t affect tasks that
take more than (Essence) years to complete.
If the Sovereign knows To Reign Under the Hill, this
Charm also applies to underground animals, earth
elementals and similar spirits, and Jadeborn.
Master-and-Servant Understanding
Cost: 3m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign understands power, distinguishing liege
from vassal with piercing insight.
The Sovereign doubles 9s on a read intentions roll to
discover one of her target’s Ties for another character.
If her target and the object of his Tie both belong to the
same organization, she intuits the power dynamic be-
tween them — who commands, who obeys, and under
what circumstances.
Salute-and-Curtsy Intuition
Cost: 2m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Master-and-Servant
Understanding
Etiquette reveals everything; each bow, genuflection,
and nicety offers a glimpse into the soul.
When the Sovereign witnesses someone make a show
of respect to another character or engage in a similar
custom, she reflexively rolls to read the intentions of
the character making the display. Her target suffers the
−2 Guile penalty for being unaware of observers — even
if he can see her, he can’t guess at the judgment hidden
behind her steely eyes. Success reveals the target’s Tie
to the object of his obeisance.
If the target he has no such Tie, or if another of his
Intimacies is more dramatically relevant, this can in-
stead reveal other related Intimacies. These might be
Ties to a group that’s led or represented by that person,
their family or culture, or the target’s feelings on au-
thority figures in general.
To Reign Under the Hill
Cost: 3m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign is heir to Cantata-of-the-Depths’ domain,
wielding this authority over those who dwell in the
earth’s depths.
Animals that live underground, earth elementals and
other spirits of stone, caverns, and the underground,
and Jadeborn (The Realm, p. 124) are treated as having
322
EX3
a Minor Tie of awe toward the Sovereign and count as
her subordinates (p. XX). She doesn’t gain this benefit
against characters with negative Ties toward her.
Additionally, the Sovereign can communicate with
such beings without needing a common language,
ignoring the Resolve bonus for lacking one.
Unfaltering Superiority
Cost: 3m; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s confidence is unwavering in the face of
her inferiors.
The Sovereign gains +2 Guile. This is non-Charm at
bonfire anima or higher or against her subordinates (p.
XX)
Secret Flame Brilliance
Cost: 4m; Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unfaltering Superiority,
Wreathed in Glory
The Sovereign’s heart is shrouded in the subtle fire of her
spirit, blinding those would glimpse its secrets.
When a character takes an action opposing
the Sovereign’s Guile, the Sovereign first rolls
(Manipulation + Socialize) against his Resolve, adding
(Anima) non-Charm dice. If she succeeds, he’s blinded
by kaleidoscopic colors for the scene, inflicting a −3
penalty on vision-based rolls — and on his roll against
her Guile.
If the Sovereign uses this Charm against magic that in-
trudes upon her mind — reading her thoughts, entering
her dreams, etc. — the blindness lasts indefinitely until
the victim receives appropriate medical treatment.
The Sovereign needn’t be aware of her observer to
use this Charm; this inner radiance burns ceaselessly
within her mind.
Velvet Glove Insinuation
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Command,
Unfaltering Superiority
The Sovereign conceals her malice behind pleasant
words and impeccable manners.
When the Sovereign makes a threaten roll with any
Ability, her targets won’t form negative Ties toward
her because of it, nor can they strengthen negative
Ties to her at the scene’s end. Such characters won’t
take offense at the threats or respond with hostility.
Resisting the threaten roll ends this effect; affected
characters unable to do so may spend one Willpower
to resist solely the effect of this Charm instead.
Subordinates (p. XX) are still affected even if they re-
sist the threaten roll with Willpower. If the Sovereign
makes a threaten roll that only targets subordinates,
she waives its Willpower cost.
Reset: Once per scene.
Offering the Grail of Bliss
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Until the task is completed
Prerequisite Charms: Imperious Command,
Wreathed in Glory
The Sovereign need not rule by fear; her subjects delight
in obedience.
The Sovereign makes a persuade or bargain roll against one
target with any Ability, adding (Anima) non-Charm dice.
While he is actively engaged in fulfilling whatever task she
gave him, he experiences an overwhelming euphoria that
negates up to (Sovereign’s Essence/2, rounded up) points
of penalties from wounds, fatigue, or deprivation.
If another character attempts to overturn the
Sovereign’s influence (Exalted, p. 221), the influenced
character adds the total amount of penalties negated
by this Charm to his Resolve against it.
This Charm’s Willpower cost is waived when used on
subordinates.
With Socialize 5, Essence 3, the Sovereign may
choose to render her target addicted to this Charm’s
euphoria (Exalted, p. 167). Addicted characters gain
an additional +1 Resolve against rolls to overturn the
Sovereign’s influence. If a character spends Willpower
to resist this influence, the addiction ends after (7 –
his Resolve) days. Strengthening a positive Tie to the
323
EX3
Sovereign or being influenced by one of her persuade
or bargain rolls resets this count
Sacred Agate Talisman
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Socialize 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Blessing of the Vasty Deep
The Sovereign bestows a gift worthy of Cantata-of-the-
Depths, a sign of her favor and authority.
When the Sovereign uses Blessing of the Vasty Deep,
she may pay a one-Willpower surcharge and undertake
a major project (Exalted, p. 240) to craft a piece of
jewelry. Bestowing it upon the blessed character as the
mark of her favor, she confers the following additional
benefits:
• He doubles 8s on rolls enhanced by Blessing of
the Vasty Deep.
• He gains the Tempered by the Elements Merit
(Exalted, p. 165) for underground terrain.
• The Sovereign’s other subordinates (p. XX)
count as having a Minor Tie of loyalty to him.
• Rolls to take the talisman from him suffer a −4
penalty unless enhanced by magic.
This Charm’s surcharge is waived when used on a
subordinate. It’s incompatible with Passel-Uplifting
Privilege.
Favored by the Crown
Cost: —(+4m); Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Sacred Agate Talisman
The Sovereign sends forth envoys and emissaries bearing
her sign, empowering them to speak on her behalf.
When the Sovereign uses Sacred Agate Talisman, she
may pay a four-mote surcharge to appoint the blessed
character as her proxy. So long as he displays his tal-
isman openly, all who see it recognize it as a sign of a
supernatural being’s power; those personally familiar
with the Sovereign recognize it as hers.
The proxy benefits from other character’s positive Ties and
Ties of fear toward the Sovereign as though they applied
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
to him but treats their intensity as one step lower — e.g.,
a character with a Major Tie of loyalty to the Sovereign
counts as having a Minor Tie of loyalty to her proxy.
This Charm’s surcharge is waived when used on a
subordinate. It’s incompatible with Passel-Uplifting
Privilege.
Bow Before Your Queen
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Sacrosanct Sovereign
Personage
As the Sovereign’s full majesty is made manifest, her
inferiors are driven to flight or to their knees.
The Sovereign makes a special ([Appearance or
Charisma] + Socialize) threaten roll, adding (Anima)
non-Charm dice and ignoring multiple target pen-
alties. Affected characters must either kneel to her,
remaining prone for the rest of the scene, or flee from
her, moving away from her on each turn until they
successfully withdraw if used in combat. Those who
kneel count as subordinates until they rise. Resisting
this influence costs an additional point of Willpower.
Court-Assaying Sophistication
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Salute-and-Curtsy Intuition
Whether holding court from a fireglass throne or trading
barbed words with a rival over a banquet, the Sovereign
knows her inferiors.
After a scene spent participating in a formal social
event, ceremony, artistic performance, or a similar
event governed by sophisticated rules of etiquette, the
Sovereign rolls read intentions against all characters
she interacted with. For each character whose Guile
she beats, she learns one of his Intimacies relevant
to that event or towards a fellow participant; the
Storyteller should choose whichever Intimacy is most
interesting or relevant. This roll automatically suc-
ceeds against subordinates (p. XX).
Whispered Courtier Prayers
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
324
EX3
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Court-Assaying Sophistication
The gossip, plots, and intrigues of her court echo at the
edge of the Sovereign’s hearing like prayers unto a god’s
own ears.
The Sovereign spends eight hours meditating on an
organization or group within which she holds power
or authority. Over the course of this, she hears snip-
pets of anonymous conversation between its members
or their private thoughts of fear or worry. She rolls
([Perception or Wits] + Socialize) at difficulty 1-5, de-
pending on the group’s size and secrecy. Success lets
her piece together the most significant issue facing the
group. For every three extra successes, she can ask the
Storyteller one of the following questions:
• Who or what poses the greatest threat to my in-
fluence within the group?
• What can I do that would have the greatest ben-
efit for the group?
• Who in the group would side with me if I took or
proposed some specific course of action involv-
ing it?
• What’s the group’s greatest vulnerability?
If the Storyteller doesn’t have an answer in mind for a
question, the Sovereign’s player should provide one, as
if introducing a fact.
This Charm is limited to the information known by
the group’s membership. If, for example, the greatest
threat to a trade company is a faerie warband on the
march that its members know nothing about, the
Sovereign would instead learn the next-greatest threat
to it. It also can’t reveal information that a group
member wishes to keep secret if he has relevant magic
(enhancing Guile, concealing evidence, etc.), unless
the Sovereign’s roll beats his Guile.
Reset: Once per story.
Bloodied in My Name
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Offering the Grail of Bliss
With an intimate gesture — a kiss, an embrace, a caress
— the Sovereign heals those wounded for her sake.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
The Sovereign touches someone suffering injuries
taken while acting on her orders, helping or aiding
her, or performing similar acts of service. She rolls
([Charisma or Intelligence] + Socialize), healing levels
of non-aggravated damage equal to her successes. For
subordinates, she doubles 9s and can heal aggravated
damage. If her patient suffers any poison or disease,
this also counts as a Medicine roll to treat them.
This Charm can’t be used in combat.
Ceaseless Exile Proclamation
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Bow Before Your Queen
Incandescent with rage or justice, the Sovereign exiles
the faithless from her domain.
The Sovereign makes a (Charisma + Socialize) per-
suade roll, doubling 7s, to order her targets to leave
a structure or a neighborhood-sized region that she
owns or has legitimate authority over and to never
return. Any positive Ties or Ties of fear he has toward
the Sovereign support this influence.
Resisting this influence costs an additional Willpower.
Characters with Major or Defining Intimacies that
supported the influence can’t resist until they’ve left
the Sovereign’s domain; subordinates can’t resist with
Willpower at all.
With Essence 4, if the Sovereign owns or has author-
ity over a larger region, she may pay a one-Willpower
surcharge to use this Charm against a single character
to exile him from that dominion. If he has a Major or
Defining Intimacy that supports the influence, he can’t
resist with Willpower until he’s left her territory or
spent a day traveling to leave it.
Reset: Once per story unless reset when the Sovereign
suffers a significant defeat or setback because of the
faithlessness or failure of someone she expects to serve
her.
Mesmerizing Rainbow Iris
Cost: 7m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute, Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Offering the Grail of Bliss,
Velvet Glove Insinuation
325
EX3
The Sovereign’s eyes blaze with rainbow fire as she meets
another’s gaze, an enthralling light that overwhelms all
resistance.
The Sovereign makes an ([Appearance or Manipulation]
+ Socialize) persuade roll against a single target, con-
veying a wordless command. He and other onlookers
can’t recognize the Sovereign’s attempt to influence
him unless they succeed on a (Perception + Awareness)
roll opposing her influence roll to notice the prismatic
radiance that shines briefly from her eyes.
This influence is reinforced against efforts to over-
turn it (Exalted, p. 221). The influenced character’s
Intimacies can’t modify his Resolve against such efforts
and the Willpower cost he must pay increases by one.
Sworn Upon the Soul
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Offering the Grail of Bliss
Whether a vassal’s pledge of fealty or a debtor’s promise
of repayment, oaths sworn to the Sovereign bind their
promisor.
When someone makes a promise to the Sovereign,
she makes that vow binding upon him. If he breaks it,
she learns of this and makes a (Charisma + Socialize)
persuade roll against him from afar, demanding that he
make good on his promise or subject himself to suitable
punishment. He loses Willpower equal to her 9s and
10s before he has the chance to resist with Willpower.
If the influence is successful, the oathbreaker also be-
comes the Sovereign’s subordinate permanently.
Debts Called Due
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Sworn Upon the Soul
In the Sovereign’s hands, favors and obligations are as
dangerous as any blade.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must first perform
what she considers a serious or life-changing task
(Exalted, p. 216) for or on behalf of another character
who expressly assents to her doing so. As long as that
character hasn’t provided the Sovereign with what she
considers adequate compensation for this, she can use
this Charm to temporarily treat him as a subordinate.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Once the Sovereign uses this Charm on a character, his
debt is repaid; she must perform another task for him
before she can use it against him again.
Seven Fortunes Sinecure
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Favored by the Crown, Sworn
Upon the Soul
The Sovereign offers a mantle of authority, drawing the
worthy into her service.
The Sovereign makes a (Charisma + Socialize) bargain
roll against a single character, doubling 7s, to offer
him a position of power, prestige, or good pay for lit-
tle work within an organization in exchange for his
performance of some task. The position must be one
the Sovereign has legitimate authority to offer. If the
offered position is one of major influence — her trusted
vizier, the head of a governmental bureau, an adopted
heir — the cost to resist increases by two Willpower.
When the influenced character accomplishes whatever
the Sovereign persuaded him to do, he is invested with
the offered position. He forms a Major Tie of loyalty to
the Sovereign. Members of the organization can sense
that he was appointed by the Sovereign for the rest of
the story; his authority radiates from him like invisible
flame. As long as he remains in the offered position,
he counts as the Sovereign’s subordinate (p. XX), his
Tie can’t be weakened by any influence except the
Sovereign’s, and he can’t voluntarily weaken it except
when the Sovereign mistreats him.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by upholding a
Defining Intimacy with a subordinate’s help.
Conquered Kingdom Fealty
Cost: —; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 4
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Debts Called Due
When queens and princes pledge their fealty to the
Sovereign, they entrust their subjects into her hands.
If one of the Sovereign’s subordinates has subordinates
himself (p. XX), they count as her subordinates as well.
That character need not be a Sovereign himself.
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EX3
If the Sovereign convinces a character that someone who
he’s a subordinate to is a subordinate to her, she can use
Debts Called Due against him to treat him as a subordinate.
She can only do so against a character once per story, but
this doesn’t count against that Charm’s normal reset.
Seven-Color Imperium Regalia
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: Socialize 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Clothed in Flame,
Mesmerizing Rainbow Iris
A scintillating rainbow of many-colored flame engulfs
the Sovereign; she emerges transformed into a being of
inhuman beauty and grandeur, garbed in the aurora itself.
The Sovereign can use this Charm on her turn to gain
the following benefits:
• She uses Clothed in Flame reflexively and at no
cost, creating her wardrobe from shimmering
auroras rather than fireglass. She gains one bo-
nus dot of Appearance from it, in addition to the
dot she gains at bonfire anima.
• She treats her anima as one level higher for
her Sovereign Charms, maximum bonfire (or
transcendent, if she knows Fount-of-Glories
Incarnation).
• Characters with Major or Defining Ties to her
that are positive or based on fear must pay an
additional Willpower to resist her persuade and
threaten rolls using Socialize or Appearance-
based influence using any Ability.
• Attacks against her and influence rolls to
threaten her or besmirch her name suffer an
(Appearance) penalty. This includes her bonus
dots of Appearance.
• While using Radiant Warrior Raiment (p.
XX), she adds (Appearance) to its soak and
(Appearance/2, rounded up) Hardness. This in-
cludes bonus dots of Appearance.
War
Crystal-and-Flame Quiver
Cost: 3m; Mins: War 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
WAR CHARMS
Sovereign War Charms draw extensively on Au-
rora’s power, whether inspiring troops or creating
weapons forged from light. These Charms de-
pend strongly on the Sovereign’s ability to gener-
ate, spend, and manage her anima, giving them a
unique cadence in the heat of battle.
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s arrows arc across the battlefield, limned
with radiant anima.
The Sovereign extends an Archery or Thrown attack’s
range by one band, maximum long. (This includes
Flame weapons). If her weapon’s range is already long,
she adds (Essence) dice on the attack roll instead. She
converts up to (Anima) dice added by aiming to non-
Charm successes.
Lustrous Duelist Grin
Cost: 2m; Mins: War 2, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Not even the Sovereign’s enemies can deny her grace and
elegance in action.
The Sovereign adds an automatic success on an attack
roll, plus one die for each bonus dot of Appearance she
has. The bonus is non-Charm against enemies whose
Resolve is lower than her Appearance (including bo-
nus dots).
This Sovereign can also use this Charm on command
actions to give orders, comparing her Appearance to
the Resolve of the enemy she directs a battle group to
attack.
Arcing Rainbow Slash
Cost: 2m, 1a; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lustrous Duelist Grin
Scintillating light bleeds from the edge of the Sovereign’s
blade, striking down distant foes.
327
EX3
The Sovereign makes a withering or decisive attack
with a close-range weapon against an enemy within
short range.
With Essence 2, while the Sovereign is at bonfire anima
or higher, she can attack out to medium range instead.
Brilliant Diamond Edge
Cost: 4m; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lustrous Duelist Grin
The Sovereign’s anima-wreathed edge cleaves through
foes like a diamond through glass.
The Sovereign doubles up to (Anima) withering at-
tack roll extra successes when calculating raw damage
or adds (lower of Essence or Anima) decisive attack
roll extra successes as dice of damage.
Heavenly Fire Sheath
Cost: 3m, 1i (1a per die); Mins: War 4, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brilliant Diamond Edge
With a flourish, as if to sheathe her blade, the Sovereign
wreathes it with incandescent Essence.
The Sovereign adds (Anima) Overwhelming on a
withering attack. If her enemy’s soak is insufficient
to reduce her to minimum damage, she may expend
levels of anima to add that many dice of post-soak
damage. On a decisive attack, she doubles (Anima) 10s
on the damage roll.
Flashing Lance Trick
Cost: 5m; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lustrous Duelist Grin
As she slips past her opponent’s defenses, the Sovereign
hones her weapon’s point until it’s finer than a ray of
light.
The Sovereign ignores (Anima) points of soak or
Hardness and waives the Initiative cost of making a
piercing attack (Exalted, p. 586).
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Shattered Quartz Smash
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lustrous Duelist Grin
Shrouding her weapon in a crystalline nimbus, the
Sovereign unleashes a devastating blow that sends both
her foe and a hailstorm of fireglass flying.
The Sovereign makes a decisive attack; if she deals
damage, she knocks her enemy back one range band.
Ranged attacks can’t knock enemies beyond medium
range. If she makes a smash attack (Exalted, p. 586),
she waives its Initiative cost (both knockback effects
stack).
If the Sovereign deals 3+ levels of damage, the ground
beneath her enemy is strewn with shattered fireglass
debris, becoming difficult terrain (Exalted, p. 586).
Auroral Mantle
Cost: 2m, 2i; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual, Perilous
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign cloaks herself in a blinding nimbus of
crystal and heatless flame.
Each 1 on an attack roll against the Sovereign subtracts
a success and grants her +1 soak against a withering
attack, maximum (Anima + 1). If her enemy attacks
without relying on vision (taking the associated −3
penalty), his attack roll isn’t penalized by his 1s, al-
though the Sovereign still gains the soak bonus.
Midnight Flame Vigil
Cost: 2m, 1i; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Auroral Mantle
The Sovereign’s anima banner reveals hidden foes, lay-
ing bare the schemes of assassins and footpads.
When an enemy makes a surprise attack against the
Sovereign, she rolls (Anima) dice, unmodified by any
other effects. Each success reduces the Defense pen-
alty by one. If her successes exceed the penalty, each
extra success adds +1 Defense.
328
EX3
Guardian-Fire Blessing
Cost: 3m; Mins: War 4, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Auroral Mantle
Those who fight alongside the Sovereign take shelter
behind her beneficence.
When an ally within close range of the Sovereign is
attacked, she can use this Charm to interpose her Parry
as though protecting him with a defend other action. If
she uses Auroral Mantle, she waives its Initiative cost.
Limitless Luminous Armory
Cost: 4m; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform, Versatile
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign conjures forth endless blades from the
forge of her auroral Essence.
When the Sovereign attacks or applies her Parry, she
may reflexively create and ready a mundane fireglass
weapon (and ammunition, if needed), which lasts only
for that instant before sublimating back into Essence
in a dazzling display.
If the Sovereign knows Loupe-and-Bit Trick (p. XX),
this Charm’s cost is reduced by one mote.
Radiant Warrior Raiment
Cost: 4m; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
Wreathing herself in rainbow fire, the Sovereign emerges
clad in fireglass armor.
The Sovereign creates any kind of mundane armor
from fireglass (p. XX), donning it in (mobility penalty +
1) rounds. She adds (Anima) to the armor’s soak.
If the Sovereign uses this Charm while Clothed in
Flame (p. XX) is active, she does not appear to be
armored; her fireglass clothing takes on greater dura-
bility without changing in appearance, though it still
requires time to don.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
Shimmering Diamond Barrier
Cost: 5m; Mins: War 4, Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Radiant Warrior Raiment
With a wave of her hand, the Sovereign raises a bulwark
of fireglass.
The Sovereign can use this Charm on her turn to create
a fireglass barrier that provides light cover (Exalted,
pp. 199). She adds (higher of Essence or 3) dice on rolls
to take cover behind it that scene. The barrier is per-
manent; any character can take cover behind it.
With a War 5, Essence 3 repurchase, this Charm
creates heavy cover. At bonfire anima or higher, the
Sovereign may pay a five-Initiative, one-Willpower
surcharge to surround herself in a sphere of crystal,
providing full cover without the need for a take cover
action. She must spend five Initiative at the start of
each subsequent turn to sustain this barrier or it cracks
and weakens to heavy cover. The same occurs if her
anima drops below bonfire.
Special activation rules: This Charm may be flurried.
If the Sovereign flurries it with a take cover action,
she ignores the flurry penalty and her Defense isn’t
penalized.
Triumphant Royalty Attitude
Cost: 4m; Mins: War 3, Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Sovereign’s every word and gesture is that of one
whose victory is assured, inspiring those who fight for her.
The Sovereign rolls an additional non-Charm die on a
command action for each 10. She can flurry the com-
mand, although not with an attack.
Blazing Ember Shard
Cost: 5m, 1a; Mins: War 3, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brilliant Diamond Edge
The Sovereign’s blade sows red-tipped splinters of sear-
ing fireglass in her enemy’s wounds.
329
EX3
COSTS AND CALCULATIONS
When you use a Charm with an anima cost to-
gether with a Charm that uses your current ani-
ma as part of a calculation or that gains additional
effects based on your anima — like using Arc-
ing Rainbow Slash together with Heavenly Fire
Sheath — you use your anima’s level after paying
the cost to determine those effects, unless oth-
erwise specified. The same is true for other re-
sources, like temporary Willpower and Initiative.
A Sovereigns’ dice limit is a notable exception;
levels of anima spent on an action still are still
counted toward the cap.
An enemy damaged by the Sovereign’s decisive attack
increases his wound penalty by one, to a maximum of
−4. He suffers a die of lethal decisive damage, ignoring
Hardness, at the start of each of his turns (or every five
minutes outside of combat).
This only ends when the shards are removed from his
wound, requiring a (Wits + Medicine) roll at difficulty
(victim’s wound penalty + 2) as a miscellaneous action
that can’t be flurried. Outside of combat, if a character
spends five minutes to extract the splinters, the diffi-
culty is reduced to (victim’s wound penalty + 1) and the
physician may roll with (Intelligence + Medicine) as
well.
Radiant Beacon Strike
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: War 5, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blazing Ember Shard,
Heavenly Fire Sheath, Midnight Flame Vigil
Prismatic light wreathes the Sovereign’s weapon, limn-
ing her foe in an auroral radiance that shines across the
battlefield.
An enemy damaged by the Sovereign’s decisive at-
tack is wreathed with the colors of her anima until
the scene ends or he crashes her. This light imposes
a −2 penalty on his Stealth rolls and −1 Evasion, and
negates any penalties other characters would suffer on
rolls against him due to poor lighting. If her enemy is
in concealment, he must reroll Stealth, suffering this
Charm’s penalty, using the lower of this roll or his
original Stealth successes.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Opalescent Goddess Aegis
Cost: —(+1m, 1wp); Mins: War 3, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Radiant Warrior Raiment
The Sovereign manifests signs of her divinity, donning a
mantle of glory beyond mere humanity.
When the Sovereign uses Radiant Warrior Raiment,
she may pay a one-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to
imbue her armor with (higher of Essence or 3) dots of
mutations. This is limited only to mutations that can
manifest as features of her armor; it’s incapable of
granting those like Boundless Endurance or Unusual
Hide.
Once the Sovereign’s chosen a set of mutations, all sub-
sequent uses of this Charm must use that set. She may
choose a new set upon increasing her Essence.
Unfurling Aurora Banner
Cost: 4m; Mins: War 3, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Triumphant Royalty Attitude
So long as the Sovereign’s forces can still see the radiance
she casts across the battlefield, there is still hope.
The Sovereign adds (her Anima) dice on a battle
group’s rout check. If it fails and she takes a rally action
targeting it on her next turn, she doubles 9s.
Shimmering Legion Mirage
Cost: 5m; Mins: War 5, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Unfurling Aurora Banner
Wisps of aurora enfold the Sovereign’s forces, bolstering
their ranks with prismatic phantoms of anima.
When the Sovereign rallies for numbers, she doubles
9s. Success restores an additional (Anima) Magnitude.
Rally the Sapphire Knights
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: War 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Until the end of the next battle
Prerequisite Charms: Shimmering Legion Mirage
330
EX3
The Sovereign imbues her honor guard with a sliver of
her own magnificence, giving them a taste of true power.
The Sovereign spends an hour training a battle group
of up to Size 2. Battle groups of eidolons (p. XX) can be
trained regardless of Size. The battle group gains the
following benefits in the next battle it fights in:
• Its Drill increases by one step. If it already has
elite Drill, the Sovereign converts the die bonus
on her command rolls from its Drill to non-
Charm successes and rerolls 6s until they cease
to appear on such rolls.
• It gains +1 Defense.
• It doubles 9s on rout checks.
• It adds (Sovereign’s Anima) to its soak and
Hardness, bolstered by her auroral Essence.
At the end of the battle, this Charm ends. Only one
battle group may benefit from this Charm at a time.
Reset: Once per story unless reset by successfully
defeating an enemy for whom the Sovereign has a neg-
ative Major or Defining Tie with a battle group’s aid.
Glorious God-Queen Mail
Cost: —(1m, 1wp); Mins: War 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Radiant Warrior Raiment
The Sovereign armors herself in her soul and legend,
impervious to the blades of her lessers.
While the Sovereign is at bonfire anima or higher,
she may commit one mote and pay one Willpower to
upgrade fireglass armor created with Radiant Warrior
Raiment to the corresponding artifact armor (Exalted,
p. 599) for that Charm’s duration. This benefit is lost if
the Sovereign’s anima falls to dim; she must return to
bonfire and pay this cost again to regain it.
Such armor is emblematic of the Sovereign’s iconic
anima and any other personal imagery she’s claimed
for herself; characters familiar with this imagery add
+3 dice on rolls opposing any disguise the Sovereign
wears while so armored.
This Charm may be repurchased any number of times,
each repurchase awakening an Evocation the Sovereign
can use with any armor enhanced with this Charm.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U
These Evocations draw their themes and function from
the Sovereign’s Aspect, her personality, and the nature
and deeds of both Aurora and Cantata-of-the-Depths.
God-Weapon Schema
Cost: —(Varies); Mins: War 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Limitless Luminous Armory
The Sovereign draws a puissant weapon from the fires
of her soul.
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Sovereign’s player
chooses a type of artifact weapon. While using Limitless
Luminous Armory, she may pay (4 – Anima) motes to
create this artifact weapon for a single attack or block.
The Sovereign can add additional artifact weapons to
her repertoire for three experience points each.
This Charm may be repurchased any number of times,
each repurchase awakening an Evocation to the she can
use with any artifact weapon created with this Charm.
These Evocations draw their themes and function from
the Sovereign’s Aspect, her personality, and the nature
and deeds of both Aurora and Cantata-of-the-Depths.
Queen Before Her Knights
Cost: —; Mins: War 4, Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Guardian-Fire Blessing
Striding across the battlefield in resplendent war-rega-
lia, the Sovereign defends those who fight in her name.
The Sovereign reduces Guardian-Fire Blessing’s cost
by one mote for each time she’s used it this round,
minimum zero. If she successfully blocks a decisive
attack against an ally, she gains one Initiative.
Seven-Sword Onslaught
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: War 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Brilliant Diamond Edge
For an instant, the Sovereign shatters into seven pris-
matic refractions of herself, striking from all possible
angles.
331
EX3
The Sovereign makes an undodgeable decisive attack
against an enemy with lower Initiative within close
range. The attack inflicts an additional point of on-
slaught penalty, which applies to his Defense against it.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by resetting to base
Initiative and then reaching Initiative 10+.
Thousand Edge Maelstrom
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: War 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Seven-Sword Onslaught
The Sovereign’s blade multiplies into a storm of fireglass
as she strikes, scattering massed ranks of foes with a
single strike.
The Sovereign makes up to (Anima + 1) decisive at-
tacks, each targeting a different enemy. She need not
use the same Ability for each attack. Her Initiative
is divided evenly among all attacks, rounded up, and
doesn’t reset until the final attack is completed, as-
suming at least one hit. After making these attacks, her
anima banner fades to dim.
The Sovereign can use Seven-Sword Onslaught re-
flexively with this Charm to instead make all these
attacks against a single enemy with lower Initiative.
Seven-Sword Onslaught’s benefits apply to each, but
only one additional point of onslaught is inflicted by
the barrage, not one point per attack.
Shining Crystal Shield
Cost: 3m, 1i; Mins: War 4, Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Limitless Luminous Armory
or Radiant Warrior Raiment
The Sovereign fends off an attack with a shield of crys-
talline anima.
The Sovereign gains +1 non-Charm Parry. If she’s
wielding a weapon with the Shield tag or benefits
from a full defense, she waives this Charm’s Initiative
cost and the bonus increases to +2. A successful block
grants one Initiative.
Glorious Vanguard Benediction
Cost: 3m, 1a; Mins: War 4, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Keywords: None The Sovereign’s defend other action can protect an

Duration: Instant ally within medium range. She can also use this Charm
Prerequisite Charms: Guardian-Fire Blessing, reflexively with Guardian-Fire Blessing to likewise
Shining Crystal Shield extend that Charm’s range.

The Sovereign conjures dazzling shards of fireglass to If the Sovereign uses Shining Crystal Shield against an
form a shield around distant allies. attack directed at an ally protected with this Charm,
she waives its anima cost.

DEFEND OTHER AT A DISTANCE

Normally, when an enemy beats a defender’s Parry, she can choose whether the attack hits the defender or
the ward (Exalted
(Exalted,, p. 196). However, if the defender is outside the attacker’s weapon range because of magic
like Glorious Vanguard Benediction, the attacker can only choose the ward.

332
EX3
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

Reset: Once per scene, unless reset by gaining 10+

Initiative in a single tick.

Crystal-Fire Rampart Technique

Cost: 5m, 5i, 1wp, 1a; Mins: War 5, Craft 5, Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Crystal Spire Conjuration

The Sovereign raises up crystalline battlements and fire-

glass ramparts, fortifying the battlefield against her foe.

The Sovereign rolls to instantly enact a fortifications

stratagem (Exalted, p. 212) in mid-battle, creating
fireglass battlements. If she succeeds, she can continue
to shape the battlefield, raising up one of the following
structures at a point within medium range as a miscel-
laneous action. Some structures require that she have
specific Charms.

• Cover: The Sovereign creates a fireglass barrier

that provides light cover (Exalted, pp. 199). If
she knows Shimmering Diamond Barrier, this
provides heavy cover instead.

• Lights: The Sovereign creates lamps, cande-

labra, or chandeliers that burn with heatless
flame, illuminating the battlefield. It completely
illuminates the area surrounding it out to short
range; at medium range, it provides enough il-
lumination to reduce the −3 penalty for total
darkness to −1.

• Passage: The Sovereign creates a fireglass

pathway, bridge, ramp, ladder, or the like that
can be used to circumvent difficult terrain or an
environmental hazard, letting characters move
Subtle Rainbow Flame through its location on the battlefield without
suffering its effects. If it spans more than one
Cost: 1m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: War 5, Essence 2
range band, the passage can only affect a single
Type: Simple
band. Not all difficult terrain and hazards can be
Keywords: Dual
circumvented this way; the Sovereign’s player
Duration: Instant
must be able to describe how the created struc-
Prerequisite Charms: Flashing Lance Trick
ture does so.
The Sovereign’s blade dissolves into a flash of prismatic
• Eidolons (Bejeweled Retainer Eidolon): The
light, piercing through her foe’s defenses.
Sovereign creates a Size (Essence – 1) battle
The Sovereign makes an unblockable withering or group of eidolons (p. XX) that lasts for this
decisive attack. A withering attack halves her tar- Charm’s duration. She can only have one at a
get’s soak, rounded down. A decisive attack ignores time.
Hardness. If she uses Flashing Lance Trick to enhance
• Hazard (Shattered Prism Sword-Wall): The
a decisive attack, she adds (Essence) damage dice.
Sovereign creates a field of fireglass spikes or a

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similar environmental hazard extending out to
short range from the chosen point. It has diffi-
culty 4 and Damage (Sovereign’s Essence − 1,
maximum 5)L/round. Unlike other hazards, this
one doesn’t apply until the end of a character’s
turn; if he takes no movement actions, he need
not roll against it. The Sovereign can only have
one hazard at a time.
• Simulacrum (Mirage-Self Sculpture): The
Sovereign creates a simulacrum of herself (p.
XX) that lasts for this Charm’s duration. She can
only have one at a time.
Infinite Light Needle
Cost: 1m, 1wp, 3a; Mins: War 5, Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Crystal-and-Flame Quiver,
Subtle Rainbow Flame
The Sovereign focuses her anima into a single, nee-
dle-sharp point, loosing a killing shaft of prismatic light.
The Sovereign extends the range of a decisive Archery
or Thrown attack that benefits from two or more aim
actions to extreme (Exalted, p. 197), up to five range
bands away. She must be able to see her target.
If the Sovereign uses Subtle Rainbow Flame with this
Charm, she waives its Willpower and anima costs.
Prismatic Flame Barrage
Cost: —(+5i); Mins: War 5, Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Perilous, Withering-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Thousand Edge Maelstrom
The Sovereign’s anima refracts into the full spectrum
of colors as she unleashes a storm of prismatic Essence
against her foes.
The Sovereign may pay a five-Initiative surcharge
when she uses Thousand Edge Maelstrom to make
withering attacks instead of decisive attacks. She only
gains Initiative from the highest damage roll.
Shattered Prism Sword-Wall
Cost: 5m, 2i, 1wp (2i per round); Mins: War 5,
Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Perilous
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Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Limitless Luminous Armory,
Thousand Edge Maelstrom
Forging a storm of fireglass weaponry, the Sovereign
creates a wall of whirling blades.
The Sovereign creates fireglass blades in a straight line
extending out to a point within medium range. Enemies
treat this as an environmental hazard with difficulty 4
and Damage (Sovereign’s Essence − 1, maximum 5)L/
round. Enemies who pass through the wall, try to take
cover behind it, or roll Stealth to conceal themselves
within it suffer the hazard even if they didn’t begin
their turn in it, but can’t suffer the hazard more than
once per round. Allies suffer no damage from the
blades and can take cover behind them, treating them
as heavy cover (Exalted, p. 199).
At the start of each turn, the Sovereign must pay two
Initiative or this Charm ends. An enemy wielding a
smashing weapon or an artifact weapon can destroy
the sword wall with a difficulty 7 gambit. Even if he
fails the Initiative roll, reduce the difficulty of subse-
quent gambits by his successes.
Polestar Strategos Avatar
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 5i; Mins: War 5, Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Queen Before Her Knights,
Rally the Sapphire Knights
The Sovereign’s iconic anima swells into a titanic figure
of light that can be seen across the battlefield, directing
her armies as they press the attack.
To use this Charm, the Sovereign must be at bonfire
anima or higher. She gains the following benefits:
• She adds (Anima) dice on command actions and
ignores penalties from environmental or other
conditions that prevent her troops from seeing
her clearly.
• Allied battle groups add (Anima) dice on rout
checks.
• Battle groups enhanced with Rally the Sapphire
Knights gain Might 1 and perfect morale
(Exalted, p. 210). Eidolon battle groups gain
Might 2.
 C H A P T E R E I G H T: T H E S O V E R E I G N S O F U L U I R U

Conquering Anima-Titan Craft) −0 levels. An enemy can create an opening in

Cost: —(+15m); Mins: War 5, Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Polestar Strategos Avatar,
Shimmering Diamond Barrier (x2)
The Sovereign rises from the ground, cradled in her
anima banner as it crystallizes into a fireglass colossus
around her.
The Sovereign may use Polestar Strategos Avatar as a
Simple Charm and pay a fifteen-mote surcharge to cre-
ate an anima-titan around her like armor in addition
to that Charm’s usual benefits. She gains Legendary
Size (p. XX), full cover against all attacks, an effective
Strength 10 to determine what feats she can attempt.
The titan has its own health track of (Willpower +
the titan’s fireglass armor with a difficulty 5 gambit,
denying her the cover from it.
Sustaining the anima-titan taxes the Sovereign’s will
and Essence. At the end of each turn, if she didn’t make
a decisive attack or spend 8+ motes on offensive mag-
ic, her anima fades to dim, ending Polestar Strategos
Avatar.
Once Polestar Strategos Avatar ends, the Sovereign
descends to the ground on wisps of rainbow Essence,
while the anima-titan remains on the battlefield as an
inanimate fireglass statute.
If the Sovereign knows Diamond Gigantes Labors (p.
XX), she can use it through the anima-titan, waiving its
Willpower and anima costs and doubling 8s.
Reset: Once per story.

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Nyla’s corpse lay a hundred miles away, a banquet for the raitons.
Her last moments stayed with her, one more death in a long chain spanning all the way back to the war
at the dawn of history and the unthinkable betrayal that followed. This most recent death came at the
hands of Darim Crimson-Clawed. The triumph in the Lunar’s eyes seared itself into Nyla’s memory as
their wicked claws tore open her throat. And they knew how to kill a Hearteater, had found the pawns
she’d made vessels for her will and killed them, too.
Most of them, but not all.
Nyla’s final pawn blazed with the fires of Exaltation, but it was not he who would emerge Chosen. The
Hearteater had broken his will long ago; it was no hard thing to overcome his consciousness, to devour
it whole and claim this body for herself once and forevermore. She opened new eyes, their vision a little
weaker than her last, though rapidly correcting as Essence suffused her flesh. She felt the last creak
this body’s bones would ever make and the ache flowing out of work-wearied muscle. She took in her
surroundings and smiled. Exactly where she wanted to be — sitting at Darim’s campfire. The Lunar
had created a promising young dominion here in the wilderness, far enough from the satrapies for the
Realm to pose little threat to it. Darim was a student of the Silver Pact’s greatest generals and a veteran
of the Caul; now he had returned to his home to teach his people his ideology and lead them to triumph.
“Grandfather.” A youth crouched before the fire at Nyla’s side. He was no kin to her new body — hardly
anyone in the camp was — but it was how they’d all addressed her. Her pawn had been with Darim
Crimson-Clawed from the start; part of his inner circle. The dominion’s people sought out his advice,
heeded his counsel, and followed his orders. The young man passed her a sealed note on heavy vellum.
“A rider brought this.”
Nyla held his gaze as she took the letter. She already knew him — Keral, a warrior’s name. Her pawn’s
mind was extinguished, but something of his passions and memories lingered on. She knew that
Keral often talked with the old man for hours on end, that the youth burned with desire to earn Darim’s
respect and march in their vanguard. “Walk me to Darim’s pavilion,” she said, slipping her arm through
his, “and tell me how your patrol went today.”
Keral’s eyes lit up and he held his head high. An unfamiliar part of Nyla delighted in this, but an old
man’s fondness wouldn’t save him from a Hearteater’s hunger. Keral cared so deeply for the man
whose skin she wore; reaching inside his mind and making him hers was almost too easy.
Inside the tent, Darim and their advisors pored over the latest reports. Darim’s wife, a solidly-built
woman resting her hand on a sword’s pommel, made room for Nyla at the table.
Darim smiled fondly as Nyla took her place. “Grandfather.” They said it as more than simply an
endearment. Darim’s face resembled the pawn’s in the curve of their cheek and the tilt of their smile.
She was their father’s father.
“Grandson.” She passed him the letter. “We’ve had word from the lamp-priests. A rider awaits your
reply.” She didn’t bother craning her neck as Darim broke the seal; they would tell her what was inside.
Instead, she caught Iskele’s eye. “I can tell you haven’t been sleeping. Come see me tonight,” Nyla said
with a stolen voice. “I have a tea that will help you rest.”
Nyla looked around the tent at Darim’s trusted advisors and smiled. Soon enough, every person Darim
Crimson-Clawed loved would be gone, every one of their faces now the face of his enemy.

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 Appendix

Creating
New Exalted
From a purely design-oriented perspective, there’s
little difference between designing an Exigent and
designing an entirely new type of Exalt. The main dif-
ference is in how they fit into Exalted’s setting. Some
Exalted have had had world-shaking impacts on the
setting: the Dragon-Blooded of the Scarlet Dynasty, the
Lunars of the Silver Pact, the Sidereals of the Bureau
of Destiny. Others are subtler presence. The Solars,
while massively impactful in the First Age, have been
absent from Creation for centuries, only recently re-
turned alongside the corrupted Abyssals and Infernals.
Liminals are solitary figures, shunning mortals who
would judge them as monsters. Getimians strive to
avoid Heaven’s eye as they prosecute their shadow war
against it. The Alchemicals dwell within their creator’s
world-body, save for a handful created in the Divine
Revolution and left in stasis for millennia. The alien
Spoken are extinct, slain in the Niobraran War, and
their civilization faded into memory.
When adding new Exalted, consider the impact they’ve
had on the setting. If you want to use them without
significantly deviating from canonical depictions of
Creation, think about why they haven’t had a major
impact on the setting: perhaps they’ve only recently
been created, or they’re very few in number.
If you want your new Exalted to have had a major
impact on Creation’s history, you should discuss this
with the playgroup to make sure everyone’s on board.
You’ll also want to talk with them when it comes to
deciding how to handle setting information from the
books that’s contradicted by this change.
This Appendix presents three new Exalted who are “op-
tional canon,” for Storytellers to include or leave out of
their games as they see fit: the Dream-Souled, illusionists
and idealists; the Hearteaters, mind-eating horrors; and
the Umbrals, tormented by their inner darkness. It doesn’t
provide everything needed to play one, but enough of their
concept, details, and Charms to give you a start in creating
them or to provide inspiration for other new Exalted.
The Dream-Souled
A merchant nods off in her market stall, dreaming of
silver boughs heavy with jade blossoms. An exhausted
laborer finds no respite from work in his sleep, build-
ing towers that stretch into the clouds and beyond. A
priestess drifts in and out of a trance as she respires
subterranean vapors, seeing a world where all share
her transcendent vision.

AN APOCRYPHAL CENSUS

As this Appendix’s Exalted are non-canonical, no hard numbers for how many exist in the setting are given. If
a Storyteller wishes to include one or more of them in her game, she should determine how many exist. The
following guidelines provide a good range within which Storytellers can determine how many or how few of
these Exalted they want in their game.

Hearteaters: Around 200 to 400 Exaltations total, of which around 0 to 20 are typically active at any given time.

Umbrals: Around 50 to 200.

Dream-Souled: Varies; at present, around 25 to 100.

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It is from such sleepers as these that the mysterious

Ketu chooses his Dream-Souled, those consumed
by a vision of the world as it could be. They wield
unmatched power over dreams but are formidable
forces in the waking world as well, masters of illusion
and transformation. They bend Creation and the Wyld
both to their vision, imposing their personal utopia on
reality.
The Dream-Souled are newcomers to Creation com-
pared to the likes of the Dragon-Blooded but have
nonetheless left their mark on the world. Along the
Blessed Isle’s Wandering River, Ophris Kotoba, hero
of countless tall tales, is reborn — or rather, a Dynast’s
servant has donned Kotaba’s mantle to conceal her true
nature as she bedevils the wicked and the hypocritical.
The merchant prince Heron of Zebremani seeks lost
Cozen, a mythical city born of dreams that turned to
nightmare, not realizing that the ruins and relics he
finds are forged by his own will. Araya, a scroll-keeper
of the legendary Library of Marita, has quietly amassed
a trove of tomes and codices thought lost to the ages,
and some that were never written at all.
Ketu, the Dreaming Prince
Ill-known is Ketu, that numinous poet-king who dwells
beyond the deep Wyld’s farthest horizons. Neither fae
nor god nor kin to the Yozis, the Dreaming Prince has
been encountered only rarely even by the deep Wyld’s
raksha. In each account, it takes a different form: a gi-
gantic seven-eyed stag whose antlers are coiled around
with rainbows; a hungry murmuration of countless
birds flying together in the shape of one vast hawk; a
beautiful youth whose head has been cleanly severed.
Closer to Creation’s edge, the Fair Folk know Ketu only
as a name that chills even their hollow hearts, if at all.
Almost none in Creation know of the Dreaming Prince
— including its Chosen.
Yet distant as Ketu may be from Creation, there is
something of the world that intrigues it. It bears wit-
ness to all Creation’s dreams — those of mortals, of
animals, and of stranger things. Its understanding of
Creation, drawn solely from dreams, is fundamentally
warped. Its motives are unknown and may be incom-
prehensible. But it looks into a Creation it does not

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
understand and it sees in some rare dreamers a poten-
tial to reshape the world. Ketu breathes its divine fire
into these sleepers, and they awaken as its Chosen, the
Dream-Souled.
The first recorded Dream-Souled arose hundreds of
years after the Great Contagion. Perhaps it took that
long for Ketu to glean the secret of Exaltation from the
dreams of the Chosen; perhaps Ketu discovered the se-
cret through some great and unknown quest; perhaps
it simply had not noticed Creation before then.
The Dream-Souled do not know their patron. They
receive no prophetic visions or knowledge of Ketu upon
their Exaltation, nothing to suggest the existence of some
alien and infinitely distant patron. The Dream-Souled are
dedicated to their personal Ideals, and few have any need
for divine counsel even if they knew to seek it.
Dream-Souled and Other Exalted
Both latecomers among the Chosen and few in number,
the Dream-Souled remain an open question to most
other Exalted. Most know them only from sporadic
interactions with individual Dreamers, whether as
allies or enemies — assuming they don’t mistake them
for Exigents or puissant Fae-Blooded.
The Sidereal Exalted keep well-apprised of the
Dream-Souled, counting them as a threat to fate, albeit
one that may take decades to come to fruition as they
slowly warp the boundaries between Creation and the
Wyld. In a perfect world, the Bureau of Destiny would
act immediately to thwart their threat, but faced with
the more immediate threat of the Getimians, the re-
turned Solars, and the other upheavals of the Time of
Tumult, the Bureau can’t afford to devote its limited
personnel and resources to the Dreamers. It’s not un-
thinkable that the Bureau might even sanction a joint
operation between Sidereals and Dream-Souled if it
served Heaven’s agenda.
The Fair Folk and other fae hate and fear the Dream-
Souled, recognizing them as a force antithetical to the
Wyld as it is now. Unlike the Sidereals, the fae have lit-
tle reason to stay their hand — while a Dream-Souled
traveling through the Wyld need not fear ambush
around every corner, she’d be well-advised to conceal
her true nature from any fae she encounters.
Traits
Dream-Souled are intended for Terrestrial play (p.
XX).
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Ideals
Each Dream-Souled possesses an Ideal: a Defining
Principle that reflects her vision or understanding of
a perfect world, of what both Creation and the Wyld
should be or become. The Ideal can’t be weakened,
eroded, or otherwise subverted, either by social influ-
ence or the Dream-Souled’s own conscious actions.
Example Ideals include:
• No one should have to suffer.
• I should rule over the world.
• People should be loyal, moral, and scrupulous.
• Art should be the highest cause.
• The wise should hold authority over the
ignorant.
At the Storyteller’s discretion, a Dream-Souled’s Ideal
may change under suitably dramatic circumstances,
with the Dream-Souled’s player designating one of her
other Defining Principles as their new Ideal.
Anima
A Dream-Souled’s anima burns with too-vivid colors,
sometimes shifting with the Exalt’s mood. As her anima
flares, her dreams begin to spill out into it, filling it with
impossible visions. A Dream-Souled’s iconic anima is
most often an impossible creature or form that rises up
from this surging tide of dream: many-headed chimerical
beasts, mind-warping geometrical forms, nightmarish
horrors, a whirlwind filled with flowers, etc.
Dream-Souled can spend one mote to perform one of
the following effects:
• Sense the direction and approximate distance
to the nearest pathway into or out of the Wyld
within one mile.
• Send a willing character into a deep, dreamful
sleep.
Anima Effects
Dream Fades Away: For five motes, the Dream-Souled
becomes momentarily ephemeral, adding (Essence)
non-Charm dice to an attempt to escape confinement,
oppose a rush or grapple control roll, or disengage
from an attacker. This power is free at bonfire anima.
Dreamwalker: For ten motes, the Dream-Souled
touches a sleeping character to enter his dreams,
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D
SLEEP AND GUILE
The −2 Guile penalty for characters unaware of
their observers applies to sleeping characters.
Magic like Surprise Anticipation Method (Exalted,
p. 267) that lets a character use their senses nor-
mally lets sleeping characters perceive the ob-
server’s presence with a successful Awareness
roll, negating this penalty.
rolling ([Charisma, Manipulation, or Wits] + [Occult
or Presence]) against his Guile. Within the dream,
she is a formless, imperceptible presence incapable of
interacting with the sleeper, but she can still attempt
to glean insight from his dreams with a special read
intentions roll, gaining a useful piece of information on
a success: an Intimacy, a glimpse into a memory, a clue
relevant to an ongoing mystery, etc. She can only do so
once per use of this anima effect, no matter how long
she watches her target’s dreams for.
Sculptor of Figments: For three motes, the Dream-
Souled can create a phantasmal image no larger than
a person within short range or similar illusionary
phenomena. These phantoms are obviously illusory
to any sense and can’t block a character’s line of sight
or otherwise impede their senses, but are exceptional
equipment (Exalted, p. 580) for influence rolls in
which the Dream-Souled uses them to emphasize her
words. Illusions vanish at the end of the scene.
Martial Arts
Dream-Souled are restricted by the Terrestrial key-
word (Exalted, p. 427) when using Martial Arts.
They’re limited in their ability to combine Martial
Arts Charms with their native Charms. When they
make a Martial Arts attack, they can enhance it
with either native Charms or Martial Arts Charms,
but not both, with the exception of Excellencies. This
doesn’t apply to Charms that are permanent or provide
ongoing benefits, nor to actions other than attacking.
Sorcery
Dream-Souled can initiate into Terrestrial Circle sor-
cery. Those with bleak Ideals can sometimes initiate
into Ivory Circle necromancy, but such Dream-Souled
can’t learn sorcery.
Evocations
The Dream-Souled are neutral with moonsilver (Arms
of the Chosen, p. 16). They are dissonant with all other
materials.
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The Great Curse
The Dream-Souled’s Great Curse drives them to obses-
sion, delusion, or fanaticism centered on their Ideal.
They have a Limit track and experience Limit Breaks
(p. XX). Like most Exalted, they gain Limit from
violating Major and Defining Intimacies; any Limit
gained from violating their Ideal is doubled. They have
a shared Limit Trigger, gaining Limit when their Ideal
is challenged, mocked, or threatened.
Concepts for Dream-Souled Limit Breaks include:
Chimerical Daydream Utopia: The Dream-Souled
perceives the world as if her Ideal were reality. She
rationalizes away discrepancies and will lash out at
those who seek to dissuade her.
Future-Forging Zeal: The Dream-Souled will go to
any lengths to make her Ideal a reality, including vio-
lence, breaking laws and customs, and helping people
against their will.
Incomprehensible Other Affliction: The Dream-
Souled loses all empathy for those who don’t share
her Ideal. She need not be cruel, but she neither
understands nor concerns herself with their desires.
She’s likewise alienated from communities that don’t
share her Ideal, feeling estranged, out of place, and
unwelcome.
Universal Meaning Apophenia: The Dream-Souled
sees everything as being somehow related to her Ideal.
She must prioritize courses of action that address this
connection above all others.
Longevity and Death
The Dream-Souled can live for a few centuries. Their
Exaltation does not reincarnate after their death; instead,
it reunites with distant Ketu, imparting something of the
slain Dream-Souled’s vision unto the Dreaming Prince.
Dream-Souled Charms
Dream-Souled are masters of illusion, transformation, and
dreams, wielding these powers to make their Ideal a reality.
Their Charms evoke dream-logic, making reality a fluid and
malleable thing. The Wyld and its denizens are especially
susceptible to the terrifying power of a Dream-Souled’s
vision, while Creation is blighted with chaos in their wake.
Excellencies
Dream-Souled have Excellencies for all Abilities;
they receive five for free at character creation and
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
must purchase others separately. They may add up to
(Ability) dice to rolls, or (Ability + Essence, maximum
10) for actions that uphold their Ideal, paying one mote
per die. Automatic successes count as two dice towards
this limit. Static values such as Evasion or Resolve can
be raised by half this dice cap, rounded down.
Illusion and Transformation
Delirium Weaver Meditation
Cost: —(+2m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Dream-Souled’s creativity is realized in glamours
and gossamer ephemera, birthing a world of illusions.
When the Dream-Souled uses Sculptor of Figments,
she may pay a two-mote, one-Willpower surcharge
to make her illusion convincingly lifelike, rolling
(Manipulation + [Craft, Larceny, or Performance]) to
determine its quality and the difficulty to see through
it. Nontrivial characters may roll (Perception +
Awareness) to realize it’s an illusion. Characters who
fail can’t roll again unless circumstances give them
some new reason to suspect the illusion’s reality.
Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Infusing her hands with feverish Essence, the Dream-
Souled molds and shapes matter with supreme ease.
The Dream-Souled waives the need for tools and rerolls
6s until they cease to appear on any non-attack roll that
involves interacting with or manipulating physical ob-
jects, including Craft rolls, Larceny rolls for lockpicking
or disguise, Medicine rolls to perform surgery, etc.
If the Dream-Souled uses the necessary tools for her
roll, this Charm’s cost is reduced by two motes.
Dressed in Fantasia
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie
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The Dream-Souled armors herself in little more than
confidence and imagination, wearing sheer silks like the
sturdiest full plate.
The Dream-Souled grants her clothing the traits of her
choice of light, medium, or heavy mundane armor. It
has the Buoyant and Silent tags (Exalted, p. 593), unless
these tags are inconsistent with the enchanted cloth-
ing’s design. This may overtly transform the clothing,
making changes that are superficial or purely cosmetic,
but permanent. Such armor is nigh-invulnerable for this
Charm’s duration, as though it were an artifact.
An Essence 2 repurchase lets the Dream-Souled pay
a nine-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to use this as
a Simple Charm, granting her clothing the traits of
light, medium, or heavy artifact armor. She can make
any number of additional repurchases, each granting
an Evocation that can be used with armor enchanted
by this Charm. These Evocations draw their themes
and function from the Dream-Souled’s personality and
Ideal and themes of dreams and nightmares.
A third purchase at Essence 3 extends this Charm’s
duration to Indefinite.
Nightmare-Venom Sting
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie
The Dream-Souled decants fear and trauma into a
draught of poisoned dreaming.
Upon purchasing this Charm, the Dream-Souled’s
player chooses one of the following poisons:
• Damage 3i/round, Duration (higher of Essence
or Manipulation) rounds, −1 penalty
• Damage 1i/round (B in Crash), Duration (higher
of Essence or Manipulation) rounds, −3 penalty
• Damage 1L/minute, Duration (higher of Essence
or Manipulation) minutes, −2 penalty
Using this Charm lets her apply a single dose of that
poison to a touched weapon, foodstuff, beverage, or
appropriate vessel, such as a plate or a prince’s favored
goblet. If she has a relevant Craft, like alchemy, she re-
ceives craft points for meeting objectives by poisoning
characters with this Charm as though she’d completed
a basic project (Exalted, p. 240).
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D
The Dream-Souled may purchase poisons for three
experience each, adding them to the repertoire she can
create with this Charm.
Rattling Toy Sabers
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie
The Dream-Souled wakes the slumbering weapon-na-
ture she sees in everything from mops to teacups.
The Dream-Souled grants an object the traits of a
mundane weapon of her choice. This may overtly
transform the object, especially (though not necessar-
ily) if its form isn’t a good fit for the chosen weapon.
Such changes are superficial or purely cosmetic, but
permanent. Such weapons are nigh-invulnerable for
this Charm’s duration, as though they were artifacts.
An Essence 2 repurchase lets the Dream-Souled pay
a four-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to use this as a
Simple Charm, granting an object the traits of an arti-
fact weapon. She can make any number of additional
repurchases, each granting an Evocation that can be
used with weapons enchanted by this Charm. These
Evocations draw their themes and function from the
Dream-Souled’s personality and Ideal and themes of
dreams and nightmares.
Ripe Plums Like Diamonds
Cost: 7m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Shaping (Object)
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie
The Dream-Souled sculpts the clay of reality, turning
steel as soft as paper or tempering brittle glass into
nigh-indestructability.
The Dream-Souled can strengthen or weaken a touched
object no larger than herself. Strengthening an object
adds (Essence/2, rounded up) to the minimum Strength
necessary to attempt a feat of demolition on the object,
and adds +1 to the roll’s difficulty. An object so fragile
that it normally wouldn’t require a roll to destroy instead
requires a feat with minimum Strength 3 and difficulty 1.
Weakening an object, conversely, lowers the minimum
Strength necessary to attempt a feat of demolition by
(Essence/2, rounded up), and lowers the roll’s difficul-
ty by 1.
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Face-Changing Glamour
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Shaping (Body)
Duration: One day
Prerequisite Charms: None
One may wear many different faces in a dream, and in
the world sculpted by the Dream-Souled’s will.
This Dream-Souled alters the physical appearance of
herself or another willing character she touches. She can’t
change the target’s apparent species, change his apparent
height by more than ten inches, or change his apparent
weight by more than 10%, but can otherwise make a broad
variety of changes to his appearance. She can give him the
appearance of mutations, but this is purely cosmetic —
transfigured wings can’t fly, or even help with gliding.
When the Dream-Souled conceals her target’s identity
or create a glamour that impersonates another character,
she makes the ([Intelligence or Manipulation] + Larceny)
disguise roll for him, ignoring penalties for disguising
him as someone as another race, sex, or body type.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, this Charm can be used
on unwilling characters. She must roll ([Intelligence
or Manipulation] + Larceny) even if she doesn’t intend
to disguise her target; he may oppose this with an
([Appearance or Wits] + Integrity) roll. An affected
character can conceal the glamour with a disguise roll
of his own if his successes beat the Dream-Souled’s.
Of Chaos Born
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Wyld is not a place of peril to the Dream-Souled, but
a second homeland.
If the Dream-Souled would suffer physical transfor-
mation or addiction as a result of exposure to the Wyld,
she may use this Charm to negate it. Against other
Shaping effects, she adds (Charisma, Stamina, or Wits)
dice on rolls to resist or adds half that, rounded up, to
an opposing static value. Against Shaping effects used
by the fae, these bonuses are non-Charm.
Wyld-Warping Dominion
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Duration: (Essence) hours
Prerequisite Charms: Of Chaos Born
The Dream-Souled imposes her will on the Wyld as
though it were but another dream.
The Dream-Souled and all characters and objects
within short range of her are immune to physical
transformation or addiction as a result of exposure to
the Wyld or other environmental Shaping.
Alternatively, the Dream-Souled may invert this
Charm, causing the Shaping effects of the Wyld within
short range of her to reflect her Ideal. Physical trans-
formations alter victims to make them better conform
to the Ideal — a Dream-Souled whose Ideal is “There
is no law but the sword” could cause a bordermarch’s
victims to mutate in ways that enhance their combat
prowess. Wyld addiction is replaced by a comparable
condition that’s thematically appropriate to the Ideal.
Dragon-or-Hero Insinuation
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: (1 + extra successes) hours
Prerequisite Charms: Face-Changing Glamour (x2)
The Dream-Souled snares someone in a web of idealized
perceptions, passing off farmhands as saviors and mutts
as monstrosities.
The Dream-Souled rolls (Perception + [Awareness or
Socialize]) against the Resolve of a character within
short range. If she succeeds, she imposes her percep-
tion on him, shrouding him in a glamour of heroism
that amplifies his talents and accomplishment in the
eyes of others, or casting a pall of monstrosity over
him. Those who interact with him count as having a
Minor Tie of awestruck admiration for a hero or horri-
fied revulsion for a monster.
Dream Chrysalis Awakening
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Shaping (Body)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Face-Changing Glamour (x2)
The Dream-Souled bids monstrous forms and angelic
beauty forth from the cauldron of the unconscious, work-
ing wondrous transformations.
To use this Charm, the Dream-Souled must either be
in her target’s dream, an attuned manse or demesne,
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or the Wyld. She grants a willing character (higher
of Essence or 3) dots of mutations. Player characters
incur experience debt (p. XX).
The Dream-Souled can use this Charm on herself
anywhere.
Duck-Becomes-Hare Metamorphosis
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Shaping (Body)
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Dream Chrysalis Awakening
The Dream-Souled molds the bestial dreams of Creation’s
fauna, giving them shapes better suited to her Ideal.
With a touch, the Dream-Souled changes an animal
into a different type of animal. The form she changes
her target into must have the same Familiar rating
(Exalted, p. 161) as the original animal, and must be
capable of surviving in the current environment. If her
target has a size-based Merit like Legendary Size, the
new form must have the same one, and animals with-
out such Merits can’t be changed into animals with
them. This transformation is usually permanent, but
lasts only one scene for unwilling familiars and other
magically enhanced animals. (The player of a familiar’s
master decides if it’s willing.)
This Charm can also be used on characters who’ve
transformed into animals, like a shapeshifting
beast-spirit or the victim of a raksha’s curse. This func-
tions as described above, but the transformation is tied
to the duration of the original effect that turned the
target into an animal. It can be ended by any method
that could end the original effect.
Serpent-and-Egg Metonymy
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Nightmare-Venom Sting
The Dream-Souled distills venomous symbolism, a poi-
son that spreads through meaning and metaphor.
The Dream-Souled can use Nightmare-Venom Sting to
poison a touched object. The dose of poison is stored in
the object until a character interacts with it in a specific
way, which depends on the object’s form and function
rather than any practical concerns. A door poisons
the one who opens it; a book poisons its reader; a bed
poisons the one who sleeps in it; a ring poisons the one
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D

ILLUSION AND TRANSFORMATION CHARM CONCEPTS

Persistence of Delusion (Essence 2; Delirium Weaver Meditation): Create illusions that last for an extended
duration.

Horrors Imagined Anew (Essence 3; Duck-Becomes-Hare Metamorphosis): Transform a fae into a new
form, warping its body.

Imaginary Friend Invocation (Essence 3; Persistence of Delusion): Give long-lasting illusions sets of complex
routines they can act out, with the potential to realistically simulate things like short, simple conversations.

Nightmare-Spawning Cauldron (Essence 3; Reality-Dissolving Alembic): Create minor fae like hobgoblins
to populate the area shaped with this Charm’s prerequisite.

Grace-Forging Art (Essence 4; Horrors Imagined Anew): Use Horrors Imagined Anew to bind fae into ob-
jects instead of transforming them. This grants the object a unique Evocation.

Slumbering Heart Reshaped (Essence 4; Horrors Imagined Anew): Horrors Imagined Anew alters the fae’s
Intimacies to match its new form and makes it difficult for it to erode these Intimacies.

The Changeling Way (Essence 5; Grace-Forging Art): Use Horrors Imagined Anew to bind fae into mortals
instead of transforming them. Such mortals gain small mote pools and can learn fae Eclipse Charms.

who wears it. If it’s not obvious what would trigger
exposure, the Storyteller and players should discuss
and agree upon one.
Detecting the presence of the stored poison requires a
difficulty 3-5 (Perception + [Awareness, Investigation,
or Medicine]) roll, with the difficulty varying based on
the obscurity of the poison, the difficulty of detecting it
under normal circumstances, and the size of the object.
Characters without applicable magic or superhuman
senses suffer a −4 penalty on the roll.
An Essence 3 repurchase lets the Dream-Souled con-
vey poison through influence rolls. She must beat a
character’s Resolve to expose him to the poison. If she
targets multiple characters with an influence roll, she
must pay Nightmare-Venom Sting’s cost separately for
each one she wishes to poison, letting her determine
whom her words can harm.
Waking Dream Ephemera
Cost: —(+2m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Delirium Weaver Meditation,
Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie
When the Dream-Souled uses Sculptor of Figments, she
can pay a two-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to create
a real object, rolling (Manipulation + [Craft, Larceny, or
Performance]) at a difficulty of its Resources rating. She
can’t create complex or sophisticated objects. The object
still vanishes at the scene’s end, fading into illusion.
Dream-Champion Trance
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Dream Chrysalis Awakening
The Dream-Souled dissolves her waking ego and draws
forth her idealized self, vanishing into the radiance of her
anima and reappearing transformed.
The Dream-Souled becomes her idealized form. Her
player determines its appearance upon learning this
Charm. It can take any form the Dream-Souled could
give herself with Face-Changing Glamour, plus any
mundane clothing or accessories the player chooses.
She gains the following benefits:
• She adds a bonus die on actions that uphold her
Ideal.

The Dream-Souled blurs the boundaries between illu- • Against enemies who threaten or oppose her Ideal,
sion and reality. she gains +1 Defense and Hardness (Willpower).

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• She gains (Essence/2, rounded up) temporary
−0 health levels. Once this Charm ends, these
temporary health levels fade, and all levels of
damage contained in them shift back into the
Dream-Souled’s damage track. If this incapaci-
tates her, she falls unconscious, even if lethally
damaged, instead of being left dead or dying.
• Her identity is perfectly concealed, no matter
how obvious the resemblance may be. Onlookers
are can’t recognize that she and her idealized
self are the same person without magic like Eye
of the Unconquered Sun.
Special activation rules: The Dream-Souled can use
Dressed in Fantasia and Rattling Toy Sabers reflexively
with this Charm.
Inconvenience Rightly Ignored
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Ripe Plums Like Diamonds,
Waking Dream Ephemera
The Dream-Souled waves away the world’s hindrances,
choosing not to believe in that which stands in her way.
Touching a mundane object no larger than herself or
a similarly sized portion of a larger object, the Dream-
Souled renders it partially unreal. Characters may
selectively choose to treat it as being dematerialized
or not for purposes of physical interaction. Using this
Charm on a weapon or other object on someone’s per-
son requires a difficulty 3 unarmed gambit.
With Essence 4, this Charm can be used on larger ob-
jects and structures, as long as their entirety fits within
short range of the point the Dream-Souled touches.
With Essence 5, this increases to medium range.
Reset: Once per day unless reset by encountering
a significant obstacle to one of the Dream-Souled’s
goals. Her frustration with the world heightens the
power of her disbelief.
Reality-Dissolving Alembic
Cost: 10m, 2wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Shaping (Terrain)
Duration: One week
Prerequisite Charms: Waking Dream Ephemera,
Wyld-Warping Dominion
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The Dream-Souled imposes her vision of the world upon
Creation and the Wyld alike, breaking the world so that
she may bring forth greater things.
The Dream-Souled reshapes the terrain within medium
range, altering and unmaking natural features as she wish-
es: she could freeze over a river, turn a copse of trees into
a rock formation, raise a hill up from the earth, or trans-
form a tenement into an amphitheater. The Storyteller
may require a ([Intelligence or Wits]) + (Craft, Lore,
or Occult) roll at difficulty 3+ to create natural features
that are complicated or especially advantageous, such
as shaping a masterwork of sculpture from a boulder or
creating a lode of silver. The Dream-Souled can’t use this
Charm if a nontrivial character within medium range is
opposed to her doing so — her will must be unquestioned.
Within Creation, the transformed area also becomes a
bordermarch of the Wyld, posing the risk of mutation
and addiction to long-term inhabitants. In the Wyld,
she instead shapes the region into an islet of Creation.
Other realms of existence may undergo similar chang-
es at the Storyteller’s discretion.
The Dream-Souled must maintain her commitment
to this Charm for a week to make her transformation
permanent. If she ends it prematurely, the transformed
terrain and anything taken from it reverts to its origi-
nal form. Parts of Creation turned to bordermarches
revert back, as do parts of the Wyld turned to Creation.
Once a week passes, the transformation becomes
permanent. Shaped bordermarches will eventually
revert back to Creation unless they’re near the Wyld’s
edge or somewhere else where reality is weak. The
length of time a bordermarch persists increases the
further it is created from Creation’s omphalos, the
Imperial Mountain: a bordermarch in the far reaches
of a Direction can last for years, if not indefinitely;
further into the Threshold, they last days or weeks; on
the Blessed Isle, they dissipate within hours. Likewise,
islets of Creation eventually dissolve back into chaos,
lasting longer the further they are from the deep Wyld
and the more they interact with things of Creation.
Solipsistic Perspective Contagion
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Dragon-or-Hero Insinuation
The Dream-Souled’s vision of the world is too precious
to be kept to herself; others must see things as she does.
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D

OFFENSIVE CHARMS CONCEPTS

Feverish Delirium Strike (Essence 1; Doom-Foreshadowing Premonition): Leave a wound that causes hal-
lucinatory sensations, like terrible itching or crawling bugs, penalizing the victim’s actions unless they have
sufficient Resolve.

Agonies Only Imagined (Essence 2; Feverish Delirium Strike): Make a reflexive distract gambit against
an enemy suffering Feverish Delirium Strike, rolling (Manipulation + [Performance, Presence, or Occult])
against his Resolve for the attack.

Conquering Visionary Mien (Essence 2; Scourge the Broken World): Exude a spiritual pressure antithet-
ical to the fae and to enemies opposed to the Dream-Souled’s Ideal, granting her attacks the Smashing tag
against them and making it difficult for them to enter close range with her.

Deadly Mirage Technique (Essence 2; Waking Dream Ephemera): Make attacks with illusions capable of
causing real harm.

Baleful Phantasmagoria Invocation (Essence 3; Deadly Mirage Technique): Create illusory environmental
hazards capable of causing real harm.

Illimitable Hordes of Nightmare (Essence 4; Baleful Phantasmagoria Invocation): Create a battle group of
faceless nightmare-soldiers.

The Dream-Souled doubles 9s on the roll for Dragon- Duration: Instant

or-Hero Insinuation. If she uses it on a character she Prerequisite Charms: None
has a Tie toward, she may subtly glamour him in a way
that affirms her perspective. The Minor Tie imposed Before the Dream-Souled’s weapon strikes her foe, the
on characters who perceive him has the same emo- fear of being wounded strikes him first.
tional context as the Dream-Souled’s Tie.
If the Dream-Souled’s attack roll beats her target’s
Resolve, he loses one Initiative and the attack’s on-
Offense slaught penalizes his Defense against her attack roll.
This Charm can’t enhance unexpected attacks.
Don’t-Blink Swiftness
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1 Scourge the Broken World
Type: Reflexive Cost: 1m+; Mins: Essence 1
Keywords: Uniform Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant Keywords: Aggravated, Dual
Prerequisite Charms: None Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Like a stalking horror out of nightmare, the Dream-
Souled moves between eyeblinks. The Dream-Souled’s will is a blade by which the world is
cut into a better form; at times that blade must be turned
This Charm must be used at the start of a round. The
against her foes.
Dream-Souled adds (Essence) to her Initiative to de-
termine when she acts. If she acts before all enemies The Dream-Souled spends up to (lower of Essence
and uses her turn to attack, it becomes a surprise at- or Strength) motes, adding +1 Overwhelming on a
tack (Exalted, p. 203). withering attack or ignoring one point of Hardness on
a decisive attack for each mote spent. If the Dream-
Doom-Foreshadowing Premonition
Souled is attacking a fae or an enemy opposed to her
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1 Ideal, a withering attack also adds this bonus to its
Type: Supplemental raw damage, while a decisive attack also deals aggra-
Keywords: Uniform vated damage.

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World-Mocking Evasion
Defense
Cost: 5m, 2i; Mins: Essence 1
Nightmare-Rebuking Grace Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Cost: 1i; Mins: Essence 1
Duration: Instant
Type: Reflexive
Prerequisite Charms: Delirium Weaver Meditation
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant The Dream-Souled eludes her foes like a dream fading
Prerequisite Charms: None with the dawn, always ever so slightly beyond their
reach.
The Dream-Souled’s grace is no thing of the waking
world; such perfection could only exist in a dream. The Dream-Souled adds +1 Defense, or +2 if her at-
tacker’s Resolve is lower than her Manipulation. If an
The Dream-Souled ignores one point of penalty to
attack misses her, she seems to vanish and reappear
her Defense. If she spent Willpower to increase her
at another location within short range — but in truth,
Defense or pay the cost of defensive magic, she instead
what was struck was only an illusion, while the Dream-
ignores two points of penalty. This Charm can’t negate
Souled hid elsewhere.
penalties from surprise attacks.
Ego-Wound Absorption
Enduring Dream Embodiment
Cost: 2m (1wp per success); Mins: Essence 3
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Perilous
Keywords: Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Enduring Dream Embodiment
Prerequisite Charms: Nightmare-Rebuking Grace
(x2)
So long as the Dream-Souled’s will remains unbroken, so
Blurring the boundaries between her mind and body,
too does her body.
the Dream-Souled displaces physical harm into her
The Dream-Souled adds (current temporary subconscious.
Willpower/2, rounded up) soak against a withering
The Dream-Souled can activate this Charm after a
attack.
decisive attack roll against her or a roll to resist an
An Essence 2 repurchase lets the Dream-Souled pay environmental hazard or similar peril, but before the
a two-mote surcharge to use this Charm against deci- damage roll. She may subtract up to (Essence) suc-
sive attacks or environmental hazards; up to (current cesses from the damage roll, paying one Willpower per
temporary Willpower/2, rounded up) 1s on the damage success.
roll subtract successes.
What Happened Last Night
Ephemeral Presence Feint Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 4
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1 Type: Reflexive
Type: Reflexive Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Keywords: Counterattack Duration: Instant
Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: Ego-Wound Absorption,
Prerequisite Charms: Nightmare-Rebuking Grace World-Mocking Evasion

Those who grasp at the Dream-Souled find themselves
empty-handed.
If the Dream-Souled successfully defends against an
attack, she makes a (Manipulation + [Performance
or Presence]) counterattack against her attacker’s
Resolve. If she succeeds, he loses (her Essence/2,
rounded up) Initiative.
Even with her enemy’s blade pressed close against her
throat, the Dream-Souled is never without a final trick
up her sleeve.
The Dream-Souled can activate this Charm after the
damage roll of an attack. She suffers the attack’s damage
as usual, but should record how much damage was dealt,
along with any other effects inflicted by the attack. When
the scene ends, this damage is removed from the Dream-
Souled’s health track and the inflicted effects end.

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DEFENSIVE CHARM CONCEPTS

Conviction Beyond Defeat (Essence 2; Enduring Dream Embodiment): Against the fae or enemies who
threaten or oppose the Dream-Souled’s Ideal, she gains a non-Charm Defense bonus.

Expected Peril Concentration (Essence 2; Nightmare-Rebuking Grace): Déjà vu alerts the Dream-Souled to
hidden threats, lowering the penalty to her Defense from surprise attacks and reducing damage from traps.

Slip the World«s Fetters (Essence 2; Ephemeral Presence Feint): The Dream-Souled becomes partially im-
material, penalizing damage rolls against her unless enhanced by magic capable of striking dematerialized
foes.

Only A Dream (Essence 5; What Happened Last Night): When the Dream-Souled would die, she may use this
Charm to instead wake up with a start at the last place she went to sleep. This does not alter the past or any-
one’s memories of it; to onlookers, the Dream-Souled seems to fade away, as if she were an illusion all along.

This is not magical healing or reality manipulation; When the Dream-Souled makes an inspire roll, affect-
instead, the Dream-Souled negates or avoids the attack ed characters whose Resolve is beaten by 3+ successes
through some method that is concealed by her illu- must respond to their emotions in a way that aligns
sions. As a result, it can’t be used against enemies using with or relates to her Ideal. If a Dreamer with an Ideal
Eye of the Unconquered Sun or comparable magic. of “There should be no war” inspired fear, her targets
might be so frightened they throw down their arms
If the Dream-Souled is incapacitated before the and flee from battle; if one with an Ideal of “Mysteries
scene’s end, this Charm’s benefits are lost — what- make life worth living” inspired love, her targets might
ever countermeasure she employed has proven go to great lengths to conceal their infatuations.
insufficient.
Midnight Guest Invitation
Reset: Once per scene. Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Social Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Exquisite Ideologue Allegory Prerequisite Charms: None
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental The Dream-Souled whispers to those whose sleep she
Keywords: None visits, stirring unconscious minds.
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None When the Dream-Souled uses Dreamwalker (p. XX),
she may pay a one-Willpower surcharge to manifest
The Dream-Souled’s every word and gesture are suffused herself within a dream. She can communicate and
with her unspoken vision. interact with the sleeper within the dream, ignoring
language barriers. She cannot appear as anyone but
A successful instill roll also instills the Dream-Souled’s herself within the dream.
target with her Ideal at Minor intensity.
By interacting with the sleeper over the course of a
Soul-Exciting Catharsis dream, the Dream-Souled may make a single influence
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1 roll against him. His Resolve doesn’t receive any bo-
Type: Supplemental nuses or penalties from Intimacies.
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant When Next You Wake
Prerequisite Charms: Exquisite Ideologue Allegory Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Stirring up wild passions, the Dream-Souled sows the Keywords: None
seeds of her Ideal’s realization. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Midnight Guest Invitation

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The Dream-Souled rewards allies with nights of soothing
reverie and consigns her foes to endless nightmare.
When the Dream-Souled makes an influence roll against
a sleeping character, she doubles 9s. If she overcomes
his Resolve with influence conveyed through a positive,
pleasant dream — inspire rolls to create positive emo-
tions, persuade rolls to convince a character to undertake
seemingly attractive courses of action, instill rolls to cre-
ate positive Ties or weaken negative Ties, etc. — she may
transfer one Willpower to him.
If the Dream-Souled’s influence roll is conveyed
through unsettling dreams or nightmares — threaten
rolls, persuade rolls to undertake frightening or repul-
sive courses of action, inspire rolls to create fear or dis-
gust, etc. — then beating her target’s Resolve prevents
him from recovering Willpower from that night’s sleep
and imposes a −1 fatigue penalty on his rolls until he
next rests.
Nightmare-Taming Meditation
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
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Through self-discipline in the service of her Ideal, the
Dream-Souled makes of her mind a fortress.
The Dream-Souled gains the follow benefits:
• +1 Resolve against influence opposed by her
Ideal.
• +1 Guile against any effects that would see di-
rectly into her dreams, thoughts, or memories.
• She halves any fatigue penalties she suffers,
rounded down, and negates fatigue penalties to
Resolve and Guile entirely.
• When she spends Willpower to add a success to
an action or to pay the cost of an effect enhanc-
ing the action, she ignores one point of wound
penalty.
Sleepwalker’s Fugue
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nightmare-Taming
Meditation
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SOCIAL CHARM CONCEPTS

Conversations Half-Remembered (Essence 2; Unspoken Dream Dialogue): A Psyche effect that interferes
with a character’s short-term memory.

All Glamour Fades (Essence 2; Conversations Half-Remembered): Cause a character to believe his actions
have no consequences, as if in a dream.

Embrace the Night (Essence 2; All Glamour Fades): Force a character into deep sleep.

Thought-Poisoning Oubliette (Essence 3; Embrace the Night): Trap a character in an endlessly repeating
dream, preventing them from waking until they complete an extended action with the (Ability + Attribute)
combination most appropriate to the dream scenario.

Sweet Daydreams Forgotten (Essence 3; Thought-Poisoning Oubliette): Cause a character to believe the
events of a scene were just a dream, and to lose all recollection of them entirely at the end of the current
scene unless they resist with Willpower.

Day-is-Night Unreality (Essence 4; Thought-Poisoning Oubliette): Render a character unable to tell whether
he is dreaming or awake, causing him to doubt his own reality and suffer significant psychological conse-
quences.

The Dream-Souled unfocuses her mind, momentarily The Dream-Souled bears witness to hidden passions and
forgetting her thoughts and intentions. secret dreams.

The Dream-Souled gains +1 non-Charm Guile. This The Dream-Souled rerolls 6s until they cease to ap-
increases to +2 against effects that would reveal infor- pear on a read intentions or profile character roll. If
mation that could endanger or compromise her Ideal. her target suffers a Guile penalty for being unaware of
observers, she rerolls 5s as well.
Unspoken Dream Dialogue
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1 Dream-Measuring Insight
Type: Supplemental Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Keywords: Mute Type: Supplemental
Duration: Instant Keywords: Mute
Prerequisite Charms: None Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Watcher in the Night
One need not speak in dreams to be heard.
The Dream-Souled recognizes those possessed of their
The Dream-Souled makes an influence roll or ten sec- own grand visions.
onds of regular speech without taking an overt action.
Instead, her intended targets experience the sensation A successful read intentions or profile character roll
of hearing her say this to them. No common language also reveals the target’s strongest Principle (or the
is necessary. Noticing that the communication is im- most relevant, if multiple Principles are tied).
possible without magic that enhances an appropriate
roll; the difficulty is (Dream-Souled’s Manipulation or Ecstatic Bacchanal Witness
Integrity). Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Watcher in the Night Keywords: None
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1 Duration: Instant
Type: Supplemental Prerequisite Charms: Watcher in the Night
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant The Dream-Souled stokes passions to uncover the truth.
Prerequisite Charms: None

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
A character experiencing an emotion inspired by the
Dream-Souled’s influence suffers the −2 Guile penalty
for being unaware of observers against her.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the Dream-Souled can
use this Charm to enhance an action taken by another
character within medium range.
Like Minds Deduction
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Watcher in the Night
The Dream-Souled possesses a great empathy for those
who share her vision.
When the Dream-Souled rolls against the Guile of a
character who shares one of her Intimacies, she adds
(Intimacy) non-Charm dice on the roll. If he shares
her Ideal, she adds five non-Charm dice.
Success reveals both the shared Intimacy and what-
ever the Dream-Souled originally sought to learn. If
her target shares her Ideal, she forms or strengthens a
positive Tie towards him.
Whispering to the Sleeper
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Dream-Souled is a lingering presence in the lives of
her friends and enemies, witnessing and shaping their
dreams from afar.
The Dream-Souled can use Dreamwalker (p. XX) from
(Essence x10) miles away, as long as she’s interacted
with her target in the past day.
With Essence 4, the Dream-Souled can pay a one-Will-
power surcharge to extend Dreamwalker’s range to
(Essence x100) miles.
Dream-Fulfilling Stance
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Exciting Catharsis
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The Dream-Souled’s words enthrall those who have
shared in her vision.
If the target of the Dream-Souled’s influence roll has
an Intimacy similar to her Ideal, it counts as a positive
Tie to her for the roll, with an emotional context cho-
sen by that character’s player.
Feverish Visionary Assurance
Cost: 5m per 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Nightmare-Taming
Meditation
The Dream-Souled is uncompromising in the face of
challenges to her Ideal.
The Dream-Souled can spend motes instead of
Willpower to resist influence opposed by her Ideal,
paying five motes per one Willpower.
Clarity of Transcendent Purpose
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Feverish Visionary Influence
The Dream-Souled is unmoved by those who would
tempt her from her Ideal, her conviction a thing of iron
certainty.
The Dream-Souled treats an influence roll that would
cause her to act against her Ideal as unacceptable
(Exalted, p. 220).
A character may undermine this Charm’s protection
with a special instill roll, which counts as opposing her
Ideal. He must make two rolls, paying the costs for any
Charms separately for each roll, and uses the lower
result. If he succeeds, the Dream-Souled can’t use this
Charm until she upholds her Ideal.
Perfect World Anticipation
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Dream-Measuring Insight
The Dream-Souled searches the world with the fervent
enthusiasm of a child who expects to find what they
desire.
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D

SOCIAL CHARM CONCEPTS

Half-Glimpsed Stranger Mystique (Essence 2; Sleepwalker’s Fugue): Successfully asserting Guile instills
the opposing character with a Tie of fascination for the Dream-Souled. It penalizes his Guile against her read
intentions rolls for the rest of the scene.

Another Life Apophenia (Essence 2; Half-Glimpsed Stranger Mystique): Cause a character who fails a read
intentions roll to believe he succeeded, receiving a result that is twisted either to align with the Dream-
Souled’s Ideal or to distance it from her Ideal.

Kindred Dreamer Recognition (Essence 2; Like Minds Deduction, Perfect World Anticipation): A read inten-
tions roll that reveals which of a character’s Intimacies is most closely aligned with or most opposed to the
Dream-Souled’s Ideal.

Mysterious Portent Manifestation (Essence 2; Unspoken Dream Dialogue): Use Unspoken Dream Dia-
logue to communicate without revealing the Dream-Souled’s identity to the recipient.

Shared Dream Unity (Essence 2; Unspoken Dream Dialogue): When using Unspoken Dream Dialogue, each
participant can respond with one influence roll or up to ten seconds of speech. This takes no time in reality.
An Essence 3 repurchase allows for communication and social influence equivalent to an hour of discussion.

Dissolution of Identity (Essence 3; Prerequisite Charms: Another Life Apophenia): The Dream-Souled seals
away her memories and Intimacies. She chooses an archetypal figure, like “gladiator,” “street urchin,” or
“scheming courtier,” and gains false memories and Intimacies appropriate to such an identity.

The Dream-Souled doubles 9s on a read intentions or
profile character roll. Once per day, if success reveals
information that promotes or aligns with her Ideal, she
gains one Willpower and loses one Limit.
Reality-Supplanting Influence
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Exciting Catharsis
The Dream-Souled expresses her Ideal with beautiful
words or apocalyptic sermons, swaying new believers to
her cause.
The Dream-Souled adds a non-Charm success on an
instill roll to share her Ideal or to weaken a Principle
contrary to her Ideal. The Willpower cost to resist
increases by one.
The Dream-Souled offers a better world, inspiring hope
and defiance.
When a character who can perceive the Dream-Souled
enters a Decision Point, she may use this Charm to give
him the option of citing her Ideal in that Decision Point.
If he does, he gains the Ideal as a Minor Principle.
With an Essence 3 repurchase, when multiple char-
acters enter Decision Points in response to the same
influence, the Dream-Souled may pay a one-Willpower
surcharge to grant all such characters who can per-
ceive her access to her Ideal.
Rose Blooms by Night
Cost: —(7m); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Unspoken Dream Dialogue

Shared Vision Inspiration The Dream-Souled gleams in her beholder’s eye, radiant
Cost: 1m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2 with a beauty that cannot be found in waking life.
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None When the Dream-Souled makes an influence roll
Duration: Instant against someone who’s sleeping or through Unspoken
Prerequisite Charms: Reality-Supplanting Influence Dream Dialogue, she counts as having a bonus dot of
Appearance, which can raise her above Appearance 5.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
She may reflexively commit seven motes to apply this
bonus Appearance on all influence rolls for one scene.
Mobility
Cloud-Dancing Footwork
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Until next turn
Prerequisite Charms: None
So long as the Dream-Souled doesn’t pay attention to
where she’s standing, it could be solid ground, couldn’t
it?
The Dream-Souled gains perfect balance and can move
over surfaces too narrow or weak to support her nor-
mally without needing to roll. She must move at least
one range band to gain this benefit; she can’t benefit
from this Charm while standing in place. If she ends
her movement on a surface that couldn’t support her
without this Charm and doesn’t use this Charm again
on her next turn, she suffers the normal consequences
of this.
A second purchase of this Charm lets the Dream-
Souled pay a one-mote surcharge to move across water
and similar unstable surfaces and to move over harm-
ful surfaces such as lava without consequence.
A third purchase lets the Dream-Souled pay two-mote
surcharge to move up or down sheer vertical surfac-
es or move upside down on horizontal surfaces like
ceilings.
A fourth purchase at Essence 3 lets the Dream-Souled
pay a three-mote surcharge to move across thin air.
She can’t move vertically while walking on air — she
could walk over a pit trap or even from one edge of a
canyon to another but can’t rise or fall through the air.
Eternal Nomad Wanderlust
Cost: —(1m); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Pilot
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Dream-Souled moves through the world as if in a
dream, heedless of prosaic obstacles.
For one mote, the Dream-Souled can invoke one of the
following effects:
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• Reroll 6s until they cease to appear on a rush,
disengage, or withdraw roll.
• Negate one point of penalty on a Ride roll from
her mount’s fatigue, its barding’s mobility penal-
ty, or the terrain.
• Negate one point of penalty to the Speed of a
ship she pilots from wind, currents, or from Hull
damage for a Sail roll or one hour of travel.
Right-Behind-You Terror
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Unseen by her enemies, the Dream-Souled becomes an
ambiguous presence, everywhere and nowhere.
To use this Charm, the Dream-Souled must be in
concealment. She may take a non-movement action
as though she were at any point within short range,
as long as it’s an adequate hiding spot to maintain
concealment. She can’t use this Charm on actions that
affect someone who’s seen through her stealth — to
them, her location is definite.
The Road Unremembered
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cloud-Dancing Footwork (x3),
Eternal Nomad Wanderlust
As if traveling in a dream, the Dream-Souled moves
seamlessly from place to place, eliding the space in
between.
The Dream-Souled and up to (Essence x2) other will-
ing characters appear at a destination within ten miles.
This is not instantaneous, but neither the travelers nor
anyone else recall the journey — instead, some amount
of time simply passes “off-screen,” typically half the
amount the journey would normally take. This Charm
won’t let the Dream-Souled move past insurmountable
or dramatically challenging obstacles along the road,
such as a blizzard assailing a winding mountain path,
the sentinels guarding a Dynast’s estate, or a sorcerous
wall of flames. Instead, the Dream-Souled and her
companions arrive at the challenge’s location and must
overcome it as usual to continue on with this Charm.
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D

MOBILITY CHARM CONCEPTS

Fire-Eyed HarbingerÕs Approach (Essence 2; Eternal Nomad Wanderlust): Move with greater speed when
traveling to protect or uphold an Ideal, whether by foot, mount, or ship.

World-Changing Stride (Essence 2; Cloud-Dancing Footwork, Dreamstuff-Sculpting Reverie): Transform

difficult terrain beneath the Dream-Souled’s feet into a more easily traversable surface.

A Dream of Flight (Essence 3; Cloud-Dancing Footwork x3): Gain the power of flight, with a recurring Will-
power cost to maintain it.

Distance-Eliminating Transition (Essence 3; The Road Unremembered): As long as no one observes the
Dream-Souled’s party, travel along The Road Unremembered is instantaneous. If used with Fire-Eyed Har-
binger’s Approach, the distance the Dream-Souled can traverse increases.

Its cost is waived when resuming a journey that’s in-
terrupted this way.
Tracking rolls made to follow movement facilitat-
ed by this Charm suffer a penalty of (Essence). If a
character is actively pursuing the Dream-Souled and
her companions when she uses this Charm, he rolls
(Perception + Survival) opposing her (Manipulation
+ [Larceny, Survival, or Stealth]). If he succeeds, he
appears at the destination along with the other char-
acters, positioned similarly relative to them as he was
before this Charm was used. If he fails the roll, his
player chooses between having him be left behind or
having him be taken along with the Dream-Souled but
losing her trail. Such characters don’t count against the
limit this Charm can transport.
This Charm can’t be used in combat.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Hearteaters
A starving refugee fleeing through the Wyld finds a strange
reliquary from another age, filled with pearlescent bones.
She can hear them singing to her as she approaches, calling
out alone, alone, alone. She touches them, and she is Exalted.
For a fleeting instant, the aurora sings inside her soul, filling
every part of her being with glory and inspiration. But then
the song turns to a scream as the thing that dwelt within
the bones batters her senses, seeking to devour her mind
and steal her body. Her will to survive is fierce, fiercer than
the ancient monster in her soul, and it is she who devours
the beast. But there is no feeling of triumph in this. Now
she is the monster, and she is so terribly alone.
The Death of Aurora
Counted as the most beautiful among the Celestial
Incarnae (p. XX), Aurora ruled over the lights that
bear his name. Artistic, passionate, and gentle, Aurora
nonetheless joined in his siblings’ Divine Revolution.
His Chosen, the Aurorals, were muses, teachers, and
spiritual guides, strengthening the morale and protect-
ing the hearts of the Exalted’s forces.
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Then the enemies of the gods murdered Aurora and,
upon his still-beating heart, cursed his Chosen, invert-
ing their Exaltation’s nature and twisting them into
the Hearteaters, monstrous Exalted with the power to
break minds and make willing pawns of their victims.
But to the ancients’ dismay, their curse did not turn
the Hearteaters against their allies; Aurora’s orphans
continued to fight alongside their fellow Chosen, sat-
isfying their monstrous appetites upon the enemies of
the gods.
As the First Age dawned amidst the Divine Revolution’s
aftermath, the Hearteaters troubled the other Exalted.
They had little place in a peaceful realm without a
great enemy to direct their hunger against. Some strug-
gled to find a place for themselves — assassins hunting
down the Realm’s foes and claiming them as pawns,
guardians battling inhuman horrors at the world’s
edge, cult leaders recruiting willing disciples to sate
their hunger. But in time, the other Exalted betrayed
the Hearteaters, murdering their pawns to prevent
their Exaltations from reincarnating and sealing their
imperishable bones away in prisons deep within the
Wyld.
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D
HUNGRY MENTORS
Occasionally, the hungry ghost (Exalted, p. 503) of a Hearteater’s previous incarnation remains tethered to its
pearlescent bones, waiting for a successor to find the Exaltation caged within. This inhuman revenant may act
as a mentor, whether following the new Hearteater or lingering as an oracle in its tomb. Much more powerful
than a mortal’s hungry ghosts, they are three-dot Allies or two-dot Mentors.
For much of the First Age, these great prisons held, and
the might of the Old Realm smote down any Hearteater
who escaped them. When history repeated itself in
the Usurpation, the death of the Solars diminished
and warped the greatest of the magics that sealed the
Hearteaters away. The great invasion of the Fair Folk
sundered the last remaining bindings on many of these
prisons entirely, opening the way for any mortal foolish
enough to wander into the Wyld to free a Hearteater’s
Exaltation.
Starving and Alone
While the Aurorals strove to uplift and inspire others,
the Hearteaters’ corruption has warped this into a
bone-deep hunger for reverence and acclaim; a desper-
ate need to be seen, to be heard, to be loved or hated; to
not be alone. But no audience’s applause, no words of
praise, no lover’s embrace can ease this all-consuming
need for long. She must prey upon others, breaking
their mind and devouring their will until nothing is left
but a loyal pawn, an extension of herself. Seeing herself
through her pawn’s eyes, she knows that he loves and
reveres her, for she gives him no other choice, and for a
time, her hunger is sated.
Claiming a pawn demands persistence and dedication.
A Hearteater must ensnare her prey’s heart, stirring his
passions for her — be they love, hate, or fear — to open
his soul to her. A Hearteater’s first pawn is often one of
those closest to them, one whose emotional ties to her
make them easy prey: a trusted traveling companion,
an old friend, a lover, a child. Young Hearteaters can
only prey on mortals of weak will, but as they grow in
experience and power, they can break the strongest
minds and bind beasts, gods, and stranger things.
A pawn’s mind remains intact and conscious, retaining
that portion of his free will that the Hearteater permits
him. When needs must, a Hearteater may step into
her pawn’s body, seizing absolute and unquestionable
control over him; all he can do is watch from the back
of his mind as she commits atrocities with his stolen
hands.
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Some Hearteaters, especially the newly Exalted,
delude themselves, believing their pawns serve them
freely out of genuine loyalty, that when they usurp a
pawn’s body it is because he permits them. This pleas-
ant lie lets them live with themselves, but it cannot
last. In time, every Hearteater confronts the truth of
what they’ve become and what they’ve done. Some
give in to despair, surrendering to their monstrous
hunger. Others struggle against their nature, refusing
to prey on the minds of others for as long as they can
deny themselves.
Hearteaters and Other Exalted
A Hearteater inherits the memories of her Exaltation’s
predecessors, and the most vivid among them are the
memory of the Hearteaters’ betrayal at the hands of the
Exalted Host. Each Hearteater has their individual reac-
tion to these memories, but the majority have exhibited
animosity or outright vendetta against those Exalted.
The Bureau of Destiny and the Silver Pact both have
extensive institutional knowledge of the Hearteaters,
though younger Lunars and Sidereals may never have
heard of them. Hearteaters are among the few threats
great enough to unify the Sidereals and Lunars; both
know that leaving a Hearteater unchecked will result in
an existential crisis. Killing a Hearteater permanently
is a challenging ordeal, but Lunars and Sidereals work-
ing together have succeeded in isolating them from
their pawns, pursuing Hearteater Exaltations through
multiple consecutive reincarnations, and imprisoning
living Hearteaters.
At the height of the Shogunate, Dragon-Blooded sohei
of the Immaculate Faith patrolled the world’s edge for
Hearteaters, raising the Wyld Hunt against them and
leading the attack. In modern times, the Realm and
Lookshy are too far to have had any significant interac-
tion with Hearteaters, and the relevant portions of the
Immaculate Texts have faded into scholarly obscurity.
Ever since the Exaltation of the first Sovereign of
Uluiru (p. XX), the Hearteaters across the Northwest
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
have been called to the wellspring of their divine pa-
tron’s blood that lies beneath the city. It is their ambi-
tion to reclaim the Fount of Glories — whether to bathe
themselves in Aurora’s blood, hoard it as a relic of his
passing, or simply take it from those they deem un-
worthy. The Sovereigns know little of the Hearteaters’
true nature, but they know enough to fear them, taking
extensive countermeasures against infiltration.
Traits
Hearteaters are intended for Celestial play (p. XX).
Anima
The Hearteater’s anima begins as a billowing mist
of pale colors, most commonly opalescent blues and
greens. As it grows, it becomes an aurora trailing in
ribbons that pulse like swollen arteries. Hearteaters’
iconic animas may take the form of monstrous but
beautiful horrors, masked or faceless legions, or pred-
atory or parasitic animals, etc. These visual manifesta-
tions are typically accompanied by displays of sound:
the haunting peal of crystalline bells, the frenzied
prayers of the Hearteater’s pawns, a rumbling growl at
the very edge of human hearing, etc.
Anima Effects
Hearteaters can spend one mote to perform one of the
following effects:
• Discern the precise time of day and the locations
of any auroras within (Essence x50) miles.
• Sense the direction and approximate distance to
one of their pawns.
They also have access to the following anima powers:
Gaze Upon Me: For five motes, add (higher of Essence
or 3) non-Charm dice on an inspire or instill roll that
causes others to experience, value, or understand the
Hearteater’s emotions. Resisting the influence requires
citing at least a Minor Intimacy in a Decision Point and
spending one Willpower. Those with Ties toward the
Hearteater must cite an Intimacy of equal or greater
value to resist. At bonfire, this power is free.
Queen Takes Pawn: For 10 motes and one Willpower,
the Hearteater may attempt to claim a mortal human
as a pawn. The Willpower cost is waived against triv-
ial characters. The target’s Willpower can’t exceed
(higher of Hearteater’s Essence or 3) and he must have
a Major or Defining Tie to her or something closely
associated with her, like a kingdom she rules or a
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heterodox Immaculate theology she preaches. She rolls
([Charisma or Manipulation] + [Occult, Performance,
or Presence]) with (her target’s Intimacy) non-Charm
successes as a unique influence roll against his Resolve.
If she succeeds, she claims him as a pawn. If she fails,
she can’t use this power on him again for the rest of
the story.
Ravening Horror Pursuit: For three motes, add
(higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm dice on a roll to
track a character that the Hearteater could make a
pawn, or on a roll to navigate to a location populated
by potential pawns. While tracking a group of at least
a dozen potential pawns or navigating to a city-sized
settlement, the bonus is converted to non-Charm
successes.
Pawns
A Hearteater’s pawns gain Defining Ties of loyal sub-
servience to her, which can’t be weakened or altered
by any means. They are also incapable of voluntarily
forming or strengthening negative Ties toward the
Hearteater, although existing Ties linger and other
characters can instill such Intimacies with influence
rolls. The Hearteater can always communicate with her
pawns, mind-to-mind, regardless of distance, and they
can make influence rolls through this connection. The
Hearteater can persuade a pawn to perform an incon-
venient task (Exalted, p. 216) without needing to roll.
By meditating, the Hearteater can assume total con-
trol over a pawn within (Essence x5) miles, making
his senses her own and controlling him in body and
mind. The Hearteater’s overriding influence is de-
picted by having her player control all that character’s
actions. The pawn’s mental and social actions use the
Hearteater’s dice pools and static values, while physi-
cal actions use the pawn’s dice pools and static values.
Any dice over the Hearteater’s (Attribute + Ability +
specialty) or any static value bonuses over her base
value count as Charm dice, potentially preventing her
from using a pawn’s full dice pool. Her control lapses
if the pawn goes beyond (Essence x5) miles from her.
While controlling a pawn, the Hearteater doesn’t
suffer any damage or negative effects that her pawn
does, although she still suffers his wound penalties
and penalties from other physical negative effects on
actions taken through him. Influence rolls and other
effects that target the mind apply to the controlling
Hearteater rather than the pawn. The Hearteater’s own
wound penalties also penalize her actions through the
pawn, as do any other penalties that would impede her
ability to focus her mind and exert mental domination
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D
over her pawn. If a pawn is incapacitated while being
controlled, the Hearteater suffers a mental backlash,
taking (10 – her Resolve) dice of bashing damage, ig-
noring Hardness. If a controlled pawn dies, she suffers
(15 – her Resolve) damage dice.
Hearteaters can’t use their Charms or other magic
through pawns unless they specify otherwise or she
has Heart-Eaten Avatar (p. XX). If she has the Charms
to claim supernatural beings as pawns, she can use
their magic while controlling them, paying the costs
with the pawn’s resources.
A Hearteater may have up to (Essence + Willpower)
pawns at any one time, with Charms like Becoming the
Multitude (p. XX) increasing this limit. Charms like
Caging the Wayward Wren (p. XX) expand the range of
possible pawns she can claim beyond mortal humans.
Being a pawn is a Psyche effect. Magic capable of ex-
orcising possessing spirits, such as Burning Exorcism
Technique (Exalted, p. 356) can also free pawns.
Recognizing a pawn’s condition for what it truly is
requires a difficulty 3-7 (Perception + Occult) roll, with
the precise difficulty varying based on the observing
character’s background, specialties, and familiarity
with the pawn, as well as any relevant facts introduced
with Lore rolls. A liberated pawn retains his Defining
Tie toward the Hearteater, but it can now be weakened.
Martial Arts
Hearteaters aren’t restricted by the Terrestrial key-
word, but neither do they have any access to the
Mastery keyword.
Sorcery
Hearteaters are capable of initiating into the Terrestrial
and Celestial Circles of sorcery.
Evocations
Hearteaters are resonant with adamant (p. XX), and
neither resonant nor dissonant with any of the magical
materials (Arms of the Chosen, p. 16).
Great Curse
The Hearteater’s Great Curse manifests through
their unslakable hunger for adulation and attention.
They have a Limit track and experience Limit Breaks.
Like most Exalted, they gain Limit when they violate
a Major or Defining Intimacy (p. XX). They have a
shared Limit Trigger, gaining Limit when they go
too long without claiming a pawn. The frequency
with which they must do so increases as their Limit
rises. The specific requirements can be tailored to the
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amount of emphasis the play group wants to give a
Hearteater player character’s hunger.
Animals and other non-sapient pawns are less satis-
fying than people, requiring a Hearteater to take such
pawns more frequently to stave off Limit. Past a certain
amount of Limit, they no longer provide any benefit.
Mindless pawns, like zombies, never prevent Limit.
Concepts for Hearteater Limit Breaks include:
The Devourer Unleashed: The Hearteater can no
longer contain her monstrous hunger. She must take
any opportunity she can to claim a pawn, capable of
sparing only those she has positive Ties toward. She
waives the cost to do so.
Look Upon Me: The agony of the Hearteater’s hun-
ger pangs drives her to degrade herself by feeding on
paltry fare. She must seek out the attention of others,
whether it takes the form of worship, adulation, love,
hate, fear, or other passions.
Slavering Horror Contagion: The Hearteater’s ra-
pacity spills over into her pawns. They suffer mental
corruption related to or thematically associated with
one of the Hearteater’s Intimacies that’s relevant to
her hunger or recent narrative events involving it. The
Hearteater’s control can’t override this corruption.
Thousand Faces Blight: The Hearteater’s starved
delirium blurs the boundaries between her and her
pawns. She’s infected with emotions, memories, and
Intimacies from them, or the inhuman mindset of
pawns that are animals, strange spirits, and the like.
Alternatively, if your playgroup wants to deemphasize
their monstrous hunger or give a Hearteater play char-
acter greater latitude in dealing with it, you can use a
roleplay-based Curse (p. XX).
Longevity and Death
Hearteaters are thought to be as long-lived as the
Aurorals, with lifespans of up to three thousand
years — though none have ever died of old age. Upon
a Hearteater’s death, her Exaltation transmigrates to a
human pawn within (Essence) miles. The twisted echo
of Aurora’s will that guides her Exaltation chooses a
pawn with both heroic potential and an emotional and
mental compatibility with her.
The Hearteater’s mind clashes with the newly Chosen
pawn’s, struggling for dominance. Typically, neither
can conclusively overcome the other, resulting is a
gestalt of the two that is essentially a new individual.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

When one does predominate, they subsume the other’s

consciousness into their own, remaining themselves,
though not entirely unchanged.
There’s no dice roll for the conflict between Hearteater
and pawn. Hearteater player characters are assumed
to always predominate, unless their player wants to
start over with a new character. A predominating
Hearteater’s player may reallocate her Physical
Attribute dots to better reflect the pawn’s physical
abilities, as magnified by Exaltation. She loses any
mutations and is refunded their experience cost. Her
other traits remain unchanged. At the Storyteller’s dis-
cretion, she may take on some of the subsumed Pawn’s
Intimacies or gain a Derangement reflecting the effects
of absorbing his psyche.
A predominating pawn’s Exalted power manifests
in her traits like a newly Exalted Solar’s (Exalted, p.
125). He doesn’t retain the Essence rating or any other
supernatural powers of the preceding Hearteater,
though he may gain Intimacies or a Derangement from
absorbing her, as above. If the two form a gestalt, the
new individual that arises from it uses character cre-
ation similar to that for newly Exalted Solars.
If a Hearteater dies without any pawns within range,
her Exaltation does not pass on. Its Essence is caged
in her bones, transforming them to opal and rendering
them imperishable. The Exaltation passes onto the first
mortal to touch the bones. There is no clash of wills
with the dead Hearteater, though one only recently
dead may manifest strongly among their successor’s
past lives.
Hearteater Charms
Hearteaters both exploit and empower their pawns,
amassing thralls to serve as implements of her will.
Their monstrous power preys on their enemies’
Intimacies and emotions, but has an eerie beauty to it.
Excellencies
Hearteaters don’t have formalized Excellencies; they can
add dice to any (Attribute + Ability) roll or increase any
static value for which they have an applicable Ability at
3+ or an Attribute at 5, paying one mote per die. They may
add up to (Attribute + 1) dice to rolls. Actions that uphold
one of the Hearteater’s Intimacies or exploit an oppos-
ing character’s Intimacy increase this by (Intimacy).
Automatic successes count as two dice towards this limit.
Static values such as Evasion or Resolve can be raised by
half this dice cap, rounded down.
Pawns
Beloved Toy Renewal
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater keeps her toys in good order.
The Hearteater heals a pawn with a gesture of physical
intimacy, or while directly controlling him. She rolls
([Charisma or Intelligence] + [Medicine or Presence]),
doubling 8s, to determine how many levels of non-ag-
gravated damage she heals. The pawn heals up to
(Hearteater’s Essence) levels of damage instantly, and
the remaining levels after a day’s rest.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the Hearteater may pay
a five-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to instantly heal
damage for all her rolled success.
Favored Pawn Maneuver
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Beloved Toy Renewal
The Hearteater lavishes attention on a pawn, bringing
him further under her control.
With a gesture of physical intimacy, like an embrace
or kiss, the Hearteater transfers up to (Charisma or
Manipulation) Willpower to a pawn, or up to (Essence
x3) motes to a pawn with a mote pool. The first time
the Hearteater uses this Charm on a given pawn in a
scene, he also gains a Minor Intimacy of her choice. He
can’t voluntarily erode it until he next sleeps.
Caging the Wayward Wren
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater exists in birds and rats and vermin, in
the serpent coiled around your neck and the hungry
wolves that roam the wilderness.
The Hearteater may claim animals that would be one-
dot or two-dot familiars (Exalted, p. 161) as pawns.

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They need not have an Intimacy to her. She waives the
Willpower cost against one-dot familiars.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the Hearteater may pay
a one-Willpower surcharge to claim an animal that
would be a three-dot Familiar. It counts as three pawns
towards the Hearteater’s maximum.
Identity-Devouring Maw
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Even as the Hearteater slakes her ravenous appetite, it
demands more of her.
The Hearteater adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-
Charm dice on rolls to claim pawns and increases the
maximum number of pawns she can have to (Essence
+ Willpower + 5).
Broken Paragon Binding
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Identity-Devouring Maw
The Hearteater subverts the wills of great heroes and
puissant wonder-workers.
The Hearteater may claim un-Exalted humans with
supernatural powers as pawns, including God-Blooded
and sorcerers. Their Essence can’t be higher than the
Hearteater’s. They count as (their Essence) pawns
towards the Hearteater’s maximum.
Captive Hearts Mausoleum
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Broken Paragon Binding
Death cannot part the Hearteater from her toys.
The Hearteater adds (higher of Essence or 3) dice on
instill and inspire rolls against the undead. When a hu-
man or animal pawn dies, he always lingers as a ghost
rather than passing into Lethe. The ghost remains a
pawn, and can’t enter Lethe while the Hearteater lives.
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An Essence 3 repurchase lets the Hearteater claim
un-Exalted undead as pawns. Their Essence can’t be
higher than hers. They count as (their Essence) pawns
towards the Hearteater’s maximum.
Soul-Gnawing Blight
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Identity-Devouring Maw
The Hearteater drinks deep of even the strongest wills.
The Hearteater adds (lowest of Charisma,
Manipulation, or Wits) to the maximum Willpower for
her potential pawns (p. XX). Claiming trivial pawns is
free and no longer requires a roll.
With Essence 3, the bonus increases to the highest of
the three Attributes.
Pawn-Forsaking Sacrifice
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Gnawing Blight
Though the Hearteater may free her pawns, there is little
mercy in it.
While controlling a pawn directly, the Hearteater re-
leases him from her service. She may do so gently, or
she may make her exit psychologically devastating, re-
vealing repressed memories, flooding her victim with
irrational thoughts, or breaking him psychologically
with her departing monologue.
The victim of a psychological attack becomes unable
to convey any useful information about the Hearteater
for at least (6 – his Integrity) days. Rolls against his
Guile likewise never provide relevant information.
He may be unable to bring himself to speak about the
Hearteater, or find his memories of her blurry or absent
entirely. She can render trivial characters comatose for
months, requiring extensive medical care to survive.
With an Essence 3 repurchase, the Hearteater can use
this Charm on pawns she isn’t controlling directly for
one mote, one Willpower. She can brutalize pawns’
minds to conceal information from rolls opposing her
pawn’s Guile, intuitively sensing any relevant opportu-
nities to do so.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
Stolen Genius Inspiration
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater reaches out mentally to access her
pawns’ collective skills and expertise.
When the Hearteater takes a mental or social action,
she may use the Ability rating of a pawn within medi-
um range instead of her own. If that pawn uses Quick
Character traits, the Storyteller should assign an ef-
fective rating based on his dice pools and background
(typically half his applicable dice pool, rounded up).
Each purchase of Soul-Fisher’s Lure (p. XX) increases
this Charm’s range by one band.
Mind-Mosaic Concentration
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Stolen Genius Inspiration
The Hearteater builds her memory palace from the
wreckage of other minds.
The Hearteater doubles 9s on a roll to introduce or
challenge a fact and can access her pawns’ Lore back-
grounds. She can synthesize multiple pawns’ back-
grounds to introduce facts that none of them could
introduce or challenge on their own.
Alternatively, the Hearteater can access a pawn’s
language to gain fluency in it for approximately ten
seconds of speech or an equivalent amount of written
text. With Essence 3, she gains permanent fluency in
all languages her pawns know, without needing to use
this Charm.
Stoking the Fever-Forge
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: One task
Prerequisite Charms: Stolen Genius Inspiration
The Hearteater suffuses an organization’s members
with single-minded intensity to hasten their labors.
The Hearteater speeds an organization’s proj-
ect (Exalted, p. 226) or other bureaucratic task,
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dividing the time required for it by (Essence + [Charisma,
Intelligence, or Manipulation] + [Bureaucracy,
Presence, or Socialize]). If it’s led by her or one of her
Pawns, she counts as having at least Essence 5 for this
calculation. Pawns working on the task don’t need food,
water, or sleep while working on the project, and regain
Willpower from laboring instead of sleeping.
This Charm doesn’t speed physical labor. It acceler-
ates planning, authorization, allocation of resources,
and similar bureaucratic tasks. The Hearteater must
interact with the organization to use this Charm, but
doesn’t need to lead it — soliciting the task or aiding
the organization is sufficient.
With Essence 2, all members of the organization work-
ing on the project cease to need food, water, and sleep.
With Essence 3, the Hearteater gains one Willpower
upon the task’s successful completion.
Becoming the Multitude
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Identity-Devouring Maw
The Hearteater’s hunger drives her beyond her limits,
swelling her pawns’ ranks.
The Hearteater adds (Essence) dice on command ac-
tions to lead battle groups of pawns. She can claim up
to 100 pawns. This increases to 250 at Essence 3, 500 at
Essence 4, and 1,000 at Essence 5.
Mind-Battering Intrusion
Cost: —(+1wp); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Becoming the Multitude,
Soul-Gnawing Blight
The faintest emotions are enough to invite the Hearteater
into one’s mind.
The Hearteater may pay a one-Willpower surcharge to
claim a character as a pawn even if he only has a Minor
Tie to her.
Caged Soul Union
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
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PAWN CHARM CONCEPTS

Memory Extraction Technique (Essence 2; Stolen Genius Inspiration): Access a pawn’s memories with
eidetic recall.

Ichneumon Memorial Engram (Essence 2; Memory Extraction Technique, Piece-Promoting Advance):

Transplant a Hearteater’s memories, personality, or Intimacies to a pawn.

Mind-Warping Ravages (Essence 2; Ichneumon Memorial Engram, Pawn-Forsaking Sacrifice): When the
Hearteater releases a pawn, she can make alterations to his memories, personality, and Intimacies.

As I Would Have You (Essence 3; Beloved Toy Renewal): Use Beloved Toy Renewal to heal crippling injuries
or undo body-altering Shaping effects.

Mine and Mine Alone (Essence 3; As I Would Have You): Use Beloved Toy Renewal to undo Psyche effects,
non-physical Shaping effects, or curses, or exorcise possessing spirits.

Legion-Self Embodiment (Essence 4; One Will, Many Faces): Directly control a battle group of pawns,
granting them elite Drill, perfect morale, and Might.

Servitude in Freedom (Essence 4; Mind-Warping Ravages): When the Hearteater releases a pawn, she can
leave behind complex hypnotic programming.

Duration: Instant Heartless Beast Bond

Prerequisite Charms: Stolen Genius Inspiration
The boundaries between Hearteater and pawn blur as
they harmonize in body and mind.
While directly controlling a pawn, the Hearteater can use
her dice pools and static values for physical actions and the
pawn’s dice pools and static values for social or mental action.
Piece-Promoting Advance
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Caged Soul Union
The Hearteater imbues a pawn with her own experience,
knowledge, and skill.
When a pawn within long range uses an Ability that the
Hearteater has at 3+, she adds a non-Charm success on
his roll or a +1 non-Charm bonus to a static value. If she
has an applicable specialty, her pawn benefits from it.
This Charm can be used while the Hearteater is direct-
ly controlling a pawn to enhance his actions.
With Essence 4, if the Hearteater has the relevant
Ability at 5, she adds two non-Charm successes or a +2
non-Charm bonus to a static value.
Cost: 10m, 1wp, 1xp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Caging the Wayward Wren
The Hearteater strengthens the bond between herself
and a familiar by subsuming it into her collective being.
The Hearteater confers the following benefits on an
animal familiar that’s a pawn:
• Heart-Eaten Hive Enthrallment: The familiar
can claim animals as pawns for the Hearteater, as
per Caging the Wayward Wren. The Hearteater
still pays the cost to do so and makes the roll.
• Hollow Soul Companion: The familiar doesn’t
count towards the Hearteater’s maximum num-
ber of pawns.
• Starveling Beast Hunger: The Hearteater can
use Ravening Horror Pursuit (p. XX) to enhance
the familiar’s tracking and navigation rolls.
• Will-Honing Perfection: The familiar gains +2
Resolve against fear-based influence.
This Charm’s experience point cost is waived the first
time the Hearteater uses it. If a familiar enhanced by

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
this Charm dies, the Hearteater regains any experience
spent enhancing it.
Opalescent Mercy Enthrallment
Cost: —(+5m); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Beloved Toy Renewal
Seeing the potential that others hold to serve her will, the
Hearteater graces them with her benevolence.
The Hearteater can pay a five-mote surcharge to use
Favored Toy Renewal on Circlemates and characters
she could claim as a pawn. She doesn’t double 8s.
Healed characters gain a Minor Tie of reverence to her
unless they pay one Willpower.
The Hearteater can’t instantly heal non-pawns with
Favored Toy Renewal’s repurchase.
Soul-Fisher’s Lure
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Identity-Devouring Maw
The Hearteater haunts her pawns from afar.
The range at which the Hearteater can directly control
her pawns increases to (Essence x10) miles.
A second purchase at Essence 3 extends this to
(Essence x25) miles.
A third purchase at Essence 4 lets the Hearteater pay
a one-Willpower surcharge to extend her range to
(Essence x100) miles.
A fourth purchase at Essence 5 lets her pay a one-Will-
power surcharge to waive the distance limit entirely
Pawn Becomes Queen
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 2xp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Piece-Promoting Advance
The Hearteater raises up one of her pawns — though not
so high as herself.
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The Hearteater grants a pawn a pool of (her Essence +
5) motes. He can add up to (Hearteater’s Essence) dice
on rolls to serve her or her interests, paying one mote
per die. He can add up to (her Essence/2, rounded up) to
static values when it would benefit the Hearteater, paying
two motes per +1 bonus. These motes can only be used
to attune artifacts if they were created by the Hearteater.
If the empowered character ceases to be a pawn, he
loses this Charm’s benefits. The Hearteater recovers
the experience spent on an empowered pawn if he
is freed from her, dies, or otherwise leaves the story
permanently.
Heart-Eaten Avatar
Cost: 5m, 1wp (1m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: (Essence) rounds
Prerequisite Charms: Pawn Becomes Queen
Under the Hearteater’s control, her pawns become mira-
cle workers, heritors of her supernatural prowess.
While directly controlling a pawn, the Hearteater
can use her non-Permanent Charms and other magic
through him.
The Hearteater can’t combine her Charms with a su-
pernatural pawn’s own magic. If she uses a Charm, all
of her pawn’s ongoing magic ends, and vice versa.
This Charm’s cost is one mote, one Willpower for
pawns empowered by Pawn Becomes Queen.
Wandering Heart Embodiment
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Caged Soul Union
The Hearteater divides her consciousness among her
bodies, acting simultaneously through them.
The Hearteater doesn’t need to meditate to directly
control a pawn. In combat, she can flurry to take actions
both as herself and through a pawn. She can still make
only one attack action and one movement action per
round. Both she and the controlled pawn act on the
highest Initiative tick between them. If the Hearteater
doesn’t flurry to act through her pawn, he does nothing.
While using this Charm, the Hearteater waives Caged
Soul Union’s mote cost.
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D
One Will, Many Faces
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Wandering Heart
Embodiment
The Hearteater is a being of many bodies, countless eyes
and limbs of a single monstrous will.
The Hearteater can directly control up to (Essence)
pawns simultaneously, committing two motes for
each pawn beyond the first. She must still flurry to act
through them, but can include three actions in a flurry
if all of them are taken through pawns
Empire-Self Expansion
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Becoming the Multitude,
Heart-Eaten Avatar, Soul-Fisher’s Lure (x4)
At the apex of her monstrous apotheosis, the Hearteater’s
hunger grows beyond her power to ever sate.
The Hearteater can have innumerable pawns — unless
a precise number is relevant, she has as many trivial
pawns as she desires in each scene. These can be new
pawns that were claimed off-screen. If a precise count
is relevant, like when assembling battle groups, the
Hearteater may have up to ten thousand pawns, or
(Essence) Size 5 battle groups.
Offense
Cracking the Mask
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater’s understanding of her enemy hones her
precision.
The Hearteater rolls an attack against the lower of her
enemy’s Defense or Guile. If her stunt incorporates
her knowledge of one of her target’s Major or Defining
Intimacies, she adds (Intimacy) dice on her attack roll.
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Heart-Flaying Strike
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cracking the Mask
The Hearteater rends through both flesh and psyche,
ripping away her victim’s passions in bloody handfuls.
The Hearteater adds (Essence, maximum 5) dice of
post-soak withering damage or adds that many attack
roll extra successes as dice of decisive damage. If her
stunt incorporates her knowledge of one of her target’s
Major or Defining Intimacies, she also adds an auto-
matic success on the damage roll.
If this crashes the Hearteater’s foe or deals decisive
damage, she may weaken an exploited Intimacy by
one step. This is subject to the supporting Intimacy re-
quirement for weakening Intimacies with instill rolls
(Exalted, p. 215).
Many-Mouths Tactic
Cost: 3m (+1wp); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater is bolstered by her allies’ efforts, feeding
on their will to help herself.
When an ally makes a distract gambit that benefits the
Hearteater, its Initiative cost is waived. She can pay one
Willpower to reflexively make a decisive attack against
the gambit’s target, which doesn’t count as her attack
for the round. If the gambit is made by a pawn, it also
adds (Essence) dice on the attack and damage rolls.
Game-Closing Persistence
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Many-Mouths Tactic
The Hearteater and her pawns hunt together, running
down her foes as one.
An attack’s onslaught penalty doesn’t refresh for as
long as the Hearteater or a pawn is within close range
of the attacked enemy.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

OFFENSIVE CHARM CONCEPTS

Foe-Swarming Strategy (Essence 2; Game-Closing Persistence): Add an enemy’s onslaught penalty to the
maximum Initiative the Hearteater or one of her allies can transfer with a distract gambit against him and to
the damage roll of the attack the gambit enhances.

Captivating Aurora Feint (Essence 3; Foe-Swarming Strategy): A distract gambit by the Hearteater or one
of her pawns hits automatically.

Fatal Ruse Flourish (Essence 3; Captivating Aurora Feint): An attack enhanced by an ally’s distract gambit
becomes an ambush.

Eaten by the Sky (Essence 3; Life-Annihilating Aurora): Engulf an enemy in a baleful aurora that gradually
turns his body to opal if it is not driven off.

An Essence 3 repurchase extends this Charm’s range
to short.
Hunger Breeds Haste
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Game-Closing Persistence
As the Hearteater’s pawns pin down a foe, she seizes on
the moment to strike,.
As an additional cost to use this Charm, the Hearteater
must spend five of a pawn’s Initiative. She reflexively makes
a decisive attack against an enemy within close range of
that pawn. If the pawn is armed with a ranged weapon, the
Hearteater may attack an enemy anywhere within its range.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by succeeding on a
distract gambit against a nontrivial enemy or landing a
decisive attack against a nontrivial enemy that bene-
fits from an ally’s distract gambit.
Life-Annihilating Aurora
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Flaying Strike
A baleful aurora wreathes the Hearteater’s weapon,
an unhale light that calcifies flesh into pearlescent scar
tissue.
The Hearteater doubles 9s on a withering damage
roll. On a decisive attack, she doubles 10s and adds
(Charisma or Strength) dice of damage.
If the Hearteater kills an enemy with this Charm, his
bones turn to imperishable opal just like those of dead
Hearteaters — though unlike them, these bones harbor
no vestige of the victim’s self.
Will-Siphoning Victory Smirk
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Flaying Strike
The Hearteater finds satisfaction in her foe’s humiliation.
If the Hearteater rolls 2+ successes on a decisive dam-
age roll, she may forgo inflicting one level of damage
to steal one Willpower from her victim. If he has no
Willpower remaining, she steals (higher of Essence or
3) Initiative from him after she resets to base.
Against crashed enemies, the Hearteater doesn’t need
to forgo damage to steal Willpower.
Gruesome Rampage Orchestration
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Hunger Breeds Haste
The Hearteater and her pawns descend like impatient
vultures upon a corpse-to-be, ripping and tearing away
meat in a frenzy of violence.
The Hearteater makes (Essence + Pawns within close
range, maximum 5) decisive attacks against one or
more enemies. She doesn’t need to use the same Ability
for all attacks. Her Initiative is divided evenly among

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all attacks, rounded up, and doesn’t reset until the With Essence 2, the Hearteater can petrify herself
final attack is completed, assuming at least one hits. If while sleeping or meditating.
the Hearteater benefits from an ally’s distract gambit,
its bonus is doubled before dividing it among these Piece-Preserving Defense
attacks. Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Defense Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Opalescent Body Aegis Prerequisite Charms: None
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
The Hearteater and her pawns move through battle in
Type: Reflexive
an intricate dance, covering each other’s weaknesses.
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant or Indefinite. The Hearteater reflexively takes a defend other action
Prerequisite Charms: None or compels a pawn within range to reflexively do so for
her.
The Hearteater’s flesh and bone turn to opal, beautiful
and perdurant. Scintillating Veil Illusion
The Hearteater adds (Appearance or Stamina) armored Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
soak or gains (Appearance or Stamina) Hardness. Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Uniform
While directly controlling a pawn, the Hearteater Duration: Instant
may commit this Charm’s cost to petrify herself into a Prerequisite Charms: None
statue of living opal. She adds (Appearance + Stamina)
soak and gains Hardness (10 + Essence). This isn’t Many-colored afterimages trail the Hearteater’s move-
compatible with Wandering Heart Embodiment. ments, distracting and taunting her attackers.

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DEFENSIVE CHARM CONCEPTS

Many-Eyed Vigilance (Essence 1; Grace in Terror): Negate an unexpected attack’s penalty or defend against
an ambush with reduced Defense. This Charm is more effective if a pawn is aware of the attacker.

Position-Strengthening Defense (Essence 1; Piece-Preserving Defense, Willing Sacrifice Approach): Ex-

tend a defend other action to one scene, or do so for a pawn protecting the Hearteater.

Crystalline Fortress-Body (Essence 2; Opalescent Body Aegis): Withering damage rolls against the Heart-
eater are penalized for the rest of the scene, and she gains resilience against poison and disease.

Living Jewel Embodiment (Essence 2; Prerequisite Charms: Crystalline Fortress-Body): The Hearteater’s
body turns to living opal, conferring the benefits of heavy artifact armor.

Pawns Cast Aside (Essence 3; Position-Strengthening Defense): When the Hearteater’s pawn protects her
with a defend other action, she can force her attacker to direct his attack against the pawn. Once per scene.

Stolen Affection Defense (Essence 3; Grace in Terror): The Hearteater briefly appears to be the individual
her attacker has the strongest positive Tie for, forcing him to enter a Decision Point against that Intimacy or
miss. Even if he spends Willpower in the Decision Point, his attack is penalized.

1s subtract successes on an attack roll against the After a withering attack roll against a pawn but before the
Hearteater. On a miss, the enemy loses one Initiative. damage roll, the Hearteater can use this Charm to halve the
Attackers who don’t rely on sight are immune — though amount of Initiative the attacker receives, rounded down.
they suffer the −3 blindness penalty.
Social
At bonfire anima, 2s also subtract successes.
Audience-Capturing Performance
Grace in Terror
Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 1
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Psyche
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: One scene
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Prerequisite Charms: Scintillating Veil Illusion
The Hearteater compels her audience’s attention, en-
The Hearteater’s defense is elegance itself, a poem writ-
thralling and enticing them with monstrous allure.
ten in motion.
The Hearteater rolls ([Appearance or Charisma] +
The Hearteater halves all penalties to her Defense,
[Performance or Presence]) as a unique influence roll
rounded down. If she benefits from a defend other
against those can perceive her. Affected characters
action or if the attack roll is penalized by Scintillating
fall into a receptive, trance-like state that leaves them
Veil Illusion, she negates all Defense penalties instead.
unable to ignore the Hearteater’s words or leave her
This doesn’t affect penalties from surprise attacks.
performances. This doesn’t prevent them from taking
Willing Sacrifice Approach other actions, so long as their attention remains on her.
They can resist for one Willpower, or if their trance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
places them in imminent danger.
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Withering-only A character must spend a second Willpower to inter-
Duration: Instant rupt or attack the Hearteater while she’s speaking or
Prerequisite Charms: None performing. Such characters suffer a −2 penalty on
physical actions and −1 Defense against her for the
There is no advantage to be had in picking off the Hearteater’s
scene, still mesmerized by her power.
mindless retinue; they are inessential to her strategy.

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This Charm can’t be used in combat, although its effect
continues if combat begins.
Single-Minded Chorus
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Audience-Capturing
Performance
The Hearteater calls her pawns to perform at her side or
plants them in her audience as shills.
The Hearteater ignores multiple target penalties on
an influence roll. If at least one pawn is backing her or
within the targeted audience, she doubles 9s.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the Hearteater may pay
a four-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to double 8s if
at least five pawns are present.
Irresistible Gossip Epidemic
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Single-Minded Chorus
The Hearteater puts her words in the mouths of others,
writing the script for the bit players of her life.
A successful instill or inspire roll also compels af-
fected character to continue spreading that influence
through influence rolls, gossip, jokes, art, and the like.
This compulsion lasts (1 + Hearteater’s extra success-
es) days. It can be resisted for one Willpower, but this
must be done separately from resisting the influence
roll.
Empty Heart Defiance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater is unmoved by the worst tortures and
the sweetest seductions, her will a flawless diamond with
the howling emptiness of her hunger at its heart.
The Hearteater negates up to (Appearance, Stamina, or
Wits) points of penalties to her Resolve. She can’t ne-
gate penalties from Intimacies. Against influence that
would instill positive Ties or inspire positive emotions,
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excess points of penalty negation are converted to
a non-Charm Resolve bonus, maximum (higher of
Essence or 3).
When the Hearteater uses this Charm against a pawn’s
influence roll, he must pay one Willpower to make
it. If he doesn’t, he’s left at a loss for words, and can’t
reattempt that specific influence roll until he resets it
(Exalted, p. 222).
Exquisite Terror Allure
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater’s bearing is at once enticing and threat-
ening, a paradoxical allure that overwhelms the mind.
The Hearteater converts bonus dice from Appearance
(Exalted, p. 218) to non-Charm successes. She
gains them on threaten rolls even if she doesn’t have
Hideous, and on bargain rolls, inspire rolls, and rolls to
claim pawns.
Willing Lackey Dominance
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Exquisite Terror Allure
The Hearteater’s eerie charm makes obsequious ser-
vants even of those who aren’t her pawns.
The Hearteater rerolls 1s until they cease to appear on
a persuade, bargain, or threaten roll. If she succeeds,
her target also gains a Minor Principle reflecting his
enthusiasm or motivation to perform the task she de-
mands, chosen by his player.
Beautiful Monster Transformation
Cost: 7m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Exquisite Terror Allure
The Hearteater’s body warps and transforms, growing
crystalline talons, an opalescent carapace, or other fea-
tures both monstrous and enthralling.
The Hearteater gains a bonus dot of Appearance,
which can raise her over Appearance 5, and (higher of
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

SOCIAL CHARM CONCEPTS

Passion-Devouring Feast (Essence 2; Heart-Hollowing Repast): Purge someone’s strong emotions, leaving
him stoically calm and detached. Negating sufficiently strong emotions awards the Hearteater with Willpower.

Obeisant Retinue Encouragement (Essence 2; Empty Heart Defiance): The Hearteater can spend a pawn’s
Willpower to resist influence. Once per day.

Purpose in Conformity (Essence 2; Empty Heart Defiance): The Hearteater and her pawns receive a Resolve
bonus, which increases against influence that would instill positive Ties or inspire positive emotions.

Soul-Devouring Artistry (Essence 2; Irresistible Gossip Epidemic): The Hearteater’s performance is addic-
tive. Addiction counts as a Minor Tie of awe toward her.

The Art of Obsession (Essence 3; Soul-Devouring Artistry): The Hearteater can use Soul-Devouring Artistry
through writing and crafting.

Borrowed Heart Feint (Essence 3; Obeisant Retinue Encouragement): The Hearteater can invoke her pawns’
Intimacies in Decision Points, gaining it herself at Minor intensity.

Devouring Broken Minds (Essence 3; Passion-Devouring Feast): The Hearteater is awarded Willpower for
completely eroding a character’s Major or Defining Intimacies and can shed Limit if doing so upholds one of
her own Major or Defining Intimacies.

Passion-Plague Approach (Essence 3; Soul-Devouring Artistry): Unleash a contagious Psyche effect that
spreads a specific emotion throughout a community.

What’s Mine Is Yours (Essence 3; Obeisant Retinue Encouragement): Negate a Psyche effect afflicting the
Hearteater by diffusing it amongst her pawns, imposing a lessened form of that effect on them.

Rearrange the Board (Essence 3; Prerequisite Charms: Borrowed Heart Feint, What’s Mine Is Yours): Inter-
lacing her mind with a pawn’s, the Hearteater redirects an influence roll against her to him. Once per story.

Essence or 3) dots of mutations. These mutations are The Hearteater adds ([Appearance or Manipulation] /
chosen by the Hearteater’s player upon purchasing 2, rounded up) Guile.
this Charm and are the same with each use. She can’t
choose Hideous, and loses it if she has it. This Charm can be used while the Hearteater is direct-
ly controlling a pawn. If she uses it against an effect
The Hearteater can replace previously selected mu- that would reveal discrepancies in her impersonation
tations with new ones when the Hearteater’s Essence of the pawn, the Guile bonus is non-Charm.
increases.
Heart-Hollowing Repast
False Heart Affectation Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1 Type: Supplemental
Type: Reflexive Keywords: None
Keywords: Mute Duration: Instant
Duration: Instant Prerequisite Charms: None
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater’s will is inimical to individuality.
The Hearteater conceals her monstrosity behind pleas-
ant smiles and empty words. The Hearteater adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-
Charm dice on an instill roll to weaken an Intimacy.
Against pawns, she waives the supporting Intimacy re-
quirement to weaken Major and Defining Intimacies.

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Many-Faced Infiltration When the Hearteater succeeds on a roll opposing a

Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1 character’s Guile, her player may activate this Charm
Type: Permanent to speculate as to one of that character’s Ties of love,
Keywords: None lust, obsession, or similar intense positive feelings. If
Duration: Permanent she’s correct, the Hearteater intuitively discerns this
Prerequisite Charms: None Tie.

The Hearteater always has someone on the inside.
When the Hearteater interacts with an organization
of which any of her pawns are members, she gains the
following benefits:
• Bureaucracy rolls related to that organization
double 9s.
• Larceny and Stealth rolls to steal from the orga-
nization or infiltrate its premises double 9s.
• Strategic Maneuver rolls opposing an army to
which a pawn belongs convert bonus dice for
spies (Exalted, p. 212) to non-Charm successes.
• She adds +1 Guile against rolls that would reveal
she doesn’t belong to that organization.
Taste of the Heart
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater has keen insights into the emotional
lives of others, tracing the elaborate web of needs and
desires that shape mortals’ lives.
The Hearteater adds (Perception) bonus dice on a read
intentions or profile character roll. If she is capable of
claiming her target as a pawn, she doubles 9s.
Against characters that are already her pawns, she
succeeds automatically unless opposed by magic and
doubles 7s.
Yearning Heart Intuition
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Taste of the Heart
Wicked Heartbreak Epiphany
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Yearning Heart Intuition
Friends, family, lovers, enemies — these are liabilities the
Hearteater’s foe can ill afford, each an opportunity to
play architect of tragedies.
Upon discovering one of a character’s Major or
Defining Ties, the Hearteater rolls (Manipulation +
[Awareness, Investigation, Socialize, or Survival]),
banking non-Charm dice equal to her successes. If
the object of her victim’s Tie is one of her pawns,
she banks an additional (Essence) dice. She may add
up to (higher of Essence or 3) banked dice on the
following:
• Instill rolls to weaken positive Ties to the object
of the victim’s Intimacy or to create or strength-
en negative Intimacies toward her.
• Persuade rolls that leverage Intimacies to the
object of the victim’s Tie.
• Influence rolls against the Tie’s object.
• Read intentions rolls against the Hearteater’s
victim or the Tie’s object.
• Awareness, Investigation, or Survival rolls to
find, observe, or track the Tie’s object.
• Rolls to gain access to the Tie’s object — either
literally, like picking locked doors or smashing
through barricades, or figuratively, through so-
cial or bureaucratic dealings.
• Rolls for Psyche and Shaping effects against the
Tie’s object.
This Charm can only be used once per session.

The Hearteater understands those who hunger for Bureau-Consuming Monstrosity

connection and approval from others, sensing their un- Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
spoken needs. Type: Simple

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SOCIAL CHARM CONCEPTS

Feverish Passion Understanding (Essence 1; Taste of the Heart): Emotion-based Intimacies penalize Guile
against the Hearteater’s read intentions rolls. Successfully discovering one grants a bonus on an influence
roll that leverages it in the same scene.

Mirror Passion Masquerade (Essence 1; False Heart Affectation, Taste of the Heart): Upon discovering an In-
timacy with a read intentions action, the Hearteater may take it for herself at Minor intensity. Doing so grants
a bonus on her influence rolls against the character she copied it from for the scene.

Ecstatic Motivation Technique (Essence 2; Willing Lackey Dominance): Successful persuade rolls suffuse tar-
gets with unnatural vitality, letting them go without food, water, and rest while following the Hearteater’s
orders. Overturning the influence is harder than usual.

Masks Behind Masks (Essence 2; Mirror Passion Masquerade): When a character fails a read intentions roll
against the Hearteater, she causes him to believe he succeeded, revealing the intentions or Intimacies of one
of her pawns in place of her own.

Smiling Courtier Bliss (Essence 2; False Heart Affectation): The Hearteater gains an indefinite-duration bonus
to Guile, which increases while accompanied by pawns.

Hunger Stares Back (Essence 3; Masks Behind Masks): When a character fails a roll opposing the Heart-
eater’s Guile, she assails his mind by making him experience her hunger.

Shattered Soul Perfume (Essence 3; Mirror Passion Masquerade, Smiling Courtier Bliss): Upon killing a char-
acter or claiming him as a pawn, the Hearteater may shroud herself in the psychic impression of his Intima-
cies, appearing to possess them while concealing her own.

Keywords: Mute, Stackable Reset: This Charm can only be used on a given organi-
Duration: One project zation once per story.
Prerequisite Charms: Heart-Hollowing Repast
Someone Else’s Life
Setting herself against an organization, the Hearteater Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
gnaws at its members’ collective will. Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Psyche
The Hearteater sabotages a project or similar task Duration: Instant
undertaken by an organization, rolling ([Charisma, Prerequisite Charms: Single-Minded Chorus
Intelligence, or Manipulation + [Bureaucracy, Larceny,
or Socialize]) opposing the highest appropriate The Hearteater steps seamlessly into her pawns’ lives,
(Attribute + Ability) roll of any involved group mem- inhabiting the emotions that others feel toward them.
ber. Success multiplies the time necessary to complete
the project by (higher of Hearteater’s Essence or 3, When the Hearteater makes an influence roll, any pos-
maximum 5). itive Ties that targets have towards her pawns count as
supporting it. If a pawn someone has a Tie toward is
The Hearteater’s sabotage benefits from infiltrating present to vouch for the Hearteater, the cost to resist
the targeted organization with pawns. Each pawn who increases by one Willpower.
is an organization member adds a non-Charm die on
the roll, maximum (Essence), and each pawn increases Under-the-Skin Revelation
the time multiplier by one, maximum 10. Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
The Hearteater can stack up to (Essence) uses of this Keywords: None
Charm to sabotage multiple projects. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Exquisite Terror Allure,
Identity-Devouring Maw

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For one awful moment, the Hearteater lets her mask
slip, pulling back her pawn’s face to reveal her presence
lurking within.
While directly controlling a pawn, the Hearteater
superimposes her appearance over his in a terrifying
display. She makes an (Appearance + Presence) threat-
en roll against everyone who can perceive her, ignoring
multiple target penalties. Characters with positive Ties
towards the controlled pawn treat those Intimacies as
supporting this influence.
Characters with a positive Tie toward the pawn and
a negative Tie toward the Hearteater are especially
vulnerable to this Charm’s awful revelation. They must
pay an additional Willpower to resist, or an additional
two Willpower if both Ties are Major. A character
with both Intimacies at Defining intensity can’t spend
Willpower to resist.
Reset: Once per scene.
Nemesis Recruitment Practice
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Psyche
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Audience-Capturing
Performance
Hatred is still attention, and the Hearteater has learned
to make do with such scraps.
The Hearteater makes a special ([Charisma or
Manipulation] + [Performance or Presence]) instill roll,
doubling 9s, against a character with a negative Tie
toward her. If successful, his Tie’s emotional context
changes to obsession unless he pays one Willpower to
resist. Using this Charm against a Major Intimacy re-
quires leveraging one of the target’s Major or Defining
Intimacies, while Defining Intimacies require leverag-
ing a Defining Intimacy.
Mobility
Elegant Languor Ascent
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Hearteater is drawn ever-so-slightly skyward, borne
up like an aurora in the night sky.
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The Hearteater floats in midair, a few inches off the
ground or another solid surface. She must still walk on
the ground to move, but resumes levitating once her
movement is complete, allowing her to end her move-
ment floating over surfaces that couldn’t normally bear
her weight, remain safe from certain environmental
hazards, etc. She can’t be knocked prone while floating.
Broken Fetter Leap
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Elegant Languor Ascent
The Hearteater leaps as if unbound by gravity, moving in
ways she should not move to pursue her prey.
The Hearteater adds (Strength) dice on a roll to rush
or disengage by jumping. If she rushes a character
she’s capable of claiming as a pawn, she doubles 9s.
If Elegant Languor Ascent is active, the Hearteater can
leap up to one range band vertically or horizontally
without needing to roll.
Slumbering Maiden Tranquility
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Elegant Languor Ascent
Wearied by her exertions, the Hearteater takes refuge in
leisure.
While using Elegant Languor Ascent, reflexively
moving after a successful rush or disengage grants one
Initiative.
With an Essence 2 repurchase, the enemy who pro-
voked the Hearteater’s movement loses one Initiative.
Palanquin of Invisible Air
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Slumbering Maiden
Tranquility
The Hearteater drifts through the air without any sign
of effort.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

MOBILITY CHARM CONCEPTS

Castling the King (Essence 1): The Hearteater doubles 9s to disengage. If she moves into close range with
an enemy she could claim as a pawn, she waives the Initiative cost of disengaging.

Seafoam Cradle Respite (Essence 1; Slumbering Maiden Tranquility): The Hearteater can use Elegant Lan-
guor Ascent to float over water and other liquid or unstable surfaces.

Aurora Chariot Meditation (Essence 3; Palanquin of Invisible Air, Seafoam Cradle Respite): The Hearteater
can fly while using Elegant Languor Ascent. She can maintain a fixed course and speed while sleeping.

While using Elegant Languor Ascent, the Hearteater Duration: Instant

can pay two motes to float one range band horizontally
when she takes a movement action, gliding without
ever touching the ground.
Mysticism
Prerequisite Charms: Spirit-Feasting Fervor
Feeding upon a wounded divinity as it wanes and flickers
out, the Hearteater savors the moment of its ultimate
destruction.

The Hearteater’s decisive attack deals aggravated

Ethereal Predator Concentration
damage to spirits, and permanently destroys spirits in-
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1 capacitated by such attacks. Destroying a spirit grants
Type: Reflexive (higher of its Essence or 3) motes.
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene Wyld Tomb Rebirth
Prerequisite Charms: None Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
The Hearteater’s hunger sharpens her senses beyond the
Keywords: None
material world.
Duration: One day
The Hearteater can perceive (but not touch) demate- Prerequisite Charms: None
rialized beings. Against possessed characters, she adds
Even after being sealed away in the Wyld’s depths, the
(Occult) dice on read intentions and profile character
Hearteaters still resist its corruption.
rolls.
The Hearteater and all pawns within short range are
Spirit-Feasting Fervor
immune to exposure to the Wyld and other environ-
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1 mental Shaping effects.
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform This Charm can be used while the Hearteater is direct-
Duration: Instant ly controlling a pawn, sheltering that pawn alone from
Prerequisite Charms: Ethereal Predator the Wyld.
Concentration
Goblin King’s Court
The Hearteater preys on demons and gods, slaking her Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
thirst with immortal blood. Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
The Hearteater can attack a dematerialized enemy,
Duration: Permanent
though she suffers a −3 penalty if she can’t perceive
Prerequisite Charms: Broken Paragon Binding,
her target.
Wyld Tomb Rebirth
God-Eater Supremacy
The Hearteater preys upon courts of chaos, flensing
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1 away the countless layers of lies which attire the Fair
Type: Supplemental Folk and replacing them with the truth of herself.
Keywords: Aggravated, Decisive-only

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MYSTICISM CHARM CONCEPTS

Soul-Spending Ruthlessness (Essence 1; Stolen Genius Inspiration, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery): Drain a
pawn’s vitality to gain sorcerous motes.

Drawing AuroraÕs Veil (Essence 2; Spirit-Feasting Fervor): Create wards of aurora-light that calcify spirits
into opal.

Devil-Pawn Binding (Essence 3; Broken Paragon Binding, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery): Treat summoned de-
mons, elementals, and other beings as pawns.

Endgame Apotheosis Endowment (Essence 5; Miracle-Devouring Maw): Empower pawns who have their
own mote pools with Eclipse Charms claimed through Miracle-Devouring Maw.

The Hearteater may claim Fair Folk or other fae as Miracle-Devouring Maw
pawns. Their Essence can’t exceed the Hearteater’s. Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 3
Fae count as (their Essence) pawns towards the Type: Reflexive
Hearteater’s maximum. Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Heaven-Drinking Appetite Prerequisite Charms: Captive Hearts Mausoleum
Cost: —(5m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3 (x2) or Goblin King’s Court or Heaven-Drinking
Type: Permanent Appetite
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent The Hearteater internalizes her supernatural pawns’
Prerequisite Charms: God-Eater Supremacy power and divinity.

The Hearteater subsumes conquered gods into her
expansive existence, binding pantheons to sing her
hosannas.
When the Hearteater could permanently destroy a
spirit with God-Eater Supremacy, she may pay five
motes, one Willpower to claim it as a pawn instead.
These pawns need not have an Intimacy to the
Hearteater, but can’t have an Essence higher than the
Hearteater’s. They count as (their Essence) pawns
towards the Hearteater’s maximum.
If the Hearteater has Captive Hearts Mausoleum’s
second purchase, she waives this Charm’s cost against
ghosts.
The Hearteater temporarily gains access to an Eclipse
Charm (Exalted, p. 514) possessed by one of her
pawns. She must meet its Essence minimum. She can
stack this Charm up to (Essence) times to access that
many Eclipse Charms.
The Hearteater may permanently learn these Eclipse
Charms for eight experience points each. She no longer
needs to commit motes to use such Charms, and they
don’t count toward the maximum of (Essence). She
waives the experience point cost of the first Eclipse
Charm purchased this way.

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
The Umbral Exalted
A fisherwoman watches the night sky on the beach,
nursing bitterness over her meager lot in life. An artist
stalks his rival along shadowed alleyways, bearing a
long knife that will free him from being second best. A
prince sees conspiracies behind every corner, terrified
by the poisoners and assassins she imagines in her
court. Such inner turmoil, together with the potential
for heroism, is the soil in which Umbral Exaltation
takes root, a black rose that blooms from the heart’s
darkness.
Every Umbral is haunted by her Shadow, a twisted re-
flection born from her darkest thoughts, worst impuls-
es, and the lingering echoes of the dead god who chose
her. It whispers to her, urging her to listen, to heed its
counsel, to give in. In exchange, it offers power. The
Umbral Exalted are mighty, controlling darkness and
shadow by will alone and drawing forth the monstrous
passions of others, but to attain the apex of their power
they must surrender control to their Shadow, inch by
inch, until they can no longer defy it.
The Umbrals’ path is a difficult one; each bears their
burden differently. Some seek to chain their Shadow,
following rigid codes of morality or cultivating disci-
pline through asceticism and austerities. Others let
their Shadow slake its wrath against those they deem
wicked, channeling their dark passions towards ends
they can justify. Still others give their Shadow all that
it asks, willing to make any sacrifice or commit any sin
if it will bring them power. Some have tried to make
peace with their Shadow, forging a symbiotic relation-
ship by understanding and accepting it, though few, if
any, have succeeded in this.
Nebiru, the Lord of Things Unseen
In Creation’s first, myth-dimmed days, the dour and
cryptic Nebiru was counted among the Celestial
Incarnae, the god of the vast yet invisible planet that
bears his name. He was called the Lord of Things
Unseen, the Subtle One, He Who You Know Not.
Together with his sibling Incarnae, he oversaw the
order of Creation, lending them his cunning, his grim
resolution, and his insight into the darker nature of
gods and mortals alike.
When the gods rose up against their makers, Nebiru
refused. He feared the wrath of the world’s creators
— and even more so, he feared the diminishment he
saw in his kin after they created their Exalted. Jupiter
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foresaw what would come of Nebiru’s treachery and
convinced her fellow Incarnae to turn against him.
Nebiru was rent limb from limb and, still living, in-
terred within his own planet, which still hangs invis-
ible against the night sky. Thus did the Lord of Things
Unseen become the First Forbidden God.
Millennia passed as Nebiru raged against his prison,
cursing the names of his siblings. While the First Age
flourished across Creation, the Subtle One struggled
endlessly against the bars of his gaol, yet he lacked the
power to break what the other Incarnae had wrought.
Finally, in an act of utter desperation, he did that which
he had sworn never to do: he created Exalted. He
poured himself heedlessly into the act that had dimin-
ished his kin, never stopping even as it burned him to
nothingness. Thus did the Umbral Exalted come into
Creation, and thus did Nebiru finally find his freedom
in death.
Yet while the Lord of Things Unseen had been de-
stroyed, something of him remained. The Umbral
Exalted are the Chosen of Nebiru, and the will that
chooses them still endures. An Umbral’s Shadow is
born of the darkest aspects of their psyche, but at its
heart is a splinter of his Essence, a night bird perched
in a nest of doubt, fear, and hatred. In time, Nebiru’s
Chosen may yet be his rebirth.
Umbrals and Other Exalted
The Umbrals have always been few in number and
have never united in any large-scale coalition, making
their interactions with other Exalted more dependent
on the personalities and reputations of those involved
rather than the standing of the Umbrals as a whole in
the eyes of the great Exalted factions. They were ob-
scure even in the First Age, little encountered and less
understood by their fellow Chosen. Some of the Old
Realm’s savants studied them and understood that they
were fellow Exalted; a few even drew the connection
between the Umbrals and the ancient tales of Nebiru
the Traitor. But with the Umbrals’ small numbers,
few other Exalted of the First Age took interest in this
scholarship, even those who counted Umbrals among
their allies or enemies.
In the Second Age, the Umbrals are even more obscure.
The Realm, Lookshy, and other Dragon-Blooded poli-
ties, like the Shogunate before them, have essentially
no knowledge of the Umbrals save for that gleaned
by Dragon-Blooded who’ve encountered them, and
perhaps any wisdom to be found in lost First Age texts
that their savants might uncover. Immaculate doctrine
 A P P E N D I X : C R E A T I N G N E W E X A LT E D
does not label them Anathema, though an individual’s
deeds may earn them that title.
The Bureau of Destiny notionally has access to knowl-
edge of the Umbral Exalted — Lytek, God of Exaltation,
chronicles them as diligently as he does any other
Exalt, and there are ancient records that have been
buried beneath paperwork for centuries — but the
vast majority of Sidereals have never had any need to
plumb these secrets. Likewise, while a few in the Silver
Pact have knowledge of the Umbrals, either from their
own lifetime or past life memories, encounters are rare
enough that most Lunars may not ever realize their
fellow Pact members have insights to offer.
Traits
Umbrals are intended for Celestial play (p. XX).
The Shadow and Penumbra
The Umbral’s Shadow lurks in her mind like a possess-
ing demon, but it cannot trivially gainsay her will. Most
of the time, it can only try to influence her — whis-
pering sweet temptations, spitting hateful diatribes
against her, pointing out opportunities to indulge in
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vice — rather than controlling her outright. Only at her
most desperate and self-destructive can the Shadow
fully usurp her will. An Umbral’s Penumbra trait
represents the extent to which she is in her Shadow’s
sway.
A Shadow’s driving motivation in influencing the
Umbral expresses some particular negative facet of
her psyche. In roleplaying the Shadow, the Storyteller
should consider this its Defining Intimacy — but with
the “I” in its phrasing encompassing both the Umbral
and her Shadow as a single entity. Some examples
include:
• “I deserve everything I want.” A Shadow with
this agenda is a voice of temptation, inviting the
Umbral to indulge her desires without restraint
or temperance.
• “I must claim vengeance on those who wrong
me.” A Shadow with this agenda can be a mon-
strous beast of rage, urging the Umbral to act
on her anger, or a dark guardian that believes it
must protect the Umbral by doing what she is
unwilling to.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
• “I deserve to be judged and punished.” A Shadow
with this agenda can be a cruel tormentor, echo-
ing an Umbral’s self-loathing back at her a thou-
sandfold, or a dark conscience for an Umbral
unchained by law or morality.
• “I am not safe.” A Shadow with this agenda embod-
ies the Umbral’s fears, anxieties, and doubts, cease-
lessly whispering of dangers both real and imagined.
The influence the Shadow exerts over the Umbral
depends on her current Penumbra rating, as follows:
Penumbra Effect
0-2 The Umbral’s will is sufficient to
hold her Shadow at bay.
3-5 The Umbral is treated as having her Shad-
ow’s Defining Intimacy at Minor intensity.
6-8 The Umbral is treated as having her
Shadow’s Defining Intimacy at Major
intensity. She can’t act against it unless
she pays one Willpower to suppress
her Shadow’s influence for a scene.
9-10 The Umbral is completely in her Shad-
ow’s sway. Her player is no longer
playing her, but the Shadow con-
trolling her. All her Intimacies are
suppressed, while the Shadow’s is
imposed upon her at Defining inten-
sity, and she cannot act against it.
The Shadow’s Defining Intimacy cannot be weakened
or changed by any means; it is the core of the Shadow’s
existence.
Born from those aspects of the Umbral’s mind that are
most antithetical to her, the Shadow is almost inevi-
tably antagonistic towards the Umbral. However, the
Shadow is still a part of the Umbral, and its will for
her to survive may be even stronger than her own. No
matter how great the Shadow’s control, it will never
drive the Umbral to her death.
An Umbral rolls dice, gaining Penumbra equal to her
successes under the following circumstances:
• When she suffers a significant defeat, trauma, or
failure — being decisively outwitted by a politi-
cal rival, having a limb cut off, losing a battle that
results in massive death, being imprisoned for
an extended period in a raksha’s dungeon — she
rolls 1-3 dice, based on the Storyteller’s assess-
ment of the trauma’s severity.
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• When the object of one of her Major or Defining
Ties comes to harm or rejects her, or she is
thwarted in attempting to uphold a Major or
Defining Principle, she rolls one die for a Major
Intimacy or two dice for a Defining Intimacy.
She can’t gain more than 2 Penumbra in a scene
this way.
Some Charms give Umbrals points of Penumbra as
part of their cost. At Penumbra 10, further Penumbra
costs are waived.
An Umbral loses Penumbra under the following
circumstances:
• When she upholds a Defining Intimacy
(Exalted, p. 169), she may choose to lose one
Penumbra instead of gaining Willpower.
• When she accomplishes a legendary social
goal (Exalted, p. 134), she rolls (Willpower/2,
rounded up) dice, losing Penumbra equal to her
successes.
• When the Shadow’s influence or control over
the Umbral causes her to harm someone or
something she has a Tie toward or to violate a
Principle, she rolls (Intimacy + 1) dice, losing
Penumbra equal to her successes.
Creatures of Darkness
The Umbrals are suffused with the Essence of Nebiru,
a god of darkness and ancient enemy of Creation. Their
Exaltation marks them as creatures of darkness, ren-
dering them vulnerable to certain magics. This status
is not immutable; an Umbral who proves herself an ally
of Creation or who struggles to be free of her Shadow
and the echoed voice of Nebiru that speaks through it
might eventually cease to be a creature of darkness.
Storytellers should treat this as a narrative issue rather
than a mechanical one. Being freed of this distinction
should come at the resolution of a longer narrative or
at a dramatic moment in such a narrative.
Anima
An Umbral’s anima banner is a shade of black or gray,
the edges sometimes limned with colors running from
indigo to violet to white. An Umbral’s iconic anima is
typically a manifestation of her Shadow or a symbolic
representation of it: a hulking figure formed from
darkness, countless shadowy chains, a nocturnal ani-
mal, etc.
Umbrals can spend one mote to perform one of the
following effects:
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THE SHADOW AND AGENCY

It’s important to understand that while Umbral characters struggle with control over their Shadows, players of
Umbrals remain in control at all times. The Umbrals are intended to enable characters who struggle with an
inner darkness, fear of failure, self-doubt, and other negative emotions, and feel a constant temptation to give
in. Unlike Lunars, who revel in the freedom of being both human and monstrous and changing between them
at will, Umbrals are always faced with questions of control. This experience is a bit unlike the other Exalted
who do not always struggle with their nature in the same way, but that can be part of the rewarding experience
of playing an Umbral. Remember that while characters may be uncomfortable, their players should not be.
Storytellers for Umbral players are encouraged to check in often and ensure that players remain comfortable.

• Discern the location of Nebiru’s planet and the by magical darkness, like Impenetrable Veil of Night
precise time of day. (Exalted, p. 477).

• Minor manipulations of darkness and shadow:
veiling herself in shade on a hot day, making her
shadow move independently of her, etc. These
never carry mechanical effects but provide mi-
nor utility and can be incorporated into stunts.
They also have access to the following anima powers.
Shroud of Darkness: The Umbral can spend five
motes as a miscellaneous action to create a sphere of
magical darkness that extends out to short range until
the scene ends, blinding those within unless they have
light sources to mitigate this penalty. The Umbral’s
anima banner doesn’t shine through this darkness. At
bonfire, this power is free.

Child of Night: The Umbral can see in darkness un- Voice of Corruption: Once per day, the Umbral can
impeded and is immune to penalties or perils imposed spend one Willpower and incur a point of Penumbra

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES
to roll (Essence + Penumbra), gaining either motes or
Initiative equal to her successes.
Martial Arts
Umbrals aren’t restricted by the Terrestrial keyword,
but neither do they have any access to the Mastery
keyword. They can’t learn Sidereal Martial Arts.
Sorcery
Umbrals can initiate into Terrestrial and Celestial
Circle sorcery, and into Ivory Circle necromancy.
Evocations
The Umbrals are resonant with soulsteel, their inner
turmoil attuning them to the anguish of tormented
souls. They are neutral with all other magical materi-
als (Arms of the Chosen, p. 16). They’re also resonant
with certain rare materials associated with Nebiru or
imbued with his Essence, such as celestial stone carved
from his invisible planet-tomb or the crystallized tear
shed by the Venus when the Incarnane sealed Nebiru
away.
Longevity and Death
Umbral lifespans vary much more widely than those of
other Exalted, depending on the extent to which she
has controlled her Shadow. Some have succumbed to
old age before reaching their second century; others
have lived five hundred years before dying by misad-
venture. The more time an Umbral spends with high
Penumbra and the more often she gains Penumbra, the
longer her life, meaning that those who indulge their
Shadow the most will live the longest. Their maximum
lifespan remains unknown.
Upon an Umbral’s death, her Exaltation seeks out a
new inheritor, like the Solar Exalted. Nebiru’s will
selects heroes whose doubts, fears, trauma, rage, or
suffering can sustain a Shadow.
Umbral Charms
Umbrals draw power from their Shadow, both by
giving in to its temptations and by understanding its
nature. They create and control darkness and shadow,
and exploit the inner darkness of others. Their Charms
draw on negative Ties — their own, their Shadow’s,
and those of others.
Excellencies
Umbrals don’t have formalized Excellencies; they can
add dice to any (Attribute + Ability) roll or increase any
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static value for which they have an applicable Ability at
3+ or an Attribute at 5, paying one mote per die. They
may add up to (Attribute + Penumbra, maximum 10)
dice to rolls. Automatic successes count as two dice to-
wards this limit. Static values such as Evasion or Resolve
can be raised by half this dice cap, rounded down.
Penumbra
Inner Darkness Unleashed
Cost: 5m, 1wp, 1 Penumbra; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Umbral’s Shadow slides across her skin, wrapping
her in darkness as she becomes a walking nightmare
born of terror and malice.
The Umbral gains the following benefits:
• She adds (Penumbra/2, rounded up) to her ef-
fective Strength for calculating withering dam-
age and determining what feats of strength she
can attempt.
• She adds +(Penumbra/2, rounded up) soak.
• She adds (Penumbra/2, rounded up) non-Charm
dice on threaten rolls and fear-based inspire
rolls.
• Her positive Ties and Principles based on hope
or optimism are treated as one step weaker, or
are suppressed entirely if they’re Minor.
Shadow-Caging Concentration
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
Long struggle against her Shadow has refined the
Umbral’s resolve, tipping the balance of her inner
conflict.
The Umbral may spend one Willpower to shed one
Penumbra when she accomplishes one of the following:
• She upholds one of her Shadow’s Intimacies.
• She suffers meaningful harm in the course of
protecting someone weaker than her.
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PENUMBRA CHARM CONCEPTS

Shade-Ridden Fury (Essence 1; Inner Darkness Unleashed): Enter a berserker frenzy upon using Inner
Darkness Unleashed, gaining increasing benefits with higher Penumbra.

Wandering Shadow Exploits (Essence 3; Surrender to Darkness): While the Umbral meditates, her Shadow
leaves her body as a dematerialized presence, its mind and senses linked to her.

Witching Hour’s Approach (Essence 3; Soul-Darkening Power): Incur Penumbra to gain motes.

Limitless Hatred Empowerment (Essence 3; Witching Hour’s Approach): Incur Penumbra to gain Willpower.

Deepening Darkness Meditation (Essence 3; Limitless Hatred Empowerment): Incur Penumbra to tempo-
rarily learn an Umbral Charm.

• She defeats or humiliates a character for whom
she or her Shadow has a negative Major or
Defining Tie.
• She forms a positive Tie to a stranger after shar-
ing a meal with him, receiving his hospitality,
or a similar social interaction that reaffirms her
connection to humanity.
but the Umbral’s player can voluntarily strengthen or
weaken them.
The Umbral can draw upon her Shadow’s perspective,
gaining one Penumbra to use one of its Intimacies as
though it were her own for any purpose (increasing
Resolve, Decision Points, certain Charms, etc.). She
gains that Intimacy herself at Minor intensity.

With Essence 2, the Umbral may waive this Charm’s Soul-Darkening Power
Willpower cost once per day. This resets when she Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2
gains 3+ Penumbra in a scene. Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
The Black Rose Blooms Duration: Instant
Cost: —(1 Penumbra); Mins: Essence 1 Prerequisite Charms: The Black Rose Blooms
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None Having seen herself reflected in her Shadow, the Umbral
Duration: Permanent puts her faith in her worst self.
Prerequisite Charms: None
After an influence roll beats her Resolve, the Umbral
Gazing into her Shadow’s depths, the Umbral discovers may incur Penumbra instead of spending Willpower.
that there is more to it than a singular drive, honing her She can’t do so against influence that aligns with her
empathy for her darker self. Shadow’s Defining Intimacy.

Upon purchasing this Charm, the Umbral’s player Dark Mirror Introspection
designs a set of Minor and Major Intimacies for her Cost: 3m, 1 Penumbra; Mins: Essence 2
Shadow. These are typically related to the Shadow’s Type: Simple
Defining Intimacy or the Umbral’s own Intimacies, Keywords: Stackable
but may also include Intimacies drawn from the lin- Duration: Instant
gering presence of Nebiru: hatred for Heaven and the Prerequisite Charms: Soul-Darkening Power
Celestial Incarnae, fear of captivity, self-preservation,
grim conviction, an affinity for darkness and things of The Umbral blurs the boundaries between herself and
night, and so on. her Shadow.

Like the Shadow’s Defining Intimacy, these Intimacies The Umbral transfers one of her Intimacies to her
remain suppressed at low Penumbra, and are only Shadow, potentially concealing it from detection it or
imposed on the Umbral at Penumbra 9+. They can’t be shielding it from instill rolls. Alternatively, she can
affected by social influence while they’re suppressed, shift one of her Shadow’s Intimacies to herself.

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The Umbral can stack this Charm any number of times Even as mind-corrupting magic overwhelms the Umbral,
to transfer any number of Intimacies. her Shadow rises to the surface, wresting away control of
her body so that no other can puppeteer her.
Inner Demon Critique
Cost: 4m, 1 Penumbra; Mins: Essence 2 The Umbral raises her Penumbra to 10 to terminate a
Type: Reflexive single Psyche effect afflicting her.
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant A second purchase of this Charm lets it negate Shaping
Prerequisite Charms: Dark Mirror Introspection effects.

The Umbral’s Shadow shrouds her true thoughts behind A third purchase lets it negate sorcerous curses.
a mocking impression of her.
A fourth purchase at Essence 5 allows it to negate
After successfully asserting her Guile against a read death from any cause. The Umbral rolls (Essence +
intentions roll, the Umbral may use this Charm, caus- current temporary Willpower) and heals that many
ing the opposing character to believe he succeeded. levels of non-aggravated damage.
However, instead of the truth, he sees the Shadow’s
warped view of whatever information would have Reset: Once per story unless reset by reaching
been revealed. For example, a Shadow whose Defining Penumbra 0.
Principle is “I am not safe” might convey her Tie of love
for her wife as a Tie of distrust. The Umbral’s player and Darkness
the Storyteller should work together if the Shadow’s
view is unclear, bearing in mind that this should always Everlasting Night Technique
be at least potentially advantageous for the Umbral. Cost: —(+3m); Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
At Penumbra 9+, this Charm instead imparts the Keywords: None
Umbral’s perspective on the Shadow’s Intimacies and Duration: Permanent
intentions. Prerequisite Charms: None

Shade-Gaoler Discipline The Umbral’s darkness clings to those caught in it, seep-
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2 ing into their eyes.
Type : Permanent
Keywords : None When the Umbral uses Shroud of Darkness (p. XX),
Duration : Permanent she may pay a three-mote surcharge to create a linger-
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Caging ing darkness. Whenever a character leaves it, he must
Concentration (x2) roll (Perception + Awareness) at difficulty (higher of
Umbral’s Essence or 3). Failure blinds him for the rest
The Umbral’s will fetters her Shadow, binding until she of the scene. Characters capable of seeing perfectly in
calls upon it once more. darkness are immune to this.

When the Umbral loses Penumbra for upholding an Faithless Shadow Betrayal
Intimacy, she still gains Willpower as usual. Once per Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
scene, she loses one Penumbra when she dramatically Type: Simple
defies one of her or her Shadow’s Major or Defining Keywords: None
negative Ties or Principles based on cynicism or Duration: Instant
pessimism. Prerequisite Charms: None

Surrender to Darkness The Umbral suffuses an enemy’s shadow with malevo-

Cost: 5m, 1wp, 1+ Penumbra; Mins: Essence 3 lence, turning it against the one who casts it.
Type: Simple
Keywords: None The Umbral rolls ([Charisma or Manipulation] +
Duration: Instant [Occult, Presence, or Stealth]) as a unique influence
Prerequisite Charms: Inner Darkness Unleashed, roll against the Resolve of a character within medium
Soul-Darkening Power range. Success animates his shadow, causing him to

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DARKNESS CHARM CONCEPTS

Clinging Shadow Approach (Essence 1; Faithless Shadow Betrayal): An animated shadow impedes a move-
ment action or the Defense of the character who casts it.

All Night’s Labors (Essence 1; Subtle Gloaming Fingers): Use shadow-limbs as exceptional equipment for
tasks and reduce the time needed to complete them.

Umbral Shield Technique (Essence 1; Shadow-Limb Manipulation): Shape shadow-limbs into shields and
barriers.

What Darkness Reveals (Essence 1; Faithless Shadow Betrayal): Animating someone’s shadow penalizes
their Guile.

Elusive Phantom Presence (Essence 2; Subtle Gloaming Fingers): Render shadow-limbs invisible.

Tormented Conscience Confession (Essence 2; What Darkness Reveals): Roll against the Guile of someone
whose shadow’s been animated to force the shadow to answer questions truthfully.

Traitor-Shade Surveillance (Essence 2; Tormented Conscience Confession): Animate a character’s shadow

as a long-term spy, observing his life and reporting back to the Umbral.

Vengeful Shade Awakening (Essence 2; Traitor-Shade Surveillance): Animate a character’s shadow as an

independent entity and roll it into combat.

Midnight Legion Beckoning (Essence 3; Vengeful Shade Awakening): Animate a battle group of shadows.

lose (Essence) Initiative and inflicting a −1 penalty on Baleful Darkness Razors

all actions he takes that scene as his shadow distracts Cost: —(2m); Mins: Essence 1
him, trips him up, or whispers darkly to him. Type: Permanent
Keywords: Uniform
Shadow-Limb Manipulation Duration: Permanent
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1 Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Limb Manipulation
Type: Simple
Keywords: None The Umbral’s shadow-limbs strike with fatal precision,
Duration: One scene outward manifestations of inner malevolence.
Prerequisite Charms: None
As long as the Umbral spends at least three motes en-
Appendages of shadow-stuff emerge from the Umbral hancing an attack with her shadow-limbs, she waives
like tendrils of boiling black Essence. the penalty on the attack roll.

The Umbral manifests shadow limbs that can take When the Umbral flurries an attack with another ac-
actions out to short range. These rolls use (Charisma, tion using her shadow-limbs, she may pay two motes
Manipulation, or Wits) in place of the normal to reduce the penalty on each flurried action by one
Attribute, including in place of Strength for calculating and ignore the Defense penalty.
withering damage and feats of strength. Attack rolls
and attempts at fine manipulation, like performing Fervid Nightmare Exploit
surgery or picking pockets, suffer a −3 penalty. She Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
can’t grapple enemies beyond close range. Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Special activation rules: When the Umbral uses this Duration: Instant
Charm, she may reflexively activate Inner Darkness Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Limb Manipulation
Unleashed (p. XX).

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The Umbral suffuses her shadow-limbs with her rage and ha- Duration: Permanent
tred, strengthening them into crushing tendrils of darkness. Prerequisite Charms: Baleful Darkness Razors

The Umbral adds ([higher of Penumbra or current The Umbral ensnares her foes with twisting shadows,
temporary Willpower] /2, rounded up) to her shad- binding and breaking them.
ow-limbs’ effective Strength to determine whether she
can attempt a feat of strength. The Umbral can use her shadow-limbs to grapple en-
emies at their full range, dragging grappled into close
Subtle Gloaming Fingers range with her. She can pay four motes after a grapple
Cost: —(2m); Mins: Essence 1 control roll with her shadow-limbs to double that
Type: Permanent roll’s extra successes, up to a maximum of (Charisma,
Keywords: Mute Manipulation, or Wits) additional successes.
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Limb Manipulation Infinite Gloom Arsenal
Cost: —(+5m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 2
The Umbral refines her shadow-limbs into delicate ten- Type: Permanent
drils of darkness, capable of exquisite precision. Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
The Umbral no longer suffers a penalty on fine manip- Prerequisite Charms: Baleful Darkness Razors
ulation with her shadow-limbs. She can pay two motes
to double 9s on such rolls. The Umbral tempers her shadow-limbs into cruel im-
plements of violence, bringing forth a dark panoply of
Devil-Soul Enrichment blades, spears, and lashes.
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent When the Umbral uses Shadow-Limb Manipulation, she
Keywords: None may pay a five-mote, one Willpower surcharge to shape
Duration: Permanent her shadow-limbs into weapons, choosing the traits of an
Prerequisite Charms: Inner Darkness Unleashed, artifact weapon to model them on, plus the Natural tag. She
Shadow-Limb Manipulation can change her shadow-limb’s traits to those of a different
artifact weapon with an action, which can’t be flurried.
As one with her Shadow, the Umbral masters the
darkness. This Charm may be repurchased any number of times, each
repurchase adding an Evocation to the weapons shaped by
The Umbral waives Inner Darkness Unleashed’s mote it. These Evocations draw their themes and function from
cost when she uses it together with Shadow-Limb the Umbral’s personality, her Shadow’s goals and nature,
Manipulation. and the divine power once wielded by Nebiru.

Engulfing Darkness Approach Looming Shadow Reach

Cost: —(+3m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 2 Cost: 1m, 1wp (+1 Penumbra); Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Permanent Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Everlasting Night Technique Prerequisite Charms: Subtle Gloaming Fingers

Drawing from her inner darkness, the Umbral casts the Shadows lengthen when the Umbral wills it.
world into night.
The Umbral can take an action with one of her shad-
When the Umbral uses Shroud of Darkness (p. XX), ow-limbs at medium range, or long range if she incurs
she may pay a three-mote, one-Willpower surcharge to a point of Penumbra.
extend it to medium range.
Shifting Shadow Refinement
Grasping Shadow Coils Cost: —(1m per dot of mutation); Mins: Essence 2
Cost: —(4m); Mins: Essence 2 Type: Permanent
Type: Permanent Keywords: None
Keywords: Decisive-only Duration: Permanent

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OFFENSIVE CHARM CONCEPTS

Heart-Darkening Blight (Essence 2; Overwhelming Brutality Approach): The Umbral’s attack spreads cor-
rupting shadows that subvert an enemy’s will to fight.

Vengeful Nemesis Approach (Essence 2; Overwhelming Brutality Approach): Increase a decisive attack’s
damage, with added benefits against enemies the Umbral has negative Ties for.

Joy in Agony (Essence 3; Merciless Killer Meditation): Gain Initiative for dealing enough decisive damage to
increase a nontrivial enemy’s wound penalty.

Fatal Shadow Torment (Essence 3; Vengeful Nemesis Approach): Make a decisive attack with damage
based on Penumbra, without including the Umbral’s Initiative.

Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Limb Manipulation
The Umbral’s shadow-limbs shift and transform, taking
on monstrous shapes born of her imagination.
The Umbral may have her shadow-limbs manifest a
mutation by committing one mote per dot of mutation,
up to a maximum of (higher of Essence or Penumbra)
dots. Her shadow-limbs might swell with strength to
manifest the Mighty Thew mutation, form a second
skin of darkness for Unnatural Hide, or become Wings
of feathered darkness.
Grasping Midnight Phantasm
Cost: —(+3m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Everlasting Night Technique,
Faithless Shadow Betrayal
The Umbral’s darkness clings to those caught in it, seep-
ing into their eyes.
When the Umbral uses Shroud of Darkness (p. XX),
she may pay a three-mote, one-Willpower surcharge
to fill the darkness with grasping shadows, making it
difficult terrain (Exalted, p. 199).
Offense
The Umbral rerolls (Essence) failed dice on an attack
roll. If she has a negative Tie towards her target, she
adds (Intimacy) dice on the attack roll.
Overwhelming Brutality Approach
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type : Supplemental
Keywords : Dual
Duration : Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Wrathful Shadow Strike
Drawing from her Shadow’s monstrous rage, the Umbral
maims foes with overwhelming force.
The Umbral adds (Penumbra/2, rounded up) dice of
post-soak withering damage or adds that many attack
roll extra successes as dice of decisive damage.
Swiftly Dimming Shadow
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Wrathful Shadow Strike
The Umbral’s weapon seems like only a shadow of itself,
weightless and fluid as she strikes with incredible speed.
The Umbral imposes a −1 penalty on her foe’s Defense,
or −2 if her Initiative is higher than his.

Wrathful Shadow Strike If the Umbral uses Baleful Darkness Razors to lower
flurry penalties when she makes an attack enhanced
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
by this Charm, she negates all flurry penalties on both
Type: Supplemental
actions.
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant Scornful Dismissal Reproach
Prerequisite Charms: None
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
The Umbral’s will for violence is honed by hatred. Type: Reflexive

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Keywords: None The Umbral adds (Penumbra) to her base Initiative

Duration: Instant upon resetting to base after a decisive attack.
Prerequisite Charms: Overwhelming Brutality
Approach This Charm can only be used once per day.

As the Umbral seizes the upper hand in combat, her Defense

Shadow’s mocking laughter renews her determination.
Elusive Shadow-Body
The Umbral adds (Penumbra/2, rounded up) to the
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Initiative Break she receives for crashing an enemy.
Type: Reflexive
Shadow-Sword Duality Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Cost: 6m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Prerequisite Charms: None
Type: Simple
Keywords: Withering-only The Umbral’s body dissipates into darkness as she is
Duration: Instant attacked, letting blades pass through her harmlessly.
Prerequisite Charms: Swiftly Dimming Shadow
The Umbral imposes a −(Essence) penalty on a with-
The Umbral awakens her weapon’s shadow, a dark du- ering damage roll, which can’t lower it below the
plicate that arcs in perfect counterpoint to her strike. attack’s Overwhelming. Against decisive attacks, up to
(Essence) 1s on the damage roll reroll successful dice,
The Umbral makes two withering attacks against a
starting with 7s and moving up.
single enemy. She gains Initiative as usual from the
highest damage roll; the lower damage roll can’t grant Agony-Shrouding Darkness
more than (Penumbra) Initiative.
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Killing Shadow Dance Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Withering-only
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Prerequisite Charms: Elusive Shadow-Body
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant As her Shadow’s darkness engulfs the Umbral’s mind,
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Sword Duality she grows numb to pain and injury.
The Umbral strikes from every direction, moving in This Charm can be used after a withering attack
bursts of inhuman speed. hits the Umbral, but before the damage roll. She uses
Penumbra instead of Stamina to calculate her soak
The Umbral makes (Penumbra/2, rounded up)
against an attack.
decisive attacks against one or more enemies. Her
Initiative is divided evenly among all attacks, rounded Uncanny Forewarning Technique
up, and doesn’t reset until the final attack is completed,
Cost: 3m (+1 Penumbra); Mins: Essence 1
assuming at least one hits.
Type: Reflexive
While at Penumbra 6+, the Umbral gains (Charisma, Keywords: Uniform
Manipulation, or Wits) Initiative before dividing it Duration: Instant
among the attacks. Prerequisite Charms: None

Merciless Killer Meditation Listening to her Shadow mock the weakness in her de-
fense, the Umbral deftly corrects the flaws it reveals.
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive The Umbral negates up to (current temporary
Keywords: None Willpower/2, rounded up) points of penalty to her
Duration: Instant Defense. This can’t negate penalties from surprise at-
Prerequisite Charms: Scornful Dismissal Reproach tacks unless the Umbral incurs one Penumbra, heeding
her Shadow warnings of unseen peril.
The Umbral’s Shadow urges violence, stoking her will for
atrocity as she smites down her foes.

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Preemptive Vengeance Declaration
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Uncanny Forewarning
Technique
Urged on by her Shadow, the Umbral begins her counter-
strike an instant before her foe attacks.
When an enemy attacks her, the Umbral makes a deci-
sive counterattack before her enemy makes his attack
roll. If she deals damage, her attacker’s onslaught pen-
alty applies to his attack roll against her.
Darkness-Soul Fortification
Cost: 1m per level of damage, 1wp, 1 Penumbra; Mins:
Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Decisive-only, Perilous, Stackable
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Agony-Shrouding Darkness
The Umbral’s Shadow suffers in her place.
The Umbral may activate this Charm after a decisive
attack roll, but before the damage roll. She negates
up to (Essence) levels of damage, committing one
mote per level, which are transferred to her Shadow
instead. Her Shadow can’t store more than (Essence
or Penumbra) levels of damage at one time; if lowering
Penumbra brings the Shadow’s damage above this
limit, any excess levels are transferred to the Umbral’s
health track. The Umbral can stack multiple uses of
this Charm to transfer damage from multiple attacks
to her Shadow.
The Shadow heals one level of damage every two days,
beginning with bashing damage. Magic that speeds
natural healing can accelerate this process, and healing
magic can be applied to her Shadow’s damage. When
this Charm ends, the Shadow’s remaining damage
returns to the Umbral’s health track.
Fatal Premonition Focus
Cost: 2m, 1i; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Perilous, Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Uncanny Forewarning
Technique
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The Umbral attunes her senses to hostile intentions,
foreseeing her enemy’s attacks as the thought forms in
his mind.
The Umbral adds +1 non-Charm Parry or adds a non-
Charm success on the attack roll for a clash or counter-
attack. This increases to +2 or two successes if she has
a negative Tie for her enemy.
Wound-Swallowing Darkness
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Agony-Shrouding Darkness,
Inner Darkness Unleashed
Darkness flows over and through the Umbral’s body,
filling wounds and strengthening injured body parts.
The Umbral negates up to (Essence/2, rounded up)
points of crippling or wound penalties. With Penumbra
6+, she instead negates (Essence) points of penalty.
An Essence 3 repurchase lets the Umbral pay a one-Will-
power surcharge to gain (Charisma, Manipulation, or
Wits) temporary −0 health levels. These temporary
levels are the first to be filled when she’s damaged
and vanish when damaged. With Penumbra 6+, the
surcharge is waived.
Darkness Makes Whole
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Wound-Swallowing Darkness
Darkness offers peace and healing to those the Umbral
favors.
The Umbral may use Wound-Swallowing Darkness
on behalf of a touched character as a Simple Charm,
suffusing his wounds with flowing shadow-stuff.
The penalty reduction doesn’t increase based on her
Penumbra; instead, if she has a positive Tie towards her
target, the penalty negation increases to (her Essence).
If the Umbral has Wound-Swallowing Darkness’ re-
purchase, she can pay a five-mote, one-Willpower sur-
charge to grant (Essence) temporary −0 health levels
to a touched character. The Willpower cost is waived if
she has a positive Tie towards her target.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

DEFENSIVE CHARM CONCEPTS

Depraved Heart Anticipation (Essence 1; Uncanny Forewarning Technique): The Umbral’s Shadow fore-
warns her to an ambush, making it possible to defend against it or clash it, albeit at a penalty.

Enduring Malevolence Concentration (Essence 2; Agony-Shrouding Darkness): Extend Agony-Shrouding

Darkness’s duration to one scene.

Foreseen Malice Intuition (Essence 2; Fatal Premonition Focus): For one scene, reduce Parry penalties,
gain a bonus on Awareness rolls opposing Stealth, and negate Depraved Heart Anticipation’s penalty.

Hate Strikes Faster (Essence 3; Foreseen Malice Intuition, Preemptive Vengeance Declaration): Clash an
attack, adding (Intimacy) non-Charm dice on the attack roll if you have a negative Tie towards your enemy.

Shadow Guides the Hand (Essence 3; Foreseen Malice Intuition): The Umbral’s Shadow guides her to parry
an unblockable attack. Once per scene, she can also add a free full Excellency to Parry — or, at Penumbra 10,
perfectly defend against an attack.

Umbral Caul Rebirth (Essence 3; Wound-Swallowing Darkness x2): Heal from crippling injuries by replacing
wounded or severed body parts with shadow-stuff. This can be used to heal others with Darkness Makes Whole.

negative Tie or a Principle based on cynicism or pessi-

Social mism, she also adds (Intimacy) dice.
All-Consuming Despair Cruel Past Recollection
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1 Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive Type: Simple
Keywords: Mute Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None Prerequisite Charms: Dark Impulse Discovery
Haunted by her own heart’s darkness, the Umbral clings Embracing her doubts and suspicions, the Umbral at-
tightly to her misery. tunes herself to the echoes of dark intentions long past.
The Umbral adds (Penumbra/2) Resolve against any The Umbral makes a case scene roll with (Perception
influence opposed by one of her or her Shadow’s nega- + [Awareness, Investigation, or Lore]), adding
tive Ties or Principles based on cynicism or pessimism, (Penumbra/2, rounded up) bonus dice and completing
or that would inspire or instill positive emotions or it in a matter of seconds. If the Umbral’s successes beat
Intimacies based on them. the Guile of the culprit who left the evidence behind,
she also discerns his most relevant Intimacy, experi-
Dark Impulse Discovery
encing a sudden flash of cryptic images from his past.
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental Darkness Catches Up
Keywords: None Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Duration: Instant Type: Supplemental
Prerequisite Charms: None Keywords: Stackable
Duration: Instant
The Umbral senses dark intentions, warning her to hid-
Prerequisite Charms: Dark Impulse Discovery
den foes and false friends.
Those with darkness in their hearts cannot hide from the
The Umbral doubles 9s on an Awareness roll opposing
Umbral.
Stealth or Larceny. If the opposing character has a

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The Umbral doubles 9s on a tracking roll. If she is cannot opt to exclude animals from this influence —
aware of one of her target’s negative Ties or Principles any animals who can perceive her are affected.
based on cynicism or pessimism, she adds (Intimacy)
non-Charm dice and may track her target even if there Seized-by-Terror Technique
is no physical evidence of his passage, following the Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
dark feelings left by the target. She can track even Type: Supplemental
characters using Traceless Passage (Exalted, p. 412) or Keywords: None
similar magic. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Elegant Monster Soliloquy
Elegant Monster Soliloquy
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 1 Fearing the darkness only makes one more vulnerable to
Type: Supplemental that which lurks within it.
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant A successful threaten roll against a single enemy
Prerequisite Charms: None inflicts a –3 penalty on all rolls he makes against the
Umbral for the rest of the scene, and a −1 penalty to his
The Umbral’s Shadow rises in her as she speaks, lending static values against her.
her words a dark undertone of menace.
With Essence 2, the Umbral may pay a one-Willpower
The Umbral doubles 9s on a threaten roll, an inspire surcharge to use this Charm on a threaten roll with
roll to create negative emotions, or an instill roll to multiple targets.
create a negative Tie, a Principle based on cynicism or
pessimism, or one of her Shadow’s Intimacies. Appeal to Darkness
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Against animals, the influence roll is instead treated Type: Supplemental
as a threaten roll to force them to flee. The Umbral Keywords: None

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Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Elegant Monster Soliloquy
The Umbral preys on others’ worst nature.
The Umbral adds a non-Charm success on a bargain,
instill, or persuade roll. Against a single character with
a negative Tie or a cynical Principle, or a group that
shares such an Intimacy, she also adds (Intimacy) non-
Charm dice.
Haunted Mind Meditation
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Umbral’s thoughts are no safe place even for her, let
alone those who would intrude upon them.
The Umbral gains +2 Guile. This increases to +3 at
Penumbra 6+. If a character uses magic to read the
Umbral’s thoughts, view her memories, or otherwise
intrude upon her mind, this is a non-Charm bonus, and
failing to beat the Umbral’s Guile causes him to suffer
one die of lethal decisive damage, ignoring Hardness.
Night-Prince Majesty
Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Umbral is sovereign among things of the night, an
heir to Nebiru’s shattered throne.
The Umbral adds (Essence) non-Charm dice on influ-
ence rolls and read intentions rolls against creatures of
darkness and spirits whose nature relates to night or
the dark, and doesn’t need a share language to com-
municate with them. She gains +1 Resolve and +1 Guile
against such characters as non-Charm bonuses.
Truth-in-Shadow Technique
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Mute
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
The Umbral senses the darkness in the minds of others,
baring their secrets to her.
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When the Umbral makes a roll opposing someone’s
Guile, she imposes a −2 Guile penalty on the oppos-
ing character. If her roll would uncover negative Tie,
Principles based on cynicism or pessimism, or malevo-
lent intentions, this rises to −3 Guile.
No Second Chances
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Truth-in-Shadow Technique
The Umbral’s Shadow warns her against forgiveness,
encouraging her suspicions and resentment.
The Umbral gains +2 Resolve against an influence
roll. The bonus is non-Charm if she has a negative Tie
toward the opposing character or has succeeded on
a read intentions or profile character roll against him
this scene.
All-Seeing Shadow Eyes
Cost: 1 Penumbra; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Dark Impulse Discovery,
Truth-in-Shadow Technique
The Umbral’s Shadow whispers in the back of her mind,
tempting her with poisonous secrets.
Upon a successful roll opposing someone’s Guile,
the Umbral’s player may use this Charm to ask the
Storyteller one of the following questions, plus an ad-
ditional question for every three extra successes:
• What does he know about me?
• What isn’t he telling me?
• What could he do for me?
• Why shouldn’t I trust him?
Any of the target’s Intimacies related to the answer to
any of these questions are also revealed to the Umbral.
Your Worst Day
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: All-Seeing Shadow Eyes
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SOCIAL CHARM CONCEPTS

Spiteful Shade Defiance (Essence 3; All-Consuming Despair, The Black Rose Blooms): Incur Penumbra in-
stead of citing an Intimacy in a Decision Point.

Drowning in Shadows (Essence 3; Dark Mirror Introspection, Haunted Mind Meditation): Perfectly negate any
effect opposing the Umbral’s Guile by raising her Penumbra to 10.

The Umbral glimpses behind someone’s face to witness Duration: Instant

his darkest self. Prerequisite Charms: Seized-by-Terror Technique

The Umbral makes a read intentions roll with No matter how unassuming the Umbral may be, those
(Penumbra/2) automatic successes. Success reveals around her can sense her Shadow, reacting to it as they
whatever that character considers their most shame- would their greatest fear.
ful, despicable, or unforgivable secret, as well as any
The Umbral makes a threaten roll without needing to
Intimacies related to it.
speak or share a common language. Though targets
Darkened Soul Interrogation perceive her as the object of their fear, they can’t tell
that it was a conscious act on her part unless they beat
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2
her Guile with a read intentions or profile character
Type: Simple
roll that scene. They can’t form negative Ties toward
Keywords: Stackable
her because of the intimidation or strengthen nega-
Duration: Indefinite
tive Ties to her at the scene’s end unless they pay one
Prerequisite Charms: Faithless Shadow Betrayal,
Willpower.
Your Worst Day
Reset: Once per scene.
The Umbral extracts secrets and memories from her
target’s shadow.
Mobility
The Umbral makes a read intentions action against a
target under the effects of Faithless Shadow Betrayal. Shadow-Walker’s Grace
Success reveals one of the target’s Ties and grants the Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 1
Umbral access to his memories about the Tie. If she Type: Supplemental
searches for a Tie she already knows about, she gains Keywords: None
one non-Charm success on her roll. Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
While this Charm remains active, the Umbral can
recall relevant memories as if they were her own, The Umbral is light as a shadow as she moves, leaving no
lowering the target’s Guile by 1 when leveraging them footprints behind.
as part of a stunt. She can recall or search for specific
memories by rolling (Perception + Socialize) against a The Umbral adds (higher of Essence or 3) non-Charm
difficulty set by the Storyteller based on the emotional dice to a movement action, a roll to maintain balance,
strength and impact of the memory. or a roll to conceal her tracks. She halves any penalties
from difficult terrain or other environmental, rounded
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by persuading the down, except in conditions of total darkness or total
Charm’s target to act on a negative Major or Defining illumination.
Tie.
Crawling Darkness Limbs
Lurking Horror Presence Cost: —(+2m); Mins: Essence 1
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2 Type: Permanent
Type: Supplemental Keywords: None
Keywords: Mute Duration: Permanent

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MOBILITY CHARM CONCEPTS

Scuttling Shadow Motion (Essence 2; Crawling Darkness Limbs): Make a movement action reflexively using
shadow-limbs.

Darkness Rising Ascendancy (Essence 3; Crawling Darkness Limbs, Looming Shadow Reach): The Umbral
can raise herself multiple range bands upward in the air by extending her shadow-limbs, and can maneuver
in mid-air as if flying.

Shadow Fades Away (Essence 3; Flickering Shadow Ways): The Umbral can use this Charm after successfully
defending against an attack to teleport one range band in any direction, as per Flickering Shadow Ways. If she
incurs one Penumbra, she may teleport two range bands instead.

Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Limb Manipulation,
Shadow-Riding Step
The Umbral’s shadowy tendrils grip walls with ease,
drawing her upwards on a tide of darkness.
When the Umbral uses Shadow-Limb Manipulation,
she may commit a two-mote surcharge to scale sheer
vertical surfaces or move on the underside of over-
hanging horizontal surfaces, using her shadow-limbs
to climb or hang down effortlessly.
Swift Nightbird Impulse
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Shadow-Walker’s Grace
The Umbral’s speed draws from her will as well as her
body, urging her onwards with uncanny force.
The Umbral doubles 9s on a rush, disengage, or with-
draw roll. With Penumbra 6+, a successful roll awards
her one Initiative, or two Initiative for a disengage.
Flickering Shadow Ways
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Swift Nightbird Impulse
The Umbral vanishes into darkness, only to reappear
elsewhere.
The Umbral completes a movement action without
crossing through the space between, sinking into her
own shadow and reappearing from darkness at her
destination. She can use this Charm to pass through
walls or avoid environmental hazards or difficult ter-
rain, but must be able to see her destination.
This Charm can’t be used in conditions of total illu-
mination or total darkness, or if a character specifi-
cally intervenes to prevent the Umbral from having a
shadow to travel to; otherwise, the Storyteller should
assume that a suitable shadow exists for the Umbral to
complete her movement.
Reset: Once per scene unless reset by successfully
establishing concealment in darkness against at least
one non-trivial enemy. If no enemies are present to
observe the Umbral using this Charm, it doesn’t need
to be reset.
Unsuspecting Victim Pursuit
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Flickering Shadow Ways
One can no more escape the Umbral than one’s own
shadow.
The Umbral rushes an enemy within medium range.
If successful, she instantly appears at close range with
him, as per Flickering Shadow Ways.

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Spring had come to the bustling town of Wirth. Flowers and ribbons bedecked the buildings along its
main thoroughfares, and in the fields outside of town, the people danced and feasted. Strawmaiden
Janest had spent the winter here and would move on after the spring festival ended. The planting was
done, the crops taking hold. She’d lent the strength of her arms and her Exalted power to ensure the
harvest would be bountiful come fall.

Now, the time had come for revelry. Janest sat at a trestle table with a cup of blackberry mead. Its sweet
flavor almost made her want to stay until summer, to taste the berries at their ripest, freshly picked and
still warm from the summer sun. But her need to get moving sang in her bones — Wirth and its people
were lovely, but they weren’t home.

A heavyset man in the travel-worn robes of an Immaculate monk sat down on the bench across from
her. He’d been in town for nearly a week, directing the townsfolk’s prayers to the harvest gods. Janest
had always kept out of any monk’s way as a child, a habit that’d stayed with her on the road. He’d
certainly noticed her before — or perhaps more accurately, her grimscythe — but he’d made no effort
to strike up conversation or inquire about her weapon.

He smiled at her now, tucking into a steaming plate of stuffed dumplings. “These are good,” he said.
“Have you tried them?”

Janest opened her mouth to say she’d been eating them all winter, but he passed her one before she
could. Though the monk was seemingly unaffected by its heat, Janest had to toss it from hand to hand
for a moment. She blew on it until it was cool enough for a bite. It was good, full of cheese and potato
and spiced beef. She’d spent hours with Wirth’s grandmothers, learning how to feel when the dough’s
texture was right, how much filling to scoop into the middle, how to press the edges together just-so.

“These are good,” the monk said again, “but I’ve tasted even better.”

“Where was that?” She found that people loved to speak of their travels, especially the dishes they’d
tried along the way. Such conversations had taught her the names of new cities to visit and new food to
try. Perhaps this monk would add another to her list.

“It was a small village; in fact, I don’t even know if it still stands.” His voice grew somber, maybe even
a little sad. “I expect Kolisz was destroyed when the Fair Folk swept through the valley, its wonderful
dumplings lost with it.”

Kolisz.

He didn’t notice her surprise. “I’ve heard stories that it survived, that they somehow fought off the army,
but I suspect they’re simply that: stories.”

Janest studied the monk’s features as he waxed poetic about the food she’d grown up eating, imagining
him a few years younger, a little less road-weary. Now she recognized him, and even remembered his
name: Sesus Calon. Perhaps seven years had passed since he’d last been in Kolisz but looked as if he’d
aged twice that despite the dragons’ blood in his veins. She wondered what troubles he’d seen in the
meantime to have changed him so.

Still, he didn’t seem to know her. She’d avoided Immaculates and the Realm’s representatives in Kolisz,
but it was a small village; their paths had crossed more than once. Perhaps he’d paid little heed to the
townsfolk or had met so many their faces faded from his memory. Did he truly not recognize her?

Perhaps I’ve changed, too.

And what of Kolisz? What was it like, now? How had the village changed while she’d been gone?

She bade Calon goodnight and left him to his dumplings.

Later, as she lay awake in her host’s spare bed, she heard the young sisters in the next room
whispering to one another and giggling. Janest remembered nights like that with her own sisters,
exchanging secrets with Marieke long after the High Reavers had snuffed the candles. Her heart
twinged with longing.

Three years, Janest had been away from Kolisz, visiting places she’d only heard about in tales told by
merchants and monks: Fajad with its domes and minarets, Gethamane deep beneath the earth, the
great necropolis of Sijan. She’d joined a caravan headed for Great Forks and walked among the city’s
countless gods, then took a job on a ship headed along the Yellow River for Vaneha. She’d walked Jibei’s
dogwood-lined streets, then ventured south to the Dreaming Sea.

Now, even with so many places she had yet to see, the only place she wanted to go was home.

•••••

The first few weeks, Janest traveled as she normally did. She walked well-trafficked roads alongside
merchants and traders, broke bread with pilgrims, and stood watch over refugees. Sometimes, she
accepted a ride in a cart or spent a few miles sharing a wagon-driver’s bench. Yet, the closer she came
to home, the slower every mile seemed to pass. She measured how far she’d come in the tongues she
heard, as Riverspeak gave way to Skytongue and familiar words in foreign dialects cropped up among
her companions’ conversations.

Worries gnawed at her along the way. She’d left the High Reavers arguing and leaderless — did they
resent her for abandoning them? Would the people be angry with her? Would her sisters? Three years
wasn’t so long, but it felt like she’d been gone a decade. When she pictured her field-sisters’ faces, they
were hazy. She could still remember Amalon’s laugh, though, and felt the brush of Marieke’s lips upon
hers and the salt taste of her tears.

By the time she could just barely make out the twin mountains’ silhouettes on the horizon, summer was
nearly over. The road between here and Kolisz was long and twisty, passing through other towns along
a meandering river. Home, so tantalizingly close, yet still beyond her reach, finally became too much.

The countryside blurred around her as she bounded across it with leap after impossible leap. Her
footsteps ate up acres, and with every pace, the mountains grew in her sight. Their ridges sharpened;
dark green fir trees dotted the snow-covered peaks.

Along the way, she passed through the valley’s outer villages. Many were abandoned now — the Fair
Folk had descended like locusts, feeding on the people and leaving destruction in their wake. In some,
the people had rebuilt over the last three years. Fields lay ready for the harvest; smoke curled up from
chimneys. Janest slowed but did not stop. She made camp for the night a few hours’ walk outside of
Kolisz. Eager as she was to return, she needed one last night to gather her thoughts.

As the moon crawled across the sky, she watched the lights go out in distant houses. She could make
out the Great Hall, and the long, low dormitories of the field-guardians. The village sprawled farther
than she remembered, though in some ways it all seemed so much smaller. Perhaps that was because
of her time in vast metropolises like Nexus and Great Forks; perhaps it was she who was different.
She’d met countless people from countless lands, learned their stories and heard their struggles. She’d
fought monsters and supped with gods. She was more than the field hand who’d left three years ago,
but that young woman was still part of her — as Kolisz was still part of her.

Dawn rose golden over the valley. Janest’s path took her through the battlefield where she’d made her
stand against the faerie army. It was overgrown now, left fallow by Kolisz’s farmers. Still, she could
see the evidence of the clash if she looked for it. Here, a deep furrow her grimscythe had cut into the
ground. There, an overturned faerie chariot buried beneath a heap of weeds, ivy twisting through the
spokes of its wheels. Everywhere, wildflowers grew in vibrant colors. Not only was the land healed, it
was renewed.

Ten Sheaves’ shrine still stood on its hillside. It was decorated for the harvest, though the stream
that once ran alongside it remained as dry as the day he’d made Janest his Chosen. The harvest god
was gone, though no other deity had yet claimed his place. She stopped by the shrine and coaxed a
chrysanthemum bush into full bloom as a memorial.

The field-maidens began their work at daybreak. As Janest walked between the rows, they lowered
their scythes, set down their baskets, and encircled her. Two of the younger children — who’d grown so
tall in her absence! — ran for the town, whooping with excitement.

Then Marieke and Amalon pushed their way through the crowd, laughing and shouting and pulling her
into their embrace. They led her home, past the new buildings on Kolisz’ outskirts. These were new
constructions, some with architectural flourishes she recognized from the surrounding villages, brought
by refugees who’d heard of the miracle at Kolisz.

In the town’s center, the children led the High Reavers to meet them. Henryka stood at the fore. Her hair
had gone from steel gray to mostly white and the lines around her eyes had deepened, but she was as
hale as ever. “Our wandering child returns,” she said. The crowd surrounding them went quiet.

Janest stood tall and proud before her. “I’ve seen many great cities, but only a small part of the world.
My heart cried out for Kolisz, and here I am.”

For a moment she thought Henryka might rebuke her, and send her away in disgrace, but then the
older woman smiled and spread wide her arms. “Welcome home, Chosen of Ten Sheaves,” she intoned.
“Welcome home, daughter of Kolisz.” She stepped forward and embraced Janest as the people cheered.

The village organized a feast in short order. Throughout the day and long into the evening, Janest
celebrated with old friends and met the newcomers who’d arrived since she left. She told stories of
her adventures and drank in tales of village life she’d missed. Her sisters presented the newest field-
guardians to her; Janest spent much of the night smiling as the children took turns clambering onto her
lap, until Marieke pulled her away for a dance. When the High Reavers came to speak with her, it was
with respect, but not deference, which suited Janest just fine.

Kolisz had changed, just as she had, in ways both small and sweeping. Yet it was still home. Tomorrow,
she’d think about her future, where her help was needed and where she would be welcome. Tonight,
her belly and her heart were full, and that was enough.
 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

@JoeyGeeWhiz Alec Anderson Andy Phillips

“Natalya Kelley; Curator of Alec Birchall Angelborn
Untested Stratagems“ Aled Parry AngelWick
A Bunch of Gamers Alex Carstensen Anja Kraus
A Crompton Alex Fewings Annah Comyn
A MacLellan Alex Geoghagan Annei Lyranae
A Split Tongue that Alex Stuart Annika The White
Writes Down Lies Alex W Anshu Shines-With-Surety
A. Assmann Alexander Cresswell Anson Bird
A. Charest Alexander Levine Anthony C.
A. Doan Alexander Rodriguez Anthony Damiani
A. Foote Alexis Courteix Anthony E. Harbo Torres
A. Marshall Aliasi Anthony Wilson
A.Cerer Alice M Antoine ASTIER
A.J.W. Harrow Allen Bashford Anze Rubaara
Aaron Fleishman Alyssa B. Apregis
Aaron Mouritsen Amanda “OwlBear“ Hather Aquatica
Aaron Pothecary Amanda Plageman Aramithius
acolyte Amara Ahmed Aravon Harlingar
Actor of the Verdant City Amber Vietzke Architect of Urban Dreams,
Adam “Magus” Loyd Ambre Triomphante chosen of Nexus.
Adam Carbone Amelia Fetch Archon
Adam Daniel-Wayman Amine Hsu Nekuchan Arion Wind
Adam Horne Amy Waller Arkon63
Adam Jung Anael Navarro Arlan C. Kaserman-Stutler
Adam Kosakowski Anahita Egebjerg Lange Arobin Prime
Adam Krump Anders A Mejstrick Arrith of Moonsilver Mirrors
Adam McAteer András Adrovicz Arthur F.
Adam P Andrei Antonio Gonzalez Reyes Artur ‘Ev1n’ Plociennik
Adam Rajski Andrés Santiago Pérez-Bergquist Arwen Ross
Adam Rose Andrew Drake, Chosen Ash Stark
Adamant Lion of Tax Fraud Ashadar Shan
Adrian “Maarken Andrew E. AshenFox - Richard M.
Brashari” Cumming Andrew Feeney Ashley Thompson
Adrian Praetorius Andrew Hows Asir “Groch“ Moqa’Ja
Adrian Tymes Andrew K. Aster T
Adswyn Bitter Ash Insight Andrew Kole Atte Mäkelä
Aêtava Andrew Leggett Aurius Vorayn
AG Andrew NcGregor Aurora Wings M.K.
Airylan Canth Andrew Rowe Austin Loomis, Chosen
Akio Takashige Andrew Snow of Lazy River
Alan Orr Andrew Srebro Aviru&Pheobia
Alan Reed Mitchell Andrew Waterfall Axel J
Alan-Michael Tyrson Andrew Watson Azouth
Alannah R. Andy Clark B. M. Wanek
Aldo “Kwako“ Montoya Reynaga Andy Kwong B. Mariana

693 396
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 CROWDFUNDING BACKERS

Barbara Jane Church Brent W. Ezell Chad Ford

Bartek Wcisło Brett Alexander Chad Hazel-Kepler
Bastion, Chosen of Flashing Peak Brett G. Anderson Champion of the Jade Firefly
Beachfox Bri ChandraMagic
Bear Carson Brian B Chaos, Chosen of Chaos
Bella Brian Camp Charis Siozios
Ben Cook Brian Dean Charles “Lukkychukky” Ulveling
Ben Kruger Brian Hon Charles Crowe
Ben McKenzie Brian McCain Charles E.
Ben Stewart Brian Perdomo Charles Geckle
Benjamin “BlackLotos“ Welke Brian Quinn Charles Geckle
Benjamin Guilfoyle Brian Rivers Charles L’Espérance
Benjamin Jones Briar “BadNews“ Harris Charles M. Watford Jr
Benjamin Mire Brigette Swan Charles Nichols
Bennsbannarias Brightfires Charles Siegel
Benoit Devost Brook Freeman Charles Smith
Bernd Kruse Bruce Ferguson Charles W. Hill
Bertrand G. Bruce Stone Charlie “PookaKnight” Cantrell
Beryllium Mask Bruce Turner Chase B
Bilious “Exploding Frogs” Slick Bryan Blackstone Chase Burton
Bill Shaffer Bryant Devillier Chase Strolenberg
Bill Weepie C Canadian Chazz Kellner
Bitentronc, chosen of Sunflowers C. Curry Cherry Blossom on the Wind
BJ C. Martin Chosen of Bees
Björn Fischer C. Wardwell Chow Mashu
Blair A. Monroe C.Lowe Chris Brasier
Blair Cliff Caden K. Chris Campione
Blake Brown Caleb Haddix Chris Costello
Blake Campbell Caleb Shelley Chris Fankhauser
Blayne M. Cameron Starkel Chris Gawne
Blood-Shrouded Thorns Cameron Wise Chris Hall
Bob Huss Camille Rodrigues Melo Nogueira Chris Johnson
Botch Frivarg Caoimhe B. Chris Larrabee
Brad Yesko Carl Ollivier Chris Mangum
Bradley “Jimborg“ Schulz Carles Samarra Chris McPeake
Brandon E. Carlo Tommasini Chris Michael Jahn
Brandon H Carlos “Monsada the Iberian Chris Raney
Brandon Paul Troll“ Checa Barambio Chris Ryan
Brandon Quina Carly and Degen Gottlieb-Ho Chris Shaffer, Chosen
Brannen Carmine Laudiero of Pepperoni Rolls
Brendan Ferguson Carter “Jade Eye was a Chris Silversea
Brendan Tubbs chump“ Dohoney Chris Thomas
Brennan Dawson Carter Blalack Chris Venus
Brennan Greene Casey Corbin Chris. D
Brennan Willingham Casey M. Carter Christian “Su-tehp“
Brennen “Seven Swords“ Willer Cason Snow Fernandez-Duque

397
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Christian Cooper Craig Bonnes David “Just“ Talboy

Christian Graham Craig Curran David Ault
Christian Higuti Craig Mercer David Boniface
Christian Smucker Craig Wieand David Bufkin
Christian Walters Crimson Steel Phoenix David Chart
Christie Jennings-Wyckoff Cristo Kyriazis David Dorward
Christoph Laurer Critian Caceorte David E. Dalton
Christopher Crumplepunch David Frederick Mirche
Christopher Bishop Curtis Stark David Fulford
Christopher Coward Cynis Liseta David Futterrer
Christopher Daniel Cynis Orin David Futterrer
Christopher Emerson D & C Edwards David Gearhart
Christopher Frances D Weatherwax David Hariman
Christopher Gilbert D.Baker David Holden
Christopher Gunning D.M. Hubbard David J Prokopetz
Christopher Humphrey D10s by Enifael David Kotsonis
Christopher Kaufman Dacar Aria Arundottir David Lee Terhune
Christopher Reinhardt Dacar Aria Arundottir David Mann
Christopher Trapp Damian Crevello David Miller
Christopher V Martin Damien Sullivan David Mortensen
Christopher Wallace Damos Mandraag David Paul
Chronos12 Dan Hagy David Stephenson
Chuck Dee Dan Layman-Kennedy David Thomas
Ciaran Carbery-Shaha Dan Lewis David Whitley
Ciel A. Canth Dan Tunseth Davide Ferlan
Claire Weaver Dana Jacobson Davide Milano
Claudia Creed Dana McVey Davin Wärter
Clayton Higbee Dane “Noctis“ Madsen Dawngreeter
ClyncyeRudje Dani Jang(너불레기) DeadlyReed
Cody M Kern Daniel “Squid“ Ericsson Déan Pijpker
Cody Marbach Daniel and Jasmin Bomm Dean Stuart McNabb
Cody Thoroman Daniel Gochnauer Declan Needham Church
Colin Earle Daniel J. Gebel Deltalisk
Colin R. Jones Daniel Singer Dennis. M. G
Conor Anderson Danny Fisher Derek Semsick
Consort of Black Thorns Dantirian Derek W. Branim
Constellation Darin Kerr Dermot Bresnehan
Corey Reynolds Darklogic Dev N.
Corey Salter-Davidson DarkLordZebedee Deven Mitton
Corin Maslin Darkshifter Dimitria Ladopoulos
Corwyn Alambar Darren Velez Dirk Reinelt
Cory Gilman Darth Vayn’Eris Dmitri Kolytchev
Cory Tabibian Dave Jones Dom Hero Ellis
Cosmos furiosi Dave Rosenzweig Dottie Davis
Coyotekin Dave Winterbottom Douglas Jacobson
Craig “Exalt of Exaltation” Allen David “Gaius“ Scott Douglas Sharpshair

893 398
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 CROWDFUNDING BACKERS

Douglass Kern Eric Lindroth Fukata

DRAGONfluffy Eric McCommon Fyrefly
Dragonsrage Eric Minton G Chaisson
Drew A Simpson Eric Robibaro G Shellabear
Drew Clowery Eric Schalk G Stephen
Drew M Eric Schuller G. Alex Williamson
Drew Stevens Eric Smailys G. Clarkson
Drproctoropolis Erica Maybe G. Fried
Duan Bailey Erica Phelps G. Hurtubise
Dug Coffin Erich Dobler Gabe Tatum
Dylan G Erik D Gabriel L.
E. Crabtree Erik Gurul Gabriel Loftus
E. Erdman Erik Rådman Gabriela “Citation“ Fisher
E. Kelly Erik Tyrrell Gareth Eye-of-Dangers-Mouse
Eben Lowe Erik Welehodsky Gareth Gingell
Echo Cian Esra Witschel Garrett E. Hutton
Ed Morland Estevan F. Queiroz Garrett H. M. Johnson, Esq.
Eden Keen Ethan D. Peck Garrett Henke
Edward Feen Ethan Wilke Gavin Mutter
Edwin Wessels Everett Oakley Gavyn F. Duthie
Eetu “Zergon“ Pykäläinen Everynne Winters Gedeon McBain
Eleanor Asher, Engineer of Evil Midnight Lurker Geekz Anonymous
Auspicious Harmonies. Expeditious Emissary General Trivia Kit, Chosen
Elias Helfer Ezekiel M. Hubris of Miscellania
Elisabeth ‘TerraNova’ Schulz Fabio V. Genevieve Cogman
Ellery the Wyrd Felipe Bovolon Geno G.
Elliott I Davis Felix Grothkopp Gentle Snow
Elona Felix Shafir Geoffrey (Jetstream) Walter
Elzo Tovani Benzaq Felix Weingardt Geoffrey Kincaid
EmanantVolition Figure of Sudden Funding George F Robbins
Emerald Dawn FiskerPen George Pitre
Emibirb Fist of Zen Georgia L. Moody
Emily Spitler-Lawson FlamesRising.com Gilad Goodman
Emily Zhu flowerysong Gilfredo Rodriguez
Enkufka Fortunate Strike, Chosen Gillian & Alistair Winters
Entropyn of Luranume Giuseppe D’Aristotile
Epitome Foster Gowans Glen
Eric Alexander Foxloaf Glen R. Taylor
Eric Allen Francisco Javier Costa Glenn Clifford
Eric Coutu François Perriot gotyaoi
Eric Embree Frank McCormick Götz Weinreich
Eric Garcia Frank S Graham Sandison
Eric Gordon Frederi “Volk Kommissar Graham Starfelt
Eric J. Heckathorn Friedrich“ POCHARD Grant Anderson
Eric Kroier Fredrik Karlsson Grant Hoeflinger
Eric Li Fredrik Lyngfalk Gratua Cuun

399
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Gray -Trilug- H Ian Otto Jair Vianna

Graziano Zanichelli Iarlais Jake “Cyrus“ Phillips
Greg Berry Ikalios Jake Maillet (AKA Void)
Greg Peterson Imran Inayat Jake VanGunda
Greg Roy Incandescent Dragon Creations James “Mindworm Jim“ Jones
Greg Valleau Indigo Shade James Bell
Gregg “Pyrosorc“ Parrott Indy Arno James Buckingham
Gregory Stayner Inge James Edward Gray II
Greyman Ingrid Emilsson James Freeman
gribblethemunchkin Iomhar James Holden
Guillermo Heras Prieto Iorwerth Thomas James M Shaw
Gustavo La Fontaine Iron Ox James McKay
Guy Reece Iron Phoenix James Meredith
Gwosh Isaac Lee James Metca
H Zimmerman itsthetaxman James Taylor
H. Douglass Bloomer Iván Rael Núñez Harper James V
H. W. Ulrich Ivan V.A.N. Slipper James Wesley
H.G. Ivo “Xireon” Goudzwaard James Y.
Hailey McAuliffe J Akers Jamie “The Demiurge“ Lancashire
HalfTangible J Hendrickson Jamie Betts
Halwin Malison J Singer Jamie Vann
HamSandLich J Slupsky Jannes Lauwers
Hank Driskill J ‘Trekkie’ Edwards Jared Fattmann
Hans-Henning Vogt J, Radiance of Heaven Jared Levine
Haroon Alsaif J. Armstrong Jared Lord
Hate Fish J. CARLOCK Jasken
Hawk H. J. Sandström Jason “Twilight Caste“ Best
Hawksmoor J. Simpson Jason A. Guerra
Héctor Giovanni Moreno J. Smith Jason Barton
Hernández J. Teixeira Jason C Marshall
Hel J. Vig Jason Dickerson
Helena A J. W. Bennett Jason Italiano
Hemera J.Murphy Jason M. Petry
Hendrik Mainzer J.P.W. Jason Moscatello
Henrik Jäderkvist Jaakko Kaisanlahti Jason Ross Incz
Henry F. Bruckman Vargas Jabberwocky Jason Scott
Herman Theodon Page Jack O’Loup Jason Whittle
His Magnificence Lord Fuzzy Jack Pennifold Jay Holiday
Horizon Devouring Light Jacob “Light-Hero“ Paasch Bruhn Jay Morris
Hugo Richard Jacob Ansari Jaysen Courmac
Huskotron Jacob Bieber JC Voskaya
Ian Graham Jacob Conerly JD Maynard
Ian Groombridge Jacob Jeremiah Jeff Churchill
Ian Hamilton Jacob Kleffel Jeff Clark
Ian Holzman Jacob Mandel Jeff Stoker
Ian MacRae Jacques Barcia Jeffrey A Beckett

04 400
EX3
 CROWDFUNDING BACKERS

Jeffrey Brodovsky John Hylton Julien Pyrasch

Jeffrey Mintz John Lambert Juno Hart
Jeffrey Palmer John M. Atkinson Jürgen Czerny
Jeffrey S. James John R. Trapasso Jürgen Hubert
Jemma Roberts John T. Veltman Jussi Klemetti
Jen Parr Jon Finke Justin Buckley
Jennifer Cline Jon T Moran Justin Fanzo
Jennifer Neff Jonathan Delmater Justin Mabry
Jens Thorup Bindzus Jonathan Head Justin Sandhu
Jeremiah M Gonzalez Jonathan Lang K. Eizaguirre
Jeremy “Blackwingedheaven“ Jonathan O’Atsalakotos K. Emory M.
Puckett Jonathan Stoetzer K. Morrison
Jeremy A. Mowery Jonathan Wirth Kaeli Chambers
Jeremy Brown Jonci Aguillard Kaiden the Vampire
Jeremy C Jordan Etherington Kairos Len
Jeremy Claybrook Jordan Goldfarb Kalina Bonebreaker
Jeremy D. Parker Jordan Springer Kang Fen the Eidolon of
Jeremy Dillon Jörg Drückhammer Forgotten Secrets
Jeremy F Joris Kühl Kari A. Clark
Jeremy Kopczynski Joseph Anthony Dempsey Karl Kreutzer
Jeremy Pinske Joseph Horan Karlee Finch
Jeremy Pridemore Joseph J. Nikolaus Kassidy Larsen
Jeremy W Joseph McCormick Kate Adams
Jesal Sena Josh Geller Kate Crittenden
Jesse Anderson Josh Raveling Kathleen Hailperin
Jesse Breazeale Josh Robison Kathrin Smith
Jesse Goble Josh Will Katrina Agedstein
Jesse Thomas Joshua & Bevin Proehl Kaya ‘Greenstrider’ Yavuz
Jessica & Ralf Schi Joshua Brown Kazair Lux
Jibby Joshua Crosby Keegan
Jim Deeley, Chosen of Kha’tuum- Joshua Hillerup Keichiokami
Ha, Bearer of the Spark of Joshua Little Keith E. Hartman
the Forge-Fire’s Flame Keith Harper
Joshua Silberfein
Jim Schofield Kelgamum
Joshua Tomas
jkomg Kelly and Alex Beigh
Josiah Aldridge
João Pedro Rodrigues Kelly Pedersen
Joyous Rebellion Against Winter
Joe Arnaud Kemp
JP
Joe Cloutier Ken Finlayson
JP Estey
Joe Limond Kenneth Gilbert
Juan Donglé, Pirate Lord
Joel B. of the Western Seas Kenneth McComber
Joel Silverman Juani B. Kergonan
John B. Jub Jub, Fear Be His Name Kevin “TheLawfulGeek“ Kutlesa
John B. Julian Kay Kevin Brecht
John C. Oeffinger II Julien “Crop-Weaver“ Kevin Lawler
John Fay Teychené-Blanc Kevin Mueller
John Hunter Harper Julien “Samanosuke“ Lecleire Kieran Healey

401
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Kill Stompy the Death Trumpet Lex Mad Rubicant

Killian Thurston Liam Andrew Green Madeline McCaul
Kim Caya Liam Miller MadLetter
Kim JC Liam Murray Mads Jessen
Kintani Mayato Lillian Brimm Magus
Kira Douglas Lily A. Capizzi Mammoth Circle
Kiri Lindharin Mandible Bones
Kirt LeBlanc Lisa Dyson Manny Nepomuceno, Zenith
Kolbey Araujo Liz Rogers Caste Sandata ng Liwanag
Kori Sunderman Logan Corkwell Manosque Epoch
Kris “Drako“ Moynahan Logan M Manyfaced Chameleon
Kris Baxter Logan Rollins Mao Tenno IV
Kroll Loki “Silver Eyes“ Ashaman Marc Lummis
Kryptyk Physh Loki Wyrm Marc M
Kurt Piersol Lord Count Jonathon R. Gershon Marc-André Sarrazin
Kyle Doolin Lord Fox-Huntington (A.K.A. Hubris Knight)
Kyle Henick Lorelei Marceline Donovan-Scott
Kyle L. Lori Krell Marcin F.
Kyle Novich LossCondition Marcus “Vorpalesque“ McClure
Kyle R. LostLight Marcus Dageryd
Kyle Stoneman Louis-Philippe Desroches Marigold
Kyle Wheeler Low Vice Mark A. Moore
Kyranthos Luca Mark B Manders
L Collins Lucas Garrett Mark Couture
L. Fuica Lucas L. Mark Hendrickson
Weird of the Wise
Lady Valas Ashre, Lady Lucy “wyrdness“ Fletcher
of the Crimson Shore Mark Rae
Lukas
Laney Moore III Mark W Roy
Lukas Adam
Lars Lauridsen Markus Kostarczyk
Lukas Buergi
Lars-Henrik Evjan Marques Haley
Luke Moran
Laura Farrell Martin V Ottesen
Luke Phillips
Laura T. Martin Weller
Luke Turpeinen
Lauren Priest Mary McDowell
Luna-Victoria
Laurent Rambaud Massimiliano Johnson
Lyle Hansen III
Laurie & Genevieve Matt Breece
Lysander Sky
Lawrence G Matt Lemmons
M. Andrlon
Ledaal Kebok Catala Matt ‘Octane’ Hufstetler
M. Kirstejn Hansen
Lee Moneta-Koehler Matt Pellegrino
M. Laut
Leet Matt Petruzzelli
M. Mathew
Legionman Matt Piasecki
M. Ramage
Lei of Secrets Matt Sawyer
M.Doherty
Leif Fairbairn Matt Strawn
M.J. Monleón
Leslie Stevens Matt Streit
M.Warren
Leslie Wea Matt Thaviphon
Maciej Baran
Levin Eskarian, the Dancer Matthew “Krawkpaladin“ Parsons
Maciej Napiórkowski
Lewis Pearce Matthew and Stephanie
Mackenzie Belmont

204 402
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 CROWDFUNDING BACKERS

Bissette-Roark Michael Oliver Nathan S. Hoskins

Matthew Aper Michael Parker Nathanael Grinnell
Matthew Ballard Michael Pichon Nathaniel C. Bailey
Matthew Blanski Michael Pietrelli Navve Segal
Matthew Earlyw Michael Porter Nessalantha
Matthew J Dunne Michael Seay Newton E. Grant
Matthew Joel Stewart Michael T. Dalton-Martin Nicholas Mon
Matthew Leviant Michael V. Roberts Nicholas Parker
Matthew Madden Michael W. Mattei Nicholas Peterson
Matthew Malis Michael, Chosen of Trees Nicholeas Kirkpatrick
Matthew McGuire Mikael Assarsson Nick Cadigan
Matthew Oldhaver Mike Bowie Nick Keyuravong
Matthew Roberts Mike Bruner Nick Payida
Matthew Russo Mike Gill Nicklaus G.
Matthew Sanderson Mike Gilligan Nickolas C. Kik
Matthew Tait Mike Koster Nicola Went
Matthew Trent Mike Montgomery Niels van Tol
Matthew Tridento Mike Ong Nik May
Matthew York Mike W. Leavitt Noah “Kira“ Aalders
Matthias Bruns Minty Noah K
Matthias Zuchowski Miraclegrow Ntslatko
Max “Khamyr“ Beaumont Mirage of the Shattered Soul Octavio Arango
Max Huntington Mirek Zurek Odanuki
Max Werner Mischa Wolfinger Oliver S.
Maximus MissMaddy Omenowl
Meiyun Mitchell Diamond Oomizuao
Meles Badger MJ Danlin Ophris Justin
Melody Haren Anderson Molez Orzyel
Melusine of the Roses Molly Landgraff Oscar Fenton
Meredith, Voyager Of Molua Young Owen Cartwright
Troubled Waters Monica Phillips Owen Wesley Kerschner
Meridian Monica Speca Owen Wesley Kerschner
Mette Arenkiel Monika “Gryf“ Biskupska Paige of Cups
Mewsocks Morgan Cassidy Panu “Possessed“ Laukkanen
Micah Finch Morgan Foxgrove Paolo Biggio
Michael “Monghani“ Watkins Morgan Rose Pat Murphy
Michael Agapeyev Moss Patrício C. Júnior
Michael Brewer Mr. Mercutio Patrick Carrick
Michael Feldhusen Muriel S. Patrick Eli Dunn
Michael Kently bani Merinita MysticTemplar Patrick Fagan
Michael Kently bani Merinita Name that Flows like Diarrhoea Patrick J.
Michael Kostruba Naomi Clark Patrick Maes
Michael Maitan Nasser al’Ahmad Patrick McMurry
Michael Mooney, the Nathan Baxter Paul Hayes
Tyranny of Books Nathan D. Paul Messenger
Michael O. Holland Nathan R. Paul Ryan

403
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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Paul Singleton Randomikari Ronald Neises Jr

Paul Weimer Raoslin Rorou, Arbiter of the 4th Law
Paulo Contopoulos Raphael Bressel Rory Judith
Paxson Bachus Rapture of the Razor’s Edge Rose Chord
Pedro Oginio Rathen RoseWood
peelingchrome Raun Sedlock Ross Owen Qualls
Pele - Zenith Caste, former Raven Zotti-Rhodes Ross Ramsay
Priestess of Hamoji. Raziere Ross Story
Peter Mabbott Rebecca Harbison Rowan, The Tree That
Peter Mikkelsen Red Claws Running Conjures Fire
Peter Ryan Reikoku Ruby Scourgebringer
Peter Steponaitis Remiel Ryan & Danielle Ferguson
Petri Wessman ‘Reseru’ Sansone Ryan “The Galby“ Galbraith
Petter Wäss Resplendant Riley Ryan Cain
Phil Beal Reth Shannar Ryan Gracey
Phil Hattie Rev. Phillip Malerich Ryan Holden
Philip Barkow Rian Socia Ryan J Hogsden
Philip F. Hunt-Bull Richard b Ryan McWilliams
Philipp Neurohr Richard Javier “Blaque“ Ryan Moore
Phillip M. Jr. Stephenson Ryan Poss
Pierre ‘Tyrendia’ Martin Richard L. Skinner III Ryan Rasey
PlatFleece Richard Lee Ryan Ventura
Plucky Hero Richard Sexton Ryan Wellman
Pól Richard Stratton S Kato
Pram Rick Wilson S Sigmon
Prezhit of the Lost Creation Roads Of Shadow S. Smith
Prince Emmanuel Maxi Rob K S. Snyder
Prince of Brass Rob Klein-Beernink Saelvarath
Prof. Tentakulus Rob Lally Sage, Wizened warrior of honor.
Punexpected Robby Peterson Saint Evil
Quasi robdog Saleem Halabi
Quetzal Carter Oropeza Roberic N. Sam “Bifford the Youngest“ Byford
Quinn Robert “Jefepato“ Dall Sam “Scattershot“ Miller
Quinn Radich Robert Christmas Sam Cameron-McKee
R Gregory Luciani Robert Frost and Veronica Ellis
R Rensberger Robert Harris Sam Myatt
R Sean Callahan Robert Jordan Sameer Yalamanchi
R Turner Robert Keenan Sammy Childress
R.Daines Robert Mayotte Samuel Dail
R’kaiyu and Lisette Robert Siemiński Samuel Gaskins
Rafael e Luciana Devera Robin Phoenix Samuel Gordon Mitson
Rafe Richards Robinson Fulcher Samuel Simons
Raijier the Dawnhammer Rodger L. Gamblin Santino crivello
Raijinslayer Roffster Sarah Fairbanks
RainSandDew Roland Ayliffe Sarah Kennedy
Ralph Romain de L’Adret du Piciorus Satoshi

404 404
EX3
 CROWDFUNDING BACKERS

Savan Varil Sinople Taki Dallis

Scipia Harold Siriux Taksin Chakri
Scott “Lyshote“ Banks Skyler Crossman Tanya
Scott Kelley Ernest Solatra Lilac Harvinkai Tatsuya
Scott Morris Somajima “Quercia Tempestosa” TDS
Scruffy Paladin of Or-Tench Somber Orchid Teller of Tales
Sean “Ariamaki“ Riedinger Son of Silk and Stone Terinas Tiger
Sean “Garg“ McAlister Song of Bells Terrance A. Bryant
Sean and Katherine Handcoxk Sophie Anderson Terrence Deming
Seán Leaney Spear Terrinix
Sean M Croteau Spencer Timerman Terry from Systematic
Sean McGrath Spencer Verlo Understanding of Everything
Sean Moore Spencer Wil Tessa McLaughlin
Sean O’Neill St. Bertie Tetsuo
Sean Patterson Stands Ever Truthful Tetsuzuru Akeha
Sean Vincent Wells Star’n’Six Thad Green
Sean Z Novak Steel Lotus the Bellwether Beast
Seana McGuinness Steen Chr. Rosenørn The Captain, Peleps Bael
Sebastian Menke Stefano Monachesi The Crone’s Jade Cat
Sebastiano Stephan Szabo The Delicious Bargain Sandwhich
Seika Stephen Bond THE Donnie
Selanye Stephen Esdale The Empty Claw
Serena Payette Stephen Gawrit The Freelancing Roleplayer
Sesus Weijin Jahar Stephen Naum The Friends of Liam Karry
Seth A. Nahk Steve “KidBehemoth“Carroll The Nemian
Seth Maurer Steve Locke The Nightmare Lord,
Setra, Exigent of Glass Steven Nicholson William Smith
Shafi Ziauddin Still Sky The Old Man
Shankar M-M Still Sky of the Blazing Lotus Sect The onyx fox
Shattendrache Stormer Aurion The Prophet Draped in
Indigo Vestments
Shawn Campbell StormRider
the Spear of Heaven
Shawn Connor Stormshot
The Unsung Hero
Shawn Hagen Strangeshrimp
TheBearIsDrivng
Shawn P Stu MacLeod
TheLazyOne
Shawn Polka Stuart “Pattern Spider“ Adam
TheNabster
Shay Stringer Stuart V Taft
Theodore Alteneder
Shlagevuk Sydney Savoy
Thief-of-Faces
Shrykull Sylv-Eyed Frame Spinner
Thomas Balls-Thies
Siegward of Catarina Symphony of Broken Chains
Thomas Hiddleston
Silk Moon Lotus Synapse
Thomas J Fleming
Silver Lily, Daughter of Syrynax
Burning Feather Thomas Lutterman
sysid_ACE
Silver Wind Thomas Martin
T. Leslie
Simon Lavigueur Thomas Maund
T. Panebianco
Simon M. Radecki Thorn Amidst Roses
T.J. Wilson
Sìne A. E. Watson Thrice Blessed Razor
Taft Punk

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 EXIGENTS: OUT OF THE ASHES

Throne Verdant Sorrow’s Malice Xarl Lyon

Tiernán Ó hAlmhain Vernon Lee Leggett Jr Xiwo Xerase
Tim Aumônier Veronica Xizz
Tim D. Vesp Yabvi
Timothy Mushel Viatos Yannick Gueye
Tireless Justice Engine Vibrant Author of Stories Untold Yesman
Toast Victor De Sena Yesman
Tobias Lykke Skovhus Victor T. Yim Amethyst
Todd Ebert Victorious Abbot of the Bay Yui
Tom Connolly Vilkas Fowler Zach M.
Tom Slaughter Vincent “Victorien LOYOLA“ Mora Zachary S.D.
Tommy Svensson Vincent Gonsalves Zachery Naldrett
Tony Adkins Vincent Turchetta Zack Simon
Tony Ferrannini Violet Green Zak Strassberg
Tore Andre Rønningen Vise Zeustopher
Torrey Stouder-Studenmund Viveka Nylund Ziv Ragowsky
Trae R Vojtech Pribyl zmef
Travis Stewart Vucrulez
Travis Tomon Vulgar Worlock
Trent E Di Renna Vulthuryol
Trevor Hamblin W. Nutt
Trevor Hannon W. Wheeless
Tricia Guillot Wajanai Snidvongs
Tricky Walker Glassmire
Tristan Beck Walker Hedrick
Tristan Severs Walter B. Schirmacher
Trollune Walter F. Croft
Troy Brown Wandering Horizon
Troy Lenze Waroth Kel’dire
Tsuki_Ouji Warren Finnie
Two Steps Over the Horizon Warren P Nelson
TwoQuestions Water-Upon-Stone
Tybar Sunsong Wayne seeger
Tyler Perry Wes M.
Tyler Philbrick Wesley King
Tyler Shield Whitt.
Tyson Collins William Bethel and
Uncanny Luck Raewynne Elisheva
Unity-of-Rings William Bryant
Unlamented Ruin William Martin
Unlimited Innovator of William Strickling
Man and Machine Willow “Keiki“ Lavender
Unseen Librarian Willy Kaceres
Ustra Wren
Vejuz Wyrd
Venatius Xander Critchley

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