Puyo

Puyo is the homeland of one of my player's characters. He had a basic character concept and asked me to give him a homeland. Since Puyo has never been define in Exalted, and we're playing in the Scavenger lands. I thought flesh it out.

Puyo

Puyo is a small aristocratic city-state on the western edge of the Hundred Kingdoms. The land was shattered when the Empress unleashed the powers of the Imperial War Manse. Craggy bluffs and ragged canyons mar the gently rolling steppe country.

Puyo is ruled from a small city that bears the same name perched on a series of bluffs jutting up from a deep cleft in the earth. High-arched stone bridges link the city to the surrounding countryside. The palaces of the clans are built from cut stone atop the bluffs.

Puyo is ruled by the Triarchy, three princes selected from the leading aristocratic families. When one prince dies, the other princes choose a successor. In order to preserve the Triarchy, the three princes never meet in one place at the same time. 

The people of Puyo are descended from the Marukani clans that conquered the region. As in the plains of Marukan, the people of Puyo lead a semi-nomadic pastoral lifestyle, herding horses and traveling between range towns. The clans are lead by an aristocracy of elite chivalric cataphracti who support the great princes in times of war. The aristocracy form the backbone of the government and military. There are over a dozen clans with nearly twice that many smaller named families. At any time six to seven of them are in ascendancy. Over the centuries, clans have split, merged, and died.

The Clans

The Bu are the eldest clan, the first to discover the rich metal deposits beneath the steppe canyons, and formed the first Triarchy. The clan has waned since Puyo's founding, but the current head of the clan is the newest of the current Triarchs.

The Ha are considered Puyo's second clan, and are currently the wealthiest. For the last three generation, the Ha clan has consistently held one of the seats of the triarchy. They're heavily involved in foreign trade and relations with the Confederation of Rivers. Until her recent assassination, the daughter of the current Ha Triarch was the ambassador to the confederation.

The Ir are a smaller clan tied known for a strong tradition of military services. Many sons and daughters of Ir serve in the Triarchs' Guard Their wealth is is horses and they are seen as blessed by Hiparkes.

Trade and War

The shattered lands of Puyo give it easy access to mineral deposits, include silver, tin, and jade. The location of the mines are highly secretive, known only to the princes. The princes share the wealth garnered from the mines through regular donatives. Puyo maintains important trade partnerships with Lookshy and Marukan. A treaty with Lookshy guarantees that all jade from Puyo be sold to Lookshy in exchange for defense. Like Marukan, Puyo trade their horses and hides to the settled peoples around them.

Wealth of the Earth Only the princes of the Triarchy know the true origins of Puyo's mineral wealth. The ancestors of the Bu clan discovered an artifact that allowed them to command spirits of the earth to deliver the wealth buried beneath the land. They found the artifact in a temple exposed by newly torn canyons.

Puyo had a non-aggregation pact and trade partnership with Thorns until the invasion of RY 752. Puyo was early to answer the call to war against Thorns and the Realm. The main columns of the invasion bypassed Puyo, but the kingdom suffered many raids and skirmishes along the boarders. The cavalry of Puyo fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including the decisive Battle or Mishaka.

The clans of Puyo have a longstanding rivalry with the sorcerer princes of Varsi. The sorcerers have long coveted the wealth of Puyo. Raids are common along the board of the two kingdoms and skirmishes are not unheard of.

Gods and Religion

The Immaculate Order has a strong following in Puyo, though worship for Sunipa, War God of the East, Hiparkes, God of Horses and Riders, and other local deities persists. The Triarchy has no official position on religious matters, funding Immaculate Shines and festivals to the local gods.

Hiparkes' Star
These rare five-petaled, star-shaped blossoms grace the steppe of Marukan and Puyo. Legend says the flowers grow where Hiparkes has left hoof-prints as he races across the open country. Other legends say the flowers spring from where Hiparkes spills his seed after rutting with the mares of the great steppe herds. In either case, the flowers are seen as a sign of favor by the divine stallion and they are a common gift between young lovers.

Treesplitter

Another artifact this week, this time one created for the newest member of my current Exalted campaign. Treesplitter(Green Jade Power Bow, Artifact • • •) Treesplitter was made from the living heart of an ancient Jadewood, a rare and sacred Elemental tree that grows above green Jade deposits and infuses the Jade into its wood. The tree was shattered during a fight between Immaculate monks of the Wyld Hunt and an Anathema in the Far East. Ultimately, the Anathema perished when she was thrown against the tree with shattering force. To honor the Elemental, the Immaculate Monks took the heart of the tree and forged it into a mighty bow to be used by the Hunt. Treesplitter has one hearth stone socket set above the bow's handgrip. Evocations of Treesplitter A Solar or Dragonblooded who attunes Treesplitter can use arrows fired from the bow to perform feats of demolition. Roll (Strength + Archery) to attempt the feat. With Treesplitter, the Exalt can attempt feats of demolition that require up to (Essence + 2) Strength. Armor-Sundering Shot Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental Keywords: Dual Duration: Instant Essence hardens around an arrow fired from Treesplitter as the bow remembers the strike that shattered the ancient jadewood. Armor-Sundering Shot allows a withering attack to ignore all of an enemy’s soak from armor, or a decisive attack to ignore (higher of Essence or 3) hardness. This Evocation may only be used once per scene, unless it's reset by dealing 3+ levels of damage with Treesplitter then building back up to Initiative 12+.

Tul Wan, Mad Cityfather of Hollow
Tul Wan was once the Cityfather of Hollow, the administrative center of the River Provinces during the Shogunate. The wyld energies that permeate Firewander have warped him and driven him mad. He is a gaunt, bearded, old man garbed in green robes of office and a tall hat. His robes are stained with dark splotches down the front. He finger nails are inky black and his eyes reflect the mad flames that imprison him in Firewander.

[For a visual reference, Lo Pan of Big Trouble in Little China was my inspiration for describing Tul Wan.]

Essence: 4; Willpower: 6; Join Battle: 6 dice
Personal Motes: 90
Health Levels: -0/-1x3/-2x3/-4/Incap
Actions:

• Administration: 8 dice
• Calligraphy: 9 dice
• Notice: 6 dice
• Oratory: 8 dice
• Shogunate Era Lore: 9 dice

Appearance 3, Resolve 3, Guile 1 

Combat

• Attack (Scepter): 7 dice (damage 12)
• Attack (Grapple): 6 dice
• Combat Movement: 6 dice
• Evasion 2, Parry 4
• Soak/Hardness: 8/0 

Example Intimacies

• Defining: Restore Hollow to its former glory.
• Major: Respect the rightness of proper law (though his grasp on what is proper has been twisted)
• Major: The Raksha (hatred)
• Minor: Devour those who defile Hollow.

Offensive Charms

• Binding Words (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Eclipse; Essence 3) Tul Wan scribes a law into the air with ink dripping from his fingers. The letters of the law fly toward the target character within short range and bind them tight. This charm initiates a grapple that uses Tul Wan's Calligraphy (Wits + Linguistics) skill (9 dice), with a control pool equal to his Administration (Intelligence + Bureaucracy) (8 dice) (Still opposed by Strength + Brawl/Martial Arts). The target is restrained for the duration of the control.
  
  [Grappling characters suffer -2 Defense and cannot perform flurries. Grappled characters cannot take move actions and suffer -1 to all attacks or -3 to attacks using two-handed weapons.]

• Burning Law Prohibition (5m; Simple; Instant; Perilous, Uniform; Essence 3) Those bound by the law face Tul Wan's wrath. Tul Wan can sacrifice remaining rounds of control through Binding Words to make Savage attack against the bound target. If the attack is withering, use Tul Wan's Administration as the attack roll. 

Defensive Charms

• Aegis of Hollow (1m per soak; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 2) Tul Wan hardens his skin with essence, gaining 1 soak for each mote up to twice his essence (8 soak). The Aegis was once much more powerful, but with Hollow but a memory and Tul Wan isolated, he must burn his essence to access its power.

Miscellaneous Charms

• Mastery of Word and Law (1m+; Reflexive; Instant; Essence 3) Tul Wan may add dice to Calligraphy, Administration, or other rolls pertaining to his domain. The maximum is double his Essence (8). This charm may be used to enhance Binding Words and  Burning Law Prohibition.

• Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Tul Wan fades away and vanishes on his next turn, reappearing in the center of the assembly chamber in the central administration building of Hollow in the heart of the Firewander district. Should he escape, he would be loath to trap himself again by using this power.

• Materialize (45m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Tul Wan materializes as if first drawn by brush, then painted into the world.

• Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Tul Wan can measure any who enter the domain of his city, as marked by the stone pillars 30 miles from the walls of Nexus.

• Devour (-; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): The Wyld has twisted Tul Wan. He crouches over a fallen foe, his jaw distends revealing sharp needle-like teeth, and he swallows the corpse. Tul Wan must be materialized to use this charm. He recovers 2m for every health level of the devoured creature and 10m for each point of permanent essence. The spirit of the devoured creature cannot become a ghost.

Tul Wan started as a minor god of the blessed ink used to scribe laws in the late First Age. He worked diligently and expanded his domain to include calligraphy and written law. After the usurpation, when the old Citymother of Hollow proved recalcitrant to the demands of the Dragonblooded, Tul Wan was promoted to replace her. He basked in the worship and conducted himself in a fitting manner at all times.

Then came the Contagion, followed by the hordes of the Wyld. Creation's cities suffered, and Hollow suffered more than most. Tul Wan retreated to the Court House Temple at the center of Hollow. The Wyld washed over the city, warping it, but the ancient sorceries of the First Age worked into the temple created an island of order and stability. Try as they might, the Raksha could not approach the temple without crystallizing. The tides of the Wyld eventually retreated, but Tul Wan was stuck, isolated in the center of what would become the Firewander district of the growing city of Nexus. The creatures of the Wyld

The centuries, and the starvation of prayer, have driven him mad. The Raksha, ever anxious to destroy the godling who vexes them, wait for him to emerge so they can destroy him. He is cautions when anyone makes their way through the Wyld to his temple, assessing them carefully. If he thinks they can help him escape without exposing him to the Wyld, he will offer them whatever he thinks will convince them. If they are unable to help him, Tul Wan lulls them into a false sense of security, then devours them, bolstering his Essence.

Using Tul Wan

In my game, the Solar characters encountered Tul Wan while they were trying to recover the contents of a vault beneath the Court House Temple at the center of Firewander. They convinced him to reveal what he knew about the vault and eventually offered to help him escape. One of the characters bound him voluntarily into a spirit jar and they carried him out through the Wyld.

Binding Worlds allows Tul Wan to vex characters who rely on high soak to carry them through their battles. If the characters can convince him to become their ally, the Charm becomes a very interesting option for Eclips characters with good Bureaucracy.

If Tul Wan gets out, he'll go about establishing himself as the Cityfather of Nexus. While the Decree and the Civilities are not the neatly ordered law codes he's used to, his madness convinces him they're a brilliantly balanced legal solution.

In my game, things are even a little more complicated. One of the characters had begrudgingly agreed to offer succor to the dispossessed of Nexus only in the name of the River Whore, a goddess of desire attempting to make Nexus her city. After releasing Tul Wan, she started naming him as well. The recipients of her aid have started offering prayers to both gods, and associating them with each other. The two gods are beginning to compete for worship even as they are drawn together by the association.

Additionally, the Emissary is an Exigent of Tul Wan, created to defend the Hollow during the Contagion and the Balorian Crusade. The Emissary's rise, and prayers directed to him, is part of what sustained Tul Wan during the centuries of his imprisonment. As a final complicating factor, Master Gens of the Council of Entities is also a god, currently the god of Trade in the East, and also wants to become Cityfather of Nexus. 

Re-purposing Tul Wan

Tul Wan's stats, especially his offensive charms, could be used for any god of law, ink, or calligraphy. Overall, he's a little weak for a Cityfather of one of Creation's major cities.

The Hand of Deception

This is the first artifact I created for Ex3. One of my players wanted his character to be able to use illusions in combat, and since that's not a normal part of the Solar charm package, I thought an artifact would be the best way for him to do that. Originally, the Hand had more Evocations that were directly combat focused, but I realized the best way to represent all the little ways illusions could help in battle while leaving the widest field for creativity was to use the stunt system, hence the Hand's final attunement benefit.

I've used a modified standard format for the evocations. After the name, I've included the design intention in parentheses, which is where I start my design process. The italic text is descriptive, while the normal text provides rules. Where an Evocation references another rule in the book, I've included the text of that rule for convenience.

Chaotic World is the Evocation that I'm the least certain of. My player has yet to unlock this evocation, so it's rules have not been tested.

Hand of Illusions (Artifact 4)

Received in trade from Madame Marthesine of the Lost. She said it was made by a loving father for a daughter who felt the touch of the Sun's power in her youth. The Hand of the Deceiver is a wire framework glove of starmetal and moonsilver set with glittering dream stones. When worn, you can almost hear the essence singing joyously behind yours ears. The artifact yearns to be used.

A Solar, Sidreal, or Lunar who attunes the Hand can spend essence to create moving illusory images no larger than a grown man that last as long as the character focuses on them. Onlookers roll Perception + Awareness to recognize the illusion as false. The cost of this power is 1-3m depending on the scale of the illusions. The illusion lasts as long as the character focuses on it. For one Willpower, the duration of the illusion lasts for one scene. The wielder of the hand can describe illusions as part of stunts.

Evocations

• Fractal Image (reflexive defensive charm, can be cast on others)
  Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 1
  Type: Reflexive
  Keywords: Decive-only
  Duration: Instant
  Illusory images split away from the target, granting advantage to the attack. The spectral images vanish moments after the attack.Once per combat, make a reflexive distract gambit to aid an ally's attack. The attack roll for the gambit is Manipulation + Melee/Bawl/Martial Arts. Regardless of success or failure, the gambit does not consume initiate from the wielder of the hand. Fractal Image can be reset by felling an enemy or avoiding a deceiving attack with a 2-point stunt that uses the Hand.
  

  Distract (difficulty 3-5): The character leads, threatens, or feints his target into the path of an ally’s decisive attack. The attacker declares an ally (who is not in Initiative Crash) as the beneficiary of this distraction; that ally gains the Initiative the character loses as a result of successfully executing this gambit. The transferred Initiative must be used to attack the gambit’s target on the ally’s next turn, or it is lost. A character can only benefit from one distraction bonus at a time. Exalted Third Edition, page 200.

• Cloak of Deception (maintainable illusionary overlay on self, an ally, or an enemy)
  Cost: 5m, 1 wp; Mins: Essence 1
  Type: Simple
  Keywords: Perilous
  Duration: Scene
  You cloak on human-sized target in a cloak of illusion. Outside combat, the illusion is an effective disguise. In combat, the illusion sows confusion. This Evocation initiates a disguise roll (p 224) using Wits + Essence. The roll gains 1 automatic success but the roll can not be enhance with Charms or other effects. At Essence 3+, this charm may be used reflexively when you roll join battle.
  
• Greater Illusion (as basic power, but increased cost and expanded scope)
  Cost: 10m; Mins: Essence 2
  Type: Simple
  Duration: Scene
  The simple illusions created by the Hand are greatly expanded as the bearer gains familiarity with the artifact. Illusions created by this evocation can fill a small room. As long as bearer remains focus, the illusion can shift and move as willed.
  
• Chaotic World (mass illusion causing confusion, requires the previous 3 as prerequisites)
  Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
  Type: Simple
  Keywords: Perilous
  Duration: Scene
  Prerequisites: Fractal Image, Cloak of Deception, Greater Illusion
  The influence of the Hand's illusions flow out from the wielder, creating confusion in the scene. Ephemera dance and spiral, obscuring faces, hiding movements, and  All beings within Short range roll (Wits + Awareness) against the user's (Wits + Essence) On a successful roll, the momentary confusing inflicts a penalty equal to the user's Essence to actions that rely on sight for the next round. Beings who fail the roll suffer the penalty for the duration of the Charm. The effect ends if the user enters Initiative Crash.
  
• Manifest Guardian (create a guardian of light and essence from your iconic anima banner)
  Cost: (10m or 3a) +1 willpower; Mins: Essence 1
  Type: Simple or Reflexive
  Keywords: Dual
  Duration: Scene
  The bearers anima banner flares iconic, and steps away from the bearer, fueled by the power of the Hand as a solid guardian of sculpted essence. The guardian uses stats that are yet to be written. The Evocation can be used reflexively against decisive attacks. When used this way, the guardian becomes the new target of the decisive attack.
  Special activation rules: The evocation is learned at no cost and activated for free the first time the bearer is struck with a decisive attack while concealed by Cloak of Deception.

Welcome to the Orichalcum Archive

Welcome to the Orichalcum Archive, my record of Exalted materials. The core of the content is stuff I've created for my own game of Exalted Third Edition. Some of  it will be conversions of 2nd edition rules to 3rd edition and other entries will be original creations. I plan add content on at least a fortnightly basis.

I am open to comments and criticism. I want the thing posted here to be as useful as possible to other Exalted players. If you think something is unbalanced, let me know, and let me know why. I'll come back and update things as time moves on. I'd also love to hear how you're using things in your own games if you find them useful.

Why am I doing this?

I'm already doing the bulk of the work to support my own game. The blog gives me the extra push to really file down any rough edges. Also, given the limited releases thus far for Exalted third edition, the stuff I publish here expands the toolbox for other Storytellers to use in their games. Having a venue to publish this material also gets me potential feedback to improve the material I'm using in my own game.

A little bit about me:

I'm a longtime roleplayer and have been an Exalted fan since the publication of the first edition back in 2002. I've run many Exalted campaigns in the years since, and was an excited backer of the Ex3 Kickstarter campaign. I was involved in the Ex3 playtest with my former game group. I'm currently running a monthly campaign, which you can follow on Obsidian Portal: Orichalcum Souls

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Exalted is a role playing game currently published by Onyx Path Publishing.