Every night the moon takes on a different form. Some believe this to be random, others believe the face of the moon brings portents of things to come. The moon isn't limited to one phase regularly waxing and waning but appears each night as Luna wishes, sometimes with one phase, sometimes with two. It can appear as a corona of silver, two phases on opposite sides, identical or mismatching and at changing angles. Unlike the path of the sun the path of the moon is not constant either. travelling during the day and during the night along any path Luna choses, in which direction and how high in the sky are up to her.

    An artefact ship can move through water without disturbing it as if it were part of the water itself. As the vessel is inhabited by a water elemental or bonded to the anima of a Terrestrial Exalted this is actually true. A vessel of frost jade can move as easily over the frozen sea as snow over ice. A vessel of fire jade can travel through rivers of burning rock.
   Earth jade is extraordinarily hard and requires age of strenuous hammering to craft it into shape. It's far stronger than most tools used to craft it as a result they have to be repaired or replaced frequently. Jade can survive any condition of it's Elemental Pole. It was intended to be the bodies of elementals.
   Artefacts made from jade are the houses of elementals. The Dragon-Blooded are representations of the living things of Creation just as they are descended from their forebears. Their artefacts aren't just objects but living weapons.

    Some demons breathe themselves forwards as surging tides of fog.
   Demon Lords are wary of promoting their subordinates or of progeny who grow too powerful. Most find it expedient to impress upon them that Elder Progeny is the highest station they can attain to retain a monopoly on power, and make sure that this rak is hard enough to accomplish. However once in a while through extraordinary guile circumstance and luck a progeny manages to attain some degree of power over his lord and simultaneously prevent himself from being deposed. Tales are told of rulers who have slowly become little more than figureheads because of the rise of a cunning and consummately manipulative underling. As a result demons are very cautious when dealing with powerful underlings. Yes they're very useful but they're also potentially very dangerous. The mighty owe their preeminence largely to those beneath them but the more powerful those beneath them become the more in danger they are of being overthrown. Sometimes an entire collective of progeny fall on their master. When the succeed they often set up a form of group rulership. Often this dissolves sooner or later as it's members turn on eachother. This is often the result of one of their number declaring their superiority, which often happens immediately after the coup usually by the one who slew their former master. Demons have to contend with not only their superiors and lessers but also their peers. Such an act is extremely riky as short sighted conspirators have learned. Demon Princes do not take their subsidiary souls being slain lightly and often fall on the offenders who discover they have angered a being far more powerful than the one they overthrew. Occasionaly the winner of an internecine conflict among a group of conspirators is offered the chance to be transformed into the Demon Prince's soul. Such an enticement is also used to fragment such a group of renegades, being held out as a reward for selling out their peers. Often all the usurpers perish in such a conflict which is what the Demon Prince sometimes wants.
   Having a subsidiary soul overthrown in a significant embarrassment to a Demon Prince and could incite attack from all quarters. However if one of the rebels prove to show particular promise they may think they're better off with them instead as they will be a more effective weapon to use against their rivals.

    Luna could see the Unconquered Sun was making Chosen who would one day rule all of Creation. She wanted to make something that would like herself be beyond the Unconquered Sun's control, beyond even the control of Fate. Luna's fundamental relationship is to Gaia not the Unconquered Sun. Why would she make her Chosen differently?

    As the Solars were the masters of Creation, Luna made her Exalted to be, like the Wyld they were spawned from, beyond it and beyond their control.

Warstriders

    Scout and Common Warstriders were constructed by and for the Terrestrial Exalted so they could fight along side Celestial Exalted armed with Colossal and Royal Warstriders. In great battles Solar Generals in their orichalcum war machines would lead armies of Terrestrials in their Warstriders. Although the models made for the Terrestrials were far smaller they could be produced en masse and allowed hosts of Terrestrials fighting as sworn brotherhoods to go into battle shoulder to shoulder with their Solar masters like a warlord leading his retinue.

The Haslanti and the Discovery of the North

    The Haslanti probably have a legend about their long journey north truting religiously in their Lunar guide travelling to Tzatli to found the city of Diamond Hearth. This story could become legend in it's own right with the Haslanti prepared to trust the tall tale of the Lunar of a fantastical lost city to journey out on to the ice in the hope of reaching this place before winter, then people dying or turning back and the Lunar and the faithful convincing them to carry on and then they find this amazing city and become the founders of Diamond Hearth. Then the tale goes on with how they settled and explored the city and survived the first winter there. The Lunar selected the brave and adaptable Ice Walker tribes to rediscover this lost technology. Since then they have thrived resurrecting the First Age technology they found.
   Although the technology of Tzatli kept the Wyld out, the Haslanti and their Lunar guide still had to fight through the dark tunnels against the Fair Folk to reclaim it and during the winters when the Wyld returns.
   This sounds like an Icelandic saga but on a much bigger scale.

    The Immaculate Order is so named because because they could not be corrupted by the debased Solar emperors. The Immaculate Order maintains this spiritual purity of the Dragon-Blooded empire primarily by spreading it's philosophy and through the Wyld Hunt and individually through hard, acetic training.

The Descending Hierarchy

Essence 2  Serf    You live and act  at your master's command
Essence 3    Greater Serf   You have lived long enough to gain some experience. A fraction of the absolute terror you experience has started to be replaced by an inkling of ambition.
    Under-breeds. Dross to be used at your master's will

Essence 4    Progeny    You have attained full demonhood and are powerful enough your patron is not ashamed to recognise you as one of their offspring. They have actually addressed you by name.
Essence 5   Elder Progeny   The highest most First Circle demons can aspire to. Elder Erymanthoi are captains of battle lines. Other Elder First Circle demons occupy similar positions.


Essence 6   Demon Lord   You have crossed the watershed. You are either a novice Second Circle demon or a First Circle demon who has had the extraordinary luck to achieve a rank belonging to your betters. Such Progeny are still under the heel of their master but are given lofty positions such as advisor or personal chamberlain. Some have been mystically transformed to assume the powers (and responsibilities) of Second Circle demons by their master. A Demon Lord the replace might have fallen from favour or fallen afoul in dubious circumstances. If you are a true Second Circle demon you have just entered a world of devious and unforgiving politics. At this level you are no longer ordered to assassinate someone. You get someone to do it for you.


Possible sources of inspiration for demon lore: the world of Cthulhu and H.P.Lovecraft; Hellboy.


This didn't turn out in it's nice and neat new post layout due to the incompetence of the people who wrote the program for putting up blogs. They can't even make it handle a simple table as if using computers wasn't annoying enough as it is. I have total contempt for everyone who writes computer programs are they are all incompetent. Didn't it occur to them to make the editing page match the format of the page presented of the website? Obviously not. What the fuck do they pay you for?

Gods and Essence

    The motes of Essence in a god's possession are it's very life force. When a god spends motes it feels weary and when it has a full Essence pool feels lively and energetic. If a god spent all it's Essence it would no longer exist as an Essence pattern and fade away. When a god (or another spirit) does when it spends Essence is spend itself. Gods have peripheral Essence pools which they can spend with obvious effect. They can also spend Essence from their Personal Essence pool but it's not something a god does lightly. They are spending the Essence that makes up the core of their being. By spending Peripheral Essence they're also spending part of themselves but less important outer layers that can be more easily spent and recovered. Worship is so important to gods because people are spending their valuable motes dedicated to the god itself so that Essence becomes part of the god's form. For every day of dedicated worship to the god they recover a number of motes equal to the Magnitude of the group praying to them. This is why Creation often holds day-long festivals. If a group taking part in dedicated worship has an Essence greater than one multiply it's magnitude by their Essence. Enlightened human priests are often separated into different castes according to their spiritual advancement. Such priests spend virtually every day of their lives in devotion and directing the worship of the masses.
   Demons often promote just enough of their servants to induce hopes of betterment to keep their underlings loyal.

Dragon-Blooded Abilities

Ice- awareness, survival
Fire- Melee, resistance
Water- sail, awareness, linguistics
Earth- bureaucracy, performance, craft, martial arts, war
Wood- athletics, stealth, thrown, socialise

Dragon-Blooded and the Immaculate Order

    The Dragon-Blooded know that they cannot be greater than the Solars. Although by the time of their decline they were no longer recognisable as the Lawgivers the Unconquered Sun gave his blessing to. The 'Immaculate Dragons' were the first to discover the possibility that Terrestrial Exalted could practice Celestial martial arts and each created one of the Five Glorious Dragon styles based on their animas. A tradition that Immaculate Monks maintain to this day.
   The Immaculate Philosophy is the greatest cultural and philosophical achievement of the Dragon-Blooded for it gives them a way to control Essence in the same fashion as Celestial Exalted albeit within the purview of martial arts alone. To learn it the student must internalise and understand the writings on the sacred scrolls of the Immaculate Order, written by the Immaculate Dragons themselves, after climbing to the Order's temple on the slopes of the Heavenly Mountain and while undergoing years of punishing training to help them comprehend their lessons. One of the monks' favourite exercises is making their pupils climb all the way down the slopes to the base of the mountain and collect water to bring all the way back up again.
   The original purpose of the Solar Exalted had become long lost and their great war against the Primordials little more than myth by the time the Usurpation came. The age of the Lawgivers had long past. By then the Solars were all-powerful dictators, rulers of dark empires. The Immaculate personification of the Solars as evil spirits was to their best knowledge the truth. They could no longer be recognised as Solars but little more than evil demonic and omnipotent spirits. Generations of absolute power and obedience corrupted them so they thought nothing of making pacts with the most vile of demons. In fact by this time they found they had more in common with the hate-twisted Yozis than their distant patron.
   The First Age can be divided into three broad sections. The Solars' victory over the Primordials and their consolidation of power over mankind, dubbed Lawgivers after receiving the Mandate from Heaven. The exploration of their true potential; this is when the Celestial Incarnae withdrew their attention from their Chosen and the Great Curse started to make itself known. The terrible zenith of their power and the nadir of the rule of mankind; the Solars had become twisted by their unspeakable, inhuman desire for glory. The Lunars were largely unable to stop them, tormented by their own inner natures. Some became willing allies of the Sun Children other had fallen in with the very people they were made to defend Creation against- the Fair Folk. Who cares what's happening in Creation when you can have everything you want in the Wyld. The Lunars' individualism had become narcissism, they cared nothing over what happened in Creation but abused their power to Shape the Wyld to satisfy every inhuman lust they could think of, often only venturing out to sate their whims with the bodies and souls of real people. Luna lost sight of her children being hardly able to distinguish them from the Fair Folk. Other more conscientious Lunars became throughly disillusioned with mankind and escaped the pervading corruption by living among kingdoms of animals, but still they had to wrestle with their own tainted desires.
   Learning the ways of the Immaculate Order is to remove yourself from the constraints of your Terrestrial nature and try to attain godhood. Monks who have been initiated into the Order leave their old lives behind and take on a new name. Learning to use Celestial Essence is only the first step on the path.

Denied and Forsaken Widow Style

    No one with a Compassion of more than two is capable of learning this style as the are unable to perform the vilest acts of pitiless cruelty that this style requires.

      Obedient ________ Torment
   What greater mastery of the art of pain is there than inflicting the most excruciating agony on your opponent and having them beg for more.

   The master of this art has no mercy. Any act of compassion is just a pretence to make their victim's subsequent torment all the more heartless. The Forsaken Widow often enjoys pretending be compassionate and motherly perhaps revelling in the sheer strangeness of the emotions she's imitating. Some of her followers seem to enjoy being tormented.

   An unfortunate target of this Charm wants to be hurt. They'll fawn and scape on the floor for their mistress' attention even though they receive only the lowest form of it.

      Graceless Chattel Abasement
   Those far gone in Widow's service will perform any act on themselves or others no matter how grotesque at her command to receive their punishment.
   The wretched subjects of this Charm can be made to perform acts that contradict their Virtues.
   The Widow may chrge one of her subjects affected by Obedient ________ Torment with a task. Make a social attack. If they succeed the subject may not use their affected Virtue to prevent them performing their task.
   During that time they cannot exercise that virtue in any way to resist the Widow or use any of it's channels.

      Adjuration of the Impure Psyche
   The Widow may command one of her subjects to perform a task. If successful (the social attack) the subject's Motivation becomes 'do what the mistress commands' and will perform any acts no matter how abhorrent at her request.

   Of course the real torment of this Charm is of the one who'd Virtues they are forced to betray. The Denied and Forsaken Widow enjoys forcing those around her to perform acts they find abhorrent but cannot stop themselves.

       Psyche Evicerating Dominatrix
    By torturing her unfortunate supplicant in ways she feels particularly significant (or enjoyable) from outright physical abuse to forcing a man watching his loved ones being tortured to a barrage of well-worded insults and malicious teasing in public, she condenses a whole day of denying someone Willpower recovery into a single scene. If someone's will is broken through this Charm she replaces their Motivation with a Servitude effect to obey her. This Servitude effect remains as long as they do not recover their Willpower back to it's full rating.

   A mistress' dignity is expressed through her aloofness to those she torments. She embodies something that they desperately desire and are unable to take.
   Whenever the Widow offers the target something that appeals to one of their Intimacies, dominant Virtues or their Motivation but she can deny them without the use of direct physical force she savours their torment. Direct physical force doesn't rule out using physical means. She could writhe and dance erotically in fine night attire in front of a captive tied to her bed, especially if his restraints draw blood, or make suggestive comments on desires close to the heart of a courtier that they cannot respond to honestly without drawing approbium from the whole court.

   The later Charms are more what I have in mind for this style. The earlier ones seem more similar to Laughing Wounds Style. The purpose of this martial art is not to make people enjoy pain in any sense. It's a very social martial art, even more so than Dreaming Pearl Courtesan Style. It focuses on social interaction rather than only drawing on it as a basis for Charms used in combat. Actual physical violence is something used as part of the style rather than something the style is used for. The character herself is very socially based. I originally thought of her as a Midnight Caste but then the Shadow (Day) Caste might offer her more room to use her powers. I'm not sure about how their anima banner affects obvious Charms though.

    In a very fundamental way Lunars are everything the Fair Folk are not. They have the potential for true creativity and innovation. These qualities are essential for them to live in the Wyld and are the basis for which the Lunar Exaltation choses it's host. In a way they are everything the Fair Folk pretend to be. Although in the Wyld what's 'pretend' is real.
   An example of the mad Wyld spawned landscapes you find in the far east are the toxic jungles of Nausicaa.

   Once again I disagree with the game canon on this. The Fair Folk should be capable of genuine creativity not merely restricted to copying. They live in a world where anything's possible. Why shoul they be confined to copying, especially when they lived in a time when there was nothing to copy.

Can I Play With Madness

    The further into the Wyld you go the more the land becomes a dreamstate. Tainted lands are the remnants of Wyld areas that have been shaped in such a way and then the Wyld has receded to leave the land unnaturally warped.
   The greater the power of the Wyld is the less Creation's laws apply and the more powerful the dreams that exit there. The Wyld is not a realm of meaningless, always changing chaos but rather a place where random notions come together to form dreams and stories and then dissolve back again. Rather than a place where fish fall from the sky like rain and then turn into trees a character could find themselves in an orchard where the fruit makes them hungrier and hungrier until they die of starvation. There is a structure to this fantasy but it works in direct contradiction to one of Creation's rules because that rule doesn't exist there. Just like dreamscapes and stories the energy of the Wyld also coalesces into consciousnesses. These are the raksha. In a way stories themselves but they can determine what happens in their story. They have the power to shape the dreamscape around them to form part of it. The further into the Wyld you go the further the stabilising sea bottom of Creation sinks beneath you and the deeper the seas of possibility are until there is no stability, there are no rules except what the crazed whims of the raksha decide to apply. Thus in a freehold you might sit down for refreshments in a palatial suite over literally half a cup of tea or fall into the intrigues of a set of man sized playing cards that have arms and legs and can talk.
   A waypoint isn't a physically measured area but rather a place where something happens. In pure chaos anything could happen. A freehold is an entire dimension in it's own right. A setting for a series of interlinked scenes. A waypoint could be as large as anything wants it to be within the notion of one tale. Although concepts such as distance, time and speed do exist in the Wyld it is not defined by them as Creation is but is defined by ideas. Such physical concepts exist within these ideas to give them meaning. From a storyteller's point of view a journey into the Wyld is literally a narrative and you could cast yourself as the freehold ruler who tells the story.
   Only in the true freeholds based on Unshaped raksha in the endless Wyld the Fair Folk have complete control over the freehold and may totally reshape a waypoint with impunity unless another Fair Folk tries to interfere. As they get closer to Creation shaping the Wyld gets more and more exerting until they finally leave it altogether where changing the land into a story is like trying to ascend an infinite cliff. It's a matter of speculation whether when Creation was first made the notion of impossibility being conceived brought about the existence of Oblivion which was only discovered when things realised they might not exist. In comparison with this uphill struggle shaping pure chaos is as easy and effortless as taking a gentle walk, something you can not only do but do with Style.
    In the Wyld there are not limits on what the raksha can or want to do. Those who become enamoured enough of Creation to dwell within it however often shape their stronghold and their minions in a way appropriate to their environment. These raksha aspire to elegantly encorporating the nearby element(s) nature into their forms. Most raksha who still live in the Wyld view this as treason becoming one with the elemental patterns of Creation instead of using their inconstrained fantasies.

   Stories exist as a series of cause and consequence of the Fair Folk's actions. Time only has meaning as the pace of the narrative and it does not flow at a constant rate or of it's own accord. In pure chaos physical concepts such as space and time are utterly at the whim or the Fair Folk. Things don't happen in the flow of time because time is a constant and always flows. Things happen because the Fair Folk say they happen. Distances exist because the Fair Folk say they do. If the Fair Folk decide for two things that were apart to become next to eachother or meld with eachother then unless they can interfere they do. Just as easily they can dissect things. Physical objects don't exist in the Wyld not because of a lack of possibility like Oblivion but because it consists only of possibilities, things which are not yet made. It is impossible for anything to exist in the Wyld save as an idea. The Wyld is better described not as a place (for such a thing denotes a concept of area) but as a mind- an inordinately vast mind. Place is a meaningless concept in such an environment. It is impossible to travel through they Wyld in the term people would understand it. Fair Folk do not exist in a place but as a chain of reasoning- reasoning to which no laws or limitations apply. Imagine living as a though within the brain of someone utterly mad with limitless intelligence. That is the existence of the Unshaped Fair Folk.

Manual of Exalted Power: The Lunars

    I wasn't very keen on the Lunars based on their description in the Exalted rulebook. Not that I didn't like the idea but I way they wrote about the Lunars didn't enthuse me. This didn't do much good even compared to that. It's not the description of the Lunars' powers that bothers me it's the various factors included in their background. The writers seem to have come into this with a colossal agenda, possibly based on the Garou from the World of Darkness, that the purpose of the Lunars is to protect Creation. This wouldn't be such a bad thing except like in the Abyssals they insist that this has to be the source of the character's motivation. The other major disappointment is the Silver Pact and their project, the Thousand Streams River. Even from an out of game perspective it has the abominable aim of creating a world that can exist without the Exalted, even the Lunars. They should have junked this whole book and started again. The Thousand Streams River takes the form of 'experiments' that Lunars perform on societies, primarily barbarian ones, there's a distinct antipathy towards civilisation in the character of the Lunars as if that would endear them to readers. These take the form of all sorts of half arsed dabbling that characterises the Lunars as sociologists. How this monumentally crap idea got into print is a mystery.
   Unlike the Solars who are given the power and the inclination to do whatever they want, a trait that should have been portrayed even more in the Lunars, the players' choices are considerably restricted. For one thing the Lunars are still an organisation unlike the Solars or Abyssals and the way the younger members are treated is rather patronising like they were at a kindergarte while the senior members talk about the real business. Their powers themselves aren't bad (although don't have the potential or the juice of the Abyssals') but if the Dragon-Blooded were more animalistic then their powers would have to be different. This would be a good thing because then they could be more orientated towards the Wyld which would be far more suitable. As such there are some powers that deal with the Wyld but not many and not in the way they could have dealt with it. As always making this book in colour would have been advantageous considering it's importance. The way they make the flow diagrams for Knacks is good, using dark colours to distinguish them, but it's something they should also have done for Charms. Writing Attribute Charms the same way as ability Charms makes abilities seem rather cheap by comparison.
   Although this book is still useful, including at the end additional Wyld mutations including derrangements and Wyld diseases, they could still have done a much better job and the way they portray Lunar society isn't going to do storytellers' of characters' visions any good. When I bought the Abyssals I was disappointed that I couldn't realise the characters I had in mind the way I wanted to. I don't even have much desire to make characters based on this book. Altogether this is a creative failure and unfortunately for such an important group there's nothing else you can use in it's place. The Lunars would be far better portrayed as individuals, which in a way they are but in an annoying turnaround their society is strangely restrictive. If you have better visions of what the Lunars should be don't bother with this and use your own ideas.
    As a few final points, to use the example of the Haslanti League in particular, human organisations in Exalted that seem to be doing things for themselves are all too often the result of some other party' scheming rather than the result of originality such as the Angry Ghosts of Scroll of the Monk. The way the Haslanti League believe they're making genuine technological advances and rediscoveries but are actually being led to them by Lunars is another example of such supernatural manipulation. This is especially out of place since the Lunars are trying to make self sufficient societies (I believe that a core of Lunar characters is that they should be self sufficient or at least individual) but guiding them all the while. It's very annoying. You'd wish that people could make their own discoveries and that it wouldn't be down to Exalted and other supernaturals to do everything, but at the same time they wouldn't do anthing as stupid as creating a world that didn't need them since they are in fact here and they're doing this all themselves. The very fact that people haven't created a world that doesn't need the Exalted proves they are required as if that needed saying. Secondly they have some sort of antipathy towards civilisation (despite the fact it makes humanity strong- look at Lookshy, they're not a bunch of club wielding neanderthals) and seem happy to debase humanity by breeding it with beast stock to create beastmen rather than humans. A final point is their relationship to the Solar Exalted. The Chosen of Luna were marked by a 'strong preference for individualists, iconoclasts and outsiders.' Especially considering the ways of their goddess why would they be so bonded to the Solars? It seems to go against everything the Lunars (should) stand for. Why would Luna want her champions to be seconds and partners dominated by other Exalted. It's far more fitting and desirable that they should have the opposite role. On a related point their demanded affinity for Creation is somewhat misplaced as well. I know Luna was Gaia's consort (although it was Gaia's loyalty that brought her into the rebellion, there's no reason the two of the shared exactly the same ideals.) In the section about the Charms the Lunars seem more like Chosen of Gaia than Chosen of mercurial Luna. The Chosen of Gaia are by extension the Dragon-Blooded who I think would be better served by animalistic Charms rather than pure elemental ones in the way that they are described.

Graceful Wicked Masques

    Fantasy in fantasy

   This is the first Exalted book in a long time I've read without skipping any of it. This is Exalted on a new better level. I wish they made all the books like this. There's no agenda the characters have to adhere to like in the Abyssals or the Lunars which really brings them down. They just tell the story of the Fair Folk as they are. The hardback series about supernatural denizens is more serious than some other Exalted publications but this is easily the best I've read. I just wish they did them all like this. The description of the Fair Folk and their world is brilliant. This book has descriptions of Shinmas which are mentioned elsewhere but not described, and what role they played in Creation and how they are relevant to the Fair Folk. It also includes things like aspects of thee Shinmas and secret names, the sort of occult fantasy lore than many people mention in their work but never describe.
   After a general section about the raksha there's a chapter on Unshaped Fair Folk. These two chapters are exhaustive with Charms specifically for the Unshaped Fair Folk. Very interestingly from my perspective (because of my work on R'yuk) and probably to other with interest in Spirits as well they discuss in great detail the relationship between Spirits and their Virtues, in particular the unique way they Fair Folk relate to them. There is more magic in this book than you can shake a very big stick at. In addition to a tremendously lengthy chapter on Charms including four Fair Folk 'martial arts' styles, there are descriptions of other Grace (Virtue) magic including shaping and shaping combat (a unique form of Fair Folk battle,) Adjurations (oaths), behemoths, Fair Folk sorcery called Oneiromancy (not a direct companion to other sorcery), Treasures and how they make freeholds. There's also descriptions of Glamour and Gossamer and of course the various ways the Fair Folk feed from mortals.
   If only they did the rest of the books on spirits as well as this one. It's far more serious and interesting than The Roll of Glorious Divinity. The Charms all have proper trait minimums including Graces and are presented in flow diagrams like they are for Exalted. The comics are also better than in most other books, reflecting it's more serious nature and more complete so you don't feel like you've read half the story. This book is if anything better than the main rulebook. If only they did it in colour. I'd recommend anyone who's interested in Exalted buying this to show what the designers can do when they put their minds to it.

Lunar Charms

    Lunars' Charms disturbingly like the Fair Folk's are based on manipulation of reality. However unlike the Fair Folk rather than manipulating the world around them they change themselves. Because of the power of possibility of the Wyld Essence within them if a Lunar believes they can walk up a wall they can. Every surface they walk on to them is horizontal. They place themselves outside Creation's laws. if a Lunar believes they are so strong they could hurl a spear like a mere arrow then it happens. Possible downside- out of control subconscious thoughts become manifest. A Lunar could want to be the most stunning debutante the world has ever seen so for a moment they are. This is no mere glamour or illusion.

Octopus Style Part ze Two

    Extending his Essence into tangible limbs channelling the ability of an octopus' limbs to think for themselves the character can ignore DV penalties from coordinated attacks.

    Eightfold Tentacle Snaring Attack
The octopus overwhelms it's prey by it' sheer number of limbs. No matter what defences an enemy throws up they will always have something new to attack with. This plethora of sticking tentacles renders their enemies helpless.
   The Charm supplements a flurry. The martial artist throws up one attack after another completely overwhelming their foe's defences. Not only may they make a number of martial arts attacks equal to their Essence but their constraining limbs inflict a internal penalty equal to the DV penalty inflicted by the flurry on their next action.

    Octopus Form
The follower of this style can create new ethereal limbs out of Essence or imbue existing protrusions with it to use them like limbs. The number of separate limbs they can create/animate is equal to their Essence. They may in fact make more but only count as a number of limbs equal to the character's Essence.
   These limbs are partially sentient and can act partly on their own autonomy. Reduce the parry DV penalty the character suffers for coordinated attacks by their number of tentacles to a minimum of 0. Also if they possess one tentacle per attacker they may avoid the surprise attack for being surrounded. These tentacles are used as features in other Charms of the style (as above.)
   The character can reflexively activate the low Essence Charm below reflexively without it counting as Charm use.

    Low Essence Charm
The character may make two separate actions if they involve using different (natural) limbs without multiple action penalties from one action applying to the other.

   Phantom Weapon Control
When an octopus is in danger it can detach a limb which will writhe in the water like a snake and distract it's opponent. Practitioners of octopus style can put this ability to a deadlier use. If the character is disarmed (even literally) they can still control the removed weapon as if they still held it even giving as basic commands as move forwards or attack. The limb has a sensory range of character's Essence in yards and although it cannot perceive complex terrain it can detect living (or undead) beings within that distance.

   High Essence Charm
   Prerequisite: Eightfold Tentacle Snaring Attack
At this master of octopus style her Essence limbs gain not only animation but sentience. Rather than using her limbs to make extra attacks in a flurry each limb can perform it's own full action including a flurry if the owner wishes using natural unarmed attacks for offensive actions.

Fear of the Dark

    The vessel is an actual ghost ship the ghost of the god of a ship that sank and rotten at the bottom of the sea. The ship long since vanished but in the unlit depths of the ocean
   When there is no sun they can pass between Creation and the Underworld which is permanently beyond the Sun's gaze. The Unconquered Sun doesn't just shine down on Creation he sees everything his light falls upon. The deep ocean is pitch black and often home to a myriad of horrors that at night rise up and walk upon Creation's shores. Such places as the darkest forests and the deeps of caves act as haunts where the things that cannot live under the Unconquered Sun's light lurk within Creation. In these places the boundary between Creation and the Underworld is blurred for there is no difference between day and night and ghosts can pass easily from one world to the other with the right Arcanos. Such is the instability that the deaths of the Primordials wracked upon reality. In the dark northern winter ghosts can walk freely for months at a time. The further north you go, not only does it get colder as the days get shorter, but ghosts can stay for longer in Creation.
   Around the Pole of Fire the sky is blanketed by and endless cloud of smoke.

"Any fool can drink." "Few can match my determination"

    A shark faced bride
    chewing the flesh off my face
    her hands clenched around my spine
    playing with it like a toy she could break at any moment.
    crushing my body into splinters so she can feed me to her urchins
    Her eyes glow red as the blood stains her fingers and she shivers
    eyes closed and gasps as if I could bring her pleasure by dying
    she can tear my body apart with her fingertips and wants to do so
    licking the torn flesh from them like the rarest meats
    What did she do to me to make me so sweet to her
    Can she still taste the love in my veins for my precious beautiful whore?

    or is it the relish of brackish sorrow of her memory in me
    Nostalgic tears mixed with bloody passion. A passion that would have made me kill for her without question. Kill to save a beautiful whore. My blood is her whore's price. I wanted to be her lover, the only thing that adorns her fingers is my red blood. I wanted to save her from a life of whoredom and she's picking pieces of me from between her teeth.