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an Exalted^2 Game
for the Solar Exalted
As Solar Exalted, the characters in New Beginnings are among the most powerful beings in Creation. Even new to their power and role, these newborn Kings reborn into Creation have the power to make their will manifest -- to achieve whatever goals they set for themselves. Yet for all that power, they are set apart.
The Solar Anathema are feared and even hated from one end of Creation to the other, the legacy of their forebears excesses and atrocities sticking with these new bearers of this Exaltation. The Immaculate Order is responcible for some of these tales, but these Demon Princes are whispered of in all societies. They are stories of terror, tales of demons in the dark told to young children, legends of a past long since forgotten but carried into the future through the fear of those who survived the Fall of the Old Realm.
Not everyone recognizes the Castemarks, or knows the secrets of the Anima. Yet even if your names and deeds are not connected to the demons of a fallen age, the people of the Age of Sorrows have much to fear from the great powers of that world that are greater and more powerful than they. Angry Gods can destroy entire villages, the Fair Folk can claim the souls of the unwary, and Demons of all sorts seek to claw their way back into the world. In the eyes of many in the world, even the Anathema are but one more great power that must be appeased and perhaps driven away.
Still, trust can be earned. The masses can be made to recognize greatness and bow before it, or to feel a sense of kinship and accept aid offered freely. Even so, there is always wariness. Men driven into the games of Gods and Demons do not often endure, and the great powers of the world draw danger to them like a fire in the dark.
The Other Powers of the World
Even among those that recognize the power of the newborn Princes of the Earth, the world has changed greatly since the Solar Exalted once walked upon the face of Creation. Many gods have grown fat on the weakness of man, extorting from them prayers and worship. even ruling over entire cities of man or hunting them for sport. The coming of the Solar Exalted can be seen as a threat to this power, or an opportunity to ride the newborn Exalt to gain yet more, but one thing few Gods will offer is service free of some price.
This ia common theme- Threat to be culled, or Resource to be manipulated.
The Deathlords' schemes move slowly, for above all else they are patient, yet they understand the Solars as few others and often understand both the potential and the danger all to well. These Kings of the Underworld have designs upon the living world above, and if the shining reborn kings of the living would stand in their way, the Deathlords would show them the futility of struggling against death. The Demons appreciate the Exalted even less, most especially the Solars, and the servants of the Yozi's would often like nothing better than to strike down one of these bright generals who locked their masters away eternally in the darkness beyond.
Even the old allies of the Solars are of little aid. Once mates and firm companions, the Lunars have turned from civilization and dwell on the fringes of the world. They are monsters, beastial madmen, or perhaps Gods and totems, but whatever they might represent to you they are not fast friends. Some of Luna's Beloved would gladly strike you down as a test of their mettle, while others circle more warily, unsure what role you have now to play in the designs they have dreamed since the end of the Age. And of the Sidereals?
The Dragon-Blooded, with their Grand and Crumbling Realm, offers no solace except that of a honorable death.
Against Themselves: Other Solars
Even amongst themselves, the Solars have few sure allies. The Solar Exaltation is drawn to greatness, to a desire to excell above all others, to rise above ones origins and stand in the Light. The Solars are picked from all cultures, all socieities, granted the power of Ages and little guidance save a few scraps of memory. There is no grand Deliberative to guide them, no Elders of their Kind to teach them and reign them in. These God-Kings of Creation are young rebellious youths, unsure of their place but sure of their power, and often eager to prove it.
Nor do the prejudices and assumptions they held so recently easily fade away. The Unconquered Sun does not care why you seek for greatness or what creed or nation you hold allegiance to -- it is drawn to the will to fight, the fire of will and the glorious destiny of true greatness.
It is easy for the Solars to hate each other, to rage against each other with all the strength of their Exaltations. Any number of things can spark such conflicts: Old fueds now continued by Demigods, an Epic clash of personalities, conflicting Allegiances, half-remembered Memories of betrayal, or even something as simple as goals irrevocably drawing two Princes of the Earth into conflict. It is sooo easy.
Yet not all such associations are doomed, and there are many things that can draw two or more Solars together -- either for a time, or as a Circle with bonds forged strong. Love affairs, shared commitments, common goals, and even something as mysterious as destiny or remembered bonds of fellowship. In the end, of all the beings in Creation, it is most commonly in the company of their own kind that Solars can find true fellowship.
Yet do not take such for granted. Maybe, one day, strength and power will forge the Solars into a single whole. Maybe, before the end of the Age, the strong will purge the weak and the Solars will be united via the swords and words of their new leaders. Maybe, before it is too late, the Solars will once again see unity.
I would like to think so.
We approach the end of an Age; you can almost smell it in the air. Everywhere about Creation, the signs are growing more and more common. Wars become more common, menace crops up like weeds in a garden, the gods grow antsy as if sensing what is to come, and all around life becomes more and more difficult for the common man. What little prosperity exists is carefully hoarded, measured against the hard times to come, or burned through without thought to dull the nerves in hopes of easing the end. The great powers are coming out of the woodwork, in defense of Creation or to tear them down, and in the chaos of the coming battles even the wisest Savant might lose track of who stands for and who against.
The world was once much greater than it is; the relics of this greatness are inescapable. The broken ruins of past wonders lay bare to the elements, cracking under the ages and slowly disappearing under dust and overgrowth. The forgotten wonders lay buried, or covered in the shit and piss of our current age, their secrets lost for a time or maybe for all eternity. The Immaculate Order teaches one to ignore such signs, to live one lives in the present, that all true enlightenment and happiness comes from the quest for Spiritual Perfection -- but do even the most devout truly believe such things? Especially when it is so obvious that so much has been lost, forgotten, left to disappear into the mists of time.
The fate of all has not yet been decided; there is still hope. Heroes still raise arms against the darkness, the Common Folk still struggle, the Loom of Fate still weaves inexorably on, and every morning the Sun rises. For every sign of woe and misery, there is someone who stands on the line and says "You Shall Go No Further." For every lost secret, there is someone who seeks to learn. If the Age ends, there might be a newer better age to come, and there exist those who will make it so. The Unconquered Sun has turned his gaze upon Creation once again, and when he looked there he saw suffering and chaos and ruin, but he also saw something worth preserving.
There is still Hope.
What legends will you forge?
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