History Characters / Exalted

** [[CharactersExaltedExaltedOfCreation The Exalted of Creation.]]

[[/index]]

[[/index]]

For tropes specific to entire races and species or other large groups, see [[Exalted/TropesRaces here]].

For tropes specific to entire races or other large groups, see Exalted.TropesRaces.

* [[Characters/ExaltedOther The many other beings, strange and powerful, that call Creation (and its associated realms) home.]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And also mortals.]]

* [[Characters/ExaltedOther The many beings and societies, strange and powerful, that call Creation (and its associated realms) home.]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And also mortals.]]

* [[Characters/ExaltedOther The many beings and societies, strange and powerful, that call Creation (and its associated realms) home.]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And also mortals.]]

* [[Characters/ExaltedOther The many strange beings and societies that call Creation (and its associated realms) home.]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And also mortals.]]

[[Characters/ExaltedExalted the Exalted themselves.]]

[[Characters/ExaltedSpirits the divinities and spiritual beings that inhabit and define the universe of Exalted.]]

[[Characters/ExaltedOther the many strange beings and societies that call Creation (and its associated realms) home.]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And also mortals.]]

[[Characters/ExaltedSpirits the divinities and spiritual beings that inhabit and define the universe of ''{{Exalted}}''.]]

There are many characters in ([[EldritchLocation or outside of]]) Creation, so to keep this page organized we'll list them in the broad categories they're in.

[[foldercontrol]]

----
[[folder:The Exalted in general]]

'''The Exalted''' were originally created by the Gods to overthrow their Primordial masters, the tyrannical cosmic superentities who created the world. They won, with the help of two traitor Primordials, Gaia and Autochthon, slaying some of the creators, and forcing the rest to surrender. The dead Primordials became the Neverborn, the nightmarish quiescent remains of entities for whom there is no beginning or end, and bound to sleep in the Underworld. Those who surrendered became the Yozis, crippled titans imprisoned within the hell called Malfeas, the world-body of their king. But the dying Neverborn cast a final curse on the Exalted, dooming them all to succumb to their own hubris and madness.

The Solar Exalted were made rulers of the world, but slowly fell to the Great Curse, becoming depraved and heartless monsters, mad with their own power. The Sidereal Exalted, blinded by the hubris of their own curse, conspired against the Solars. They incited the Dragon-Blooded to overthrow their masters in the bloody conflict of the Usurpation, and imprisoned the Exaltations of the Solars, so that they could never again bless mortals with their power. The Dragon-Blooded reigned over Creation, but could not defend it from the infinite hordes of raksha, soul-eating faeries from beyond Creation, and the plots of the Deathlords, the ghosts of dead Solars in service of the Neverborn. Half of Creation was destroyed, swallowed up into chaos as the raksha invaded and the Great Contagion engineered by the Deathlords wiped out nearly all life.

The chaos ended when one Dragon-Blood activated an ancient superweapon of the Solar Exalted, saving Creation and uniting it behind her. She would become the Scarlet Empress, founding a Realm that would span most of Creation. But now, the peace she claimed is falling apart. The Scarlet Empress has vanished. The raksha still creep across the borders of undefended Creation. And the Yozis and Neverborn have cooperated to free the imprisoned Solar Exaltations, stealing half of them to twist into their own dark champions. Harbingers of slaughter and entropy now stalk the land, while the champions of Hell work behind the scenes to free their masters. Into the midst of all this, the Solar Exalted have returned.

!'''Tropes associated with all the Exalted'''

* {{Badass}}: Every last damn one of them.
* TheBeautifulPeople: The vast majority of the Exalted are quite good looking, [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave even the old]] ([[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld looking]]) [[GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave ones]]. It probably helps that they're all in excellent physical shape. This is partly because the exaltation already seeks able hosts, and good physical shape comes with the package.
* BeyondTheImpossible: They pass it every [[AlternativeCalendar Mercuryday]].
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: Mostly played straight. The Terrestrial Exalted, who are the most numerous of the Exalted and the only ones that can pass their Exaltation on too their children, are the weakest Exalted. They can easily kick mundane ass though.
** The Celestial Exalted on the other hand are a bit more tricky. There used to be 300 Solars, 300 Lunars, and 100 Sidereal. The Solars were the main raw powerhouse of the 3 though, with the Sidereals and Lunars being weaker and about equal to each other. Though if it was just about Martial Art skill the Sidereal would win hands down with their [[RealityWarper Cosmic Kung-Fu]] easily besting all other Exalted Martial Arts.
*** In the current setting, things have been getting even more confusing. At the top PowerLevels sit the currently 150 Solar Exalted, and their derivatives; the 100 Abyssal Deathknights and 50 Green Sun Princes. Then come the Sidereals and Lunars, and at the bottom sit the Dragon-Bloods. So 150S = 100A = 50GSP > 300L =100S > 10000+DB.
** The Alchemicals are counted as Celestial Exalted, but are entirely modular in their design. A given Alchemical Exalt can go from every bit as powerful as a Solar, to being only more powerful than a Dragon Blooded, all based on her loadout at the time. The primary mitigating factor in this is breadth vs depth. They're very powerful when their charms are set up to be focused on something, but can be quite weak when geared for general situations.
* FatalFlaw: All Exalted have one, with some variance...
** The Solars, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded and Sidereals all get various versions of the Great Curse, a psychological affliction thrown at them by the Primordials for besting them in war. The Solars and Lunars enter a brief psychotic period called a LimitBreak (ranging from berserker rage to uncontrolled crying at the suffering of the world to becoming cold and uncaring about the suffering of others), while the Sidereals [[ASimplePlan can't seem to make any of their big plans work right]].
*** The exception are Terrestrials-being fairly weaker than Celestials, they also got a fairly weaker Great Curse-it only really starts affecting their behavior when they run out of Willpower, and even then, it just seems like a HeroicBSOD-they snap out of it relatively quickly.
** The Abyssals, on the other hand, get Resonance. If, for some reason, they decide they don't want to go along with their masters' goals of [[OmnicidalManiac feeding all Creation into the mouth of Oblivion]] and resume something approaching a mortal life, their Resonance will build until it erupts and risks destroying any emotional connections they've managed to make with the world of the living.
** The Infernals get a similar variant, known as Torment. If they defy the will of their [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Yozi patrons]] for too long, then said patron will assume control and cause shit to go haywire. This can range from spreading a HatePlague (Malfeas) to targeting the Infernal and any loved ones the Yozis disapprove of with a mini-sandstorm (Cecylene).
** The Alchemicals get Clarity, which is something of a mixed blessing. As they get more detached from humanity and closer to the machine, they become [[TheSpock less emotional and more logical]], and social interactions become progressively more difficult. However, high Clarity allows an Alchemical access to some powerful spells. Unlike the other Exalted's flaws, Clarity doesn't 'erupt', but Alchemicals can reduce it by bringing themselves closer to humanity.
** Even without supernatural curses or compulsions, each of the four virtues has drawbacks if you have three or more dots (and exalts have to have at least one virtue of 3+) - compassionate characters have trouble making harsh decisions, temperate characters have trouble lying, cheating or going back on their word, no matter how dishonest the opponent, valorous characters don't know how to back down from confrontation, and as for conviction, [[KnightTemplar well]]...
*** Oh and it's perfectly possible for a character to have 3+ in two or more virtues. If they conflict, tough luck.
* LightningBruiser: What they start out as.
* LongLived: To varying extents.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: What they eventually become if they live long enough. Even [[ElementalPowers Dragon-Blooded]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: It tends to be a problem for them.
* SemiDivine: They're one part mortal, one part god/primordial/''dead'' primordial, all parts {{Badass}}.
* SolarAndLunar: The Solar and Lunar Exalted were bonded at their creation, mirroring the relationship between the UCS and Luna. This usually manifests as a ReincarnationRomance, but in other cases they simply remain very close friends. Or [[FoeYay very close enemies]].
* SquishyWizard: Both the setting and system mostly avert it, as anyone can learn Sorcery under the right circumstances (I.E. having Essence 3), and there's nothing preventing a sorcerer from learning Resistance Charms. The Twilight Caste of the Solars are all about averting this, as when their Anima Banner flares, they can reflexively "harden" it to avoid taking damage.
* {{Transhuman}}: They usually start out as PunyEarthlings, then they get enhanced to PhysicalGod levels through their Exaltations. And then they surpass them.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Solar Exalted]]
'''The Solar Exalted''' are the (Currently) 150 Chosen imbued with the strength of the Unconquered Sun, the {{Badass}} heroes of Creation.

They were originally made from the Unconquered Sun to take out the [[CosmicHorror Primordials]] with help from their Lunar mates and generals, Sidereal spies and Dragon-Blooded army. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu They did.]] After they killed or imprisoned all but 2 of them (who had joined their side), they ruled Creation under the Mandate of Heaven from the Incarnae in the [[MemeticMutation GLORIOUS SOLAR]] First Age in peace and prosperity.

But there was a problem. The slain Primordials, called the Neverborn, had laid a Great Curse on them that would inevitably drive them insane. Fearing that they would destroy Creation, the Sidereals killed almost all the mad God-Kings with the aid of the numerous Dragon-Blooded who would be the new rulers of Creation. The Solar Exaltation shards were [[SealedBadassInACan sealed]] inside the Jade Prison, with the few Solars that escaped and their reincarnations being killed by the Wyld hunt.

But this was not their end. Shortly after the Scarlet Empress's disappearance, the Yozi and the Neverborn cooperated to rip open the Jade Prison and corrupt the shards within to make their Infernals and Abyssals respectively. But they underestimated the Awesomeness of Solar might and were only able to take half, 50 going to the Yozi, 100 to the Neverborn, and 150 making up the new Solars of the Second Age.

Now the Solars are back, ready to kick ass, take names, and possibly save (or destroy) Creation while doing it.

!'''Tropes associated with Solars'''

* AGodAmI: Definitely the major reason why the Solars got bumped off in the First Age.
* TheAce: Solars primarily function this way, picking up many mundane human skills and taking them all UpToEleven in hilariously awesome ways.
* DrunkWithPower: It's implied that though the Great Curse catalyzed it, many Solars would have gone evil anyway.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Solar Hero Style is a bit like this.
* {{High Priest}}s: What the Zenith caste are for the UCS, essentially.
* LightIsGood[=/=]LightIsNotGood: It varies.
* ReincarnationRomance: As with everything about the [[BeyondTheImpossible Solars]], they take it [[UpToEleven up to]] [[UpToEleven three hundred]] with the Lunars.

!'''Harmonious Jade'''

The iconic Night Caste member and one time face of the game (her picture was by far the largest on the First Edition Core rulebook). Raised from child to be an assassin for a demon cult in the South, her Exaltation led the cult leader to turn on her, driving her away from her home. Now, she belongs to the main circle of Solars.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: She was trained from birth to be a political assassin. As a result, she doesn't really ''get'' why [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim killing people for practical reasons]] is bad.
* DatingCatwoman: In a past life, she and [[SpearCounterpart Disciple of Seven Forbidden Wisdoms' predecessor]] were lovers; they seem to be getting it back on in the present, at least in the art and the chapter-opening comic storyline.
* GlassCannon: Jade excels at Archery, and as a Solar rocks with it, but lacks any Resistance charms.
* TheLancer: Aside from being something of a loner in a FiveManBand where they all have their own adventures, Jade tends to be the most "[[AntiHero practical]]" member of her Circle.
* RaisedByOrcs: Cultists working with the Second Circle Demon [[CityGuards Sondok]], to be exact.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: Jade plays a role in this, according to [[AllThereInTheManual the Infernal sourcebook's section on the Spider Prophet.]] According to a prophecy, his death would be due to a Solar Exalt; when one pops up in his midst, he orders her killed, only to have her survive (being a Night Caste lets you do that). As a result, even if he never meets her again, the damage to his reputation could end up killing him.

!'''Swan'''

The iconic Eclipse Caste Exalt and a skilled diplomat, Swan is also a skilled martial artist and generally seems to be a nice guy - so long as you don't piss him off. Whether this has anything to do with his [[CompleteMonster past life]] is up for debate.

* {{Ambadassador}}: As an Eclipse Caste, he ''is'' this.
* TheChick: {{Badass}} edition. ({{YMMV}})
* DoggedNiceGuy: He's quite infatuated with Arianna, who is pretty much the biggest Tsundere ever. He keeps trying though.
* Hatedom: There are a number of people who despise Swan, for both real and imagined slights.
* LoveTriangle: Swan's infatuated with Arianna. Arianna is {{Tsundere}} for him. Lilith, his bonded mate, [[{{Yandere}} both loves and hates him]]. He would like Lilith to not project her feelings for Desus onto him.
** ReincarnationRomance: He was in another love triangle with the same people in the First Age. That one was even messier, since he hurt both of them and made them love him for it.
* NiceGuy: He seems to be one of the most pleasant and polite of the iconic Solars, and one of the few in the setting who didn't immediately begin using his newfound powers to fix all the problems in his life or advance his position.
* RedeemingReplacement: The core of his power used to belong to Desus, a bastard of a man in the First Age and a one-man reason for the Usurpation. However, Swan tends to be the nicest guy in the stories, unless innocents or his allies are in danger.

!'''Dace'''

The iconic Dawn Caste Solar. Dace is a mercenary captain from Nexus who Exalted after being nearly killed in a battle gone bad for his company. He left with a small amount of the company he belonged to, and started up his own mercenary group, the Bronze Tigers.

* BadassGrandpa: In one of the novels Dace went head-to-head with the Emissary of Nexus, an incredibly powerful being in the setting capable of blasting apart a mighty Third Circle Demon with little visible effort, did so for a good two minutes, and even managed to survive the experience.
* BaldOfAwesome: Has a forehead that would put [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Picard]] to shame.
* CoolOldGuy: He's the oldest of the iconic Solar characters, but is also the most dangerous in terms of physical combat.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: His second-in-command is a Dragon-Blooded who came to kill him with a poorly equipped Wyld Hunt. Instead of killing her, he challenged her to a duel, and convinced her to join his company when he defeated her.
* GoodLookingPrivates: Said lieutenant, V'neef Risa, is also quite the looker.
* TheHero
* MistakenIdentity: At first Lilith thought he was the reincarnation of her husband. Fortunately for Dace, he is not.

!'''Panther'''

The iconic [[HighPriest Zenith]], a former gladiator given purpose by the Unconquered Sun. In his life before the Exaltation, he was killing for fun and profit. Despite all the money, women, drugs and fame he realized he had no purpose. Then the Sun spoke to him and told him to make the world righteous. Ever since then, he travels the land righting wrongs and giving purpose to people without one.

* AngryBlackMan: his limit break is Red Rage of Compassion, you do the math.
* TheAtoner: Panther is driven by the sins he committed previous to his exaltation. He also seeks to prevent others from making the mistakes he did.
* BadassPreacher: You don't want to get in a fight with him. He's not yet at the point when he can start swaying the masses, but give him time...
* TheBigGuy: He uses a martial art that lets him shatter buildings with his fists.
* BloodKnight: Previous to his exaltation.
* [[ContractontheHitman Contract on the Prizefighter]]: Is targeted by people because of his previous deeds.
* ScaryBlackMan: when he gets mad, people start crapping their pants.
* SlaveLiberation: it's not his driving goal, but that doesn't stop him doing it if he has to.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: With a massive tattoo of the sun on his chest.

!'''Arianna'''

The iconic Twilight. She was basically a librarian in the North, unable to study the lore she kept for the male savants who thought she [[StayInTheKitchen wasn't worthy of their secrets]]. When she Exalted, she instantly outstripped them all -- only to barely escape the [[HeroKiller Wyld Hunt]]. After barely escaping (with some help from Swan), she's dedicated herself to recovering the [[AfterTheEnd lost wonders of the First Age]]...and restore the Solar Exalted to their [[RightfulKingReturns rightful place as rulers of the universe]].

* BadassBookworm: Comes with being a sorceress in Creation.
* BadassInDistress: She probably wouldn't have evaded the Wyld Hunt without Swan's help. In her spare time, she hunts down copies of the setting's version of the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Necronomicon]].
* ButtMonkey: A lot of writers dislike her, and it shows.
* JerkAss: Her haughtiness, combined with extreme female chauvinism in a world where matriarchy is widely perceived to be more common than patriarchy as a matter of {{Fanon}}, annoys a lot of people both in setting and not (mostly not). That, and her Limit Break is [[KickTheDog Deliberate Cruelty]]...
* SheCleansUpNicely: As the comic at the back of ''Manual of Exalted Power - Abyssals'' shows. Even with her scar, this troper only just realised who it was - not having read that comic since before learning the iconic Solars' names.
* TheSmartGuy: Contractually required by her Caste.
* {{Tsundere}}: Tsuntsun variety. See Swan, above. She doesn't trust him, given her past, but she's attracted to him.
** ReincarnationRomance: This was a problem between their First Age incarnations too. Bright Shattered Ice loved Desus, and he screwed her on occasion before going back to Lilith, driving Bright Shattered Ice into her Deliberate Cruelty Limit Break...

!'''Yurgen Kaneko, The Bull Of The North'''
One of the few Solars who Exalted before the breaking of the Jade Prison, Yurgen is not the iconic Dawn Caste, though many people often mistake him for it. An old [[BarbarianTribe icewalker]] warrior who passed the point where he could fight -- ie, [[BadassGrandpa enough to see his grandchildren grow up]] -- he took up the tradition of [[DeathSeeker meeting his death on the ice]], as is traditional for his culture. While out there, he was attacked by an ice elemental in the form of his dead wife. However, he Exalted at that very moment, melting the elemental in the process. After wandering about feeling rather confused that he no longer ''felt'' old, he realized he was chosen for greatness and found his way to a different tribe. There, he became TheStrategist, eventually hoping to unite the icewalkers.

Of course, one doesn't do this without attracting [[HeroKiller the Wyld Hunt]], and ten years before the game began, a cadre of them were sent after him.

[[CurbStompBattle They never knew what hit them]].

Now, the Bull of the North -- [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep as most people know him]] -- is becoming a legitimate threat to the Realm, particularly given how the Scarlet Empress has vanished. What's more, he's realized that a pure army only gets one so far, and he's beginning to organize it into an actual empire. True, he's still learning the ropes of statesmanship -- it's why he hasn't conquered more than he has -- but he's picking up the skills quickly, and it's only a matter of time before he starts to make inroads...

* BadassGrandpa: Even ''before'' he Exalted.
* BarbarianHero: He is one, and he leads them.
* BerserkButton: [[NeverHurtAnInnocent Killing civilians to get to him]], as a Sidereal discovered the hard -- [[BerserkerTears and fatal]] -- way.
* CoolOldGuy: To the Solars, and to the icewalkers.
** EvilOldFolks: To the Realm, and people he's conquered.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The reason the Wyld Hunt against him failed was that he realized he would be their target sooner or later. That, and he's aware that tooting his own horn is liable to get him killed, which is why most people don't know his name.
* {{Expy}}: Yurgen is very much like GenghisKhan, just getting his start a little late in life.
* GeniusBruiser: He's a Dawn Caste, [[TheBigGuy and all that implies]]. He's also a very competent tactician, and he's DangerouslyGenreSavvy.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: His culture is based on the Mongols, what did you expect? That said, he's quickly turning the icewalkers under his reign into even better examples, to the point where he's begun to worry if they're ''too'' militaristic.

!'''Samea'''

Once an orphaned trainee shaman from the Blackwater Mammoth [[BarbarianTribe tribe of icewalkers]], Samea's fierce love for her people attracted a Zenith Caste Exaltation when she was only 17. She spent a year WalkingTheEarth and seeking out all the ancient lore she could find, eventually becoming one of the first Solar Circle sorcerers of the Second Age. After returning to the North, she swiftly realized that the Bull's ambitions for the icewalkers matched her own, and became the first Solar to ally with him. She now rivals Yurgen himself as the most dangerous foe in the Bull's circle.

* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: She truly loves all her followers and sees them as family, and she doesn't deploy her MindManipulation powers casually, but she has no scruples about using them when she feels circumstances warrant.
* LadyOfBlackMagic / CuteWitch: Her supernatural charisma can make her seem mature, elegant and wise, but at other times she seems like the teenaged girl she was when she Exalted.

!'''Lyta'''

Born to a Dynast family on the Blessed Isle, Lyta disappointingly failed to Exalt as a Terrestrial and was [[LockedAwayInAMonastery shipped off to the Cloister of Wisdom]] to train as a mortal Immaculate monk. She had run afoul of a Dragon-Blooded student when the Second Breath came on her. Exaltation as a Solar unleashed all her long-repressed rage over how mortals (more specifically, a single mortal, i.e. Lyta herself) are treated in the Realm, and she is now fanatically devoted to the destruction of the Realm and all it stands for. A Dawn Caste martial artist and warlord, she is currently building up her forces on an island in the West.

* {{Foil}}: She's a ''lot'' like Peleps Deled, except for the part where they're both utterly devoted to the complete destruction of everything the other stands for.
* IronicEcho: Lyta exactly echoes every horrible stereotype of Dawn Caste Solars that the Immaculate Philosophy perpetuates.
* KnightTemplar
* MeetTheNewBoss: If she succeeded in taking over the Realm, her new order would probably [[FullCircleRevolution end up]] pretty similar to the old one, only with the positions of Solars and the Dragon-Blooded reversed.
* MoralMyopia: In her justifiable anger over how she was treated by the Dragon-Blooded, she's oblivious to the fact that she was always kind of a [[JerkAss jerkass]] herself and spent much of her childhood tormenting the household slaves for fun.
* [[HeWhoFightsMonsters She Who Fights Monsters]]: Having rejected the Immaculate lies that say the Dragon-Blooded are the rightful rulers of Creation and Solars are inherently evil and must be killed, she's decided Solars are the rightful rulers of Creation and the Dragon-Blooded are inherently evil and must be killed.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Is Realm society profoundly unjust? Definitely. Do the corrupt oppressors in the Scarlet Dynasty deserve a reckoning? Sure. Does that mean committing genocide against the Dragon-Blooded so you can offer it up to the Unconquered Sun as a mass HumanSacrifice is a justifiable GoalInLife? ''Hell no, you utter lunatic.''

!'''Havesh the Vanisher'''

One-man proof that Solar Exaltation doesn't mean you won't waste your power on [[EvilIsPetty petty and irresponsible goals]].

Before learning about Havesh, one should understand where he grew up--the Varang city-states are based on Dragon King astrological principles, right down to their caste system. The children of the province have a horoscope cast that determines what they will have most aptitude at as well as an idea of their general destiny.

The ''problem'' is that on occasion, the horoscopes will glitch or someone will forget the time a baby was born, resulting in an outcaste, who is literally not a legal citizen of Varang -- such as Havesh, whose mother was drunk when the priests came to horoscope him. For all her faults, she tried to raise him the best she could, but that didn't stop Varang's social system from teaching him he was scum in their eyes, nobody worth mentioning at all except as a random beggar. He pulled himself out of the gutter though, becoming an expert thief, to the point where someone offered him a high-paying assassination contract. Unfortunately, he screwed it up, but he refused to back down until the job was done, drawing a Night Exaltation. After [[CurbStompBattle handily finishing]] the job, a thought struck him-if he couldn't be a rich and happy man himself, why not [[CriminalDoppelganger steal the life of someone who was?]]

Now a deadly assassin who has killed twelve men so far and lived their lives until he needed to split, Havesh has earned the title of "the Vanisher" due to his tendency to pack up and leave when those close to his current life begin to catch onto the ruse. And all of Varang will know his vengeance...

* DeadPersonImpersonation: His ''modus operandi''--he disguises himself as one of his victims and lives his life for a time, up until people get suspicious and he has to bail.
* FreudianExcuse: Varang is ''not'' a nice place to live if you don't have a caste. YourMileageMayVary on how nice it is if you ''do'' have a caste.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Began as a random outcaste street rat. Became ParanoiaFuel for the entire Varang region. And if he starts getting ambitious...well, who knows?
* GeniusBruiser: While he can't keep the act going very long, he's still a master actor in his current stolen life, and he's an expert planner. He is also ''huge''.
* SerialKiller

!'''Jiunan Nightwarden'''

The city of Sijan is known for its funerals, and rightly so. What more can be said of a place that boats its own Mortician's Order? Jiunan was one of their number, and quite content with his lot in life--until one day. To summarize, he fell in love with a young woman who'd been euthanized and reanimated by the city's mortwrights prior to being sent off to the deathlord Walker in Darkness for some purpose probably best left undefined. When she said she'd rather not go with the scary men, Jiunan jumped the nemisarries sent to collect her, kicked their Abyssal boss in the teeth, took his axe, tackled him off a bridge, and woke up on a riverbank miles downstream the next day.

He's still looking for that woman.

* AnAxeToGrind: Wields a soulsteel grimcleaver.
* ILoveTheDead: Currently in search of a woman who was, for lack of a better word, zombified. She's apparently a very lovely zombie, but ''still.''

!'''Faka Kun'''

Faka Kun was pretty lucky as [[SlaveRace Djala]] go -- sure, she was a slave, but her owner found it most profitable to force her to perform as a circus acrobat and cat burglar, rather than using her as a SexSlave or laborer. He even let her save up some of her profits toward eventually buying her freedom, which drove her to ever-more-daring heists. When she tripped an alarm while trying to steal an artifact weapon from an imperial satrap's mansion, her [[IHaveComeTooFar sheer stubborn refusal to give up]] earned her Exaltation as a Night Caste.

When she made it back to the slave quarters and told her friends the news, they were less than overjoyed: sure, she was Exalted, but that just meant she'd go off and leave them while they remained slaves, right? At that moment, Faka Kun's GoalInLife became clear. Instead of turning in the loot and buying her freedom, she left the circus that night with her friends, the artifact, ''and'' the circus' cash box. She brought her friends to a free Djala enclave, and since then she's returned periodically, always with a group of Djala ex-slaves in tow. When she's not busy freeing slaves, she splits her time between running her own all-Djala circus and adventuring with Demetheus' circle.

* BornIntoSlavery
* HeroicAlbino: Not quite, since Djala are naturally white with panda spots, but close enough.
* SlaveLiberation: Her GoalInLife is to free the Djala and help her people build their own nation.
* WaifFu: Even un-Exalted Djala are deceptively small and slender.

!'''Demetheus'''

Two-fisted wanderer of the south, who grew up moving crates around before moving on to boxing. Prior to the UDON Comic, he was a solo do-gooder solving problems in his region of Creation. During the run of said comic, however, he formed a circle with several characters mentioned offhand in his background, only to end up accidentally killing one of his new companions due to a Dragon-Blooded trick.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Finely honed during his time in a child gang, and the reason why he was so broken after the final events of the UDON Comic.
* BoisterousBruiser: Before the unfortunate incident with Kidale, he was a brawler who wandered Creation, willing to lend a helping hand to the common folk. He's still like that... when he's sober.
* [[DeadLittleSister Dead Circlemate]]: He has ''not'' weathered Kidale's death well.
* TheDrifter: Can be thought of as in competition with the Nameless Solar (q.v.) in the setting's "Who's more like a Clint Eastwood character" contest.
* DrowningMySorrows: to the point that the Goddess of Intoxicants decided to sober him up.
* RetCon: In a bizarre twist of out of character mechanics, errata to various Dragon-Blooded Charms cut down Safety Among Enemies, the Charm used to make him punch Kidale, down to the point where it's either unbelievable that Kidale bit it in this fashion, or speaks volumes about the caliber of the opponent.
* [[WalkTheEarth Walk Creation]]: And, in the comics, some places that aren't Creation at all.

!'''Jasara'''
Daughter of a Guildsman and his mistress. Curious beyond curiosity, when she explored the ruins of her native Chiaroscuro, she managed to find a Manse instead of the typical result (horrible death at the hands of a hungry ghost). Was part of Demetheus's circle in the UDON comic.

* CanonImmigrant: Was first mentioned off-hand as a rather boyish example of another Solar whom Demetheus met in his wanderings, all the way back in Castebook: Dawn.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: By "boyish" we mean she was considering becoming a Dereth (someone who's treated as an honorary member of the opposite sex in Chiaroscuro's culture) at certain points in her life. When Demetheus met her, she was dressed as a he.

!'''Wind'''

A mortal Immaculate monk whose ambition was once to gain enough enlightenment in his life to earn reincarnation as a Dragon-Blooded in his next life. Instead, he ended up facing down one of the many {{Eldritch Abomination}}s seeping from under Gethamane when it threatened one of his {{Nakama}}, earning himself a talk from the Unconquered Sun. Later went on to join the Gold Faction-sponsored Cult of the Illuminated.

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "Never again, shikari." Spoken to Peleps Deled in a chapter comic from ''Scroll of Exalts'', as Deled was in the process of brutalizing and killing an Immaculate who didn't share his "correct interpretation" of scripture.

!'''Kidale'''

The young protagonist of the UDON comic. Kidale grew up on an olive farm, but left for Chiaroscuro to [[WaitingForABreak pursue his dream of becoming an actor]]. Like so many others before him, he quickly ended up a [[StarvingArtist homeless beggar]] trying to scrape together enough money to make it back home, and would have died a nameless victim of police brutality if he hadn't Exalted as a Solar and been rescued by Demetheus, who then introduced him to Wind, Jasara, and Faka Kun. An Eclipse Caste, he rounded out their perfect circle.

* SacrificialLion: A textbook example of why starting-level Solars shouldn't underestimate the Dragon-Blooded.

!'''?, aka The Righteous Devil'''

For generations throughout the South, they have told tales of a man; a righteous, [[GoodIsNotNice merciless]] hero who [[WalkingTheEarth traveled the land]] dispensing justice and righting wrongs before leaving on his way to parts unknown.

It was a bit of a surprise when he began showing up.

Modern South-dwellers are split as to whether this new red-headed bloke with the sun on his forehead is the same as the one they've been talking about for ages, but he hasn't bothered to comment on it--or, for that matter, tell anyone his name.

* {{Badass}}
* DarkSkinnedRedhead
* TheDrifter
* {{Expy}}: For [[DollarsTrilogy The Man With No Name]], naturally.
* FolkHero
* TheGunslinger: Favors a pair of plasma tongue repeaters as part of his "Righteous Devil" martial arts style. Those who recognize said style have started calling him by that for lack of anything better.
* NoNameGiven
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: He appears in one of the core book's chapter-break comics, confronting a group of Autochthonian invaders in a dark tunnel. They try for a chat at first, but he's not having any of it. "Farewell, diplomacy."
* ShroudedInMyth: What is his name? Where is he from? Where is he going? Why does his stat block list his Motivation as a question mark?

!'''Karal Fire Orchid'''

Former kazei in the Seventh Legion of Lookshy and member of the Karal Gens. Fair Folk chose her villa's location as a place to invade, and then were rudely reminded of the reemergence of the Solars when she emerged from her burning house after they left her for dead. Her mother, a taimyo in the Seventh Legion, faces scandal due to her daughter Fire Orchid being one of the Blasphemous, but hopes to clear her name in secret. Assuming she finds it necessary to clear it, rather than avenge it.

* [[BadassGrandpa Badass Grandma]]: She had retired prior to her Exaltation. Due to having Dragon-Blooded relatives, looks older than her mother and two brothers by a few decades.
* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Her primary ''modus operandi''.

!'''Mirror Flag'''

An actor beyond compare, Mirror Flag sees the world in terms of the drama she loves. Unfortunately, Creation does not work on the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality...so, like a true Solar, she's decided to fix that. A MasterOfDisguise, she takes on a new identity wherever she goes. Using powerful social charms, she manipulates people and events, weaving them into a satisfying and properly dramatic narrative in which [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin virtue triumphs]] and [[LaserGuidedKarma the wicked are punished]].

So far, so good. Where it gets disturbing, though, is that Mirror Flag has rewritten her own identity and {{Backstory}} so well and so often that [[MultipleChoicePast even she isn't sure who she really is anymore]]. And given her questionable sanity, it's not at all clear how many of the "villains" she casts down are genuinely guilty and how many just seemed like the kind of person she thinks ''should'' be holding the VillainBall. Ultimately, Mirror Flag is a prime example of why the Immaculate Faith isn't entirely wrong when it refers to Eclipse Caste Solars as Deceivers. Oh, it's not that she's a bad person, exactly...or, more precisely, it's that you really can't tell. And neither can she.

* CoolMask: Crafted for her personally by the goddess of faces.
* GuileHero
* MasterOfDisguise
* MultipleChoicePast
* UnreliableNarrator: Even to herself.

!'''Admiral Sand'''

!'''Elias Tremalion'''

!'''Filial Wisdom'''

!'''Sayn'''

Deep in the South, in the shadow of a cliff, there is a village too small to have a name, and too poor to attract robbers. One day, at the peak of a terrible drought, the village smith, Sayn, stepped out of his smithy. He was alight with golden fire as he wandered over to the cliff and swung his hammer with all his might. A sparkling stream of clear water sprang forth, saving the village. Sayn has taken this instance to heart, and views his power as a tool to repair that which is broken; first, by teaching people to live morally and uprightly. [[hottip:*:And yet he has [[LackOfEmpathy Compassion 1]]...]]

* TheBlacksmith: Sayn's day job. Give him some time and he will probably [[UltimateBlacksmith upgrade.]]

'''First Age Solars'''

!'''Solar Queen Merela'''

!'''Brigid'''

Once, Brigid was known as "[[BornUnlucky the Ungifted]]" and "[[TheLoad the Burden of the Sun]]," for she had the dubious distinction of being the most incompetent Solar Exalt known to the First Age. Although she was a pretty skilled crafter, she proved incapable of learning any but the most basic Charms and was useless in combat. When her Lunar mate was killed in the Primordial War, Brigid was [[ILetGwenStacyDie consumed with guilt]], certain she could have saved him had she been strong enough to stand beside him on the battlefield. She fled into the wilderness in her grief -- where she was surprised to meet a beautiful spirit who bowed to her and told her [[TheChosenOne a great destiny lay before her]].

Brigid [[VisionQuest journeyed to the four corners of the world]], [[RiddleMeThis solving riddles]], meeting strange beings, and [[PlotCoupon collecting artifacts]], all [[BecauseDestinySaysSo in accordance with the spirit's prophecy]]. At the end of her quest, atop the Imperial Mountain, the Unconquered Sun himself appeared and told her that the last step before her was to make a sacrifice. Brigid sacrificed her own regrets and insecurities, emerging as [[RealityWarper the Mother of Sorcery]].

...Okay, it's totally possible [[UnreliableNarrator none of that is true]]. But that's the story Solars tell, anyway.

* TheChosenOne
* RealityWarper
* ShroudedInMyth
* TookALevelInBadass

!'''Facet Raven'''

!'''Rose Petal Tea'''

!'''Contentious Sword'''

Dace's First Age incarnation, who is himself the newest incarnation of Aofe "the Golden Blade," the Solars' greatest commander during the Primordial War. (Other incarnations of Aofe [[LegacyCharacter used her title as well]], since they seem to die a lot.) Contentious Sword is young for an Exalt, and is constantly frustrated by his circlemates' lack of respect and by always finding himself compared to previous Blades.

* AchillesInHisTent: This is his Limit Break. It's implied to be part of the reason he can't get over his inferiority complex, since it serves to constantly reinforce it, and the aforementioned complex makes him prone to such behavior on a smaller scale anyway.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted -- he's on the receiving end of his circle's concern/indulgence, and ''hates'' it.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: In-setting example. He's a First Age Solar, with all the power and resources that denotes, but the legend of his Exaltation's first incarnation and his circle's own prodigious accomplishments are hard to live up to.
* ReincarnationRomance: Aofe had a relationship with a Fair Folk named Dreaming Steel, and several of her subsequent incarnations have shown some level of interest in him. Contentious Sword went looking for Aofe's ghost in the Underworld to ask about him, among other things, and the Golden Blade ''before'' Contentious Sword died in the Wyld looking for evidence that Fair Folk reincarnate (Steel died a ways back, y'see).
* SwordAndGun: Well, technically "[[{{BFS}} Daiklave]] and Magitech {{Hand Cannon}} that shoots miniature suns." This is ''Exalted''; the dial starts at Eleven.

!'''The Hierophant'''

The previous incarnation of Panther; along with his Second Age Circlemate's previous incarnations, the Hierophant utilized incredibly powerful social charms to basically dominate the Deliberative. With the exception of Contentious Sword, the entire circle survived several major conflicts, all the way back to the Primordial War; but none of them survived the Usurpation.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In Yu-Shan, it's strongly implied that something the Hierophant did, and specifically a mortal he brought to the Carnival of Meeting, was the straw that broke the camel's back with the Unconquered Sun; this [[NoodleIncident incident]] is cited as the final act that led to the Sun withdrawing into the Games of Divinity and not paying any attention to his Chosen.
** Castebook Zenith 1e states that the exact moment the Unconquered Sun turned his face away from Creation was when the then-leader of the Deliberative made a speech falsely claiming that the UC backed one of his petty political corruption games, taking the name of his god in vain just to score more bribe money. "We have spoken with the Unconquered Sun, and he agrees." The opening chapter art of chapter 2 of ''Dreams of the First Age: Lands of Creation'' depicts that moment; it was the Hierophant, speaking about the 'Independent Celestial Exalt Subsidy Plan'.

!'''Bright Shattered Ice'''

The previous incarnation of Arianna and one of the first Solars. Her name comes from a Primordial she killed during the war. Already quite brilliant, even by Exalt standards, over time she grew obsessed with acquiring ever greater knowledge by means fair and foul. Had a long-standing interest in Desus, who was happy to reciprocate, er, ''physically'', but not enough to leave Lilith.

* BigBrotherIsWatching: Regularly spied on other researchers (or asked Gold-Shadowed Arrow to burglarize them), and her city of Tzatli was described as "one of the loveliest, most well-regulated dominions in Creation."
* FloatingContinent: Her personal domain, Tzatli, was a floating city of glass and sapphire. Shaped like her anima banner, even.
** {{Egopolis}}: We repeat: giant floating city shaped like her anima banner. It's also explicitly stated that she saw it more as her personal playground than as a city-state she was responsible for.
* {{Jerkass}}: Even more so than her modern incarnation, if that's possible.
** Let's not forget the fact that she's also a ''greedy little thief''--most of her "innovations" are cribbed from her apprentices to keep up appearances.
* [[TheSmartGuy The Smart Gal]]: In addition to chairing three-fifths of the technological research groups of the First Age, she was one of the first Solars to learn sorcery after Brigid, and learned artifact creation from Autochthon himself. Helluva resume.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Her standard outfit in the official artwork is a pair of artifact wings and a harness made of black dental floss.
* YourCheatingHeart / DidYouThinkICantFeel: Her Lunar husband left her after she kept using him as fall-back guy for her repeated trysts with Desus.

!'''Gold-Shadowed Arrow'''

Harmonious Jade's previous incarnation, and one of the eldest Night Caste of the First Age. The two have a lot in common, not surprisingly; both come from the South, were trained as assassins from a young age, and tend toward the more [[MurderIsTheBestSolution lethally pragmatic]] methods of conflict resolution. Combined with his harsh stance on corruption, other Exalts worry about catching his official attention [[hottip:*:Does raise the question of why he's willing to burgle folks for Bright Shattered Ice, though.]].

* TheArcher
* MasterOfDisguise / StealthExpert: Comes with the territory of being a Night Caste, but it bears mention that no-one (living) claims to have seen Gold-Shadowed Arrow outside of his estate, the Deliberative, or the city of Tzatli for the past ''one-thousand years.''
* KnightTemplar: One of the incidents that led to the Great Prophecy (and thus, the Usurpation) was Gold-Shadowed Arrow's whole-sale slaughter of dozens of Celestials, hundreds of Terrestrials, and ''thousands'' of mortals, on the suspicion that they ''might'' have been Akuma. [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Not hard evidence. Suspicion.]]
* TheStoic: He gains limit when he sees others indulge themselves, and his limit break forces him to avoid "self-centered indulgences." This includes things like stopping for medical attention.
* TheSyndicate: Started his own to keep track of other criminal groups. It spans very nearly all of the South.

!'''Desus'''

The previous incarnation of Swan. As far as anyone in the First Age -- including, and perhaps especially, Desus himself -- is concerned, he's a well-meaning LoveableRogue. In reality, he's a physically, sexually and emotionally abusive ManipulativeBastard with extensive mind-whammying powers.

* AbuseMistake: His powers force everyone around him to rationalize away all evidence of the abuse he inflicts.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: He's as brainwashed by his own powers as everyone else is.
* TheCharmer
* DepravedBisexual: He forces his Lunar wife Lilith to use her GenderBender powers to spice up their sex life, something she takes absolutely no pleasure in. Then there's what happens to some of his other partners...
* DomesticAbuser: He indulged in plenty of physical abuse, but the emotional mindfuckery was actually the worst part -- Lilith, for instance, could have easily defended herself against him physically if he hadn't bound her to his will so thoroughly that lifting a hand to oppose him was literally unthinkable for her. And considering that even Lilith, one of the toughest beings in Creation, got punched around hard enough to induce a miscarriage, what might have happened to his other partners really doesn't bear thinking about.
* {{Flanderization}}: As a matter of metatext. He sure was a {{JerkAss}}, but a bit much got piled on his feet other than the conditions of Lilith and Oliphem.
* JerkAss
* MeaningfulName / ShoutOut / GeniusBonus: His name is [[Literature/TheOdyssey Desus and he's famous for tricking and blinding a giant one-eyed lighthouse behemoth named Oliphem]].
* ObliviouslyEvil: He genuinely doesn't realize that just because you can mind control someone into not being angry that you raped and tortured them, that doesn't make it okay.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He has a custom charm which makes everyone [[NeverMyFault interpret even his worst jerkassery]] as [[ForYourOwnGood for their own good]], or at worst, a misguided but totally forgivable mistake.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: One of the nastiest things about him is that his social charms retain their full effect even against his victims. Since you ''know'' Desus is a great guy, your mind is forced to find a way to rationalize whatever he does to you as being your own fault.

!'''Dancer In Light'''

Devil-may-care Eclipse during the Era of Dreams who began actually courting the help of devils, as he wished to save his I AM node, which had developed its own individual personality, from being erased. Cares little about anything but dancing, which puts him in good company when touring hell.

* MoralMyopia: Primarily interacts with demons and their creators through song and dance, which is the only thing that Yozis and demons don't seek to make a horrible torment as a matter of course. This may have skewed his viewpoint as to what he would be in store for, if he decided to defect.

!'''Salina'''

A sorcerous prodigy and anti-authoritarian supreme, which is not an expected quality in a goddess-queen of Creation. Her first incarnation died fighting She Who Lives In Her Name, the Principle of Hierarchy, and had a vision of how Creation might be better off without said principle. Engineered the sorcerous working which allows anyone in Creation to learn Sorcery as long as they're willing to work at it. Peculiar lack of grimdark for an elder First Age Exalt.

* GuileHero: Aforementioned Creation-changing sorcerous working was achieved by sneaking it in as a rider on a more popular Deliberative topic. Also convinced Devon, founder of one of the most widespread philosophical schools of sorcery, that his approach was flawed. He followed up on this by incinerating every last copy of his school's teachings.
* HandsOffParenting: She enjoys having children but leaves them to their own devices or tells them to, "do some good, like fight an invading raksha or something."
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction: Salina has a semi-regular "thing" with Joyous Youth Juritsu, who is a dragon. They have several children (see above), and she made him promise not to [[BodySurf possess them.]]
** The usual mechanics are justified, though-Juritsu can [[{{Shapeshifting}} carve his wooden body into new forms]], meaning he can shrink himself down to more manageable sizes for his [[LovableSexManiac many, many]] partners. [[BrainBleach One of which was a tree]].
* ReluctantRuler: She does not like hierarchy. She is also a Zenith Caste Solar, chosen by the Unconquered Sun to reign over Creation. Somehow, she reconciles the two.
* RousseauWasRight: Strongly believes that all people are basically good.
* WideEyedIdealist: As it turns out, sorcery is literally a "do anything" button, which means her plan to give it to the random man on the street would be...[[GoneHorriblyWrong prone to backfiring]]. The potential for this was part of what spurred Chejop Kejak to turn on the Solars.

!'''Kendik Arkadi'''
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In addition to the matter below, he also disdains Siakal as a bloodthirsty brute... but always takes direct command of fleets that are engaged with the enemy as a matter of visceral thrill.

!'''Queen Amyana'''

!'''Kal Bax'''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Sidereal Exalted]]
'''The Sidereal Exalted''', the 100 Chosen of the Maidens of Destiny. They're basically [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Ninja-Jedi-Evil Chancellor-Fatalist-Supernatural Cosmic Kung-Fu Masters]]. [[XMeetsY Meets Dilbert]].

They were originally advisers to the Solar Exalted from the Primordial War up until the end of the First Age. When the Solar Exalted were becoming insane due to the Great Curse, they had 3 options. Let the Solars' insanity continue and doom Creation in the process, reason with them in the slight chance they'd reform, or kill them with the Dragon-Blooded to leave Creation in a diminished but still existing state. [[KillEmAll They chose option 3]].

They removed themselves from Creation (having made themselves literally unable to be remembered by mortals), set up the Shogunate of the Dragon-Bloods as a puppet government to control, and created the Wyld Hunt and Immaculate Philosophy to kill the few reincarnating Solars. When the Shogunate ended after the Great Contagion and FairFolk invasion, they used the Scarlet Empress to make [[TheEmpire the Realm]] and have influenced it since then.

[[OhCrap Then the Scarlet Empress disappeared]], leaving the Realm they've manipulated and controlled in shambles as the Great Houses try to take the Scarlet Throne.

[[OhCrap Then they found out the Chosen of the Sun have returned]]. This hasn't helped with the growing divide between Bronze Faction Dragon-Blood supporters who wish to keep things the way they are, and Gold Faction Solar supporters who want the Solars to return as the rightful rulers of Creation (with the Sidereals in charge behind the scenes, of course).

[[ItGetsWorse And they also have to deal with Oblivion seeking Deathknights and their]] [[OmnicidalManiac Deathlord]] [[ItGetsWorse masters, not to mention the nascent]] [[CosmicHorror Primordial]] [[ItGetsWorse Infernals that]] [[CompleteMonster may]] [[ItGetsWorse or]] [[NobleDemon may not]] [[ItGetsWorse release their masters in the Reclamation and let the world literally turn to hell.]]

Don't worry though, [[OmniscientHero Fate]] is on their side ([[SpannerInTheWorks Usually]]). [[CelestialBureaucracy They've filed the paperwork]].

!'''Tropes associated with Sidereals'''

* ASimplePlan: Their particular strain of the Great Curse is a strange form of hubris. Whenever they come up with a plan, said plan has a greater chance of going off the rails depending on how many Sidereals are involved. Keep in mind the Usurpation was the collaborative effort of all 100 Sidereals, and take a look at what happened afterwards...
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: They're the ones who say so. [[ScrewDestiny Although that doesn't help as much as you think it would.]] ''Especially'' in some [[ImmuneToFate cases]].
* CelestialBureaucracy: These guys file the forms, collect the taxes, and sometimes enforce eminent domain by moving entire cities across Creation.
* EthicalHedonism: The Chosen of Serenity. Their office, the Cerulean Lute of Harmony, was built on the model of the first whorehouse in Creation. And it still serves as one, as well as an art gallery, a library, an opium den, and an office building.
* KarmaHoudini: ''Everyone'' in Yu-Shan knows that the Sidereals had something to do with the Usurpation. The reason the Unconquered Sun and Luna haven't had a very long talk with Chejop Kejak, however, is that they worked fate so that no evidence of the collaboration could ever be found.
** And the fact there also there addicted to The Games Of Divinity
* SupernaturalMartialArts: There's a reason the top-tier, reality-breaking styles are known as ''Sidereal'' Martial Arts.
* WindsOfDestinyChange: Most of their powers are centered around manipulating fate and weaving destinies. They can even use the arts of Astrology to weave new identities and gain mechanical bonuses based on the constellation in question.

'''Bronze Faction'''

!'''Chejop Kejak'''

A [[TimeAbyss very old]] Chosen of Secrets, Chejop Kejak is the sole surviving founder of the Bronze Faction, the Sidereals who masterminded the Usurpation. A bitter and lonely old man, he has ''long'' since passed his prime and lost any real impulse to change the world for the better, to the point where he literally has the Motivation of "Prove that the Usurpation was justified". He is generally held up as an example of a "failed" Exalt, a person whose FatalFlaw has left him a shell of a man only going through the motions of life. [[BadassGrandpa Don't think he can't kick your ass, though]].

* AntiVillain / TragicHero: Which trope he falls under depends on whether or not you think he was wrong to pursue the [[EitherOrProphecy Vision of Bronze]], but you can't deny he has valid points and ended up destroying his own life.
* BadassGrandpa: To [[MemeticBadass memetic]] levels.
* TheChessmaster
* TimeAbyss: Subverted. He Exalted in the First Age, and was alive longer than that, but all Sidereals have a cutoff date of 5,000 years thanks to [[DontFearTheReaper Saturn's]] influence. His age? 4,999 (plus or minus a few months).
* WellIntentionedExtremist
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy: The only visible sign he's older than middle age.

!'''Anys Syn'''
* MartialArtsAndCrafts: Invented the five Elemental Dragon styles used by the Immaculate Order.
* MeaningfulName: Averted. Her name is an intentional shout-out to Anais Nin, but she bears no other similarities.

!'''Ahn-Aru'''

!'''Iron Siaka'''
* BoisterousBruiser: She's such a warrior that a lot of people seem surprised to find out she's a Chosen of Serenity. It's just that she finds serenity in beating the seven shades of shit out of creatures of darkness.
* ButchLesbian: She's a major league asskicker, and she's got a real taste for the ladies.

!'''The Green Lady'''
Some time ago, the Sidereals got together and decided to create a Convention on Deathlords, in order to deal with the necrotic ghosts threatening to lay waste to all Creation. The Green Lady ''is'' the Convention on Deathlords. Only... she's really into her work. She has found a way to worm herself into the courts of the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible, the Silver Prince, Walker in Darkness, and Mask of Winters. Each one seems to think she serves them and only them, no matter who else she strings along.

[[spoiler: In truth, she is serving Heaven and Heaven alone. She realizes that, thanks to the Charms and abilities of the Deathlords, ''knowingly'' entering their service with a hidden agenda would be suicide. Hence why she is ''unknowingly'' reporting to Heaven while being completely, utterly loyal to all the Deathlords. It's just a matter of if she can deliver pay dirt to her superiors before one of her other bosses turns out the lights on Creation...]]

* GenderBender: The Bishop thinks she's a man. He's the only one who does.
* MemoryGambit: The undisputed master, except perhaps for Meticulous Owl.

'''Gold Faction'''

!'''Ayesha Ura'''
* WideEyedIdealist
!'''Lupo'''

!'''Crimson Banner Executioner'''
* LegacyImmortality: There have been a ''lot'' of Crimson Banner Executioners. The name and the costume (which is technically First Age PoweredArmor) pass down from incarnation to incarnation.

!'''May Blossom'''

!'''Black Ice Shadow'''
* DarkIsNotEvil
* PunnyName

!'''Kai'''

'''Independent'''

!'''Nazri'''

!'''Shepherd of the North Star'''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Lunar Exalted]]
'''The Lunar Exalted''', the 300 Chosen of Luna, are survivors and protectors, gifted with the moon god([[GenderBender dess]])'s capacity for adaptation and resilience. They're masters of VoluntaryShapeshifting, with the potential to turn themselves into virtually ''anything'' imaginable.

When the Solars were overthrown, the Lunars escaped to [[ChaosWorld the Wyld]], which slowly... [[TheCorruption mutated their Exaltations]], gradually twisting the Lunars into monsters. In response, the Lunars devised their trademark moonsilver tattoos, which protect them from any physical transformations apart from their own.

During the Lunars' centuries in exile, they've been operating as covert social engineers, manipulating societies throughout Creation with the aim of eventually creating one that won't need the Exalted to maintain it. They know full well it'll probably never happen; what's important is what they can take from the process.

Now the Solars have returned, the Abyssals and Infernals with them. It's time for the Lunars to adapt once again. Which way they'll go, though...

!'''Tropes associated with Lunars'''

* [[BrokenBird Broken Beasts]]: Most of the details about the Usurpation and following thirteen or so centuries have made it clear that it was not easy on the Lunars in any way at all. They even broke literally, re: their Castes.
* ButYouScrewOneGoat: The Lunars are capable of making Beastmen, but to do so (without high-level Charms, that is) requires an act of bestiality. Either the Lunar screws the animal in human form, or the Lunar screws a human in animal form.
* CargoCult: The Lunars are keen to take any route necessary to influence a society, and in many cases, that means posing as gods or messianic figures.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The only non-Abyssals who can make zombies with their own Charms, without the need of initiation into necromancy. The zombies are creatures of darkness; the Lunars that make them are generally not.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: Certain Knacks allow them to ritualistically hunt humans and take on their forms after killing them. There's also a less lethal solution that involves just borrowing a bit of their blood, but this doesn't last quite as long.
* GenderBender: Quite a few of them. The best example may be Silver Python, who changes gender every twenty years as a tribute to Luna and neither remembers nor cares which one zie started off as.
* GlamourFailure: Every Lunar has a Tell, a part of their body that reflects their totem and remains the same in all forms. It could range from striped chest hair to golden eyes to a patch of scales running along the spine.
* {{High Priest}}s: The long-lost Waxing Moon caste were this for Luna. Following the breaking of the Lunar castes caused by the Wyld, the No Moons inherited the role. (Which some Lunars find a little odd, since the ''Changing'' Moons were the inheritors of the three lost castes.)
* [[ReincarnationRomance Reincarnation Relationship]]: Each Lunar shard is "bonded" with a Solar shard, designating the two as mates. This doesn't have to be a romance (it can be a friendship, or a rivalry) but it often takes that form. Of course, this bond continues whether or not the Solar shard's been corrupted by the Yozis or the Deathlords. Note that the bond is not necessarily sexual in nature; platonic relationships are just as possible, potentially leading to [[StarWars Luke/Vader]] and [[FinalFantasyIV Cecil/Golbez]] situations in the case of Abyssals.
* ShapeshifterModeLock: When a Lunar spends enough Peripheral Essence, it's limited to shape-shifting to any of its totemic forms (that is, its mortal shape, its spirit shape, or--if it has one--its war form).
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: If they ritualistically stalk something, kill it, and drink its heart's blood, they can become it at any time. Some more esoteric capabilities also permit just knocking the target out, or even sexual activity to gain shapes.

!'''Tamuz'''

A survivor of the First Age -- [[OlderThanTheyLook which makes his bare minimum age around one thousand years old]] -- Tamuz is one of the elders of the Silver Pact, the main governing body of Lunars. Unlike many of them, after the Usurpation he was happy to be finally free of his [[DomesticAbuse abusive]] and [[{{Yandere}} possessive]] Solar mate, and didn't find it difficult at all to adapt to the new, Terrestrial-ruled world. After the Thousand Streams River project began, he attached himself to the Delzhan tribes, and the ruins of the First Age city of Chiaroscuro they lived near, unifying them into a growing empire without any really crippling social problems...[[GuileHero right under the Sidereals' noses, without any of his proxies being killed, and in such a way it made it politically unfeasible for the Realm to conquer them]]. True, there ''are'' some blatant societal ills (one of which, the Delzhan's misogyny, grows [[DoesNotLikeWomen directly from his own gynophobia]]), but he's managed them splendidly (said misogyny was worked around with the [[WholesomeCrossdresser Dereth]], who have very little stigma attached to them).

Today, Tamuz is seriously considering transforming Chiaroscuro into the new predominant power; seeing as how the Realm was built to serve the Empress and now she's gone, it's ripe for the taking. For his personal life, Tamuz [[OnlySaneMan was the most stable and healthy among the canonical Lunar elders in first edition]], but in second is shown to have a side with a god complex. He also has a problem with his teacher's/[[MentorShip lover's]] Exaltation going to a female successor, which seriously {{Squick}}s him out.

In the Lunar lineup in [=DotFA's=] chargen section, he is the Half Moon.

* AGodAmI: Set in motion a manufactured prophecy within Delzahn culture that allows him to swoop in under the auspices of the identity "Tamas Khan" and act as their God King. It's all part of his social engineering addict god complex.
* AbuseIsOkayWhenItsFemaleOnMale: ''[[AvertedTrope No, it is not]].'' About the only reason he's less screwed up than [[TheWoobie Lilith]] is because he wasn't {{Mind Rape}}d as well. It's a miracle he's managed to ''only'' come away with deep-seated misogyny.
* TheChessmaster: He outwitted Sidereals. ''[[AncientConspiracy Sidereals]].''
* DoesNotLikeWomen: See above. It isn't his FatalFlaw, though -- he's aware his knee-jerk reaction to the female gender is unfair, and he's capable of swallowing his distaste.
* GuileHero: He's generally viewed as everything right with the Changing Moon caste, so of course he's this.
** MagnificentBastard: The Sidereals and Dragon-Bloods who know of his existence view him as this.
* OnlySaneMan: In the prior edition. In second, see AGodAmI.

!'''Ma-Ha-Suchi'''

Once upon a time, Ma-Ha-Suchi was one of the most handsome, debonair individuals in all of Creation, a sterling example of the [[HighPriest Waxing Moon Caste]]. When the Usurpation came, he fled with the other Lunars into the Wyld. Before he could be tattooed, however, the Wyld ravaged his body, leaving him with a permanent case of horns and hooves that carried into all of his forms. This caused something to snap in the Lunar; he began to view the civilization that he had once moved through and guided as a corrupting and decadent influence, the true reason for the fall of the Solars and their defeat. He assembled a horde of barbarians and Beastmen, and seeks to burn down all civilization in Creation in the name of a true way for humanity.

In [=DotFA's=] chargen chapter Lunars group picture, Ma-Ha-Suchi is on the far right, representing the Waxing Moon Caste. Oh how far the mighty have fallen.

* {{Bishonen}}: Before the Wyld? [[http://sayda.deviantart.com/art/DotFA-Wolf-With-Red-Roses-114909050 Definitely.]] After the Wyld? ...Actually, he's still incredibly pretty, just not ''superhumanly'' so.
* EvilLuddite / SocialDarwinist: Ma-Ha-Suchi just wants to see civilization dismantled, believing it to be a weakening and corrupting influence that causes humanity to stray. If people can't survive without civilization... well, tough noogies.
** The Ink Monkeys have stated that this is really a flimsy excuse he uses to justify his actions to himself. Deep down, what he really wants is to destroy everything beautiful [[GreenEyedMonster out of spite]].
* {{Hypocrite}}
* PeopleFarms: Ma-Ha-Suchi often takes captives from his raids and sticks them in the Rutting Pens, a series of bunkers deep in a Wyld Zone (though insulated from the mutagenic effects) where he and his Beastmen ensure the production of further soldiers. It's somewhat of a secret even among his men, and it's stated that if the rest of the Silver Pact found out about it, they'd have him killed immediately (well, save for Raksi, but [[AxCrazy that's because she's Raksi]]).
* RapePillageAndBurn: Ma-Ha-Suchi's preferred tactic for keeping his Beastman army stocked and supplied.
* ReallyGetsAround: His Motivation in the First Age was to sleep with every Celestial Exalted in Creation. He almost got there, too.
* [[VainSorceress Vain Lunar Barbarian Warlord]]: Going by his character sheet, he's still the most handsome man most people will ever see, but the idea that he's no longer transcendently, inhumanly beautiful bothers him so much that he refuses to ever take human form again. And that degradation in his appearance is the main reason why he wants to smash everything.

!'''Raksi'''

Before the Usurpation, Raksi was well-known amongst the Lunars for being the youngest person ever graced with Luna's gift, Exalting at age 13. She still looked like a child when the Usurpation went down and she had to flee into the Wyld. She came out...changed. Sure, she doesn't look half the wreck that Ma-Ha-Suchi does (or at least, thinks he does), but most of what the Wyld did to her was internal. Raksi's current "attempt" at the Thousand Streams River is the same one she took right after leaving the Wyld - sacking a First Age city, setting herself up as a cannibal queen with a personal army of Beastmen, and harrowing the locals while trying to plumb the sorcerous secrets of the city. Secrets she can never hope to learn herself.

* AxCrazy: The Wyld did a ''nasty'' job to her mind.
* ButYouScrewOneGoat: A common trait for Lunars, but Raksi made most of her ape-man army herself.
* GlamourFailure: The most obvious sign of Raksi's time in the Wyld is that her fingers tend to bend backwards by reflex.
* ImAHumanitarian / EatsBabies: Raksi adopted the guise of a cannibal queen, then decided to cement it. She goes after babies because she prefers the taste of veal.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She Exalted right before the Usurpation. Even today, millennia later, she still looks like a sixteen-year old.
* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: Raksi sacked the city of Sperimin and renamed it "Mahalanka, City of a Thousand Golden Delights." Those delights are hers alone, however, and any independent authority would question just how "delightful" they're supposed to be.
** And those apemen mooks she's spawned? They only obey her because they're ''bugfuck terrified'' of her.
* SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: Raksi has her hands on a copy of ''The Book of Three Circles'', and has spent centuries trying to unlock the secrets of Solar Circle Sorcery. Lunars are, by their very nature, only able to learn up to Celestial Circle. That hasn't stopped her from taking on several unsuccessful experiments in an attempt to unlock her "true potential."

!'''Lilith'''

In the First Age, Lilith was renowned as one of the greatest infiltrators and hand-to-hand combatants among the Exalted, but even better known was the epic love story of her romance with the [[VillainWithGoodPublicity beloved hero]] Desus. What no one knew at the time, however, was that Desus was...well, [[CompleteMonster Desus]]. A sadist armed with extensive social Charms, he had Lilith bound to his will, forcing her to love him desperately no matter what abuses he inflicted on her. When he died at the Usurpation, she both rejoiced and felt her heart break, and the sheer cognitive dissonance drove her into the depths of the Wyld. Her fellow Lunars managed to tattoo her before she was too lost, and it seems to have done the job. No one can say for sure; they meet her rarely as she moves in and out of Creation at will. And with the return of the Solars, no one can say for sure what path she'll take...

In the lineup of Lunars in [=DotFA's=] chargen section, she is the Waning Moon.

* AbuseMistake: Spent the entire First Age having everyone around her do this on account of Desus' mind-manipulating powers. Oh, the heroes of Creation all ''noticed'' Lilith was sporting an awful lot of bruises when she hadn't been in combat lately, they just figured she and Desus must get up to some kinky stuff in the bedroom.
* InsanityImmunity: Lilith has made the Wyld a second home for centuries, an unwise proposition for even a veteran tattooed Lunar. But because of the sheer mindfuckery Desus put her through, she not only didn't get worse, she ''got better'' by comparison.
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: During the First Age, she was perhaps the greatest unarmed combatant in Creation.
* OwlBeDamned: Her totem.
* StealthExpert: Lilith comes and goes out of Creation so easily that no one can track her effectively. In all her time as an elder Lunar, she has not ''once'' run afoul of or triggered a Wyld Hunt.
** Well, she did run afoul of a Sidereal plot once. It [[CurbStompBattle didn't end well for them]].
* SubmissiveBadass: Ironically, she really is a phenomenally skilled combatant even by the standards of Celestial Exalts, and could have easily punched her socialite husband into a fine red mist if he hadn't brainwashed her into ''wanting'' to please him by submitting to his every sadistic whim.
* {{Yandere}}: Lilith was ''made'' this way. She loves Desus. She hates Desus. He beat her brutally, but lay down a compulsion so that she'd do anything to remain in denial, up to killing whoever pointed it out. For years, her [[GoalInLife Motivation]] was simply "Please Desus."
** And now she's tracked down Desus' reincarnation, reuniting with him at the scene of their first age wedding, and then promptly directing him to meet with an ancient Behemoth that is almost certain to kill him.

!'''Admiral Leviathan'''

Leviathan was once second-in-command of the Navy of the Solar Deliberative, one of the highest ranks attained by a Lunar during the First Age. He was the mate and boon companion of Kendik Arkadi- - their relationship was extremely close, if entirely non-romantic. Which made it all the more awkward when Leviathan fell hard for Queen Amyana, Kendik's wife and empress of the floating city of Luthe. Their relationship carried on in secret for decades until the Usurpation came. Torn between his mate and his lover, Leviathan tried to save Amyana -- only to arrive too late, and having traveled too far to save Kendik. In vengeance, he sunk the entire Navy in one blow, allowed the city of Luthe to fall beneath the waves, and took off. He's remained in his spirit shape of an orca ever since, and rules over/terrifies the still-inhabited city of Luthe.

* GodGuise: After returning to the sunken Luthe, Leviathan set himself up as god to the Beastmen and descendants of the First Age inhabitants.
* KrakenAndLeviathan: It's right there in the name. But he lives up to it, seeing as he has custom shapeshifting Knacks that allow him to count as his own army in mass combat.
* LoveTriangle: One of the longest-running and most tragic ones of the First Age.
* MoralMyopia: He simply refuses to consider the Traitorspawn, the descendants of the Dragon-Blooded who live in Luthe, are anything resembling people beyond a vent for his anger. But boss around his beastmen? Your death will be slow and agonizing.
* MyGreatestFailure: Leviathan is still pretty much defined by his failure to save either his mate or his lover. The reincarnation of either, however, might just be enough to snap him out of his funk.
* RevengeBeforeReason: His prejudice comes from his belief that the Traitorspawn are reincarnations of the cadre that killed Amayana. The book itself states that he has no rational reason to believe this.

!'''Rain Deathflyer and Silver Python'''

Of all the elders of the Silver Pact, Rain Deathflyer and Silver Python might be in the running with Tamuz for greatest success story. Rain was one of the freshest Lunars to enter the Wyld post-Usurpation, having inherited the Exaltation of one of the Lunars who died protecting their mate during the initial betrayal. Silver took a hand in instructing him in the ways of Lunar-kind, and it turned into a steady relationship. When the idea of the Thousand Streams River was floated, they decided to create the Republic of Halta, an experiment in seeing if humans and Beastmen could get along.

Silver Python presumably makes an appearance in [=DotFA's=] chargen Lunars picture, representing the No Moon Caste. In female form, for whatever that matters.

* TheExtremistWasRight: The goal? Create a nation protected from the Raksha, living mostly in the treetops, where humans, Beastmen and sapient animals all had equal rights. Did it succeed? So far, yes.
* GenderBender: Lots of Lunars do it, but Silver Python does it regularly, switching genders for alternating twenty year periods as a form of devotion to Luna. Zhe doesn't know which gender zhe started as, and zhe doesn't care.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Averted. Silver Python may regularly switch genders, and Rain may love hir, but he's ''never'' made love to hir while zhe's got a man's body. Zhe finds it funny, especially since Rain had no problem siring Beastmen.
* MentorShip
* SocialDarwinist: As Lunars, they know perfectly well that at some point, they're going to need to remove an active hand from Halta and see if it will thrive on its own. What happens after that point, however, might doom their relationship.

!'''Magnificent Jaguar'''

Warlord in the East, who spent a great deal of time after the Usurpation sleeping. Seems to have been in charge of dealing with Fair Folk during the Era of Dreams. In Dreams of the First Age's lineup of Lunars in the chargen section, he represents the Full Moons.

!'''Ingosh Silverclaws'''

A veteran of the Usurpation and one of the oldest Lunars to survive into the First Age, as well as the longtime lover of Tamuz. On his deathbed, he gasped out an ominous prophecy before finally succumbing to old age. Anja Silverclaws now bears his Exaltation.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Right before he died, his old Caste Mark -- one of the ones destroyed by the time in the Wyld -- flared and he related a vision from Luna to the rest of the Silver Pact. Right around the time the Scarlet Empress vanished and Thorns got conquered, they ''really'' started paying attention to what he'd said.
* HighPriest: A former Waxing Moon.
* TimeAbyss: Ingosh finally kicked off from Creation at the ripe age of 3,162.

!'''Anja Silverclaws'''

An aristocratic girl from Thorns who had the misfortune to be at home when the Mask of Winters invaded. The iconic No Moon for the game.

* CatGirl: Her totem is a housecat, and she's an outrageous flirt. Hell, her illustration in ''Scroll of Exalts'' is her in feline mutations and some tight leather. The mutations cover more of her body.
* DeadGuyJunior: Inheritor of the Exaltation of Ingosh Silverclaws.
* [[BoyMeetsGhoul Girl Endures Ghoul]]: One of the methods she used to escape from Thorns.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo / ReallyGetsAround: In order to escape from her native Thorns, she had to perform sexual favors, which occasionally led to Girl Endures Ghoul.
* TraumaCongaLine: After her brothers were killed at the Battle of Mishaka, had to contend with the rest of her family's fate under the dead. No wonder she has Compassion 1...

!'''Heysha Black Asp'''

A recurring character in the comics. Speaks in an odd lisp (all her "j's" become "y's") and omits certain words, hinting at a French-esque accent.

* MostCommonSuperPower: Especially in her appearance in Return of the Scarlet Empress.

!'''Ten Stripes'''

Shark-totemed Lunar who attempted to create an egalitarian society out in the West. This ran into a few problems.

* GoneHorriblyWrong: Ten Stripes was aiming for a society where men could farm and women could sail, taking in all comers. What she ended up with was a cultural hodgepodge united almost entirely in their hate of ''her''. That they tried to kill her merely made her proud as she [[CompletelyMissingThePoint respected their drive.]] Oh, and those Lintha kids she adopted in are teaching everyone who would listen about their parents' masters...
** TooDumbToLive: How the hell did she not catch this!?
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: It's suggested that Ten Stripes has ''finally'' realized how badly she screwed up, and is planning to just swim away from Simenare in the middle of the night. Given that thirty percent of the island secretly worships the Yozis, the island's patron god is starved and desperate, and only Ten Stripes knows the terms of the deal that keeps the raksha away from the island's inhabitants, things are going to get ''interesting'' when that happens.
* TedBaxter: She, along with ''Excessively Righteous Blossom'', are explicitly stated to be the failures of the Exalted world. She refuses to consider this.

!'''Seven Devils Clever'''

Nexus street urchin who wouldn't give up on her street. Continues not giving up on it as time goes on, but now has the capacity to tear apart Terrestrials.

* FantasticFoxes: Her spirit shape.

!'''Red Jaws'''

Northern hunter who had the ultimate bad day - every bit of gear broke, every shelter was occupied with wildlife, and it began to snow heavily by the time he had tried these measures. He then proceeded to dig a hole in the snow, which got him Luna's attention. He's the lupine guy with a beard you've undoubtedly seen somewhere in Exalted art, as the iconic Changing Moon.

* BadassGrandpa: Was an old man prior to his Second Breath.
* BigBadassWolf: His spirit shape.
* TheStoic: Defends settlements in the North, but never seeks their attention or any accolades at all.

!'''Kajeha Lef'''

!'''Strength-of-Many'''

A former slave from the Lap who now crusades against slavery. Has a bull's legs in every shape he takes; the iconic Full Moon of the game.

* ALoadOfBull: His spirit shape and Tell.
* AnAxeToGrind: His choice of weapon.
* TheChessmaster: Trying to work his way up to this.
* MistakenIdentity: Because his spirit shape is a bull, he tends to end up mistaken as Ahlat, God of Cattle and Warfare in the South, who gets some of the prayer that would otherwise go to Strength of Many.
* SlaveLiberation: Strives to make himself a legend for complete... global... emancipation.

!'''Madame Vert'''

The iconic Casteless, former wife of a thaumaturge who dared too much in his attempts to gain recognition from the Salinan Society. "Former" there courtesy of when he summoned a demon. Spends her time protecting her home city and crusading for her cause as a Casteless.

* HotLibrarian: Works as a scribe and keeps up a repository of magical lore.
* ShrinkingViolet: In human form, wearing a widow's shawl and going about letting Salinan Society members use her dead husband's library.
* {{Stripperific}}: When in her beastman shape, dressing in gauzy bits of next to nothing.

!'''Faithful Pia'''

Sole survivor of a bandit attack on the caravan her family stayed with. She wandered the desert looking for survivors, and then gained the notice of Luna... though she didn't realize it, being rather cooked in the head from all the sun, and believes the Solar who found her to be the individual who was talking with her in the sandy expanse of the South. Product of the militaristic Illuminated training camp, Kether Rock.

* CatGirl: Even cuter than Anja (she has a specialty in it, you see), and with far more clothing to boot.
* GoodLookingPrivates: Though she fits in a very nebulous kind of specialist role, Kether Rock is run like a boot camp, and she is assigned a post in it.
* {{Lunacy}}: Written around the rules that see Lunars gain Limit toward their FatalFlaw when they observe the full moon.
* RapeIsTheNewDeadParents: Has both in her background as a result of the bandit attack.
* StepfordSmiler: She secretly believes herself to be a monster, which is why she tries so very hard to seem as cute and cheerful and harmless as possible -- because she ''desperately'' wants it to be true.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Terrestrial Exalted]]
'''The Dragon-Blooded''', or Terrestrial Exalted, are the oddest Exalt type since they're the only ones who can pass their Exaltation on to their children, while also being the weakest and most numerous Exalted.

This ties in with their creation as a SuperSoldier [[BadassArmy army]] for the Solar Exalted. The 5 core Elemental Dragon souls of Gaia (a Primordial who had joined the Incarnae against the other Primordials) gifted 100 men and 9,900 women with their power. While they served as soldiers in the Primordial War, their main purpose was to have [[FetishFuel orgies of epic proportions]] so they could make a large enough army to be effective against the Primordials and their servants. Apparently the average woman had [[BeyondTheImpossible 30 kids]].

After the war they served the Celestial Exalted in family military units called Gentes, each Gens being assigned to 1 solar and his reincarnations. It was also during the First Age that the Dragon-Blooded started to mate with mortals, which up until then got you, your kid, and whoever you slept with dead. This reduced the 'purity' of the Dragon-Bloods, so from then on Dragon-Bloods didn't have 100% guarantee of Exalting.

Near the end of the First Age, after being subjugated to the tyranny and madness of the Solars and being manipulated by the Sidereals, the Dragon-Bloods usurped their Solar masters. After the Usurpation the Dragon-Bloods ruled all of Creation in the Shogunate era, which was noted to have their rulers die constantly by the next rulers.

Things went mostly well enough though, until the Deathlords (Powerful ghosts of the Solars they slew, specifically the [[BigBad First and Forsaken Lion]]) released the Great Contagion that killed 90% of the population. [[ItGetsWorse Then the]] FairFolk [[ItGetsWorse attacked in an alliance with the Deathlords, destroying half of Creation.]]

When all seemed lost, several Dragon-Bloods journeyed to the Imperial Manse to use the [[DoomsdayDevice Realm Defense Grid]] (Also called the Sword of Creation) to save Creation. Only one managed to get through its defenses, save Creation and come out alive. Her name seems to have disappeared from the texts of history, along with everyone who ever knew her (Pretty normal occurrence in Creation, in other words), but people call her the Scarlet Empress.

She built the Scarlet Dynasty from the ground up, and unlike the Shogunate it only directly ruled the Blessed Isle. Nevertheless, [[TheEmpire the Realm]] became the foremost superpower in Creation, being the pinnacle of civilization and military might. There were rivals though, most notably the other Dragon-Blooded ruled state of Lookshy, so the Realm only indirectly ruled several territories in the threshold outside of the Blessed Isle through puppet governments.

The Empress took on multiple lovers over the years, and, via her consorts and children, founded the 11 Great Houses who bickered for power, as well as other organizations that [[RightHandVersusLeftHand didn't exactly get along.]] It didn't really matter though, since as long as she was in charge the Realm would operate smoothly.

[[OhCrap Then she disappeared.]] [[OhCrap And the Solar Exalted have come back.]]

Now the Realm is in disarray as the Great Houses try to get who they want on the throne in a political system that wasn't made to handle a missing Empress, their secret Sidereal manipulators are bickering over letting the Dragon-Bloods continue to be the rulers of Creation or have the Solars return as the rightful rulers, and the forces of hell, the underworld and the Wyld are ready to take a bite into this half-dead but still powerful Empire.

Since the Dragon-Bloods are the most numerous of the Exalted, we'll also list all of their organizations since they're pretty... [[{{Troperiffic}} ''colorful'']] in their own right

!'''Tropes associated with Dragon-Bloods'''

* AllYourColorsCombined: Certain Dragon-Blooded Charms, such as Elemental Bolt, produce much more explosive results if multiple Dragon-Blooded contribute to them.
* ElementalPowers
* SuperBreedingProgram

!'''The Scarlet Empress'''
During the invasion of the Fair Folk, just after the Contagion, one young Earth Aspected junior officer in the Shogunate military, along with her Sworn Brotherhood, entered the Imperial Manse to try to activate the Defense Grid. She alone survived, and with her newfound power became the Scarlet Empress, leader of the Scarlet Dynasty, which covered the Blessed Isle and several coastal satrapies. For about five hundred years, she's led the Realm relatively well, using the Immaculate Order granted to her by Chejop Kejak (very unwillingly).

Five years ago, she vanished. No one (who's telling) knows where to.

According to ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'', though, [[spoiler: she was [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe abducted by the Ebon Dragon to be his bride]]; an unknown time after the return of the Solars, she will return to Creation, reunite the fractured Realm, and be the [[DarkMessiah messiah]] for the people therein. Except for the fact that she'll be brainwashed, {{Mind Rape}}d, and have a ring on her finger that makes her love, honor and obey the cosmic embodiment of being a douchebag.]]

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: About as fearsome in a one-on-one fight as a Dragon-Blood can possibly be -- and combat's not even her main area of focus.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Crowned herself Empress by taking control of a superpowered weapon of mass destruction.
* [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy: More subtly then most in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'', but the Ebon Dragon did something ''nasty'' to her mind.]]
* TheChessmaster: In her position, there's no other choice.
* [[spoiler:DeathEqualsRedemption: If you go with portraying her as a WellIntentionedExtremist turned {{Mind Rape}}d TragicMonster in ''Return Of The Scarlet Empress'', a suggestion is that her ghost starts a highly-effective LaResistance against the Deathlords. Another has her survive long enough for Gaia herself to kill her, then have her reincarnated as the new Elemental Dragon of Earth.]]
** [[spoiler:LikeABadassOutOfHell: On the other hand, if the Ebon Dragon just made her ''worse'', it's suggested that the Neverborn were so impressed by her that they transfer Princess Magnificent's seat on said Deathlords to her.]]
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Her characterization is deliberately ambiguous, to the point where you can play her as anything from a [[WellIntentionedExtremist tragic, heroic figure]] who [[NecessarilyEvil had no choice but to do some awful things to save all Creation]] to an [[EvilOverlord out-and-out supervillain]] -- but in any interpretation, she's ''not'' someone you want to cross.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: We don't really know much about the Empress as a person, but this is pretty much the cornerstone of her characterization -- it's not that she lacks a conscience, but if she has to do something horrible to achieve her goals, she'll do it without hesitation and cry about it later. (In private.)
* KingIncognito: Popular folklore has it that during her periodic unexplained absences, she was traveling the Realm undercover as an ordinary peasant. This is completely untrue...probably.
* KingInTheMountain: The missing Empress is rapidly on her way to becoming this sort of figure in the Realm's folklore.
* LadyOfBlackMagic: One of the most accomplished sorcerers the Dragon-Blooded Host ever produced.
* LadyOfWar: Also one of their greatest generals -- and remember, she started as a common soldier.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Scarlet Empress' original name has long since been forgotten. At your discretion, there may be a plot hook there.
* RagsToRoyalty: We know very, very little about her background before becoming Empress, but pretty much the one thing that's clear is that she was no one important. The higher-ups in Lookshy had never even heard of her.
* RightfulKingReturns: Rescuing the Empress is a common potential goal for Dragon-Blooded games. (Rather brutally subverted if you go with the storyline in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress''.)
* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: One of her lovers noticed her crying in her sleep.

!'''The Scarlet Dynasty'''

The Scarlet Empress had taken the Realm, but even with control of the Sword of Creation and the backing of the Bronze Faction, she was in a precarious position. The Shogunate had been a long succession of one military coup or assassination after another, and there was no guarantee it wouldn't continue. Her solution was to create a government that was highly effective as long as she was heading it...but was pretty much guaranteed to fall apart the instant she wasn't there.

The Realm's aristocracy currently consists of eleven [[TheClan Great Houses]], each named for a consort or child of the Empress from whom the [[BigScrewedUpFamily extended family]] descends. The blood of the Dragons runs strong in the Empress' children, and social and religious teachings about [[MasterRace the inherent superiority of the Dragon-Blooded]] and their divine right to rule Creation help prevent rebellion by the commoners against their Exalted lords. To ensure that her own descendants couldn't threaten her position, the Empress followed a DivideAndConquer strategy: the Houses were encouraged to compete against each other for status, and the Empress alternately favored first one and then another, carefully working to prevent any single faction from gaining too much power.

While she was around, the Scarlet Empress kept a close eye on things, harnessing her descendants' ambitions for the good of the Realm. Since her disappearance, though, there's been nothing to keep the Great Houses' DeadlyDecadentCourt tendencies in check, and they almost immediately grew out of control. Each family [[NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering wastes its attention on petty political squabbles, ignoring the serious threats looming over all Creation]]. At this point, CivilWar seems inevitable...

...Unless, of course, the player characters take it upon themselves to head it off.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Dynasty as a whole ''and'' each Great House individually.
* TheClan: The Great Houses.
* CulturedBadass: Every Dynast is expected to be a competent scholar, dancer, musician and so on...as well as a powerful warrior, no matter what their profession.
* CultureChopSuey: The deliberate kind. The Realm's culture is mostly a mix of [[TheRomanEmpire Imperial Rome]] and [[DynastiesFromShangToQing various Chinese dynasties]], but it's also got elements of Achaemenid Persia, the Tokugawa Shogunate, and pretty much any other premodern Old World empire you could name.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt
* DividedWeFall: The Dragon-Blooded were designed to be at their best when working as a team, which is why the Dynasty's complete failure to stop bickering and work together is ''really'' unfortunate.
* TheEmpire
** VestigialEmpire: While the Realm is far more stable than the Shogunate ever was, it's drastically reduced in the amount of territory it controls.
* EveryoneIsBi: The Realm's culture doesn't have much of a concept of sexual orientation; preferring one sex over the other is seen as a not-very-notable personal quirk.
* FeudingFamilies: By the Empress' design.
* ManlyGay: Being gay is perfectly socially acceptable, as long as you're willing to do your duty by marrying a member of the opposite sex and procreating. Effeminate behavior, on the other hand, is ''emphatically'' not okay regardless of your gender.
* {{Matriarchy}}: A very mild example, bordering on MatriarchyInNameOnly; the Realm is at least as [[GenderIsNoObject gender-egalitarian]] as any modern first world country, and whether you're Exalted or not counts for far more than a little thing like your sex. To the extent that there is sexism, though, it tends to favor women.
* ProudWarriorRace: Even the bureaucrats of the Dynasty are expected to be ''at least'' as competent in battle as a decent mortal fighter.
* TrainingFromHell: Pretty much your whole childhood, if you're a Dynast.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether

!'''The Deliberative'''

The Realm's ruling council, the Deliberative, is a bicameral legislature. The upper house, the Greater Chamber, consists entirely of Exalted Dynasts who are appointed by their Great Houses and approved by the Empress (or, today, the Regent); they have the ability to propose legislation. The patricians and nobles from tributary states who make up the Lesser Chamber are appointed by senators from the Greater Chamber, and can veto proposals with a two-thirds majority vote. Proposals that pass both chambers become law unless vetoed by the Empress or Regent. (In theory, the Deliberative can overturn the Empress' veto...with an almost unanimous vote in both chambers. Yeah, right.)

The Deliberative was designed with a few specific goals in mind -- to handle issues the Empress didn't care about enough to bother with, to give the government an air of legitimacy and rule of law by rubber stamping the laws she did want passed, and to allow the aristocracy of the Realm to feel as if they had a voice in government without giving them any power that actually mattered. The one thing it was absolutely never designed to be, in other words, is a powerful and effective governing body. Which probably stopped seeming like a great idea right around the time people realized the Empress wasn't coming back for a while.

* BloodOnTheDebateFloor: Duels and plain old fistfights are a fairly regular occurrence.
* KickedUpstairs: Appointment to the Deliberative is a traditional way to get annoying reformers out of the way -- they'll get distracted with the futile task of trying to fix things from within the system.
* TheMole: Manosque Cyan, who seems to be working to convince the Lesser Chamber that in this time of crisis, they should be spending more time on thoughtful discussion and less on, you know, actually doing anything.
* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering
* SleazyPolitician: Lots of them, all trying to advance their personal ambitions or those of their Great Houses rather than addressing any of the Realm's real problems.

!'''The Regent'''

It wasn't unheard-of for the Scarlet Empress to take an unannounced leave of absence, so it took a while for the Great Houses to figure out what exactly to do about the fact that she didn't seem to be coming back this time. No one was prepared to actually take the throne, since it was hard to imagine the Empress looking kindly on anyone she found sitting there if she returned. The obvious answer was a regency -- but in the DeadlyDecadentCourt that is the Scarlet Dynasty, how could any of the [[FeudingFamilies Great Houses]] trust one of its rivals with that kind of power?

The compromise candidate they eventually found was Tepet Fokuf. An un-Exalted Dynast from what was now the weakest of the Great Houses, Fokuf was known primarily for his complete lack of ambition and general fecklessness, so it seemed likely that he wouldn't be able to take real advantage of the power associated with his position. This...[[GoneHorriblyRight worked rather too well]]. To all appearances, the poor man's mind simply [[SanitySlippage snapped]] under the pressure. He now spends as much time as possible locked in his private chambers, masturbating furiously over the racier passages in the Immaculate Texts (which he insists is an important spiritual practice endorsed by the Mouth of Peace) and [[NervousWreck desperately trying to avoid having to make a decision]].

* ADateWithRosiePalms
* TheFool: So it appears.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Exactly what's going on with Fokuf is deliberately left ambiguous, but one obvious interpretation is that he's smart enough to realize that actually doing anything anyone could interpret as a threat would immediately get him assassinated, and is manipulating the situation as best he can to stay alive.
** ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: It's even possible that he could [[NotSoHarmless secretly be a Celestial Exalt]]...in which case he might well be quite actively ruling the entire Realm from behind the scenes.

!'''The Thousand Scales'''

The Dragon-Blooded of the Scarlet Dynasty like to think of themselves as warrior-aristocrats, proving their right to rule through the strength of their arms and sheer military might. The truth is a little more prosaic. In reality, the Realm is a highly centralized and urbanized empire, and while it does need protectors, it needs bureaucrats a lot more. All Dynasts train as warriors, but for every one actually serving as a soldier in the legions, another can be found playing an equally vital role as a clerk, accountant, postal courier, satrap, prefect, administrator, or dozens of other civil service positions. If the legions are the empire's fangs and talons, the ministers of the Imperial Service are the scales of the dragon.

* BadassBureaucrat
* BeleagueredBureaucrat
* DeskJockey
* NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom: Sure, there are lots of these all over the world of ''Exalted'', but only in the Thousand Scales can you get a job as one of the Infallible Conveyers of Official Messages and Heartfelt Expressions (also known as the postal service).
* VastBureaucracy

!'''The Magistrates'''

!'''The All-Seeing Eye'''

The All-Seeing Eye started as a loose, informal collection of informants, but as the Scarlet Empress consolidated her rule, it expanded into one of the most efficient and powerful espionage networks in Creation. Unlike the other ministries, you don't apply to join the Eye; if they decide they want your talents, they'll come to you, whether you're a Dragon-Blood, a patrician, a Sidereal, a beggar or a slave. The intrepid secret agents of the All-Seeing Eye can be found in every imaginable profession throughout the Blessed Isle, the Threshold and beyond, ferreting out threats to the Realm from tax evasion to high treason to incursions by the Anathema.

* CallingCard: Employed by the Eye as a weapon of terror: if you find their insignia -- a single open eye -- somewhere in your belongings, put your affairs in order, because you're already dead. [[spoiler:Actually, no, that's just what they want you to think; it really means you're being considered as a recruit. If you're dumb enough to tell anyone what you found, then you're [[CannotKeepASecret not the kind of person they're looking for]], and you'll be killed to keep the story going. Keep your mouth shut and don't do anything stupid for a week or so, though, and you'll be approached with an invitation.]]
* CloakAndDagger
* CosmopolitanCouncil: The Eye is probably the most egalitarian organization in the Realm. If you've got the skills and the dedication, you're in.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction
* SecretPolice

!'''The Imperial Legions'''

Creation's a scary place, and the Realm has always kept a standing army. For the Dragon-Blooded of the Scarlet Dynasty, who see themselves as something of a ProudWarriorRace, a history of honorable service in the legions is a major bonus to your social status. For Lost Eggs, military service is the only way to integrate yourself into the Realm's high society unless you want to take vows as an Immaculate monk. For commoners, it's one of the few legitimate and accepted ways to improve your social status.

At one time, the Imperial Legions were indisputably the most powerful military force in Creation. Like so much else, that's changed with the Scarlet Empress' disappearance. She wasn't gone long before the Deliberative seized the opportunity to drastically cut centralized funding for the military and assign individual legions to individual Great Houses instead. Once proud defenders of the Realm, they're increasingly finding themselves to be mere pawns in the political squabbles of FeudingFamilies, and there's a good change legion will be fighting legion in the Realm CivilWar while Creation falls to pieces around them.

Nearly any of the MilitaryAndWarfareTropes can apply here, but in particular:

* BadassArmy
* BootCampEpisode: Most Dragon-Blooded legionnaires attended the House of Bells, the most badass of [[MilitaryAcademy military academies]].
* GenderIsNoObject: Would ''you'' want to try and tell the Scarlet Empress women don't belong on the battlefield?
* MountedCombat: Averted, mostly; it takes special Charms for a Dragon-Blood to channel Essence on horseback without their anima banner harming the mount, so the Realm usually doesn't bother. If necessary, they hire mercenaries or use other local forces for their cavalry units.
* TheSquad: As the Dragon-Blooded excel at teamwork, the Realm's military doctrine is based around squad tactics. You're assigned to a five-man team as soon as you arrive at the House of Bells, and graded as a group.
* TheThirtySixStratagems: The Realm's cultural equivalents are recorded in ''The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier'', Creation's answer to ''TheArtOfWar''.

!'''The Imperial Navy'''

!'''The Wyld Hunt'''

!'''The Immaculate Order'''

In the aftermath of the Usurpation, it's not surprising that some folk religions sprang up that cast the Celestial Exalted as mad demons and looked up to the Dragon-Blooded as holy saviors. The Immaculate Faith got its start as one of these Shogunate belief systems. It held that every Dragon-Blood was a kind of living Buddha who had purified his or her soul over many lifetimes and achieved union with the Essence of Creation. All living things were walking the same road toward enlightenment, hopefully drawing closer to Terrestrial Exaltation with each rebirth. The pinnacle of spiritual achievement was represented by the Immaculate Dragons -- five legendary [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Dragon-Blooded heroes]] who had supposedly led the war against the Solar Anathema, each representing mastery of a different type of elemental Essence.

When the Sidereal Bronze Faction began working with the Empress to design the society of the Realm, they realized this was just what they were looking for. They carefully redesigned the Immaculate Faith into a PathOfInspiration designed to enforce social control. The Bronze Faction's version of the faith, known as the Immaculate Philosophy, emphasizes respect for hierarchy above all else. The highest duty of all mortals is absolute obedience to the Dragon-Blooded, their [[MasterRace divinely appointed rulers]]. Beyond that, know your place, work to benefit the community, and respect your superiors –- the way to improve your lot in life is to work toward a better reincarnation. Don't pray to any gods; the Immaculates will tell you when each one has their allotted feast day, and worrying about them beyond that will just distract you from spiritual advancement. Above all else, resist the Anathema in any way you can -- they aren't true Exalted at all, but ancient sorcerers who stole the power of the sun, moon and stars through foul demonic pacts, and their lies will only lead you to ruin.

These rules are enforced in the Realm by the monks of the Immaculate Order. Aside from meditation, studying theology and all your other usual monkly duties, [[AllMonksKnowKungFu all of them train in martial arts]] -- and the Dragon-Blooded among them are initiated into Celestial martial arts, allowing them to face down demons, rogue gods, and even the Anathema as formidable opponents. These heroic figures wander the countryside teaching the young, fighting sin, heresy, and injustice, and protecting the faithful from all manner of supernatural threats.

And, of course, the whole thing is still masterminded by the Bronze Faction, who have the entire Order quite firmly under their thumbs. Don't get too cynical -- about 90% of the Immaculate Order's teachings really are objectively true, making it probably one of the most accurate religions in Creation when it comes to its picture of how the world works. (The prohibition on unauthorized prayer, for instance, really is quite sensible as a way to prevent [[JerkassGods bribery and corruption]] in the CelestialBureaucracy.) The problem is that the other 10% includes stuff like “Kill all Solars on sight” and “Your Dragon-Blooded lord and master has a sacred duty to treat you like crap, so you'd better take it and like it.”

* AllMonksKnowKungFu
* ChurchMilitant
* TheManBehindTheMan: The Sidereal Bronze Faction. There's a reason "Mouth of Peace" sounds so much like "mouthpiece."
* PathOfInspiration: The Immaculate Philosophy counts as one of these from one perspective -- it's definitely designed as a tool for social control, and its Dragon-Blooded leaders are sincere believers. Depending on how you look at it, it could also be seen as a few other related but distinct tropes:
** ScamReligion: While the Order's ''ostensible'' leaders are largely sincere, the Bronze Faction Sidereals who actually run the whole thing take a considerably more cynical point of view.
** CorruptChurch: Immaculate doctrine is based on pre-Empress beliefs, most of which were actually pretty much true, before it was reworked to suit the Bronze Faction's purposes.
* ReligiousBruiser: Every single Immaculate.
* WarriorMonk

!'''The Mouth of Peace'''

!'''House Mnemon'''

The largest and most powerful of the Great Houses, House Mnemon has strong ties to the Heptagram and the Immaculate Order, producing many -- perhaps even most -- of the Realm's sorcerers and monks. More than any other Great House, House Mnemon cannot be understood without understanding its leader, [[EvilMatriarch Mnemon]] herself. She takes, shall we say, an unusually hands-on approach to running the family, and has forged her descendants into a finely-honed tool for advancing her own ambitions.

* EvilMatriarch: Mnemon herself.
* MagicalSociety: The House produces so many sorcerers, it might as well be.

!'''Mnemon'''

The iconic Earth Aspect. The eldest living daughter of the Scarlet Empress, which carries its own associations by the boatload. Mnemon is considered by many to be the prime candidate for the throne now that the Empress has vanished -- and if it wasn't for the fact that she's also considered by many to be an utterly ruthless, power-hungry [[JerkAss jerkass]], she might have claimed it by now. She's a skilled architect, an accomplished sorceress, head of her own noble house...and one of the few Dragon-Blooded who are fully aware of the existence of Sidereals.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: She's the daughter of the ''Scarlet Empress''. It comes with the territory. The day she Exalted, her older brother tried to have her killed via a poisoned suit of armor.
* EvilMatriarch: How she runs House Mnemon.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Up till her Exaltation, she was a quiet girl with no outstanding talents who lived in terror of her mother and her big brothers Sesus and Ragara.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: She's got quite the temper on her, and the other Houses know it -- if they could find the right compromise candidate, they'd throw all their support behind them rather than let Mnemon take the throne. Mnemon's fully aware of this, too -- the only reason she hasn't taken the throne is because she knows she can't keep it at this time.
* [[spoiler: [[LaResistance La Resistance]]: Ends up running an underground movement in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'' once she realizes just who her mother's new husband is.]]
* LadyOfBlackMagic: Probably the most powerful sorcerer in the Dynasty now that her mother's gone.
* MagicMisfire: When she was studying at the Versino, she chose the wrong moment to try to peek in on the summoning of a Second Circle Demon. As a result, the school got utterly destroyed, she only survived by casting Invulnerable Skin of Bronze, and the site had to be salted and warded afterwards, with the Heptagram being set up in its place.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Mnemon is 399 years old, which is something of an accomplishment in and of itself for a Dragon-Blood, but doesn't look like she's aged at all since the day the Versino went kaboom.
* SummonMagic: Not only is Mnemon a highly skilled summoner in her own right, she also possesses an artifact that makes her one of the few Terrestrial sorcerers able to summon Second Circle Demons.
* [[WellDoneSonGuy "Well Done, Daughter" Girl]]: One of the relatively rare cases where the issues revolve around living up to her ''mother'''s legacy.

!'''House Cathak'''

Aspected toward Fire, Cathak is another large and powerful House, though not quite as big as House Mnemon. A family with a strong military tradition, they're probably the strongest of the Great Houses in terms of their legions. House Cathak is respected throughout the Realm for its devotion to tradition and discipline.

* AttackAttackAttack: Cathak soldiers are known for their valor...and not for their smarts, though nobody says it to their faces.
* BlackMagic: The Dynasty in general tends to view sorcerers as creepy nerds, but House Cathak ''really'' does not like sorcery. Even the few sorcerers who are in House Cathak don't get invited to Cathak parties.
* ComesGreatResponsibility: They're very big on instilling a sense of duty and discipline in every Cathak scion. You would be too, if you were raising children who might suddenly develop the ability to burst into flame at any point in their adolescence.
* ProudWarriorRace: Even more than the rest of the Dynasty.

!'''Cathak Cainan'''

A powerful elder Fire Aspect and the current head of House Cathak, Cainan exemplifies all that the Scarlet Dynasty says a Dragon-Blood ought to be: a mighty warrior, a grandfather many times over, a devout practitioner of the Immaculate Faith, passionately devoted to serving the Realm and upholding its traditions above all else. He's perhaps the most respected political leader in the entire Realm, and in some ways it's a wonder that he hasn't been urged into taking the Scarlet Throne.

Except that, well, the problem with elder statesmen is the "elder" part. Cainan's health isn't declining yet, but with a few centuries already under his belt, it's clear to everyone that he hasn't got long left -- and the Sidereals of the Bronze Faction have foreseen that the thread of his life will run out in perhaps a decade or so. Putting Cainan on the throne wouldn't actually resolve the succession crisis so much as delay it for a few years, so those looking to avert civil war sigh regretfully over WhatCouldHaveBeen and turn their attention to other candidates. On the other hand, though, Cainan's endorsement could mean a great deal to some of those others...

* BadassGrandpa
* FieryRedhead: ''Very'' literally.
* MrFanservice: Well, the way Melissa Uran drew him, anyway. Cainan's sexiness became something of a meme on the Freedom Stone forums in particular.
* WarriorMonk: Trained at the Cloister of Wisdom, but went on to a career in the Legions rather than taking vows as an actual monk.

!'''Cathak Drogath'''

Drogath managed to be such a nasty little [[RoyalBrat snob]] and [[TheBully bully]] from a young age that his own family was more resigned than proud to hear he'd Exalted as a Fire Aspect. His attitude failed to improve thereafter, and once he'd graduated from [[MilitaryAcademy the House of Bells]] at the bottom of his class, he was shipped off to “oversee House Cathak's assets” in Chiaroscuro, [[ReassignedToAntarctica a transparent excuse to get him as far out of the way as possible]]. He's still there, scheming for a way back into his family's good graces and generally being the same evil little git he always was.

...Unless, that is, you take the chapter comics in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'' as canon, in which case he [[HeroicSacrifice finally]] manages to [[TheAtoner redeem himself]] in [[DyingMomentOfAwesome about the most awesome way imaginable]].

* BloodKnight: He really does have the temperament to make a fine soldier. It's too bad delight in hurting people is his only real qualification for the job.
* LackOfEmpathy: Exalted while beating a patrician teacher for trying to explain to him that it's not always hilarious when unpleasant things happen to other people.
* ReassignedToAntarctica
* RedheadedBully
* RoyalBrat: "Do you know who my parents are?!" was a favorite phrase of Drogath's in his schoolyard bully days.
* SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp
* TheUnfavorite: His father's graduation present to him was a fire pearl. This is the equivalent of giving a cigarette lighter...''to someone who can already start fires at will anyway''.

!'''House Cynis'''

The other Houses just don't know what to do with House Cynis. In a society that values the ideal of strict military discipline above nearly all else, the Wood-Aspected House Cynis has cultivated a reputation as a bunch of utterly debauched hedonists.

This reputation is ''somewhat'' exaggerated. Sure, the Cynis social scene revolves around regular orgies. And, sure, they control the Realm's prostitution...and drug trade...and slave trade. That doesn't mean they're the lazy, useless socialites the other Houses would sometimes like to think, though. House Cynis is a wealthy and powerful family...and one with access to a ''lot'' of information about the secret vices of nearly every prominent figure in the Dynasty.

* ButYouScrewOneGoat
* CasualKink
* EverybodyHasLotsOfSex
* TheHedonist
* HookersAndBlow
* MrViceGuy
* OpiumDen
* ReallyGetsAround
* SexualExtortion

!'''Cynis Denovah Avaku'''

Second Edition's iconic Fire Aspect. Born to a disgraced and impoverished household within the most decadent of the Realm's Great Houses, Avaku has lived his whole life with one goal: to make the Denovah family respectable once more. So far, he's doing better than anyone could have expected -- he Exalted as a Fire Aspect despite his unimpressive breeding, managed to earn admission to the Realm's most prestigious MilitaryAcademy, and is currently serving an exemplary career in [[BadassArmy the Legions]].

Aside from his military accomplishments, Avaku is notable for being about as good a guy as you could possibly expect from a loyal son of a corrupt and decadent slave society; when the game's developers need a generic heroic Dynast to appear in a chapter comic or illustration, he's often the one they pick.

* DefectorFromDecadence: His appearance in the second edition core book implies that he could pretty easily become one of these, with just a small push from the player characters...
* EyepatchOfPower
* HappilyMarried: His ArrangedMarriage to the [[MayflyDecemberRomance un-Exalted]] Mnemon Caras Minata is one of the most loving and healthy relationships we see in canon.
* HeroicSecondWind: “I'm a student of Hesiesh. Let me show you what that means.”
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: He disapproves of a lot of things the Realm does. And a lot of things the Legions do. And a lot of things House Cynis does. But he's an absolute patriot with respect to all three.

!'''House Sesus'''

Aspected toward Fire, House Sesus has a powerful military...and not a lot else going for it. They're traditionally close allies of House Mnemon -- something the House elders are coming to regret, as Mnemon treats them more and more like the Mnemon Legions rather than respected independent allies. Having realized what a dangerous ally Mnemon is, they'd rather see absolutely anyone else on the Scarlet Throne -- if they could just find another viable candidate...

* GangOfBullies: The Sesus Chenow household, known for being a pack of nasty [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]] and general [[JerkAss jerkasses]].

!'''Sesus Nagezzer, aka The Slug'''

First Edition's iconic Wood Aspect, an [[RetiredBadass ex-general]] and [[GuileHero consummate manipulator]]. He's very much a self-made man; born into a family of warriors, the naturally bookish and quiet Nagezzer was [[KidsAreCruel made the focus of his elder brothers' bullying]], his Exaltation coming after a prank nearly knocked him unconscious...underwater. Unfortunately for his standing with his [[AbusiveParents already domineering]] mother, he nearly killed his brother in a [[DisproportionateRetribution rage]], and was shipped off to the House of Bells. [[BullyingADragon His luck with bullies didn't improve]], which is how he was first introduced to the providing of legally-questionable products -- there's a lot of misery one can avert if you can score your classmates some drugs and hookers.

He quickly proved himself a [[TheStrategist master tactician]], but one day, he had the misfortune of trying to subdue a rather wily god who'd figured out that it didn't need to fight Nagezzer's men -- just evade and outlast them. After six days of trying to track the evasive spirit, his demoralized and exhausted men began to believe ''he'' was letting it get away, so to provide an example, he decided to draw out the spirit...[[SuicidalOverconfidence alone]]. [[CurbStompBattle He was found several days later with the general appearance of Swiss cheese, and with permanent loss of function in his right leg]].

Unable to teach himself the Martial Arts style needed to help restore the use of his leg, he was honorably discharged and inherited his family estate. [[SarcasticApproval In honor of his mother's parenting skills]], he proceeded to transform it into a regular DenOfIniquity, his [[BalloonBelly growing weight problem]] eventually earning him the moniker of "the Slug".

And this is why people underestimate him.

While he did go through a rather bad patch after his injury, Nagezzer was soon able to pick himself up and decided to pursue a [[TheChessmaster different way]] of serving the Realm; being a vice merchant, as it turns out, allows one to stick one's nose in other people's DirtyBusiness, and given how the Scarlet Dynasty is a DeadlyDecadentCourt ''by design'', this means the Slug is also one of the best powerbrokers around. This, combined with his [[PatrioticFervor nigh-unparalleled]] loyalty to the Realm, has quietly turned him into a lynchpin of its social cohesion.

And he needs all that power, because with the disappearance of the Empress, he's about the only thing holding it together.

* AdiposeRex: He isn't a king, but he is a noble and very important to the Realm. He is also very fat.
* CreepyTwins: He has a pair of them as his personal assistants/concubines/bodyguards.
* DetractorNickname: "The Slug" was originally a rather mean-spirited assessment of his weight and need of a crutch. [[InsultBackfire He has since embraced that name as his trademark]].
* FatBastard: This is pretty much how the Scarlet Dynasty views him. He's happy to live down to their expectations -- it provides an excellent cover.
* HandicappedBadass: Don't let the fact that he's obese and crippled fool you -- get within range of his cane and you should probably budget the medical cost for concussions in advance, as Manosque Cyan finds out in a comic.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: He wrestles with self-loathing, largely as a result of being loyal to a militaristic society that despises anyone who's incapable of military service.
* KavorkaMan: Despite being about as physically attractive as, well, a Slug, he seems to have won the hearts of his personal assistants. Somewhat justified in that they're two of the few people Nagezzer has let get close to him emotionally, and thus they can see that there's a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold good man]] underneath that flab.
* LargeAndInCharge
* MrViceGuy: [[BigEater Gluttony]] has always been something of a passion for him, and part of the reason he's so wide is that he lapsed into compulsive eating during his post-crippling depression. He's also the very ideal of a patriot, and despite what you may think about the Realm, he's still very selfless in his defense of it.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Everything he does -- even the vice trade -- is for the good of the Realm.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Over the years, he's cultivated an image as a peerless hedonist, all the while arranging backroom deals, hiring mercenaries, sabotaging idiots, and doing whatever else he feels necessary to protect the Realm.
* TheStoner: Subverted. He's a habitual druggie, but he's also a paragon of self-control; none of his vices have blunted his mind much.

!'''Sesus Rafara'''

First Edition's iconic Fire Aspect.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was probably the happiest little girl in the kingdom. She didn't see her parents much, but she didn't mind that, because she had two nursemaids who were the best caretakers any child could ask for. They told her stories and braided her hair and were never, ever mean to her, and she loved them very much.

This idyllic life came to an end one day when the girl's mother noticed how her daughter was being “coddled” and had the two nursemaids fed alive to sharks while the girl watched, screaming. Fortunately for the little girl, just before her mother could murder her too, she Exalted as an Aspect of Fire.

After perhaps the most traumatic Exaltation on record, Sesus Rafara wasn't sent to any of the normal secondary schools. Instead, she was drafted into a special program. Kept isolated from society, she was educated to view the culture of the Realm from an outsider's perspective. To teach her to avoid emotional vulnerability, she was repeatedly betrayed in both large and small ways by anyone she came to trust. The project was a smashing success, and today Rafara is one of the Realm's most accomplished spies, infiltrators and assassins.

She is still waiting for the chance to kill her mother.

* AbusiveParents: Um, ''wow''.
* BreakTheCutie: Pretty much the overriding theme of her whole life.
* CareerKillers
* ConsummateLiar
* ContractOnTheHitman: She believes it's only a matter of time.
* TheCynic: Can you blame her?
* HitmanWithAHeart: ''Mostly'' subverted. House Sesus took an innocent child and did their very best to turn her into a remorseless sociopath, and they almost entirely succeeded...but there's a few hints here and there that she hasn't been rendered ''quite'' so heartless as her handlers would like to believe.
* HumansAreBastards: That's what her whole life has taught her to think, anyway.
* InLoveWithTheMark: It's not clear whether “love” is the right word, but assigning her to spy on Tepet Ejava...may have been a mistake.
* JadeColoredGlasses
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: House Sesus is heading for a ''big'' one. It turns out some people don't appreciate being used as a tool their whole lives to further their corrupt family's petty political goals.
* {{Ninja}}
* {{Tykebomb}}

!'''Sesus Chenow Lahor'''

A real piece of work. First appeared in the venerable adventure book ''Time of Tumult'' as the distillation of the Realm's jackassery towards everyone in Creation who is not a Dynast. Revealed in ''Aspect Book: Fire'' to actually be [[ItGotWorse even worse than that]].

* DisproportionateRetribution: People who talk back to him don't tend to live very long.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Type 2; he's got a sense of humor, but it's the really nasty kind. And he doesn't realize the other Dynasts aren't laughing ''with'' him...
* NeverMyFault: The disproportionately high casualty rate in units commanded by Lahor are completely the fault of his terrifying enemies and have nothing at all to do with his LackOfEmpathy toward his own troops.
* [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Raping Your Social Equals Is A Special Kind of Evil]]: Was assigned to Wangler's Knob (the ass end of nowhere, as far as the Realm is concerned) because he raped a young woman...which wouldn't have been a big deal if she hadn't Exalted as a Dragon-Blood during the attack.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: As a result of the rape, although so far he's too thick to realize it and is still treating the whole thing like a vacation.
* WeHaveReserves: Always his preferred tactic as a military commander.

!'''House Tepet'''

Only a few years ago, the Air-Aspected House Tepet was a powerful family, known for producing many of the Realm's finest soldiers and sorcerers. Today, it's a pitiful and decaying shell of what it used to be.

In one of the Realm's greatest military disasters in recent memory, the bulk of the Tepet forces were [[CurbStompBattle slaughtered]] by the armies of the Bull of the North at the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Battle of Futile Blood]]. In a single stroke, the House lost its military strength and much of its population. Now crippled and impoverished, House Tepet is desperately trying to rebuild its power base through adoptions and marriage alliances, but they simply don't have the resources left to do much more than stave off the inevitable for a while. No one's saying it yet, but as the other Houses gather like hungry vultures, deep down every Tepet knows the truth: their House is doomed.

Doomed, that is, unless the last remaining Tepet general -- a promising young officer nicknamed "the Roseblack" -- has anything to say about it...

* ImpoverishedPatrician
* RichesToRags

!'''Tepet Ejava'''

Second Edition's iconic Wood Aspect. The woman who would become known as the Roseblack was literally born on the battlefield, to a family with a long history of distinguished military service. Exalting at a young age, she was already certain of what she wanted to do with her life: she applied to the House of Bells as soon as she could and enrolled in the Legions immediately upon graduating. Her rise through the ranks was swift and steady.

Then came the Battle of Futile Blood, where the bulk of House Tepet's forces were decimated. Now the beggared general of a ruined House, Ejava was assigned to lead the Vermillion Legion -- more commonly known as [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores "the Red-Piss Legion"]], the beggars and strays of the army.

But those who thought her career was over were ''very'' wrong. To everyone's shock, under Ejava's leadership the Red-Piss Legion was swiftly transformed into a disciplined and effective fighting force that won a series of stunning victories. Today, the Roseblack is one of the Realm's most beloved and popular war heroes, as well as the leader of a highly skilled army that bears her [[UndyingLoyalty astonishing loyalty]]...and that kind of thing makes a DeadlyDecadentCourt in the middle of a succession crisis very, very nervous. Several of House Tepet's enemies in the Deliberative have been quietly making plans to have her killed before she can march on the Blessed Isle and declare herself Empress. Ironically, there's a good chance those very efforts will end up goading her into doing exactly what they're afraid of.

* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The Red-Piss Legion is a textbook example.
* DetractorNickname: As cool as it sounds, the name "Roseblack" was invented to mock her -- when she first returned to school after Exalting, she hadn't yet learned to control her Wood Aspected Essence and ended up killing the entire rose garden.
* {{Expy}}: Of one GaiusJuliusCaesar.
* FatalAttractor: Three great loves in her life ([[BiTheWay two men and one woman]]), all dead after a fairly brief time with her.
* JackOfAllStats: When it comes to the skills of a military commander. Arada -- himself one of the Realm's greatest generals -- says he's a ''slightly'' better tactician than she is when it comes to his particular area of expertise...but she completely outstrips him in absolutely everything else.
* LadyOfWar: Oh, yes.
* MagneticHero: There are people Ejava's never even heard of who are currently putting their lives on the line to protect her from her enemies.
* [[FatherToHisMen Mother To Her Troops]]: Her main asset in the coming civil war is the UndyingLoyalty she inspires in the soldiers serving under her.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: After the crushing defeat of her forces, she was assigned command of the Vermillion, more colloquially known as "[[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores the Red-Piss Legion]]."
* ReassignmentBackfire: She's actually managed to turn the Red-Piss Legion into a crack fighting force that's intensely loyal...to her personally, not the Deliberative.
* ReluctantRuler: Ejava would sincerely like nothing better than to be serving a commander-in-chief who was truly worthy of her loyalty. Unfortunately, she's reluctantly coming to the conclusion that there's no better candidate for the job than her.
* UnfriendlyFire: The main reason she hasn't announced her candidacy for regent is that she's wholly aware this could happen if she does so while she's in the field.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Has a long-term flirtation going on with Ragara Nova, the prefect of Chanos.
* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: As any general has to be.

!'''Tepet Arada'''

The iconic Air Aspect, Arada overcame a troubled childhood that saw him packed off to reform school to become one of the Realm's greatest heroes. He once [[DavidVersusGoliath slew one of the Solar Anathema]] just to make a point, and his military accomplishments are nearly unparalleled. Since the height of his career, though, he's fallen almost as far as he once rose.

Sent against the armies of a powerful Solar warlord without clear intel on what he was getting into, Arada's forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Futile Blood. House Tepet was left broken and impoverished, and Arada retired in utter disgrace. Since then, he's withdrawn from Dynastic society and is ostensibly living as an Immaculate hermit, although he actually spends most of his time looking for comfort at the bottom of a sake bottle. Considering the mess his favorite granddaughter Ejava is likely to find herself in soon, though, it remains to be seen whether he'll be forced out of retirement...

* AchillesInHisTent: What he's been doing since the Battle of Futile Blood.
* BadassGrandpa: A literal grandpa many times over, and it certainly doesn't get any more [[BadAss badass]].
* CoolOldGuy
* GeniusBruiser: A casual summary of his life story could easily give you the impression that he's not much more than a soldier and a bit of a thug. Pay close attention to his sections in ''Aspect Book: Air'', though, and you'll realize he is a ''ferociously'' intelligent man.
* NiceToTheWaiter: He'll accept quite a lot of backtalk from mortals if he thinks they've got a point -- something that's very unusual for a Dynast.
* OldSoldier
* ProperlyParanoid: His belief that the Tepet Legions were set up by the other Great Houses, who feared House Tepet's military might, is largely based on his own bitterness and paranoia. It is also probably true.
* RetiredBadass

!'''Tepet Lisara'''

Something of a {{Foil}} for her cousin Ejava, the Fire-Aspected Lisara is generally regarded by House Tepet's elders as a disappointment. Both her parents are noted generals and she graduated with honors from the Realm's most exclusive military academy, so expectations for her career were very high. However, so far she's accomplished absolutely nothing of note, and currently holds the unenviable position of second-in-command of a minor garrison near Chiaroscuro.

Fortunately for Lisara, no one has yet realized just how big of a failure she actually is. In reality, she only managed to get as far as she has in life through a combination of nepotism, seduction, and blackmail. Constantly overshadowed by her more hardworking and talented cousin, it was Lisara who got the Roseblack removed from the field at a crucial moment out of sheer petty jealousy, and it was Lisara who suggested the ill-conceived strategy against the Bull of the North that led House Tepet to ruin.

* DoesNotLikeMen: For absolutely no apparent reason. Currently she spends most of her time amusing herself by assigning male officers under her command to menial chores or pointless suicide missions.
** Note that sexism against women is basically nonexistent in the Realm, which borders on an outright {{Matriarchy}}, so Lisara manages to be a weird DistaffCounterpart to the StrawMisogynist (a Straw Misandrist?) ''without'' actually qualifying as a StrawFeminist.
* NeverMyFault: Lisara is just as oblivious to her own incompetence as everyone around her is.
* PaperTiger: As an NPC, she makes a deliciously hateable antagonist who'll go down like a punk as soon as the player characters turn their attention to her.
* SmallNameBigEgo
* UnknownRival: She wants to bring down the Bull of the North...not to atone for her mistakes or avenge her fallen kin, but because she views him as her own personal nemesis, despite the fact that he's thousands of miles away and has almost certainly never heard of her.
* TheVamp: How she got everything she has in Dynastic society.

!'''Tepet Elana'''

Elana's easy to recognize when she appears in illustrations or chapter comics -- a short woman with close-cropped blond hair, carrying a [[{{BFS}} huge-ass sword]]. Rather spoiled by her mortal older brothers, young Elana began acting out in her grief and rage after they were killed in battle, and was eventually shipped off to reform school. There, she was unlucky enough for one of the combat instructors to take a special interest in her, beating her savagely. She devoted herself to training for revenge, and her first act after Exalting as an Air Aspect was to kill him in a duel. Afterward, she found that he had left behind a letter of recommendation for her, to be sent to the Realm's finest military schools in the event of his death at her hands.

Still dogged by her unsavory past, Elana was unable to find a better position than as a junior officer in the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Red-Piss Legion]], where she served for nearly a century. Her moment of glory came at the Battle of Five Fangs, when the legion was ordered to retreat, leaving the wounded to be devoured by the cannibal horde they'd been fighting. Elana defied orders to stay behind with her troops, [[YouShallNotPass defending the wounded]] for over 48 hours until reinforcements arrived. The accomplishment was celebrated in story and song as the Two Day Fast ([[DontExplainTheJoke because the cannibals didn't get their meal, get it?]]), and Elana retired a hero. The public acclaim was rather startling to Elana, who'd expected to be court martialed for disobedience...but not as startling as being summoned to an audience with the Scarlet Empress.

It, uh, [[BatheHerAndBringHerToMe didn't go the way she expected]]. After spending about a month in the Imperial Palace as the Empress' lover, Elana left to continue serving the Empress -- now as one of the Realm's wandering magistrates.

* ArrangedMarriage: House Tepet is getting ''really'' impatient with her efforts to put it off. So is House Peleps, the family of her betrothed.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: With her mortal assistant, Beren.
* [[SmallGirlBigGun Small Woman, Big Sword]]: In many illustrations, it bears a distinct resemblance to [[FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife's buster sword]].
* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Not Elana herself -- she got just a glimpse of the human being behind the Scarlet Empress' imperial facade, and became quite fond of her.
* YouShallNotPass: The Two Day Fast.

!'''House Ledaal'''

All the Empress' children were highly intelligent, but Ledaal was something special. The Empress made sure to supply the young prodigy with the kind of education it took to challenge her growing intellect -- including the very best in Sidereal tutors.

Today, the Air-Aspected House Ledaal follows the traditions set by its founder as a House of accomplished intellectuals and sorcerers...and their Sidereal consultants. This gives the Ledaal a rather different perspective on some issues than the other Great Houses. For instance, having made a close study of historical records of Anathema sightings, Ledaal scholars have realized that the deathknights are a new phenomenon -- and one that has the potential to be far more dangerous than the Solar and Lunar Anathema ever were.

Unfortunately, not only have they had no luck convincing the other Great Houses of this, the other Houses are so caught up in their DeadlyDecadentCourt intrigues that refuse to believe Ledaal has different priorities. Every time House Ledaal suggests something like refocusing the Wyld Hunt's priorities on the Abyssals, the rest of the Dynasty assumes it's part of some cunning and subtle political scheme. It's gotten to the point that Ledaal has put forward one of its own as a candidate for the Scarlet Throne -- albeit a candidate with no real chance of succeeding -- just so the other Houses will stop assuming Ledaal's ''lack'' of a candidate is some sort of ruse.

* IgnoredExpert
* MagicalSociety: The Ledaal Catala household.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: If you want to run a game about getting the Scarlet Dynasty to unite and focus on the ''real'' problems facing Creation, House Ledaal is among your likeliest allies.

!'''Ledaal Kes'''

An Air Aspect and House Ledaal's dark horse candidate for the throne, Kes is a genius, an accomplished sorcerer, a successful member of the Thousand Scales ''and'' an agent of the All-Seeing Eye -- but he's best known for his mastery of the game of [[VariantChess Gateway]]. He is also dogged by rumors about his association with the unsavory Sesus Nagezzer and the, ahem, ''proclivities'' of Kes and his wife Ragara Szaya, but this is rather minor compared to, say, what House Cynis considers a better-than-average party. Really, the critical flaw in his possible candidacy is that, while he's well-liked and politically viable, Kes himself [[GotVolunteered is not among his supporters]].

Still, if Mnemon and Ejava come down with a case of death, he may not have much of a choice...

* {{Bishounen}}
* ChessWithDeath: A chapter comic in ''Compass of Celestial Directions: Malfeas'' has him challenging Sigereth (a Second Circle demon whose entire being revolves around the playing of games of skill) to a Gateway match in order to rescue Szaya, with Kes' own soul at stake if he loses.
** DavidVersusGoliath: Statistically, he has no chance of beating Sigereth. Nevertheless, fans and writers alike agree that somehow he's going to find a way to pull it off.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: He and Szaya met back when they were [[ChildProdigy the two youngest players on the competitive Gateway circuit]].
* ClaspYourHandsIfYouDeceive: Does this pose in a comic when he counters an attempt by Mnemon to psych him out using an angyalka demon (their MagicMusic causes people to be reminded of the events of their lives, thus setting those with a DarkAndTroubledPast off balance -- [[IdiotBall except he doesn't have one, while Mnemon herself has an inferiority complex and mommy issues]]).
* DeadpanSnarker: He was actually the first to refer to the Scarlet Empress as "Her Redness." It has since become a FanNickname.
* HappilyMarried: Kes enjoys a very happy relationship with Ragara Szaya, despite the two being [[EveryoneIsBi among the very few people in Creation]] to canonically score a 6 on the Kinsey scale.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Averted. Sure, Kes and Szaya have managed to produce the requisite number of heirs, but the only way they're able to ''enjoy'' sex with each other is through shapeshifting magics or the summoning of [[HornyDevils neomah]].
* IncompatibleOrientation: With Szaya, on both sides. They worked it out, though.
* NonActionGuy: Part of the reason he's not a serious candidate for the throne -- the Realm [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority wouldn't follow a leader who can't fight well]].
* PinkBoyBlueGirl: Kes is a bureaucrat and about as uninterested in combat as a Dynast can get away with; Szaya is a career military officer.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Szaya. Okay, the "platonic" part is rather complicated, since they're married and they do enjoy having orgies together and occasionally using magic to switch to each other's preferred gender. But in their natural forms, they're not the least bit attracted to each other, they're just [=BFFs=].
* [[SmartPeoplePlayChess Smart People Play Gateway]]: Oh so much. Played a game against the Scarlet Empress herself at the age of eight, and often uses the game to tweak his opponents in ways that go beyond the board.
* StraightGay: Well, by real-world modern-day Western standards, although he's almost femmy for a Dynast.

!'''House Peleps'''

The other Great Houses see the Water-Aspected House Peleps as a pack of scheming, treacherous liars and cheats who'd sell their own grandmothers for the slightest political advantage. This is pretty much true -- even within the House itself, scions of House Peleps are raised in an environment of [[DeadlyDecadentCourt intense political intrigue]] and [[ToughLove no-holds-barred competition]]. In their defense, though, their motivations are not entirely selfish; House Peleps is unshakably loyal to the Realm and its interests.

Traditionally, the basis of Peleps' power in the Realm has been their control of the Imperial Navy. Unfortunately, shortly before her disappearance, the Empress decided to remind them who was boss by reassigning the Merchant Fleet to House V'neef -- something that still rankles in the hearts of most Peleps.

* BigScrewedUpFamily / DeadlyDecadentCourt: These are true of all the Great Houses, but Peleps raises them to an art form.
* BilingualBonus: The Peleps Kaizoku line is a household of privateers. ''Kaizoku'' is Japanese for "pirate."
* BlackMagic: Dislikes sorcery almost as much as House Cathak.
* TheCaptain
* NavalGazing
* ReliableTraitor

!'''Peleps Deled'''

Even as a young boy, Peleps Deled knew he was different from other children. They didn't understand his deep yearning for spiritual fulfillment. They didn't understand the all-consuming importance of the Immaculate Faith's holy mission to bring righteousness to the world. Most of all, they didn't understand that all his opinions were absolute objective truth and anyone who disagreed with him was obviously wrong.

He thought he might find some peers at the Cloister of Wisdom, but tragically, his fellow students there proved to be just as misguided. Most frustrating of all, even after he patiently explained their errors, they'd simply cling to their false beliefs. When debate failed, there was only one thing to do: challenge whoever disagreed with him to a martial arts duel and beat the heresy out of them. If they failed to survive the process, well, they must not have been enlightened enough.

Possessed of truly impenetrable self-righteousness, Deled's stymied all his teachers' attempts to encourage him to develop some scrap of humility. Unfortunately, his nearly unmatched prowess in martial arts is too valuable to waste, so instead of giving up and having him assassinated, his superiors have traditionally settled for making him someone else's problem. His uncle sent him to the Immaculate Order so he'd stop beating up family members, and the Immaculates sent him to the Wyld Hunt so he'd stop beating up fellow monks. After his boss retired for political reasons, this made him the master of his own branch of the Hunt. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Oops]].

The game's iconic Water Aspect and a notorious total nutjob, Deled has amassed a remarkable amount of disgust on both sides of the fourth wall: fans love to hate him, and the other Dynasts are fervently hoping he'll get himself killed chasing Anathema.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Little Deled's uncle, thinking to teach the boy some humility, showed him a kata that could only be performed correctly by an Exalt. Deled ''Exalted while trying to practice it''.
* BadBoss: Those under his command frequently suffer "accidents" if he finds their piety lacking. Considering his standards, it's amazing he has any subordinates left.
* BladeOnAStick: Wields a jade dire lance.
* CircularReasoning: Deled knows his beliefs are correct, because [[RightMakesMight martial prowess comes from spiritual enlightenment]], and he's never lost a duel. How does he know that martial prowess comes from spiritual enlightenment? Because he's extremely spiritually enlightened and he's never lost a duel.
* TheFundamentalist: The only thing he's more serious about than martial arts is his faith in the Immaculate Order. In the incident inspiring his assignment to the Hunt, he killed a fellow initiate for disagreeing with ''a single preposition'' in a statement about an abstract theological issue.
* KnightTemplar: When it comes to the Anathema...or heretics...or people who fail to acknowledge the obvious rightness of his position once he's explained something.
* RightMakesMight: According to Deled, this is the source of his talent for martial arts.

!'''House Iselsi'''

This Water-Aspected House was a favorite of the Scarlet Empress...up until a few centuries ago, when a group of [[WhatAnIdiot unusually reckless and stupid]] young Iselsi staged an ill-conceived attempt to assassinate her. While the perpetrators were all caught and tortured to death, the Empress had no choice but to [[DisproportionateRetribution make an example of the entire House]] for not putting a stop to the plot in the first place. Nearly all the House's possessions were seized, the House elders were arrested on trumped-up charges, and the Empress continued making sure to have a few Iselsi exiled or executed every few years thereafter. Though a tattered and disgraced remnant still exists, it's clear to everyone that the Empress intended to dismantle House Iselsi as slowly and painfully as possible.

Or at least, that's what she wanted everyone to think. Fond as she was of the Iselsi, the Empress saw their punishment as an opportunity. Many of the Iselsi who were reported killed or exiled were actually placed in high-ranking positions within the magistracy, the All-Seeing Eye and the Immaculate Order under assumed names. This gave the Empress a powerful network of spies and secret police whose loyalty she could be certain of, as the family had no official position to speak of and were solely dependent on her covert backing. Eventually, the plan was to stage some dramatic act of heroism on the part of the remaining known Iselsi that would allow her to restore the House to its former glory.

Unfortunately for House Iselsi, the Empress' disappearance has put a bit of a kink in that plan...

* DeepCoverAgent
* ImpoverishedPatrician

!'''House Ragara'''

Once, it was a popular joke to call House Ragara "the Imperial Bank." Today, it's long since ceased to be a joke. A long series of shrewd investments and strategic marriage alliances has made the Earth-Aspected House Ragara by far the wealthiest of the Realm's Great Houses. They're entirely willing to share their good fortune with others...at [[LoanShark reasonable rates of interest]], of course. But don't worry -- if you can't pay them back in jade, favors or valuable information will do just as well.

* EveryManHasHisPrice
* EvilDebtCollector
* LoanShark
* MorallyBankruptBanker
* WorkOffTheDebt

!'''Ragara Myrrun'''

Mastery of supernatural martial arts generally takes a degree of spiritual focus that other Charms don't usually require. That goes double for Dragon-Blooded learning Celestial Martial Arts, which don't come naturally to them; it takes special initiation Charms as well as intense meditation and plain hard work for a Terrestrial Exalt to achieve the necessary purification of soul and body. As for Sidereal Martial Arts, they've always remained entirely out of reach.

Until now. Bronze Faction Sidereal Anys Syn, the inventor of the Five Dragon styles and Creation's premier martial artist, thinks she may have finally found a suitable candidate in Ragara Myrrun. An elder Earth Aspect and one of only a few living Immaculate grandmasters, Myrrun's mastery of Essence and expertise in the martial arts is second to none. He currently spends almost all his time in the Palace Sublime, writing martial arts treatises that are used throughout the Realm...and secretly training with Anys Syn in his spare time. He's already mastered numerous Celestial styles, and his sifu feels that with the proper rituals of purification and preparation, he'll be ready for initiation into the final level of martial arts mastery soon. If she's right, and the process turns out to be repeatable, this could be the secret weapon the Bronze Faction has been waiting for -- a way to produce large numbers of warriors who could be near-equals to the Solar Exalted in combat, able to push back the Fair Folk hordes and maintain Creation's infrastructure without turning to the Solars or Lunars for help.

Of course, it could also just end up [[SuperPowerMeltdown blowing up a large portion of the Blessed Isle]]. But hey, [[ForScience science!]]

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique
* DeadlyUpgrade: Myrrun's fate is left open as a plot hook for Storytellers, but WordOfGod says the default result is a ''spectacular'' case of ExplosiveOverclocking.
* GoneHorriblyWrong / GoneHorriblyRight: ''So'' many ways this could go.
* HeroicRROD
* JustThinkOfThePotential
* SuperMode: On the off-chance that it works, a whole new realm of badass has opened up for Dragon-Blooded games!
* SuperPowerMeltdown

!'''House V'neef'''

By far the youngest and smallest of the Great Houses, House V'neef is off to an excellent start. A House of very strong breeding, nearly all V'neef's scions so far have Exalted as Wood Aspects, and wise investments in vineyards and firedust have given the family a strong financial base. Prior to her disappearance, the Empress showed the House a great deal of favor as well, even granting them control of the Realm's Merchant Fleet. This favoritism did not endear House V'neef to the rest of the Scarlet Dynasty, but thanks to her extraordinary charisma and a hefty dose of cunning, V'neef has been able to keep the other Great Houses from ganging up on her family in the Empress' absence...at least, so far.

* BlueBlood: The bluest in the Dynasty.
* TheGunslinger: V'neef has quietly made sure all her children are trained in the use of firewands.
* ParentalFavoritism: The other Houses view House V'neef collectively as the Empress' pets.
* WineIsClassy: Made much of their money in vineyards, and the House mon is a stylized bunch of [[GrapesOfLuxury grapes]].

!'''V'neef'''

The youngest living child of the Scarlet Empress, V'neef was conceived as something of an experiment in the genetics of Terrestrial Exaltation. Her father had the purest Dragon-Blooded heritage of any of the Empress' consorts, and as expected, V'neef Exalted at a young age and grew into a powerful Wood Aspect. The Empress granted her the right to found her own Great House at an unprecedentedly young age, and though the House remains small, it boasts a very high rate of Exaltation as well as a strong financial base.

The Empress seemed quite pleased with her youngest daughter, and there's speculation that had she designated a successor, V'neef might very well have been it. V'neef, however, believes that as nice as it might be to take the Scarlet Throne herself or through one of her children, she just doesn't have the necessary power base yet, and she's willing to settle for a candidate with whom she can build a strong alliance. A quiet, pleasant woman, V'neef's ambition is quite a bit subtler than that of most of her siblings...but ultimately no less powerful.

* BlueBlood: Not only a child of the Empress, but the one with the purest Dragon-Blooded pedigree of them all.
* CainAndAbel: Mnemon respects and even kind of likes her sister, but she will not hesitate to kill her rather than let her take the throne.
* TheCharmer: In ''The Manual of Exalted Power: Dragon-Blooded'', there's an illustration of Mnemon, Tepet Ejava, Cathak Cainan, Cynis Denovah Avaku, and Ledaal Kes at one of V'neef's parties, all laughing and having a good time together as they listen to V'neef tell a story. Now scroll up and read the bios for those people, and you'll see that V'neef's social abilities have got to be ''terrifying''.
* ParentalFavoritism: The Empress' support for House V'neef might have just been her standard policy of playing the Great Houses against one another, but Mnemon, at least, believes that the Empress genuinely liked V'neef best.
* SilkHidingSteel: V'neef doesn't overtly rule her House with an iron fist the way some others (*cough* Mnemon) do. Because of this, many people make the mistake of thinking she's not a politically powerful figure. They are very, very wrong, and she likes it that way.

!'''V'neef Bijar'''

Ask anyone in the Realm about the major dark horse candidates for the Scarlet Throne, and they might bring up Ledaal Kes, or Sesus Nagezzer, or V'neef herself. But V'neef Bijar just might have a better chance than any of them...and nobody knows it but her.

Sure, she's got no political experience and no base of supporters. But did the Scarlet Empress have those things when ''she'' took the throne? No – what she had was the Sword of Creation, which made all those other factors irrelevant. And that's what Bijar intends to have.

For the last three years, the Fire-Aspected Bijar has been using her position as House V'neef's head security expert to research the defenses around the Realm Defense Grid, ostensibly in order to try to reverse-engineer them. What no one knows is that she's very quietly been working on breaking them, and has already made her way past the outer layer of defenses. If she makes it all the way inside, the struggle for the Scarlet Throne is likely to come to a very abrupt end -- one that absolutely no one is expecting.

* CuttingTheKnot: Bijar's realized that if someone can take control of the Realm Defense Grid, none of the military maneuvering and political scheming the other candidates are spending all their effort on is going to matter one bit.
* NoSocialSkills: Well, not quite ''none'', but she's notably lacking in tact and social graces for a Dynast, and especially for a child of V'neef. Her default mode of social interaction comes across as intensely abrasive and condescending, something she's entirely unaware of.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Not really -- she just has unrealistically high expectations of everyone around her.
* TheUnfavorite: Bijar is the least favorite child of V'neef, who finds her untrustworthy and rather obsessive (both of which are absolutely true).

!'''House Nellens'''

Nellens was one of the Empress' mortal consorts, and one she must have cared for a great deal, for after his death she took the unprecedented step of granting his children the status of a Great House. The only Great House founded by the un-Exalted, House Nellens has still not managed to achieve anything like the Exaltation rates enjoyed by the other families of the Scarlet Dynasty, and is generally thought of as the mortal House. This makes them a bit of a joke to the Dragon-Bloods of the other Houses, who generally treat even the few Nellens who do Exalt with mild contempt. On the other hand, though, seeing a mortal family holding the same status as the major Dragon-Blooded lines does a great deal to endear House Nellens to patricians and un-Exalted Dynasts, an advantage the other Great Houses are rather foolish to ignore.

* BadassNormal: Collectively, for holding their own in a political environment dominated by -- and designed to favor -- the Terrestrial Exalted.

!'''Lookshy'''

!'''The Seventh Legion'''

!'''Gens Karal'''

!'''Gens Teresu'''

!'''Gens Maheka'''

!'''Gens Amilar'''

!'''Gens Yushoto'''

!'''Anjei Marama'''

!'''Saibok Gauto'''

The oldest Terrestrial ever recorded, Gauto was born some point in the Time of Glory and fought in the Primordial War...and he's managed to outlive Solars simply by living a simple life in harmony with the elements, enduring at least into the Era of Dreams (roughly thirty-five centuries after the end of the Primordial War). His longevity still produces a demand for tissue samples from the Solar Deliberative, however, and the years have taken a major toll on his mind and physique. As a result of his infirmities, the Deliberative has a Dragon King nurse looking after him.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Abyssal Exalted]]
'''The Abyssal Exalted''', servants of the Deathlords and [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]] and the champions of death. The Abyssal Exalts gain their power from the Neverborn's share of the captured Solar Exaltations, which they inverted and captured inside [[ArtifactOfDoom Monstrances]]. Each Abyssal is chosen from someone close to death, usually literally, and suffers from a [[CameBackWrong curse]] that affects them should they act like the living. This encourages them to become {{Complete Monster}}s, but as often as not, most Abyssals end up only obeying the Deathlords because they don't feel like they have a choice.

!'''Tropes associated with Abyssals'''

* CursedWithAwesome: Resonance tends to do bad things when it goes off... but sometimes the Exalt wants those bad things to happen, and deliberately cultivates Resonance to weaponize it. (WordOfGod says that this part is [[{{Retcon}} going away]].)
** BlessedWithSuck: At all other times.
* EvilMakesYouUgly: As Abyssals rise in Essence, they have one of two options - either start investing points into Appearance and become the death that men crave, or let their Appearance naturally rot away and become the death that men fear.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Inverted; most Abyssals become Exalted as they die, thus corrupting them rather than redeeming them. That said, it can be played straight - Abyssals can redeem their Exaltations back to Solar nature, but may well die in the attempt.
* TraumaCongaLine: Dying is often the ''least'' bad thing that happens to an Abyssal in his Exalted existence.

!'''The Maiden of the Mirthless Smile'''

The iconic Dusk caste. Some Abyssals only took up the offer of the Black Exaltation because it was that or death, or because they didn't understand what it meant. The Maiden is not one of those. She was always off as a child (to put it freaking mildly), and she was very good at keeping her dirty deeds hidden from her parents. Like torturing and dissecting animals. And her governess. And her ''siblings''. Until finally, she ended up killing them and burning her house to the ground. Is it any wonder she ended up in the employ of the Mask of Winters?

* {{BFS}}: Her soulsteel daiklave, Ironic Jest.
* CreepyChild: You read the above, right?
* OmnicidalManiac: All Abyssals are bent towards it, but she excels at it. Her Motivation is "Spit on the ashes of Creation."
* ParentalObliviousness: The Maiden's parents never suspected her: not when her older brother disappeared, not when her nanny disappeared, and not when she started going after other 'prey'. They didn't truly get it until they got stabbed by their own daughter, and even ''then'' they were confused. She just laughed in their faces.
* SkunkStripe: Inverted: she has black streaks in white hair.
* TheSociopath: Complete with torturing of small animals!
* TokenEvilTeammate: Yes, you read that correctly. All the other members of the iconic circle are {{Punch Clock Villain}}s or (at least in Falling Tears Poet's case) [[MercyKill believe destroying Creation is a kindness]]. Not Maiden, though-she just wants to inflict pain before killing whomever.
* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl

!'''The Lady of Darkness in Bloodstained Robes'''

The iconic Midnight caste. In life, she was a street whore and sometime concubine, who fell prey to the numerous sexual diseases she acquired from her patrons. Then the Mask of Winters made her an offer, and she joined up with the main Abyssal circle.

* TheLoad: As far as her circle's concerned, she's not pulling her weight. It ''really'' doesn't help she's seduced most of them. Repeatedly.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Her trademark attack, screaming people dead.
* MissFanService / {{Stripperiffic}}
* PunchClockVillain: She would have jumped ship by now, except Mask of Winters has terrified her into service.
* ReallyGetsAround
* TheResenter: Has a grudge against the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile for being more attractive than her.
* TakeThat: According to Neall Raemon Price, her character writeup in Scroll of Exalts is partially based on his ex-girlfriend, but the similarities were unintentional.
* TheVamp

!'''The Seven-Degreed Physician of Black Maladies'''

A scion of House Ragara, the Physician's life took a downturn when he failed to show a properly strong draconic heritage. Eventually, he moved to the Threshold and got involved with unsavory recreational medical practices involving unwilling volunteers; this may or may not have been the reason that someone stabbed him in the face, thus triggering the chance for the Last Breath. He serves as the iconic Daybreak.

* DeadlyDoctor
* MadScientist: Makes undead human centipedes rather casually.
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Looks like an evil version of Ragara Bhagwei.

!'''The Disciple of the Seven Forbidden Wisdoms'''

!'''Falling Tears Poet'''

!'''Typhon, the Wink of the Storm's Eye'''

!'''The Shoat of the Mire'''

First, go check out the Dowager's entry (Ghosts folder, Deathlords category). Done? Okay. The Shoat is whatever poor, terrified girl (and it's always a girl she chooses) is left over from the Dowager's latest round of perpetual child abuse. Said girl is always Exalted as a Dusk, which means the end result is a young girl with the potential to slaughter armies. The Dowager's used up several, but apparently likes the title enough to re-use it.

* BreakTheCutie: The end result of this. Hell, it's implied in a comic that the current Shoat was ''forced to kill her own mother''.
* CreepyChild
* EnfantTerrible
* LegacyCharacter: Every Shoat holds the same title and Exaltation.
* LittleMissBadass
* TykeBomb
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Already was the case for sympathetic Abyssals, but it's even harder to quantify whether a truly irredeemable Shoat of the Mire is truly evil or so broken that all she has the capacity to do now is lash out in pain at everything.

!'''The Fallen Wolf of the Cutting Sea'''

Not all Abyssals come about because of dark bargains with their Deathlords. Some of them start off worse. Before he was the Fallen Wolf, he was actually a Solar, chosen as a Zenith Caste. Then the Silver Prince found out there was a Solar in arms' reach, abducted him, and thrust him into a Monstrance of Celestial Portion. The new Solar had two options - death, or service to his master. He chose the latter, and ended up converted to the cause of the Neverborn. Kind of. Most of the time, he refuses to do what his undead master commanded, to the point that the Prince exiled him from Skullstone. Now he fights behind the scenes in the West, desperately trying to both overthrow the Prince and find a way back into the light of the Unconquered Sun.

* TheAtoner: Desperately wants not to be what he was forced to become.
* BeingGoodSucks: It's not enough that he has to worry about Resonance or having the Prince decide to just waste him, he's got the Whispers of the Neverborn in his head.
* [[WalkingTheEarth Sailing the West]]: The Fallen Wolf spends most of his time at sea, travelling between islands. It helps to cut down on the risk of a Resonance eruption.

!'''The Prince of Shadows'''

A poor boy who had the misfortune to be unwanted by both his family and the Sijanese Mortician's Order, which his family handed him over to. You'd hardly know it looking at the present him, and he would rather like to keep it that way. Not so poor now, he looks forward to the day when the only thing around is the yawning maw of Oblivion and its sweet music.

* ColdBloodedTorture: His favorite pastime. In a comic, he threatens Arianna with sharing his enjoyment.
* RapeIsTheNewDeadParents: Implied as part of the abuse heaped on the foundling by the more senior members of the Morticians' Order.
* RetCon: Prior to his appearance in the Scroll of Exalts, he was in the Day Caste. In that book, he is detailed as a member of the Daybreak Caste.


!'''The Melkin Fool in Red'''

Ringmaster of the Circus Moribund. What is the Circus Moribund, you ask? Nothing more than the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears's take on those internet shock sites that ask whether or not a kind and loving god would make cyclops kittens that die shortly after birth, and a wide array of other congenital issues across many different species. The aim is to get the living to see their state as being ultimately horrible and pointless.


!'''The Harbinger of the Ghost-Cold Wind'''

"Advocate of the dead" who has no patience or sympathy for the living. Formerly a Haslanti shaman, now goes around killing people who don't revere their ancestors, to show them what it's like to live as a ghost without anyone to provide nourishing worship. Also makes sure that ghosts return on their end of the bargain if they're just fleecing their descendants, however.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Didn't celebrate your ghostly father's departure date because you were trying to find your lost children, whom you didn't know were dead? He'll reanimate the children and set the resulting zombies on you.
* JerkAss: He'll be smiling on the way out when he does it, too.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Well, he does make the ghosts act as proper ancestors who deserve to be revered, but you wouldn't know it if you happened to be on the receiving end of his vigilantism.


!'''The Visitor in the Hall of Obsidian Mirrors'''

Formerly one of Panther's team-mates, and also formerly known as White Bone Sinner. Panther killed him to impress a patron, and he is understandably eager to gain vengeance. Also fouled up the affair with getting an undead concubine, courtesy of Jiunan Nightwarden, whom he also hates. Wears a conical hat made of woven bones.


!'''The Weeping Raiton Cast Aside'''

Throwing her past behind her, she opted to be her own representative to the Neverborn. Now, she travels the Underworld as an example of what Abyssals can become, and acts as a counselor between different factions serving the dead gods trapped in the Labyrinth.


!'''Meticulous Owl (Endless-Faced Spite)'''
The Ebon Dragon's patsy amongst the Abyssals... maybe. Has a background that's even harder to make sense of than the Mirror Flag's - you can at least read that one backwards and make a semblance of a hidden story thread out of it.

* MultipleChoicePast: To the point where you fully expect him to say "Do you know how I got this Exaltation?" at every proper dramatic opportunity.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Infernal Exalted]]
'''The Infernal Exalted''', Champions of the Yozi, come in two varieties: Akuma, who are individuals invested with Yozi power in exchange for their souls; and the '''Green Sun Princes,''' who Exalted with corrupted Solar sparks and are nascent Primordials. Most people refer to the latter when saying Infernal, despite the relative rarity of the Warlocks.

!'''Tropes associated with Infernals'''

* AntiAntiChrist: If they choose to be.
* ContractualGenreBlindness: How they reduce Limit.
** NobleDemon: As a function of this, heroic Infernals who don't want to go into [[HatePlague Torment]] act like this.
* CursedWithAwesome: More so than the Abyssals, who tend to be BlessedWithSuck.
* EnemyWithin: Subverted and played straight. The Unwoven Coadjutor, the Essence of the demon that bore their Exaltation, remains a separate part of the Infernal's soul. It can do absolutely nothing other than offer advice. On the other hand, their memories of the First Age are ''so'' complete that it's not uncommon for one to have his Solar self be recreated in his mind...[[AGodAmI which may]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide not be a good thing.]]
* EvilSorcerer / MagicKnight: The Primordials invented sorcery as a sort of "programming code" of Creation, Infernals draw power from the imprisoned Primordials...Making them even better examples is that the Sorcerous Enlightenment Charms specifically enhance spells in line with their respective patron's themes, meaning that a Slayer has an easier time casting destructive spells and a Fiend has aptitude with [[CastingAShadow shadow]] and the destruction of boundaries.
* GodEmperor: While "Devil-Tigers" is the most commonly used term for Infernals who go truly renegade, the original term used by the writers was "Green Sun Kings".
* HorrifyingHero: [[OhMyGods By the frakking Yozis]], they're ''not'' someone you would want to face. Of course, the same could be applied to other [[BewareTheSuperman Exalted]].
* HumanoidAbomination: Even before they go down the Heretic path, they're drawing power from the Yozis. Once they become Devil-Tigers, they develop into full-fledged titans themselves, complete with [[HiveMind soul hierarchy]]...except their core being is, instead of a world-body or a Third Circle demon, their human self.
* MadScientist: Any Defiler worth his salt probably has the inclination, even more than Twilights (which actually annoys their patron, She Who Lives In Her Name. She wanted ''viceroys'', not visionaries!).
* {{Transhuman}}: They merge body and soul with a demon as part of their Exaltation, and are slowly mutating into new Primordials. And they love every second of it, or else.
* YogSothothSays: is also a charm: So Speaks (Yozi).

!'''Cearr'''

The iconic Slayer. He was once the eldest son of the high chief of the [[BarbarianTribe Talinin]], with all the qualities of a warrior. When the Bull of the North started to assault their territory. Cearr was conscripted into the Tepet Legions, where he experienced combat among the lords of creation for the first time. He was about to charge a demon when it locked eyes with him... and Cearr broke and ran from the battle, effectively lost. As he screamed from shame, a voice told him that if he was Exalted the battle would have turned out differently. With nothing left to lose, he accepted. Now he is terrorizing the northeast, destroying everything in his path.

* AnAxeToGrind
* [[BarbarianHero Barbarian Antihero]]
* TheBrute
* EvilRedhead
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: More or less is Cearr's Urge and Motivation.

!'''Sulumor'''

The iconic Malefactor. A [[ImAHumanitarian Dune Person]], she was an apprentice to the tribal shaman. But the spirits rejected her, dumping her unceremoniously in the deep desert to die there. She refused to seek mercy from the Unconquered Sun, cursing him instead, and received an offer from [[LawfulEvil Cecylene]] she didn't refuse. Now she seeks to unite the Dune People under her banner (and, by extension, that of her patron).

* AffablyEvil: For a CrazySurvivalist who wants to conquer the South in the name of an EldritchAbomination in order to achieve vengeance against the very gods, she's really not that bad a person.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Sort of. The Dune People are human, it's just that they're mostly [[EvilAlbino albino]], since the Solars engineered them to be allergic to sunlight so that they couldn't flee from slavery.
* FanNickname: Hellnun or Bondagenun.
* FemmeFatale
* LoveRedeems: If the art in [=RotSE=] is anything to go by, she jumps ship after meeting her Lunar mate.
* NaughtyNun / {{Stripperiffic}}: Oh so very much.

!'''Bitter Copal'''

The iconic Defiler Caste. Bitter Copal grew up in An-Teng, where worship of Yozis such as She Who Lives In Her Name was quietly accepted. He was trained in the medical arts, and eventually ended up serving on a ship crewed by Dragon-Blooded. When the captain was grievously wounded, he did what he could to save the man, but that required amputating his arm. Unfortunately, the captain's underlings strongly disagreed with this course of action, and ended up deciding that Bitter Copal needed to pay in full for what he did. After having his arm chopped off and getting thrown in the brig, Bitter Copal prayed to the Yozis...and they answered, as a demonic swarm tore through the ship, killing the others, while he entered his chrysalis. Now fully emerged and versed in the ways of helltech, he aims to bring order back to An-Teng -- the order of She Who Lives In Her Name.

* AnArmAndALeg: The inciting incident for his Exaltation.
* ArtificialLimbs / RedRightHand: His right arm is a big crab-claw thing. And yes, it's a demon.
* DeadlyDoctor: He's a surgeon.
* MadScientist: His Motivation is to construct a wonder more terrible than any seen in the First Age. When you consider some of the things they did in the First Age, that's pretty fucking horrifying.
* PunchClockVillain: His backstory doesn't make him seem all that malevolent -- the "failure" that lead to his Infernal Exaltation was refusing to help a JerkAss surgeon whose language he didn't speak, and the main indicator of his general evilness level is that he's a cultist of She Who Lives In Her Name...[[ValuesDissonance in An-Teng, where it's quietly accepted and encouraged]] since they don't fully comprehend the depths of her ControlFreak tendencies (they think she just wants things to run in an orderly fashion, which is very appealing to a people who have basically had all independence stripped from their government).
* {{Telekinesis}}: thanks to She Who Lives In Her Name's charms.

!'''Captain Gyrfalcon'''

The iconic Scourge. Once, he was Ernst Gyrkin, a lowly airboat crewman from the Haslanti League whose ambitions exceeded his capabilities. Always daring too much, he responded to denial of a command by taking an airship by force, only to end up surrendering rather than escaping. Following his imprisonment, a huge glass spider approached him with an offer; now, as Captain Gyrfalcon, he's set out to terrorise the Haslanti skies (as well as randomly obliterating agronomy and stealing excavated weaponry). It's pretty much safe to say the Haslanti forces wouldn't want to have him back, whether mortal or Exalted.

* BlackEyesOfEvil: A byproduct of his dipping into the Ebon Dragon's Charms.
* HotBlooded: Unfortunately, not in a good way.
* JerkAss: Once nearly got three of his childhood friends killed by baiting a bear. He even gets on Adorjan's nerves.
* PrettyBoy
* SkyPirate
* SwordAndGun: And the gun belches forth literally hellish flames.
* {{White Haired Pretty Boy}}: thanks to the Exaltation.

!'''Manosque Cyan'''

Once upon a time, one of House Manosque's scions, Viridian, attempted to seize the throne from the Scarlet Empress with the Eye of Autochthon. That ended badly, as most things involving the Eye tend to. Afterwards, the entire house was put to the sword - save for one. The heirs of House Manosque are made aware of their heritage, and forbidden from serving the Realm in any way that would grant them power, as a way of paying for the sins of their forebearers. It's also a very good way to breed long-standing resentment. So when the Ebon Dragon approached Manosque Cyan with an offer to drive the Realm to ruin, she gladly accepted. She's the iconic Fiend.

* TheCorrupter: Cyan passes herself off as another member of the Deliberative while using her powers to try and ruin it. Her Motivation ''and'' Urge both rely on utterly corrupting or destroying the Realm.
* GenocideBackfire: Hopes to be this.
* HimeCut: Demure and proper, even when giving nosy folk the "Yet you made one mistake..." business.
* ManipulativeBastard
* MeaningfulName: Like her rebellious ancestor Manosque Viridian, Cyan's name is a color between green and blue.
* TheMole: In the Deliberative.
* PunchClockVillain: The deal the Ebon Dragon made her was offered in an "accept or die now" situation. She's pretty much only in it to screw over the Scarlet Empire from the inside out.

!'''The Orchid-Consuming Guardian'''

* YouAreWorthHell: Subverted, then played straight. The Orchid-Consuming Guardian followed his daughter into Malfeas to rescue her from the demon that had abducted her. He was all set to receive a Solar Exaltation for having braved Hell to rescue a loved one... but then he decided that Hell was just too scary, and turned his back on his pursuit. The Yozis presented him with an Infernal Exaltation soon after, no doubt after laughing their asses off. However, as his Motivation is to retrieve his daughter from whatever quarter of Malfeas she's wedged into, he hasn't entirely abandoned his quest.

----


!'''Tropes associated with Akuma'''

* TheDarkArts
* DealWithTheDevil
* FakeMemories
* LossOfIdentity
* NotHimself
* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil
* YogSothothSays

!'''Burning Eyes Maiden'''

* EyeScream: Guess how ''she'' cemented her infernal bargain!
* FullFrontalAssault: Traipses about Creation and so on without a stitch. Except for the fire.
* HimeCut: Not that it actually reflects anything, unless you want to make a case for being a Yozi sockpuppet.
* NoNameGiven: Her epithet's a FanNickname. Her actual identity, we don't know.

!'''Lintha Ng Hut Dukantha'''

!'''Maheka Damaj'''

!'''The Blood Queen'''

The Harborhead Royal Guard executes any Brides of Ahlat who lie with anyone other than their husband as a matter of course. Unfortunately for brides who have been forced into the act physically, this includes their number. The Blood Queen found herself in this position at the hands of several Dragon-Blooded, and escaped to let her "husband" know what she thought about that setup with the aid of the Yozis.

* FaustianBargain: to get back at the Dynasts who raped her and the divine order who abandoned her.
* RapeAsDrama: The drama being that her religious vows mandated execution even though she wasn't willing.

!'''Thrice-Damned Gorol'''

* SupernaturalMartialArts: He's the reason that the Infernal Monster Style exists in the first place.
* {{Unperson}}: The very fact that a Solar ''could'' align himself with the Yozis and become their willing servant did not go over well with anyone. Solar Queen Merela did everything she could to erase the evidence of Gorol's infernal bargain, and even when it inevitably came out, she'd managed to purge enough info that no one knows the whole story.
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Alchemical Exalted]]
'''The Alchemical Exalted''' were the prototypes for the initial Exalts (Solar, Lunar, Sidereal and Terrestrial), but were never fielded during the Primordial War. They are human souls in artificial bodies, their special powers taking the appearance of {{magitek}}. To have a shot at Alchemical Exaltation, a soul must demonstrate heroism across multiple lifetimes. If the soul is deemed worthy, and if the resources are available, a body is crafted, the soul implanted, and the new Exalt brought to life by the animating power of the Primordial Autochthon. Every Alchemical is, to all intents and purposes, a whole new person, though they have memories of their past lives (unless a previous life was an Alchemical themselves, in which case it takes exceptional circumstances to recall anything).

When Autochthon first noted the Solars' growing insanity, he decided to hide out in Elsewhere, taking several thousand humans along with him. To help them survive in Autochthonia, his world-body, Autochthon taught them the secrets of Alchemical Exaltation, enabling them to create champions who would protect them from the dangers of Autochthonia's environment.

That was several thousand years ago, and Autochthon's starting to run down. Resources are low, more and more babies are being stillborn, and blight zones and gremlins, the manifestations of Autochthon's illness, are steadily increasing. Nevertheless, the Champions stand ready to defend their people.

!'''Tropes associated with Alchemicals'''

* ArtificialHuman / RidiculouslyHumanRobots: They can do pretty much anything normal humans can do. One major exception is their inability to reproduce.
* ChainsawGood: It's not enough that they have a weapon known as the Gyroscopic Chakram. Oh, no. They have ''an entire Martial Arts style'' (Thousand-Wounds Gear) based around it.
* GeniusLoci: At essence 8, they grow into cities.
* HumongousMecha: At essence 6, they grow into these.
* {{Magitek}}: [[SarcasmMode Gee, where would you get that idea]]?
* TheSpock / StrawVulcan: Certain Charms and spells require that they acquire Clarity, which brings them more in line with the thought process of Autochthon. This also makes them more robotic and emotionless, causing them to base most of their decisions on logic and protocol. Some Alchemicals endeavor to avoid such a thing by spending lots of time with human friends and loved ones.
** It's made fairly explicit, however, that a high-Clarity Alchemical does ''not'' turn into a preachy Vulcan who talks incessantly about the "logical course of action", but simply drives them towards the most efficient course of action.

!'''''Fair-Spoken Rishi'''''

The iconic Orichalcum caste. Early on in his existence, ''Rishi'' was a brilliant Yugashite general who racked up the wins in war until a conversation with a holy man made him reexamine his motives for doing so. He transitioned into politics, becoming a respected legal analyst, diplomat, and wartime negotiator. He's still called on occasionally to install his old war charms.

''Rishi's'' particular field of study is the nature of ideal law and its enforcement, and his writings on the subject have led some to suspect him of pacifism or anti-Yugash sentiments. He doesn't directly criticize the government of the day, instead presenting scenarios in deliberate, but nonspecific, contrast with current events.

* {{Ambadassador}}
* TheAtoner: A rather mild case, since he has been driving forward on that path for centuries.
* TheStoic: Due to Clarity.

!'''''Excessively Righteous Blossom'''''

The iconic Moonsilver caste. What the Tripartite Assembly of Yugash wanted when they had him made was a flexible and innovative hero. What they ''got'' was an ultra-orthodox idealist. While he's good at most things he turns his hand to, what he is ''not'', noticeably, is a people person, and there are a ''lot'' of pissed-off Yugashites who can testify to that (and several who can't, as attested by his ill-fated stint as a battalion commander).

* ModernMajorGeneral / ThePeterPrinciple: He's charismatic and a great warrior, but he's awful at tactics.
* TheNeidermeyer: He made it ''very clear'' that his many spectacular failures as a commanding officer were due to the incompetence of his troops, and ''not'' a result of his command skills being on par with a punch-drunk fix beetle, why would you think that?
* TheScrappy: In-universe. People hate him ''so'' much that a Sovan poster has the Jade Caste ''Stern Whip of Industry'' '''using his face as a rock to pose on'''.
* TedBaxter: He thinks he's the paragon of Yugash. Yugash does not share his opinion.

!'''''Lissome Avid Engineer'''''

!'''''Stern Whip of Industry'''''

!'''''Dreadful Adjudicator of Law'''''

The iconic Soulsteel caste, a regulator (law enforcer) in the nation of Gulak, who is typically to be found patrolling the streets in his all-concealing body armor.

* {{Bishonen}}: He's pretty attractive under the armor.
* {{Expy}}: [[JudgeDredd He is the law]]! We need not say anything else.
* TheFettered: ''Adjudicator'' was created to uphold Gulak's laws, and he does, without mercy or leniency. If he were to betray the law, he would be unable to live with himself.
* InLoveWithTheMark / LovesMyAlterEgo: ''Adjudicator'''s current problem. He's infiltrated a dissident movement, becoming the lover of the woman who leads it. He's got all the evidence he needs to bring the movement's members in, but what's stopping him is that he's actually fallen for the leader - and for the life his alternate identity lives. He's not about to renounce Gulak, but equally, he can't destroy the life he's created for himself, so he's trying to bring his lover into accordance with the law.
* TheQuietOne
* SecretIdentity
* TheStoic: The most emotion he shows in public is impatience with attempts to resist arrest.

!'''''Thousand Faceted Nelumbo'''''

The iconic Adamant caste, a specialist in martial arts. Her previous incarnation was a loyal servant of Debok Moom, one of Autochthon's Divine Ministers. When [[GenderBender he]] was killed, Debok Moom immediately had the soul reincarnated as ''Thousand Faceted Nelumbo''. She watches over the outcast colonies near Autochthon's Pole of Crystal, and drives off expeditions from the Eight Nations.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Here's the thing: because Debok Moom didn't allow ''Nelumbo's'' soul to have a few more goes as a mortal Autochthonian, there's a 762-year gap in her memories (because of her previous Alchemical incarnation), and she's somewhat overwhelmed by modern Autochthonia.
* GenderBender
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Subverted. She's mostly as pure as the driven snow, but she knows perfectly well that her getup would [[MaleGaze attract stares]]. She just doesn't think she needs clothes most of the time, and for the most part, she doesn't.
* MissFanService: Typically, the only clothing she wears is a [[VaporWear cloak]]. [[TheissTitillationTheory Sometimes it just barely covers her chest]], [[WardrobeMalfunction sometimes it doesn't]].
** Justified-besides the fact she can't actually get cold (she's a robot, remember?), she doesn't really deal with humans most of the time, so she doesn't see the need. When she actually needs to talk with someone who would care, the cloak reshapes into normal clothing.
** The developers' own nickname for her? ''Maiden of the Missing Pants''.
* SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: She wants to master Sidereal martial arts. She knows this is supposed to be impossible, canon says it's impossible and the default assumption is that she will fail. On the other hand, Exalted are known for going BeyondTheImpossible.
* TheStoic: Not one to let her feelings show, and she has [[TheSpock high Clarity]] much of the time.

!'''''Voice of Authority'''''

One doesn't always get what one was expecting when one makes an Alchemical of a specific Caste, but it isn't always a bad thing; ''Voice'' is a Soulsteel Caste, and thus meant to serve the nation of Gulak as a pragmatic and ruthless enforcer of Autochthonian law, a scourge of the Voidbringers. What came out of the vats was a [[BoisterousBruiser bombastic, friendly, and proud]] ActionHero and [[ChivalrousPervert serial seducer]]. After destroying a deep-seated and large Void cult, he found he was much more suited to the "destruction of the Great Maker's enemies" then the "ferreting them out" bit, and he quickly became a scourge of the Reaches, searching out and destroying the largest nests of TheCorruption he could find. Unlike ''Blossom'', he also happens to have a good estimation of his own skills, meaning his ego comes off as charming rather than irritating to the populace of his nation. This does not sit well with the Gulaki Tripartite; he was meant to be an enforcer, not an icon, and they are rapidly growing annoyed at his combination of not doing what they want and being too competent to be censured for it. For his part, ''Voice'' doesn't care-he [[JumpedAtTheCall loves being a Champion]], and the people love him.

* {{Bishonen}}: Unlike ''Dreadful Adjudicator of Law'', he doesn't wear a helmet, being a fairly trusting person. And what a face it would conceal!
* CowboyCop
* GloryHound: A rare example in that it's a secondary motive for him-he honestly loves Gulak and Autochthon, he just thinks he deserves recognition for his deeds.
* HopeBringer: See above.
* InsufferableGenius: Subverted. He's hot shit, ''knows'' he's hot shit, but doesn't rub it in the face of other people. It's why he's featured prominently on Gulaki propaganda posters.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Gods]]

'''The Celestial Incarnae'''

The most powerful gods in Yu-Shan, the ones who created the first Celestial Exalted and helped lead the offensive against the Primordials. They were first created by the Primordials to maintain the structure of Creation while the Primordials played the Games of Divinity. After having it up to here with the fickle and somewhat selfish whims of the Primordials, they empowered the Exalted to fight against the Primordials. Once they were defeated, the Incarnae handed the reins of Creation to their Exalted while they took over the Games of Divinity.

!'''Tropes associated with all the Incarnae'''
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking
* CelestialParagonsAndArchangels: They're the most powerful gods in {{Exalted}}. Whether or not they're good guys depends on whether or not you're trying to get along with Creation, or self-absorbedly using it for your own goals.
* SolarAndLunar: The UCS and Luna, obviously.

!'''The Unconquered Sun'''
Ignis Divine. Sol Incarnate. The guy with all the arms. The Unconquered Sun represents... well, [[ShapedLikeItself the Sun]], as well as the principle of Virtue in Creation. Before the Primordial War, he guarded the borders of Creation from the raksha; when the time for war came, he empowered his chosen to serve as the Lawgivers and kings of all the earth. He is a master strategist, a peerless warrior, a representation of all that is right in Creation... and addicted to the Games of Divinity like the rest of his peers.

* BigGood: The biggest. The Dragon's Shadow -- the Primordial that would become the Ebon Dragon -- defined himself in opposition to others, so he crafted the Unconquered Sun to be the personification of virtue, heroism and excellence, just so he could define ''himself'' as that much more of a bastard.
** Deconstructed in that, as noted under IncorruptiblePurePureness, the strain of actually ''being'' the BigGood has him totally worn out and withdrawing into the Jade Pleasure Dome.
* TheCape: See above. There's a story from the Primordial War of the Primordials taking a human hostage -- just one, mind you, as we're dealing with cosmic principles who can and did burn continents with a glance -- and the Unconquered Sun willingly switching places with the mortal, as he realized if he couldn't sacrifice everything for just one mortal, he was useless. He then proceeded to weather their tortures and beat them at the Games of Divinity.
* TheFettered: As the cosmic principle of Virtue, the Unconquered Sun gains immense power by following the virtues of Compassion, Conviction, Temperance, and Valor. He ''can'' suppress these virtues, however.
* GodIsFlawed: He's the personification of all the virtues listed above, as well as general all-around awesomeness. And he really is a pretty nice guy, especially [[JerkassGods as gods go in this setting]]. But he's very much not perfect.
* GoodHurtsEvil: The Unconquered Sun uses the Daystar to decide which beings inside and outside Creation are "Creatures of Darkness," and thus prime targets for Holy Charms.
** Deconstructed, however, in that the definition of "Creatures of Darkness" is based entirely on whether the Sun thinks you seem like a bad dude, not on any kind of objective measure of evil -- although the Sun's a nice enough guy that he's probably about as close as you can get to an objective arbiter of morality in [[GreyAndGrayMorality a universe where no such thing exists]].
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: {{Deconstructed}}; He's ''so'' pure, ''so'' virtuous, that he's been burnt out by the stress of trying his ''damned hardest'' to be the perfect ruler. Not to mention that he's pure in four different ways that don't always get along.
* KingOfTheGods: Well, [[CaptainObvious duh]].
* LightIsGood: More or less.
** GoodIsNotNice: He's compassionate, but he's also rather arrogant.
* LivingShadow: He has his own dark half, Five Days Darkness, who is a god in his own right. He's not a bad guy, actually, though he's a little pissed that he only has power at Calibration.
* OneWingedAngel: Magnanimous Unbound Sun.
** SuperpoweredEvilSide: When in this form, the Unconquered Sun cannot relate to the world through his Virtues, and exists only to destroy the enemies of Creation, without much concern for collateral damage so long as Creation itself is not threatened.
* ThePowerOfTheSun: Strongest of the Incarnae, and his chosen share his strength.
* PuzzleBoss: If fought, he cannot be injured in any way unless he has suppressed his Temperance, and his [[OneWingedAngel Magnanimous Unbound Sun]] form cannot be defeated without the use of multiple weapons to break his arms.
* WeirdSun: His personal superweapon, the Daystar, is what everyone in Creation perceives as the sun. It's actually a weapons station made of the magical materials, suffused with burning Essence, and possessing enough firepower to make the Realm Defense Grid look like a firecracker. Oh, and it can turn into a HumongousMecha. And knows kung fu.

!'''Luna'''
The God(dess) of the Moon was created to complement and contrast the Unconquered Sun. She is infinitely adaptable, perpetually evolving, the impossible made possible. In the time before the Primordial War, she stood guard alongside the Sun, to handle those threats that bypassed even his perfection. But she had another, hidden purpose, thanks to her co-creator Cytherea: to seduce Gaia and thereby keep her in Creation. It worked slightly ''too'' well -- Luna fell in love with Gaia, and convinced her to side with the gods in the War.

Unlike the Unconquered Sun, Luna has not turned her face from existence. She watches her Exalted, proud of their capacity for adaptability and survival, to see what they will do next. She sends her light out into the depths of the Wyld, in the hopes of one day guiding Gaia back for good.

But even so, she remains bound to the Games of Divinity... for the moment.

* AxCrazy: The Silver-Horned Watcher, one of her main personas. She represents the desire to survive at any cost and the willingness to kill to get what one wants. [[EnemyWithin She's rather terrified of that side]].
* GenderBender: Typically identified as female, but freely switches or merges gender.
* IWillWaitForYou: While Gaia does come back to her, as yet she hasn't come back permanently.
* {{Lunacy}}: Duh. [[TheMadHatter She's also fully aware of it]].
* OfficialCouple: With Gaia.
* OnlySaneMan: She's implied to be the only Incarna who isn't actually using the Games of Divinity as a mental crutch.
* SplitPersonality: She has numerous aspects, of which five -- [[NatureHero the Bloody Huntress]], [[PsychoForHire the Silver-Horned Watcher]], [[GuileHero the Two-Faced Bride]], [[TheObiWan the Walker at the Crossroads]], and [[AlmightyJanitor the White Navigator]] -- are the most prominent, and one of them tends to dominate at any given time, usually based on the moon phase.
** MindHive: In addition, the most powerful alternate moon-gods still exist within Luna, manifesting in her aspects, and sometimes even externalizing themselves enough to talk to her.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The story of her origin. Oramus and Cytherea pitted all the potential moon-gods against each other, to see which would triumph. Luna won, seducing or destroying her rivals, and became Creation's sole moon-god(dess).
* VoluntaryShapeshifting
* WeirdMoon: Creation's moon, the Silver Chair, is a spacefaring craft, a dimensional control mechanism, a nexus of worlds, and Luna's sanctum, among other things.
* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy / WhiteHairedPrettyGirl: According to the art of him/her in the core book.

!'''The Five Maidens'''
Mercury, Maiden of Journeys. Venus, Maiden of Serenity. Mars, Maiden of Battles. Jupiter, Maiden of Secrets. Saturn, Maiden of Endings. Together, they are the Maidens of Destiny, who oversee the workings of the Loom of Fate and ensure that everything turns out as it should.

Except that over the eons of their existence, they've found themselves increasingly humanized, and humanity doesn't always sit well with the decrees of Fate.

This may be a problem.

* {{Bifauxnen}}: As befitting her purview of Secrets, Jupiter looks like a guy when her hood is up.
* BlessedWithSuck: Hooray, they can tell the future! Hurooh, [[YouCantFightFate actually doing so destroys their free will.]]
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Each Maiden has an associated color, which they traditionally wear: Mercury's is yellow, Venus's is blue, Mars's is red, Jupiter's is green and Saturn's is purple.
* DontFearTheReaper: As is befitting the Maiden of Endings, Saturn is the creepiest. She also ends things like war, sorrow, and disease in addition to lives, and is consistently presented as a natural, and important, part of the cycle of life in Creation.
* EmotionlessGirl -> DefrostingIceQueen: How they've developed from the Primordial War to the present day, thanks to exposure to the Exalted.
** However, subverting the usual way this trope is used, this might not be a good thing -- if they let their emotions interfere with their job, reality itself could be threatened.
* GrandfatherParadox: Their origin. When the Maidens first showed up, the Primordials recognised that they were the Primordials' creations from a future that had yet to happen. For various reasons, that future hasn't actually come to pass, and isn't likely to.
* MorphicResonance: No matter what guise Mars assumes, she's always a redhaired woman with bloodstained hands.
* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Deconstructed. The Maidens can consult Samsara to learn what "should" happen in the future--but are then bound to bring that future about.
* SiblingTeam
* TheStoic: Jupiter and Saturn.
* WarGod: Mars.
* WhiteHairedPrettyGirl: Saturn.
* YouCantFightFate: Using their abilities to predict a given future forces them to act to bring that future about. A good example is Jupiter, who knows about the Great Curse but ''can't tell anyone about it'', since it's not time for that knowledge to get out.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Venus's hair is blue, while Jupiter's is green.
----

'''Other Gods'''

!'''Lytek, Right Hand of Power'''

With such an important thing as Celestial Exalted existing, it should come as no surprise there's an important deity overseeing them, and that god would be Lytek. While he cannot control who Exalts, he can effect minor spins on the event such as visions or the exact time, and, more importantly, he prunes their memories and prepares them for their next incarnation-without him, a Celestial would be overwhelmed with memories of his Second Breath's previous bearers, or worst, [[IHatePastMe develop a Past Life]] (as more than a few Green Sun Princes can attest, since the Yozis value First Age knowledge over their servants' sanity). A master artist and craftsman, he is very much a ReasonableAuthorityFigure...

...Who would probably be more help if he didn't have ''[[GodsHandsAreTied every other important god in Yu-Shan out for his blood.]]''

See, during the First Age, Lytek, as a side effect of his dominion over Solars, was once the co-director of the Bureau of Heaven, the part of the CelestialBureaucracy overseeing the gods themselves and conceptual matters such as memory and loss. Then the Usurpation hit, and the Solar Exaltations which had found their way back to his cabinet for cleaning were stolen by Kejack and sealed in the Jade Prison. With a significant loss of his domain came a significant loss of rank, and thus, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking power]]. After the former head of the Celestial Bureaucracy (and the other co-director) was disposed of by [[JerkAss Ryzala]], [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Goddess of Paperwork]], Lytek was quietly booted out and replaced with the aloof Taru-Han, aka "The Only God In Yu-Shan Who Doesn't Want Ryzala's Job To Belong To Anyone Else". Of course, just because Lytek was now irrelevant didn't mean he wasn't a political threat due to his remaining position, and so much of his existence in the Age of Sorrows was spent fending off attempts to get rid of him altogether.

Of course, [[ItGotBetter the Jade Prison was broken]]. Slowly but surely, Lytek's fortunes have began to reverse themselves. Unfortunately, his adversaries might get rid of him before then-it's not like there won't be another God of Exaltation if he gets [[FinalDeath forged into starmetal]]...

* AbsentMindedProfessor: He tends to get a bit pushy with Celestial Exalts when interviewing them about their lives (he wants to see the progress of the Exaltation after all), and sometimes needs to be reminded of something called "personal space".
* GlorySeeker: Like ''Voice of Authority'', it's a secondary motive-he cares about the Exalted as people, but he also recognizes they're an excellent way to show off how good he is at his job.
* TooDumbToLive: Here's the thing-it's impossible to understand the Second Breath the way Lytek does and not notice the malformations caused by the Great Curse. Before the First Age ended, Lytek thought he could fix it, no problem...so he decided to ''[[PoorCommunicationKills not tell the Unconquered Sun about it]]''. He's realized that was a mistake, now-but the very fact that he could have stopped the First Age from going to shit makes excellent grounds for capital punishment-and his replacement would probably be chosen by Ryzala, who has been compared to [[HarryPotter Dolores Umbridge]] by the writers.
* {{Troll}}: After the breaking of the Jade Prison, he took the liberty of writing the notification...and its delivery. Guess to who.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder:Elementals]]

'''Elementals'''

* ElementalEmbodiment: [[CaptainObvious Yep.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're elementals who have reached the Essence score of 6 and above. This also catapults them to Rank 4 in the CelestialBureaucracy -- i.e., two steps below the Incarna -- a fact that they point out at every opportunity.

!'''The Kukla'''

* EldritchAbomination: Reading about him is akin to reading a description of something from the CthulhuMythos.
* GodzillaThreshold: What he's been kept alive for -- his power assimilates the Wyld and purifies shadowlands even as it blasts them to bits.
* {{Kaiju}}: Miles long, his tail can reduce cities and mountain ranges to rubble. Releasing him also lets loose a plume of steam and ash over six hundred miles high.
* LegacyCharacter: Courtesy of a {{series continuity error}}. This is the ''second'' Kukla; the first is an entity known as an Apocalypse Dragon.
* NonMaliciousMonster: More of a natural disaster than a true character in his own right.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: He's a dragon, as described above...with twelve legs...four eyes, each with two pupils...capable of instantly rendering areas near him into topsoil...and has a ''tail'' with a swinging arc the size of a ''mountain range''.
* SealedEvilInACan
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Primordials]]
'''The Primordials''' were born long ago, in the infinite [[ChaosWorld Wyld]] where chaos ruled supreme. They grew tired of battling their [[CosmicHorror Unshaped]] cousins, so they decided to make a place where they could have some peace. And so Creation was born, which was attended to by their slave race of Gods as they played the [[WorldOfWarcraft Games of Divinity]] in heaven. In time, the Gods grew tired of the constant abuse their creators laid on them, so the greatest of the Gods (the Incarnae) decided it was time to revolt.

There was just one problem. The Primordials anticipated that Gods might betray them, and geased them at their creation to never ''directly'' harm their masters. To get around this, the Incarnae (with help from two relatively good Primordials who had joined their side, Gaia and Autochthon) imbued [[PunyEarthlings mortals]] with their epic cosmic strength to become the titular Exalted, for the Primordials thought Humanity could never pose a threat to them personally. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu That...didn't work out too well for them]].

The Primordials were cut down from heaven as the Gods ascended to take their place, leaving them near-dead (the Neverborn) or imprisoned inside their own king (the Yozi). The only ones left unscathed are Gaia and Autochthon.

!'''Tropes associated with the Primordials'''

* CripplingOverspecialization: Deconstructed -- each Primordial embodies a different concept so completely that they have a hard time understanding anything outside of their paradigm. This is at least one reason why they were overthrown.
* EldritchAbomination: They're GeniusLoci with multiple, self-aware souls that have ''their'' own multiple, self-aware souls. What they aren't alien in, however, is their emotions -- it's perhaps more accurate to say we have theirs, and each one has a personality that can be understood from a human perspective.
* GeniusLoci
* HiveMind: Soul hierarchies kinda-sorta work this way.
** HiveQueen / SoulJar: The "fetich" soul -- the one that contains the Primordial's self-image -- works like this. Kill it, and you've basically reset the Primordial's identity.
* IdiotSavant: Fans and writers alike favour this term as a description for them. Their Charms make them transcendentally brilliant in areas related to their themes. In anything else... they're absolutely hopeless.
** Except for Autochthon. He's spent so much time around humans, that he can actually begin to understand things outside of his purview due to their influence on him. Problem? He SUCKS at doing anything outside of his purview (Imagine a master craftsman losing to a 10 year old at Gateway...Not Kes).
* MadGod: Come off as this -- the Primordials literally think differently from everyone else, including other Primordials. As a result, they can perform the most horrific of acts not out of any actual malevolence, but because they don't see why it's wrong. Autochthon and Gaia are the only ones capable of social empathy due to their purview (or rather, Gaia is, while Autochthon made himself capable of it), but even they can perform KickTheDog acts while being completely baffled as to why the dog in question is mad at them.
** However, their imprisonment has since made the Yozis a different kind of mad. Where they were once happy to [[LackOfEmpathy just ignore mortal suffering]], being cast into Hell by a bunch of puny hairless apes has made that kind of detachment impossible, and now they've grown so bitter and vengeful that most of them are actively malicious toward humanity. (And, of course, the Ebon Dragon was always fairly malevolent as a simple function of what he is.)
* OurTitansAreDifferent
* TheOldGods: Both older and more powerful than (most) of the gods.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Urges and torment are intrinsic to the Primordial condition.

!'''Autochthon'''
The Great Maker, inventor of Exalted, and a general advocate of humanity in general, Autochthon is the greatest inventor of the Primordials, taking the form of a living machine. Weakest of his siblings thanks to [[TheCorruption Voidtech]] constantly draining his health, he was constantly belittled and bullied by his siblings until he finally [[WhosLaughingNow snapped]] and sided with the gods in their nascent rebellion.

[[WhatAnIdiot Unfortunately, he possesses all the foresight of a blind lemming.]]

* TheAtoner: [=CoCD=]: Autochthonia reveals that there's a landmark in his body that embodies the guilt he feels over his part in the Primordial War.
* BlessedWithSuck: It's not quite canon yet, but according to forum posts by the Ink Monkeys, Autochthon's illness, madness and genius (particularly his ability to think outside the box) are all outgrowths of his theme of violating boundaries.
* TheCorruption: Voidtech, essentially an [[PowerOfTheVoid Oblivion]]-fueled cancer that takes the form of various HighOctaneNightmareFuel machinery that spreads throughout his body. When he was awake, he was able to treat it without much difficulty, but now...
* DitzyGenius: All that intelligence, all that innovation...and a complete lack of anything resembling the ability to plan in the long term.
* TheDogBitesBack: If the Primordials hadn't treated him like crap while they were free, he wouldn't have created the Exaltations.
* EternalEngine: his body is the ([[NoOSHACompliance extremely hazardous]]) machine-world of Autochthonia, essentially a planet-sized mass of {{Magitek}} and {{Steampunk}}.
* KickTheDog: We can understand why he had to vivisect various examples of Primordial life-forms in order to create the Exalted, and he did create artifacts which put them back together...but why, oh why, did he ''leave'' them in there?
* NoSocialSkills
* PetTheDog: The Monolith Garden.
* ProfessorGuineaPig: Modified his Third Circle devas' capacity to produce Second Circles. Went somewhat further when reconfiguring his fetich.
* TooDumbToLive: Autochthon is a shining example of how the CripplingOverspecialization of Primordials can render them simultaneously brilliant beyond all compare (while acting within their themes) and dumber than a sack of hammers (when dealing with concepts outside of their themes).
** [=CoCD=]: Autochthonia reveals he ''actually can'' work outside of his themes, thanks to some surgery on his fetich (which is essentially ''Do It Yourself Neurosurgery''). He just happens to have no idea ''how'', and he's rather reckless.
* [[{{Transhuman}} Trans-God-Monster]]: ''Compass of Celestial Directions: Autochthonia'' reveals he effectively replaced his fetich's brain with himself ([[ItMakesSenseInContext roll with it]]), meaning he can comprehend things outside of his themes. He just happens to be ''really bad'' at it.
* UltimateBlacksmith
* WorldOfSymbolism: The Far Reaches -- those parts of his body not colonized by the Autochthonians -- often become this, reflecting aspects of his psyche and personality.

!'''Gaia'''
The Emerald Mother, youngest of the Primordials, and an explorer and adventurer. Together, she and Cytherea collaborated to build Creation. One of her bodies, a [[AnthropomorphicPersonification human-looking woman]], remains in Creation; the rest of her is deep in the Wyld, searching for the fabled Shining Answer.

* BeneathTheMask: While her humanoid body's pleasant enough, some of the gods remember the primal force of Gaia in her totality, and fear her eventual return.
* LesYay: It's established Cytherea was in love with her, and that they built Creation together, but just how far it went is unclear.
* MyGirlBackHome: Luna. Also sometimes a [[GenderBender Guy Back Home]].
* OfficialCouple: With Luna.
* WalkingTheEarth: Well, the Wyld, but still.

!'''Mardukth, Who Holds In Thrall'''
Once, in distant Zen-mu, in the time before Creation, Mardukth, Who Holds In Thrall, also called the Mountain and the Beast Upon It, was King of the Primordials. When the Empyreal Chaos - Malfeas' original form - arrived to rule the Primordials, there was war between them. In the end, the Empyreal Chaos was King, and Mardukth still lived.

And so it was for countless eons, until the Primordial War.

Mardukth is not among the recorded Yozis, but there is a Neverborn called He Who Holds In Thrall, master of the First and Forsaken Lion and the Princess Magnificent. One of his Third Circle devas, Granalkin, survives as part of Luna's entourage.

* LossOfIdentity: Had a particularly bad case of this, continually questioning the world around him as to whether he actually was Mardukth. Then again, if he hadn't kept asking, Zen-mu wouldn't have kept expanding.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: In-universe. The reason for his LossOfIdentity. He just couldn't accept that something as immense as himself could exist.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: None of the extant Primordials will profess to remember Mardukth ever being King, assuming anyone's in a position to ask.

----

'''The Yozis''' are the Primordials who were defeated in the War and imprisoned in the body of their fallen King, with many being mutilated in some way by the Exalts and Gods. They lie in Hell, hating their treacherous creations, and working towards the day when they'll be able to escape. Or, at least, some of them are. They're also insane, backstabbing, and self-loathing monsters, who can often get in each other's way as they make their escape attempts.

!'''Tropes associated with all the Yozis (With the exception of the Ebon Dragon where it applies)'''

* AbusiveParents: To demons.
* BeingEvilSucks: Save Adorjan, none of the Yozis find fulfillment and comfort in their spite, not even the Ebon Dragon (there's always something ''more'').
* DysfunctionJunction: WordOfGod has stated that the personality of each Yozi is modeled on a different real-life psychiatric disorder. That, and all of them possess some amount of ennui and general depression.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Back when they were free, though they've picked up more than a little bitterness over the years.

!'''The Ebon Dragon, the Shadow of All Things'''
If the Prince of Darkness had a teacher, this would be him. The embodiment of vice, [[WordOfGod creator commentary states that the Dragon is effectively the anti-Exalt]] - where the Exalted are supposed to be awesome, the essence (and Essence) of the Ebon Dragon is more about denying others their victories. As long as he comes out ahead of everyone else, he could lose everything and still be happy.

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: He has an odd obsession with this trope, to the point where Infernals [[InvokedTrope can use it]] to reduce their Limit. (The game mechanic is called "Exquisite Bride Obsession," and was in fact originally suggested as the TropeNamer.)
** It apparently has something to do with the (incredibly convoluted) terms of his release.
* AGodAmI: WordOfGod states that the wildest dream of the Ebon Dragon is to become a shinma -- one of the defining forces of the universe.
* BigBad: Of the Return of the Scarlet Empress module, and for the Architects of the Reclamation (the five most important Yozis) at large.
* BlessedWithSuck / CursedWithAwesome: Many of his powers rely on these tropes. The fact that he's the embodiment of failure and vice itself embodies these concepts in and of itself.
* TheChessmaster: If there's a pie, he usually has a claw in it.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: See ''Return Of The Scarlet Empress'', page 198. Or even better, go to page 207, where his stats begin to be described, and look at his Urge. He can ignore it and make a Torment roll simply by paying Willpower, therefore betraying his very own nature. This guy is so utterly and irredeemably treacherous, he betrays '''''[[BeyondTheImpossible himself]]'''''!
** He also created the Unconquered Sun. Why? So he would have something to define himself by being the opposite of.
** Should his mad plan work, the Ebon Dragon plans to be first out of Malfeas just so that he can seal the other Yozis in permanently and laugh in their faces. Of course, while he tries to do this, his own component souls will likely be fighting him to make sure ''they'' get out and the core of the Dragon gets screwed. That's right; his ultimate plan of inevitable betrayal may get screwed because ''he will be betraying himself at the same time''.
* TheCorrupter: This is his very reason for existing.
* DevilButNoGod: Because this trope was in effect when the Primordials ruled Creation, the Ebon Dragon's previous form couldn't manifest.
* TheDevilIsALoser: WordOfGod is very emphatic about this: the Ebon Dragon ''sucks''.
** Were he brought down to human level, a StupidGood Compassion 5 FriendToAllLivingThings would kick him in the balls on principle.
* DirtyCoward: As stated above, all of his virtues are as low as possible, including his Valor. He [[CombatPragmatist does not fight fair in the slightest]] and does NOT have the intestinal fortitude to strike when not absolutely sure he can win.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Completely and utterly averted.
* FatalAttractor: He loves those who are doomed to die, and whose deaths will change the world.
* ForTheEvulz: As he defines himself as the ultimate nemesis of everything, this is his basic motivation for anything he does (though there are valid interpretations where it's actually somewhat more complicated than that).
* GodOfEvil: Strictly speaking, there's [[GreyAndGrayMorality no absolute and objective good or evil]] in the world of ''Exalted''. But as the cosmic personification of spite, treachery and corruption, he's as close as you're going to get.
* HeroesActVillainsHinder: While he certainly has plans of his own under way, many of his acts of antagonism fall under this trope, due to his nature. He's not allowed to be anything BUT sneaky, underhanded and subtle, preventing him from (personally) taking overt actions against anyone. But should you try to mess with him...
* IJustWantToBeFree: So long as he is restrained in any way whatsoever, he is ''completely incapable'' of taking any action that does not have the ultimate goal of trying to free himself.
* ManipulativeBastard
* NothingIsScarier: He's so fundamentally hollow on the inside that in a sense, you could say he doesn't really even exist; he's an Ebon Dragon-shaped hole in the fabric of reality.
* ShapedLikeItself: His previous form, The Dragon's Shadow, is described as being the shadow of himself. His current form is supposed to be the Dragon that he used to be the Shadow of.
* TheSoulless: Not quite literally, since "soul" is a complicated concept for a Primordial. But he does, in a very real sense, lack selfhood -- he defines himself solely in opposition to everything else.
* ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil: His ultimate GoalInLife: "Darken all of existence until Virtue and light cease to be, leaving blackened chaos upon which his will alone dictates possibility."

!'''Malfeas, the Demon City'''
Once he was the Holy Tyrant, Ruler of All, the absolute and unquestioned monarch of Creation. So transcendent was the Primordial King that he existed only as a numinous immaterial Presence, his majesty too great to be expressed by any physical form. Then the Exalted came and cast down the almighty king of everything. Not content with subduing him and forcing him to take on the utter humiliation of a corporeal body, his conquerors went on to degrade and mutilate him further, turning him inside out and imprisoning his siblings within the tortured city of brass and nightmares he had become.

Malfeas is in constant pain as a result of what was done to him, but that's not the reason why, out of all the Yozis, he is perhaps the one most broken by his imprisonment. As the cosmic embodiment of kingship, power and authority, he is simply fundamentally unable to even begin to cope with the concept of having been so utterly defeated. Now a pathetic mockery of his former glory, he rages senselessly at the world, consumed by shame and hatred, dreaming of nothing else but endless revenge.

Oh, he's also an excellent dancer.

* AGodAmI: Is ''fundamentally incapable'' of grasping the concept that other beings have opinions that matter.
* AlienGeometries
* AndIMustScream: Malfeas is now an inside-out city in constant agony.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking / AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Malfeas is the cosmic embodiment of one or the other of these. (Does he represent power so great that it is able to force everything to serve and worship it, or authority so great that it is able to crush all lesser things beneath its majesty? Or is it both?)
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: From ''The Compass of Celestial Directions: Malfeas:''
-->Magnificent pillared forums and amphitheaters jostle stark blocks of windowless masonry. Many structures make no sense whatsoever. Vast conglomerations of vaulted stairs and landings lead to nothing but more of themselves. Turrets and balconies adorn huge towers with no floors or stairs inside. Immense triumphal arches cross minor side streets. Long fortified walls zigzag between buildings and across streets, defending nothing. They have the forms of architecture but no function.
** Also, conceptually, the whole of Malfeas. He was turned inside out to be the prison of the Yozi. The city of Malfeas rests at the center of the realm of Malfeas, and [[BeyondTheImpossible is bordered on all sides by an endless desert of another Yozi, who constantly pushes at the borders of Malfeas the realm, constantly expanding his boundaries, while still being confined within him.]] [[FlatWhat What.]]
** It just sounds like to me that Malfeas and Cecelyne are involved in a higher-dimensional topological arrangement. A simple example would be a Klein bottle: it only has one surface, and does not pierce itself. Now take that up to 11, and you've got the Demon City.
*** Also his heart is a burning green sun in the sky.
* BrownNote: While Demon Emperor Shintai is active, anyone who looks at him gets supernatural radiation sickness.
* DisproportionateRetribution / RoaringRampageOfRevenge: His GoalInLife.
* GeniusLoci
* GodEmperor: Pretty much his current rank and power level. He doesn't have a Shintai called Demon Emperor for nothing.
* {{Hellfire}} / ILoveNuclearPower / SicklyGreenGlow
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Since his defeat and imprisonment, he hates Creation so much that his deepest desire could be summed up as "torture everything in the world to death, forever"...and yet, ultimately, he hates himself even more.
* KingOfAllCosmos: Used to be this. Is just a ''little'' pissed off that he isn't anymore.
* MalevolentArchitecture: It doesn't get much more malevolent than a living city with a nuclear sun for a heart that is actively trying to kill you.
* MatingDance / ScrewYourself / BizarreAlienReproduction: Five years before the main timeframe, Malfeas, in his Brass Dancer form, danced into the forest of Szoreny, where he met a silver copy of himself (implicitly either Szoreny or his fetich Kagami). They danced until a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything green and silver conflagration exploded through the forest]]. Soon after, a plant started growing at the site of their dance, a plant with a woman growing inside of it; in other words, [[MisterSeahorse Malfeas got Szoreny pregnant]].
* RevengeBeforeReason: The other Reclamation Yozis are constantly having to talk him down from making idiotic decisions based solely on his infinite rage.
* SelfHarm: This is what he's doing to himself whenever he makes his layers crash against each other.

!'''She Who Lives In Her Name, the Principle of Hierarchy'''

99,997 crystal spheres rotating around 100 greater spheres, themselves rotating around a single central sphere. Inside each sphere is a flame, and each flame whispers its name -- ''her'' name -- to the world around it. Those who hear that name are brought under her sway. As her title suggests, she literally embodies the concepts of order and hierarchy and wants to impose her perfect hierarchy on all of reality. Free will, of course, is much too chaotic to have any place in this brave new world -- in fact, she was against including it in Creation in the first place, and regards the Primordial War as proof that she was right all along.

Nevertheless, so great is her respect for hierarchy that once it was clear the Primordials had lost the war, she willingly surrendered, prepared to submit to a new hierarchy with the gods and Exalted at the top. When she realized that the hierarchy they had in mind had no place for her, she flew into a vindictive rage and smashed three of her spheres into Creation, destroying them along with large chunks of reality and reducing her to her current state.

* AssimilationPlot
* BrownNote: if anything weaker than an Exalt or second circle demon hears her true name, they permanently come under her control. [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Hence her common appellation]].
* EmotionlessGirl
* EvilGloating
* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Loathes the very concept, and was only grudgingly persuaded to permit its inclusion in Creation. She regards this as the Primordials' single greatest mistake, and many of her Charms revolve around...[[HiveMind rectifying]] [[IndividualityIsIllegal it]].
* IfICantHaveYou: See: Three-Sphere Cataclysm, ''ninety percent of Creation''.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: In the Time of Glory, she wasn't specifically evil, just loyal to Malfeas above all other things (and not a fan of free will).
** She even was willing to bow to the Unconquered Sun, once the war was over. That the Incarnae decided that she was to be locked away from Creation, too, triggered the Cataclysm mentioned above.
* ShipTease: It's implied that she used to be "close" to Malfeas before their imprisonment.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Tossing her into Malfeas and reshaping her into a Yozi led to her turning around and destroying 90% of Creation.
* WorldOfSilence: This is what she wants more than anything else. Given the GeniusLoci nature of most Primordials, she may actually ''be'' one in one of her forms.

!'''Cecelyne, the Endless Desert'''
Once, Cecelyne was the lawgiver of the Primordials -- until the Exalted rose up and taught her that ultimately, there can be no law that matters other than MightMakesRight. Ever since, her only mission is to share that lesson with everyone else.

Though she still [[LawfulEvil sets the laws of Hell]], Cecelyne's laws are now quite deliberately based on nothing more than sheer arbitrary capricious [[{{Hypocrisy}} hypocrisy]], and are designed to ensure the absolute right of the strong to dominate and bully the weak. Embodying the concept of both spiritual and physical desolation, Cecelyne takes the form of an infinite desert that surrounds the Demon City, serving as the boundary between Malfeas and Creation.

* AlienGeometries: The desert of Cecelyne takes exactly five days to cross, regardless of how fast you move.
* BondVillainStupidity
* CorruptChurch: Religious hypocrisy is her favorite kind, and priests of Cecelyne enforce the laws of Hell.
* TheCynic
* DarkMessiah
* ImpassableDesert
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Views herself with the same bitter cynicism with which she regards everything else.
* JackassGenie
* JadeColoredGlasses: More than a ''little'' cynical.
* ShiftingSandLand
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids
* SocialDarwinist
* StrawHypocrite: She understands exactly how hypocritical her laws are. That's the ''whole point''.

!'''Adorjan, the Silent Wind'''
A case study in why killing fetiches is a bad idea, Adorjan was originally known as Adrian, the River of All Torments -- a sort of living buffer between the Wyld and Creation. During the Primordial War, however, her core soul Lilike was killed completely, causing her to dry up and become a living gale that muffles all sound. The process rendered her completely insane, turning her into a cheerful serial killer who destroys that which she loves and spares that which she hates. Even her fellow Yozis fear Adorjan, and it is for this reason that demons place musicians and musical instruments everywhere, as she despises noise and won't go near it if she doesn't need to.

* AxeCrazy
* BizarreAlienReproduction: She came to one Solar in his dreams seven nights in a row, simultaneously taking the forms of a woman and a silent windstorm. She got pregnant from those seven consecutive nights of dream sex and gave birth to seven daughters; three retained their human forms, while the other four shed their human bodies and became living winds like their mother.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Even more than the rest of the Yozis. Of particular note is one of her Charms, which allows her to instantly fall in love with someone -- and then gives bonuses when she acts towards the subject with intent to aid, teach, express affection... or hurt.
* CameBackWrong
* DrivenToMadness: Both her, and her Act of Villainy (of the "freeing people from sanity's constraints" motive).
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: What you call insanity, Adorjan calls understanding the world as it truly is. She would love to do you the favor of sharing that enlightenment with you.
* TheHyena: She finds everything funny, including her own defeat at the hands of hairless ape-things. And, as noted, laughter is the only sound she ever makes.
* LaughingMad: The only sound she ever makes, preferring {{Telepathy}} for actual communication.
* MadLove: As far as she's concerned, she really is doing her loved ones a favor by killing everything they care about so that they can share in the enlightenment that comes from being free of all attachments.
* StalkerWithACrush: "Sometimes, Adorjan falls in love. Her hate is safer."
* StarfishCharacter / CloningBlues / ArtificialHuman: Splintered Gale Shintai allows her to conjure up human puppets embodying aspects of her personality.
* TooKinkyToTorture: After she became Adorjan, she fell for Marus, Lilike's killer, because she was ''honestly attracted to him'', and causing her extreme pain (particularly the Charm Demon-Wracking Shout) is often grounds for a first date.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: She honestly believes that killing people is a way of enlightenment, since it severs all attachments.
* WhatMeasureIsANonSuper: Murder is Meat allows her to remorselessly kill mortals regardless of how high her compassion stat is.
* {{Yandere}}: Read her description, why don't you?

!'''Kimbery, the Sea That Marched Against The Flame'''
The great acid ocean of Malfeas, with a personality to match. If she loves you, she'll drown you in her affections. If she hates you, she'll slowly and utterly corrode you and anything you ever cared about. Usually she does both.

* AbusiveParents: Specifically, Kimbery is the kind of bitter and resentful parent who avoids facing up to the problems with her own life by ruining her children's lives instead.
* AcidPool
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Kimbery's the Giver. The second variant -- where the Giver is the one in control -- is how she relates to others. (The first is how she ''thinks'' she relates to others.)
* BodyHorror: She has a bit of an obsession with it, to an extent that actually manages to creep out the other Yozis.
* EvilMatriarch
* {{Hermaphrodite}}: All the Yozis are, given how they posses both male and female souls, but Kimbery has honed it to a science.
* HumanResources / MadArtist: She makes coral reefs out of people and demons.
* KillItWithWater
* MoodSwinger: Kimbery's Torment involves a positive Intimacy randomly switching to a negative one with no warning.
* MoralMyopia: When Kimbery hurts you, it's a well-deserved punishment you needed ForYourOwnGood. When you hurt Kimbery -- even if only by failing to live up to her impossible expectations -- [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous it's an act of horrific, totally unjustified betrayal]] that sends you straight over the MoralEventHorizon.
* MotherOfAThousandYoung: In her current state, she can no longer bear or sire offspring in the traditional manner, but she can [[TheVirus infect others with her essence]], causing her [[ChestBurster parasitic offspring]] to [[BodyHorror grow inside them]].
* MyBelovedSmother: Her love is genuine in a way, but it's the manipulative, passive-aggressive kind of "affection" that so many abusive parents use to keep their children from escaping their control.
* NeverMyFault: Has an enormous martyr complex, which serves to justify all her actions and avoid admitting that she's in any way the cause of her own problems.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Some of the Yozis simply [[BlueAndOrangeMorality don't care about anything resembling human ethics]]. Others recognize and embrace their own hypocrisy or villainy. Kimbery, however, is absolutely convinced that she is an unjustly persecuted victim who never did anything wrong to anybody and all her actions are completely justified.
* PoisonIsCorrosive
* {{Tsundere}}: A puree of this and {{Yandere}}, since she vacillates between hate and love so much...and one's not much better than the other.
* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Why must you always be such an ungrateful child that Kimbery is forced to punish you?
* {{Yandere}}: She hates everyone she loves and loves everyone she hates. Also, her Urge is "the urge to drown", metaphorically and literally.

!'''Szoreny, the Silver Forest'''
An [[EnsembleDarkhorse obscure]] Yozi, Szoreny is not actually a forest -- rather, he was imprisoned upside-down. Thus, though he originally was TheWorldTree, now he is a grove of quicksilver-laced reflective trees with a single root system. [[OnlySaneMan Is the most coherent and comprehensible of the Yozis]], despite his {{Split Personality}} problem.

* AlternateUniverse: His fetich soul, Kagami, takes the form of a sapient one.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Widely believed to be the kindest of the Yozis, thanks to [[WorthyOpponent his Act of Villainy]]. [[BewareTheNiceOnes This is a mistake]].
* {{Foil}}: He reflects the personality of the person he's speaking to, thus he ends up being one for...''everyone'' basically.
* HallOfMirrors: He ''is'' one.
** MirrorMatch: Has the ability to breathe life into his reflections, resulting in this.
* ManipulativeBastard: He tries his best to be one. [[spoiler:and in Return of the Scarlet Empress, he might do a damn good job of succeeding.]]
* OnlySaneMan: As mentioned above, Szoreny and his [[HoYay sometimes boyfriend]] Isidoros are by far the least degraded and debased of the Yozis [[spoiler:which is why they're planning to stab the others in the back to EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace]].
* PleaseReflectOnThisIndex: If there's a mirror-related trope, he's probably capable of doing that.
* WorthyOpponent: To anyone he's in an antagonistic relationship with.

!'''Isidoros, the Black Boar that Twists the Skies'''
A sapient black hole who usually takes the form of, well, [[CaptainObvious a colossal boar]], Isidoros is the embodiment of unstoppable force, and is the only one who can stop Malfeas from collapsing two layers of himself together. Just don't get under him.

* BoisterousBruiser: {{Fanon}} has him as one of these, AffablyEvil at worst.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Most of the destruction he wreaks is the result of him taking a leisurely stroll through the area.
* {{Determinator}}: One of the places of power in Malfeas marks where he raced up the slopes of Qaf for a time. Eventually, he got bored and stopped, but one hoofprint is still travelling up the slope on its own.
* GravityMaster: He's a black hole, any questions?
* HeroicWillpower: He embodies this quality, and he really respects it in others -- a plot hook in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'' has him [[spoiler:''sabotaging the Reclamation'']] when the [=PCs=] have proven themselves some of the most dogged heroes around, just to give them a fighting chance. [[spoiler:Admittedly, this takes the form of offering one of them akuma-hood, but he doesn't fuss if they turn him down.]]
* TheJuggernaut
** Unless someone a.) gets his attention, and b.) convinces him that he really wanted to be somewhere else or doing something else in the first place.
* ManlyGay: Maybe. See ShipTease.
* ScrewDestiny: Strongly dislikes the idea of Fate, but agreed to its inclusion in Creation in exchange for "other considerations".
* ShipTease: With Szoreny.

!'''Sacheverell, He That Sees the Shape of Things to Come'''
Another case study in why fetich death is A Bad Thing. Originally, he was the Lidless Eye That Sees, then his fetich soul was killed, and he came back as Sacheverell, who sees infallibly accurate visions of the present or future, depending on whether he is asleep or awake. As long as he's asleep, he sees only the present, and free will is still an option. Should he wake up, all of existence will get to find out what YouCantFightFate is like. Absolutely ''no one'' wants this.

* EnemyOfMyEnemy: Pretty much everyone wants him to stay asleep.
* SealedEvilInACan
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: While he sleeps, he dreams of the present. Should he awake, he would see the future and ensnare the universe with the power of his self-fulfilling prophecies.
* VillainousBreakdown: One interpretation (endorsed unofficially by some of the game's writers) says his sleep is really one of these -- in the instant of the White Ram's death, he grasped that he's ultimately just a supporting character in the story of the Exalted, and nothing he could possibly do really matters. Now he's essentially too depressed to get out of bed.
* YouCantFightFate: This is what pretty much everyone believes will happen if he wakes up.

!'''Qaf, the Heaven-Violating Spear'''
An endless mountain without summit or base, ensconsed in his own pocket dimension within Malfeas. The creator of the concept of perfection, and a bit of a guru.

* EldritchLocation: You can ascend Qaf physically, but the only way to make real progress up his slopes is through spiritual discovery and understanding. Trouble is, Qaf's lessons are innumerable, and hostile to mortal souls (but not to demons). So far, no one has managed to pass the lessons and attain his nonexistent summit.
* ImmovableObject

!'''Metagaos, the All-Hunger Blossom'''
A Yozi with the personality of [[LittleShopOfHorrors Audrey II]], who takes the form of a sprawling swamp. It's ''really'' not wise to venture in.

* {{Autocannibalism}}: He eats everything in and around him -- including himself.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Metagaos has an ecosystem that's about as predatory as he is. It's exactly as much fun as it sounds.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Mortals, demons, colour, light, time, space...like we said, he eats ''everything''.
* PlagueMaster: In the event you survive a trip through Metagaos, you'll probably end up infected with something that [[ViralTransformation turns you into an outgrowth of him]].
* SwampsAreEvil: Even ''Adorjan's'' reluctant to go near him.

!'''Elloge, the Sphere of Speech'''
The results of fetich death are unexpected, but not always nightmarish. For example, the rebirth of the Primordial known as He Who Bleeds The Unknown Word was the female Yozi Elloge. She drifts through the layers of Malfeas, taking the form of an invisible sphere.

* EldritchLocation: Elloge's interior dimensions are defined by linguistics and correspondences. Within her, features of language become real (and often dangerous).
* GenderBender: Her Fetich apparently contained her masculinity.
* {{Invisibility}}
* MsImagination: Elloge doesn't pay all that much attention to extant reality, preferring to manifest worlds within herself.
* ShipTease: With Oramus.
* ThinksLikeARomanceNovel: Strongly implied to do this.

!'''Oramus, the Dragon Beyond the World'''
The eldest of the Primordials, who defined what would be in Creation and what would not. Fearing that his paradoxical nature would enable him to find a way out of Malfeas, the gods and Exalted caged him in his own wings, the only prison he can't escape.

* AndIMustScream: ''Worse than Malfeas''. At least ''he'' can understand the world outside of him. Oramus can only go more and more insane.
* MadArtist: Spawns his own unique creations, and inspires others with impossible visions.
* MorphicResonance: His description says that, in pretty much any form he could assume, he always has seven of something.
* RealityWarper: Does this by existing. Even asleep and imprisoned, things get weird around him.
* SealedEvilInACan

!'''Hegra, the Typhoon of Nightmares'''
A living storm who not only rains down nightmares, but dreams and emotions as well.

* EmotionBomb: You name it, Hegra can deliver.
* GrayRainOfDepression / HappyRain: She produces these, along with every other emotion.
* ItAmusedMe: She occasionally messes with lesser demons to see what happens.

!'''Cytherea, the Mother of Creation'''
Also known as the Divine Ignition, since she awoke the Primordials after they were born dreaming (apart from Oramus, whose reaction could be best stated as "What took you so long!?"). Built Creation along with her lover Gaia, and also had a hand in the creation of Luna and the Unconquered Sun. About her, nothing more is known.

* LesYay: With Gaia, before the Primordial War.
* RiddleForTheAges: Pretty much everything known about her is myth and legend.

----

'''Neverborn'''

You remember that bit about fetich souls? Kill it, and the Primordial has its identity completely and irrevocably altered?

With the Neverborn, the Solars went one step beyond. Several, in fact.

Unlike the Yozis, who were merely lessened and bound by a {{Geas}}, the Primordials who would become the Neverborn were killed completely--''every'' Third Circle soul, ''every'' scrap of dirt from their GeniusLoci self, ''every'' bit that connected them to Creation. This did ''not'' go well. You see, Lethe, the mysterious mechanism by which souls have their memories scrubbed and put in newborn bodies, was never meant to handle a Primordial soul, since they never realized they could be truly killed. However, since Creation was of Primordial design, neither could the Wyld reabsorb them or [[CessationOfExistence Oblivion]] wipe them from reality. So, the metaphysical Essence of creation...[[DivideByZero broke]].

Thus, [[TheUndead undeath]]--and by extension, {{the Underworld}}--was born.

This would be bad enough--how would ''you'' feel if the god-monster you killed came back with the ability to phase through walls and massively pissed off?--except, for some reason, the Neverborn could ''not'' become ghosts, instead becoming massive, [[AlienGeometries oddly-built]] cathedral-tombs of soulsteel and obsidian. In them, their minds lived on in an [[AndIMustScream endless nightmare, between being and unbeing]], knowing nothing but pain...

...At least, until the [[DesignatedHero Black Nadir Concordant]] had the [[SarcasmMode bright]] idea to [[OhCrap wake five of them up]] to learn [[BlackMagic necromancy]].

Now aware, their dark will infests the Labyrinth in the form of [[TheCorruption the Whispers]], [[BrainwashedAndCrazy bending ghosts to their nihilistic will]] and transforming them into malevolent spectres. What's more, they're [[TheOmniscient practically all-knowing]]; everything a ghost has known or a person who rose as one, filters down to them. [[MadOracle While they aren't as much help as they could be]], a being with the Whispers can [[DreamingOfThingsToCome attune their dreams to theirs]] and learn much of the world...and how to destroy it.

For that is what the Neverborn, mad to incomprehensibility they may be, desire-not out of true malice, but to end their pain-[[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds by any means]].

* AndIMustScream: ''Their entire existence''. Imagine what it would be like to have gangrene eat your body...forever. That's not even ''close'' to what the Neverborn experience. *shudder*
* BiggerBad: Behind the Deathlords. Since the latter happen to be more interesting villains-ie, individual personalities-they mostly stay on the sidelines in favor of their servants.
* CessationOfExistence: What they want for ''everything in Creation.''
* TheCorruption: [[HearingVoices The Whispers]]-have them, and you can basically read the mind of the most knowledgeable beings in existence. Unfortunately, they come part and parcel with the Whispers of ''Oblivion'', the Neverborn's psychic will. This entices a person to become a [[NietzscheWannabe raving lunatic]], and in ghosts eventually leads to...
** BrainwashedAndCrazy: Spectres, the ghosts who succumbed to the Whispers and now worship the Neverborn as part of a mad pseudo-faith. [[SurroundedByIdiots Thankfully, they have absolutely no organization]], and HeroicWillpower can throw off the Whispers of Oblivion. Unwanted Whisper (har har), one of the Councilors of Stygia, has a Whispers rating, but has long since broken free of their influence.
* EldritchAbomination: Let's make this clear -- ''they aren't supposed to exist''.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Boy howdy.
* OmnicidalManiac
* NonHumanUndead
* ThePowerOfTheVoid: Oblivion, which they often utilize.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Hoo boy.

!'''Abhorrence of Life'''

!'''Tears of Want'''

!'''Whose Whispers Chain'''

!'''Principle of Consumption'''

!'''He Who Holds In Thrall'''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder:Devas]]
'''Devas'''

The Primordials aren't just physically immense; they're spiritually immense as well, such that they have multiple souls which take on an existence separate from their parent Primordial.

These are the devas of the Third Circle, and ''they'' are of sufficient spiritual magnitude that they typically have seven souls of their own, which themselves have independent existence. These are known as the devas of the Second Circle.

Second Circle devas are small enough, spiritually, that they possess only one soul within themselves. Their offspring, the devas of the First Circle, are not part of a Primordial's soul hierarchy.

The Yozis' devas became demons with their progenitors' defeat in the Primordial War. Most of the Neverborn's devas died with their parent Primordial. Only Gaia and Autochthon have had their devas remain as such, although Autochthon has... tinkered with his soul structure.

!'''The Five Elemental Dragons'''

!'''Gnosis'''

!'''The Core'''
'''Fetich Soul of the Great Maker'''

!'''Runel'''
'''Divine Minister of Order, Smooth Functioning, Productivity, Efficiency, Cities, Commerce, Life, and Health.'''

!'''Kek'Tungsssha'''
'''Divine Minister of Smelting, Craft, Tools, Industry, Mass Production, Fertility, and Reproductive Sex.'''

!'''Debok Moom'''
'''Divine Minister of War, War Machines, Violent Paradigm Shifts, Privacy, and Wealth. Chief Regulator of the Element of Metal.'''

!'''Noi'''
'''Divine Minister of Curiosity, Research, Exploration, Innovation, Rebellion, and Progress. Chief Regulator of the Element of Oil.'''

!'''Mog'''
'''Divine Minister of Authority, Proper Functioning, Dogma, Righteous Action and Just Punishment. Scourge of the Lumpen and Chief Regulator of the Element of Lightning.'''

!'''Kadmek'''
'''Divine Minister of Design, Architecture, Structural Integrity, Biogeomancy, Arts, Wisdom, Strategy, and Prophecy. Chief Regulator of the Element of Crystal.'''

!'''Domadamod'''
'''Divine Minister of Reuse, Repair, Recycling, and Cannabalism; Enlightened Guardian of the Eternal Cycle.'''

!'''Ku'''
'''Divine Minister of the Reaches and the Far Reaches, Seals, and Thaumaturgy. Chief Regulator of the Element of Smoke.'''

!'''Viator of Nullspace'''
[[TheDreaded The Dread Gear. The Bringer of Death. The Minister of Wrath.]]

All of these titles apply to the Autochthonian spirit called the Viator of Nullspace, a mechanical god-and possibly a forbidden subsoul of Autochthon's-that menaced the Eight Nations just under a thousand years ago. It (like similar weapon-gods, the Destroyers, it doesn't have a gender identity) is an Incarna-level menace, more powerful than a couple Deathlords, a [[TheJuggernaut nigh-unstoppable]] monster the size of a [[HumongousMecha warstrider]] and a great obsidian [[LaserSword beamklave]] that fuels its own power with the lives of those it has destroyed.

And according to the Viator, [[KnightTemplar it is doing all of this for Autochthon's own good]].

You see, the Viator [[CharacterDevelopment initially]] desired to extract the Core, the fetich soul of Autochthon (and thanks to some self-surgery on the Great Maker's part, his mind) from his increasingly disease-ridden body, via forging the souls of every human in Autochthon into a great wedge through which it could dislodge the Core from the Godhead. Since no one was particularly keen on becoming a still-conscious component of an artifact, it got into a feud with the generally NiceGuy nation of Jarish, destroying the Alchemical city of Jast in the process ([[DisneyDeath almost]]). Through a combination of great heroism and cleverness, the Viator was trapped in its own NodeLink, [[SealedEvilInACan forced to content itself with exploring the place where Autochthon's dreams meet Elsewhere]].

If only it was the only one there.

[[ShrugOfGod For some reason or another]], the Ebon Dragon had found his way to the EldritchLocation in his infinite quest for escape, wherein he encountered the Viator. This...[[CurbStompBattle did not go so well for the Dragon]] (all he managed to do was evade being imprisoned twice over). While the Viator managed to chase off the Dragon, it was not unchanged by the experience-it learned of the nature of the Yozis, and how cruelly they had treated Autochthon (the fact that it learned this through [[CardCarryingVillain the Ebon]] [[JerkAss Dragon]] probably didn't help).

Thus, whereas before it planned to merely save Autochthon, it now plans to transform him into [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds the instrument of his own revenge]].

When-not if, when-the Viator escapes, it will be with a different plan to save Autochthon; It will kill all humans it can find, certainly, but as an offering to the monster Autochthon will become. Once it has fed the gears with the viscera of the Eight Nations, it will alter the nature of the Divine Ministers, the Third Circle Souls of the Great Maker, into generals of mechanized war. The voices of the surviving Autochthonians will sing praises to their new god as the blood of their sacrifices grease the spiked prayer gears of the Bleeding Engine. The cities will be altered into mandalas of destruction, feeding his darkened heart.

And then the skies of Malfeas will burn, and he shall scream as the great Uran-drills of a new, savage Autochthon dig deep into his flesh, mad with hate...[[ImAHumanitarian and hunger]].

* CyberCyclops
* GeneralRipper: Um, yeah...

!'''Ruvelia'''
'''Second Fetich Soul of the Empyreal Chaos'''

!'''The White Ram'''
'''Fetich Soul of The Lidless Eye That Sees'''

!'''Lilike'''
'''Fetich Soul of the River of All Torments'''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder:Demons]]

'''Demons'''

See: Devas. For the most part, the designation between deva and demon is a political one--there is still a Third Circle, who gives birth to a series of Second Circles, who create First Circle servants.

The difference? [[JerkAss Their]] [[NeutralEvil personalities]].

You see, all demons, besides being descended from beings who now qualify as insane, self-loathing, and emotionally abusive (physical abuse tends to get the demons dead), all of them spend the vast majority of their (theoretically immortal) lives in Malfeas, who is usually planning to commit small-scale genocide at any moment as an extension of his self-loathing. While trying to keep all their limbs attached to their bodies, they have to deal with the screwed-up social system put in place by Cecelyne, which rewards [[BadBoss cruelty and callousness]] and punishes charity. This, combined with a Byzantine and draconian set of taboos--for example, Cecelyne bans demons looking at her sacred color, azure...which is the color of the ink used in her written laws--means that at any practical time, a priest of Cecelyne (who are not demons themselves, but possibly loyalist gods) may choose a demon at random to torment and bully. This, combined with the deliberately anarchic yet corrupt and bloated government...

[[MaddenIntoMisanthropy You get the idea]].

That said, no demons, not even Third Circles, are inherently evil, just bitter and selfish. True, they are alien--thanks to the bizarre Motivations encoded into them--but when push comes to shove, the average demon is not altogether different from a god. It's quite possible to redeem them, and indeed, a Sidereal Charm is specifically made for converting willing demons into gods so that the Yozis cannot use their connection to [[DemonicPossession take them over]].

Just don't expect that to be easy, and for the [[LoveRedeems romance]] fans, keep in mind--demons think LoveHurts, ''literally''.

!'''Ligier, the Green Sun'''
'''Fetich Soul of the Demon City'''

In the skies over Malfeas, [[WeirdSun a green sun]] blazes, [[EndlessDaytime never setting]]. This is Ligier, the fetich soul of the Demon City. In his humanoid form, Ligier appears as a handsome young man with auburn hair. He is the greatest blacksmith in Hell, and his GoalInLife is to create works that express his own magnificence so thoroughly that all must celebrate his glory.

Since his defeat, Malfeas has been consumed by utter shame and self-loathing. As his most central soul, Ligier expresses this by being everything Malfeas isn't and wishes he was. Ligier still has the confidence in his own power and majesty that Malfeas has irrevocably lost, and so where Malfeas is all about endless rage and overwhelming force, Ligier is a being of calm, courtesy and restraint. Feeling that to crush a lesser opponent would be beneath his dignity, he holds himself back in battle, and if his opponent unexpectedly manages to get in a glancing blow, he salutes their accomplishment and withdraws.

As you'd expect, Ligier finds basically everything about Malfeas profoundly embarrassing. Especially the whole dancing thing.

* AffablyEvil: Not exactly ''nice'', but he's a pretty cool guy as major demons go -- he has to be cooler than Malfeas in order to look down on him properly.
* {{Foil}}: Malfeas hates himself so much that his own heart is a foil for himself.
* MrFanservice: Okay, the whole "sexy Ligier" thing is ''mostly'' a fandom meme, but he is always portrayed as being very handsome.
* NobleDemon
* UltimateBlacksmith: The best in Malfeas by a wide margin.
* UnholyNuke: His [[IKnowYourTrueName secret name]] from the time before the Primordial War is the [[WordsCanBreakMyBones word of power]] that triggers the spell Total Annihilation.
* WeirdSun: That's not just a title, he's ''literally'' a radioactive green sun.
* WorthyOpponent: He refuses to face any challenge less than a perfect circle of Solars or a full army of Dragon-Blooded.

!'''Amalion, the Manse of Echoes Ascending'''
'''Fifth Soul of the Demon City'''

In every layer of Malfeas, there's one manse that surpasses all others in elegance. These are the bodies of Amalion. When summoned into Creation, she takes the form of a handsome middle-aged woman, her skin patterned like marble and her face veiled. Expressing some of Malfeas' less wrathful aspects -- his creativity and appreciation of beauty -- she is one of the greatest architects in existence, and serves those who summon her by drawing up the blueprints to an exquisite manse in exchange for a unique and beautiful object. So valued were Amalion's services during the First Age that she got on quite well with the Exalted and even married the sorcerer Five Moons, whose memory she still cherishes.

* ReincarnationRomance: Maintains an Intimacy to the current bearer of Five Moons' Exaltation, though it's unclear whether they've actually met yet.
* TokenGoodTeammate: The gentlest of Malfeas' souls -- and she's apparently nice enough by human standards that her marriage to Five Moons was actually socially acceptable; the Solar Deliberative even threw them a wedding party.
* WhenSheSmiles: This trope applies so hard that she veils her face as a courtesy, so that anyone standing nearby when she accidentally cracks a grin won't fall desperately in love with her.

!'''Ipithymia, the Street of Golden Lanterns'''
'''Thirteenth Soul of the Demon City'''

!'''Suntarankal, the Crucible of Brass and Iron'''
'''Fifteenth Soul of the Demon City'''

!'''Orabilis, the End of All Wisdom'''
'''Sixth Soul of the Endless Desert'''

As the Lawgiver of the Yozis and the physical barrier between the Demon City and Creation, Cecelyne embodies the concept of boundaries. Her sixth soul represents the limits of knowledge. Orabilis is a builder of libraries and a patron of learning, but he also defines the secrets that must not be known except by the Yozis. When any lesser demon learns knowledge that Orabilis has forbidden, he lays his hand upon them and casts them into the void between the layers of Malfeas.

* CensorshipBureau
* CulturePolice

!'''Munaxes, the Ravine of Whispers'''
'''Fourth Soul of the Principle of Hierarchy'''

Munaxes lives inside the fire in her Yozi's 30th sphere, but when she's summoned into Creation, she exists as a massive chasm in the earth. The voices of those who spread rumors against their friends, families, or rightful lords echo in her depths.

* BottomlessPits
* CensorshipBureau: Munaxes can silence words spoken against anything she likes.

!'''Jacint, the Prince Upon the Tower'''
'''Eighteenth Soul of the Silent Wind'''

In every layer of Malfeas there's a black stone tower, and on the tower there's a huge brass statue of a winged man, and on one of the statue's hands there stands a marble pillar, and at the top of the pillar there's a disc of glowing light. On the disc stands Jacint, the Prince Upon the Tower. His passion and purpose is the building of roads.

* TokenGoodTeammate: The kindest of Adorjan's souls -- although, while we haven't met any of her other Third Circle souls, knowing Adorjan herself that may not be saying much. But his basic GoalInLife is essentially creative and nonviolent.
* WingedHumanoid: He looks like a man with wings of basalt.
* WordsCanBreakMyBones: He builds new roads merely by speaking.

!'''Marsilion, the Eidolon of Shadow'''
'''Fourth Soul of the Shadow of All Things'''

!'''Erembour, That Which Calls To The Shadows'''
'''Seventh Soul of the Shadow of All Things'''

There is [[EndlessDaytime no true night]] in Malfeas, but sometimes, the Ebon Dragon eclipses the Green Sun and the skies darken. When that happens, the Dragon's seventh soul walks the land, playing on her silver horn a song that celebrates the darkness.

* TheBeastmaster: She can command nocturnal animals.
* BrownNote: Anyone who hears her horn [[BalefulPolymorph is forcibly transformed]] into a creature that can no longer bear light.
* DarkIsEvil: Theft and murder are among the "things of the night" that she loves...
** DarkIsNotEvil: ...along with lovers, beauty, and secrets.
* ProfessionalSexEd: She's a highly sought-after instructor in the arts of love.

!'''Akallu, He Who Deceives'''
'''?th Soul of the Shadow of All Things'''

!'''Ululaya, the Blood-Red Moon'''
'''Third Soul of the Sea that Marched Against the Flame'''

!'''Madelrada, That Which Wears Down The Mountains'''
'''Eighth Soul of the Sea that Marched Against the Flame'''

Kimbery's eighth soul is one of the Eight Masterful Demon Generals, the surviving strategists and military commanders of the Primordial War. Her specialty is guerrilla tactics. As inexorable as the tide, she's patient and utterly relentless, gradually and mercilessly wearing down her enemies until no resistance is left.

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Her eyes and hair are both gray, with flecks of rust.
* TheStrategist
* TacticalWithdrawal: Never minds losing a battle to win the war; it's often impossible to tell if she's actually retreating or setting you up for the kill.
* WeHaveReserves: She'll accept any number of casualties on her own side; victory is all that matters.

!'''Gnimersalt, the Mouthless Eater of All'''
'''Eleventh Soul of the Sea that Marched Against the Flame'''

Gnimersalt embodies Kimbery's hunger and other base desires, taking the form of an enormous, disgusting whitish-yellow maggot. He lives in the sewers of Malfeas, consuming all the Demon City's filth and refuse (and, as a side effect, absorbing information associated with what he eats). He's constantly growing, and his size is only kept in check by a team of lesser demons who slice off pieces of his outer layers. These slices are sold to restaurants in the city above, where they're highly sought after as a delicacy -- not because of the taste, mind you, but because some of the stuff he knows is contained within it, meaning a lucky eater can discover something very useful by chowing on it.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: When he needs to not gross people out, he takes the form of a hot, pungent ocean breeze, an emaciated man with extra teeth, or a plump hairless woman.
* BigCreepyCrawlies
* TheOmniscient: He devours the stories of the things he eats as well as the physical matter, as well as some of the memories of anyone close to him. He knows his stuff.
* TheUnfavorite: He serves a purpose, but he's not Kimbery's favorite soul. Can you blame her?

!'''The Tide That Knows No Life'''
'''?th Soul of the Sea that Marched Against the Flame'''

!'''Kagami, the City of Mirrors'''
'''Fetich Soul of the Silver Forest'''

!'''Bostvade, the Quicksilver Highway'''
'''Second Soul of the Silver Forest'''

Bostvade's title is more literal than that of many demons: he's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an actual highway of actual quicksilver]], wending its way out of the Silver Forest and into the Demon City. Representing Szoreny's desire for escape, exploration and conquest, he changes his path as he wills, and is responsible for outbreaks of mercury poisoning on a regular basis. He is a parasite of whatever Malfean neighborhood he parks himself in, [[EldritchLocation creating a much better-kept version of it]] within himself, calling demons who can survive the swim through his essence to him. Over time, the entire place empties of residents, eventually resulting in a GhostTown, at which point Bostvade moves on to the next town to repeat the process.

* PoisonousPerson: Not only is his normal form made of mercury, but in his humanoid form he has quicksilver hair and eyes, can conjure needles of mercury to hurl at enemies, and can summon a spring of quicksilver from the ground.

!'''Saltran'''
'''?th Soul of the Silver Forest'''

!'''Ferand, the Chariot of Embers'''
'''Seventh Soul of the Black Boar That Twists The Skies'''

!'''Hrotsvitha, the Spawning Forest'''
'''Ninth Soul of the Black Boar That Twists The Skies'''

As anyone who has read the InterplayOfSexAndViolence page might guess, Isidoros is quite interested in the way lust works, and that interest is shown in Hrotsvitha, who is both hunter and [[GeniusLoci the great brass forest which he dwells]]. While he's an excellent combatant in his human form, this is actually rather demeaning of his real abilities-specifically, the qualities of his forest-body's vapors and water to drive people to an UnstoppableRage or [[AliensMadeThemDoIt Unstoppable Arousal]]. Demons don't care, of course-as with many native hazards, they can feel the effects but resist them without really trying, but Exalted aren't as lucky; So long as their Compassion or, more hopefully, their Temperance (there's nothing in there about one having to ''force'' people to acquiesce to the lustful version of the Spawning Forest's madness), even they can do something they'll find themselves regretting when it wears off-either because it pains them, or it forces them to ask uncomfortable questions (the picture of Hrosvitha working his magic involves a prematurely ended battle between Harmonious Jade and Disciple of Seven Forbidden Wisdoms).

* HornyDevils: He ''usually'' isn't involved himself, but he can certainly inflame lust.
* LoveIsInTheAir: What happens if your Temperance isn't up to snuff when resisting Hrostvitha's powers. Not towards anyone in specific, mind, just a general need to screw.
* MundaneUtility: How he spreads from layer to layer-female demons who don't like being homeless can service one of his more suggestive branches to impregnate themselves with a sapling which, if properly cared for, can grow into a hut (and don't worry, they give birth before this happens). Not keeping the hut in line and well-treated though, will cause it to fold into itself, becoming the trunk of a new, fully grown brass tree.
* TheWildHunt: He hosts one wherein the designated prey is set loose for five days-if they manage to evade or fight off the hunters for that time, they're allowed to leave with his blessings. The less adept ones have the hunters enabled to...do what they will...so long as they are sacrificed to him at the end.

!'''Kashta'''
'''Eighteenth Soul of the Black Boar That Twists The Skies'''

!'''Lypothymie, the Mask of Melancholy'''
'''Twelfth Soul of the Typhoon of Nightmares'''

Living proof that WhiteWolf is of the opinion that [[OurMonstersAreWeird the stranger the antagonist, the better]], Lypothymie is not "just" a Demon Princess-she's a sapient ''emotion'', best described as a contagious form of NostalgiaFilter. People in her grip suffer mournful flashbacks to the glories of their culture as they imagine it, with the most lethal stage actually sending them into a mild AngstComa (mild, because she goes into remission after [[ArcNumber five]] days until something triggers her again). During this time, the mind of Lypothymie can communicate through MasterOfIllusion Charms, or, should she get pissed, assault the sufferer with [[DespairEventHorizon sorrow so great]] that they might lose the will to live (she rarely does this, though, on the basis that [[HeroicWillpower people who pull through]] exorcise her completely). If so desired, one can enter her [[EldritchLocation sanctum]] using her sufferers as a portal, where her mind manifests as different to each person, but always something that inspires a sense of melancholy (demons tend to see her as something akin to an angyalka). Besides the massive amount of information she's picked up from her sufferers over the years (she can read their minds), [[TouchedByVorlons she also has the ability to turn others into spiritual emotions like herself]], immortal but restricted.

Of course, that also means people will literally feel the same way the new emotion-spirit feels. [[MoreThanMindControl See where I'm going with this?]]

* AffablyEvil: She's depressing, certainly, but she's not really malevolent. Of course, she doesn't particularly care what happens to people in her grip, either.
* DemonicPossession: Infecting people with her essence, or indeed any of her sapient emotion children, is the only way they can interact with the world outside their sanctums.
* EmoTeen: Her literal GoalInLife is to share the melancholy of her nature, and she tends to gravitate towards things that inspire it (graveyards, mourners, rain...).
* TheSpymaster: ''Unintentionally.'' Besides being able to read minds, [[SinisterSurveillance she can perceive whatever is happening nearby her infectees]], meaning she's a veritable repository of information. Not that she uses it unless asked.
* StarfishAlien: Again: ''Sapient. Transmissible. Emotion.'' [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Who is explicitly female.]]
* TheVirus: Normally people don't feel her, but exposure to someone who currently is in her grip allows her to infect them with herself via...
* {{Wangst}}: Causes people to feel this, and indeed how she spreads--paying attention to the poetic whinings of her infected is her vector.

!'''Daendels, the Unfettered Heart'''
'''Fetich Soul of the Dragon Beyond the World'''

We don't know much about Daendels, but his Yozi, Oramus, is even more trapped than his siblings, without even the freedom to roam Hell. A being of chaos and possibility, Oramus was constrained in a cage of his own wings by the Exalted, who feared that his transgressive power could not be contained in any other way. His fetich soul seems to embody his [[IJustWantToBeFree yearning for freedom]], and Daendels wanders the Demon City without ceasing, searching endlessly for a way to free his master.

* IJustWantToBeFree
* SeekerArchetype

!'''Remondin, the Misconstrued Counselor'''
'''Sixth Soul of the Dragon Beyond the World'''

!'''Benezet, the Gardener of Identities'''
'''Seventeenth Soul of the Dragon Beyond the World'''

!'''Mursilis, the Skittering Jungle'''
'''Twentieth Soul of the Dragon Beyond the World'''

A soul spawned by Oramus after his imprisonment, the Skittering Jungle expresses the restless Yozi's constantly frustrated yearning for movement. Strictly speaking, Mursilis only looks like a jungle; there's not a single real tree in the place. Everything within Mursilis is made up of swarms of whirring, skittering metal insects.

* TheWormThatWalks

!'''Demirkol, the Wayward Child'''
'''Seventh Soul of the Mother of Creation'''

!'''Sondok, She-Who-Stands-In-Doorways'''
'''Warden Soul of the Green Sun'''

Being an UltimateBlacksmith, it should come as no surprise that Ligier has things he wishes to guard from thieves and saboteurs. This desire for safety is represented in Sondok, a HotAmazon with two of the most BadAss UhOhEyes in fiction (seriously, they look like [[RedEyesTakeWarning blood pools]] filled with stars), and her dog, Biyru ([[FightingAShadow actually an extension of her subconscious]] -- kill him, and she'll be able to bring him back on the next new moon). As her title and purpose suggest, she is the ultimate security guard, able to sense any intruders into the hoard she is set to guard, and if her [[PsychicPowers Harrow the Mind]] Charm doesn't work in running off potential thieves, her utter and complete mastery of martial arts will. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the merchants she's worked with have formed a cult, [[NebulousEvilOrganization the Cult of Darkness's Unseeing Eye]] (of which the Salmalin is a sub-order). While she isn't [[TheChessmaster a manipulator]] by nature (it's not her job), she recognizes a large group of minions/co-workers is very useful when it comes to making sure none of Ligier's stuff gets in Creation without his permission.

As one might expect, she's one of the more [[TheStoic steel-hearted]] people in Exalted...[[DefrostingIceQueen with one, rather large discretion]]. Around twenty years ago, [[BodyguardCrush she fell for one of her summoners]] and had a (Dragon-Blooded) daughter. While the father's status is unknown (it's left up to the [[GameMaster Storyteller]] if she killed or imprisoned him to protect the daughter's identity), drenching Sondok in her daughter's blood [[KryptoniteFactor will be what removes her]] [[NighInvulnerable Destiny Sponsorship]]. Not being the Ebon Dragon, she's a ''bit'' reluctant to kill her own child, leaving one, critical chink in her armor.

Whether her slayers will be able to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild forgive themselves]] is another matter.

* AngryGuardDog: Biyal.
* CityGuards: Her GoalInLife -- preventing things of her current employer's and Ligier's from being illegally tampered with.
* NighInvulnerable: The Destiny Sponsorship literally makes it so that Fate itself protects her until her KryptoniteFactor is brought to bear.
* OminousFog: Inverted -- Sondok's abilities allow her to dispel conditions that impede searching for thieves, such as fog or cloud cover.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Well, actually Biyal is, but given how it's literally impossible to permanently kill him while Sondok lives on...

!'''Berengiere, the Weaver of Voices'''
'''Indulgent Soul of the Green Sun'''

!'''Gervesin, the Grieving Lord'''
'''Messenger Soul of the Green Sun'''

Sometimes Gervesin is a young man with beautiful green eyes, his brown skin covered in tattoos. More often, he's a massive brass spear that blights whatever it flies over. Gervesin needs no wielder, but he likes to have one. Whoever picks him up will never put him down again; Gervesin drags them from battle to battle until their corpse falls to pieces. Once he had no other purpose -- but that was before he met Kinnojo.

Kinnojo was a mortal defender of the city of Chiaroscuro. Gervesin was the reason Chiaroscuro needed defending. At the instant the spear pierced Kinnojo's heart, Kinnojo was killed and Gervesin fell in love. Still grieving for his lost love to this day, Gervesin's only purpose now is to protect Chiaroscuro in honor of Kinnojo's memory.

* {{Bishounen}}: According to the art in ''Games of Divinity''.
* BladeOnAStick
* EvilWeapon: Subject to the usual caveats about how almost nothing in Exalted is truly objectively evil. But the stuff about dragging people around till they die and being a literal blight on the world -- that's pretty nasty, no matter how touching the Kinnojo story sounds.
** As befitting Exalted, the "not objectively evil" bit comes from a Compassion score of 3-ie the part where his desire to help other people starts affecting his actions. [[LoveRedeems He used to be a lot worse before he encountered Kinnojo]], but now, he's mainly concerned with protecting Chiaroscuro.
* HeartbrokenBadass
* TheLostLenore: Kinnojo.

!'''Gebre, the Pavane of Dying Stars'''
'''Messenger Soul of the End of All Wisdom'''

!'''Lucien, the Guardian of Sleep'''
'''Expressive Soul of the End of All Wisdom'''

A tall, gaunt man with innumerable tiny holes through his body, Lucien enforces the law of Cecelyne by dispatching those who trouble their betters -- in particular, those whose actions threaten to wake Sacheverell.

* CunningLinguist: He speaks every language that exists...
** TheDoctorDolittle: ...including all the languages of the animals.
* EvilWeapon: He's happy to consider lending you his ivory knives...mostly because he knows that if you don't keep making the Essence rolls to control them, they'll turn on their wielder.
* [[MotherOfAThousandYoung Father of a Thousand Young]]: He has a ''lot'' of First Circle minion species.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: A better shapeshifter than anyone short of Luna.

!'''Florivet, the Whim-of-the-Wind'''
'''Reflective Soul of the End of All Wisdom'''

Once a sage and scholar, Florivet turned his back on his original task to become an explorer. Orabilis disapproved, but chose to be merciful and allow his Reflective Soul to do as it pleased. Now Florivet sails the seas of Malfeas and the edges of Creation, searching for adventure.

* DisproportionateRetribution: He generally takes rejection very well...but if you actually manage to wound his pride, or if you sleep with him and turn out to be bad in bed, he'll conjure acid and throw it in your face.
* TheHedonist: His fondness for booze and mortal women is notorious.
* LovableRogue: Uh, sort of. Aside from that whole acid thing.
* MixAndMatchCritters: He's some sort of wolf-owl-man.

!'''Octavian, the Living Tower'''
'''Defining Soul of the Ravine of Whispers'''

Known in the Demon City as the Quarter Prince, Octavian reigns over a full one-fourth of a layer of Malfeas. He resembles something like a monstrous, bipedal alligator snapping turtle, dripping with toxic black oil. Octavian once loved the earth, but it rejected his love and now trembles under his touch when he walks in Creation.

One of the most fearsome combatants among the demons of the Second Circle, Octavian can sometimes be called into Creation by a challenge shouted from a mountaintop by a WorthyOpponent for seven consecutive days. He has never been defeated except by his hated foe the Mushroom King, who struck down Octavian with the help of [[AnAxeToGrind his mighty axe Lentinus]] and his allies, the princess Watercress and the Lord of Nine Falls.

* TheBeastmaster: He has a magic acorn, a gift from a wood elemental, that lets him command any animal that walks on or burrows in the ground.
* {{Expy}}: A (much DarkerAndEdgier) Expy of, believe it or not, [[SuperMarioBros Bowser]]. (Read that bit about the Mushroom King again...)
* PoisonousPerson: The oil that coats his body can blind or deafen, sears the ground white wherever it falls, and destroys the taste of any food Octavian eats.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent
* TearsFromAStone: The earth hates him so much that it weeps when he walks on it.

!'''Stanewald, She Who Surmounted the Omphalos'''
'''Reflective Soul of the Ravine of Whispers'''

Malfeas is known for the art of dance, and throughout the Demon City, only the Yozis themselves and two other demons are known to surpass Stanewald as dancers. Stanewald loves the sound of shattering stone, and her thirteen [[MagicDance Efficacious Dances]] all have the power to [[DishingOutDirt smash boulders or crack open the ground]]. At one time, her GoalInLife was the destruction of the spirit courts associated with the land; for this reason, her title was "the Answer to the Earth." Seventy years ago, that changed after one of the Yozis commanded her to climb the Imperial Mountain -- that is, the Elemental Pole of Earth, also known as "the Omphalos of Creation." It is not known what happened to her at the peak of the Imperial Mountain, but whatever it was, it changed her. Now Stanewald seeks a new purpose.

* DanceBattler
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife
* DishingOutDirt: Although, unusually, she doesn't have an affinity for the element of earth so much as an opposition to it.
* GoalInLife: She lost hers on the Imperial Mountain, and is looking for a new one.
* MagicDance

!'''Zsofika, the Kite Flute'''
'''Messenger Soul of the Prince Upon the Tower'''

When you summon Zsofika over a dying fire, the first thing you'll hear are the drums. For seventy drumbeats, she turns in the embers, choosing her prey. Then she goes on the hunt. With each drumbeat she takes a step; every ten steps she clashes her swords together; every hundred steps, [[SummonBackupDancers a standard-bearer appears to march behind her]]. Atop each standard-bearer's banner is a hollow pipe that catches the wind and plays a [[HellIsThatNoise haunting tune]] -- the "kite flutes" that give Zsofika her title.

Once she's caught her prey and eaten its bones, she can do whatever you summoned her for.

* DarkSkinnedRedhead
* [[ImplacableMan Implacable Woman]]
* ScarilyCompetentTracker
* SummonBackupDancers

!'''Gumela, the Jeweled Auditor'''
'''Wisdom Soul of the Prince Upon the Tower'''

Gumela looks something like a man made of gold and silver threads. When he walks in Creation, his approach triggers a loss of inhibitions and ecstatic, orgiastic behavior in mortals. But while he enjoys mortal passions, that's not his purpose. He's looking for Mayoigo, and the fact that no one in Creation or Malfeas has the slightest idea who or what Mayoigo might be will not deter him.

* BilingualBonus: ''Mayoigo'' is Japanese for "lost child."
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: It's ''really'' hard to follow his thought process sometimes.
* LackOfEmpathy: He bears absolutely no malice toward mortals -- he just doesn't care what happens to them either, viewing them as simply part of the environment like trees or rocks.
* SeekerArchetype

!'''Makarios, the Sigil's Dreamer'''
'''Warden Soul of That Which Calls To The Shadows'''

Taking the form of a young man with a rainbow glint in his eyes and fine copper wire for hair, Makarios is a buyer and seller of dreams. When he's able to walk in Creation he can usually be found in the nearest marketplace, but most of his transactions take place within a dreamer's sleeping mind. Come to his alabaster citadel, and he'll offer you a comfortable seat and discuss the wonders he's picked up in other dreams, which can be yours for a reasonable price: trade concessions, help in expanding Makarios' market, unique objects from the mortal world or your own dreams, and for the most expensive items, your promise to set his mark on a certain number of mortals.

In truth, though Makarios is a skilled haggler, the prices usually really are pretty reasonable...you just [[EvilDebtCollector don't want to fall behind on payments]].

* BazaarOfTheBizarre: The Equitable Market, his personal fiefdom in Malfeas. By demonic standards, it's simply a rather large and varied marketplace, but by Creation's standards, it's downright ''dazzling'' (a fact which is not lost on [[HonestJohnsDealership certain marketeers]], who have a long tradition of selling what is fantastic but common in Hell for massively marked up prices to naive Creation-born).
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's certainly nicer than much of the Guild, Creation's resident MegaCorp, and he explicitly spells out what his price will be. He can also ''break out of Malfeas'' to collect a payment if someone tries to rip him off.
* BilingualBonus: ''Makarios'' is Greek for "lucky" or "blessed."
* CannotDream: Those with his mark on their forehead are unable to dream, and sometimes go mad before it fades. If they die before it's removed, they dream for Makarios eternally.
* EvilDebtCollector: He's not really evil the rest of the time, but seriously, failing to pay him back in a timely fashion is ''not a good idea''.
* IntrepidMerchant: He is excellent at appraisal and bargaining, and is frequently summoned just for personal financial advice.

!'''Mara, the Shadow-Lover'''
'''Defining Soul of That Which Calls To The Shadows'''

Mara's apparent age and ethnicity vary each time she's summoned into Creation, but she is always a beautiful woman, with bright blue eyes and the hooves of a deer. A seductress, she eventually kills most of her lovers by drawing their souls out with a kiss.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Takes on the dominant ethnic background of the area where she's summoned.
* DealWithTheDevil: It's hinted that Mara [[spoiler:gave the knowledge of sorcery to Creation, making it possible for demons to be summoned out of Malfeas]].
** [[spoiler:In that case, it's implied by the rest of Brigid's story that this [[BatmanGambit played right into the Unconquered Sun's hands.]]]]
* EnemyToAllLivingThings: Mara's presence frightens all animals except deer, who regard her as one of them.
* KissOfDeath
* TheVamp

!'''Alveua, Keeper of the Forge of Night'''
'''Expressive Soul of That Which Calls To The Shadows'''

An artist at heart, Alveua knows that if she were allowed to reforge Creation, she could make a better world -- a world where the Yozis were free and gods and mortals knew their place. As long as the Ebon Dragon and Erembour are bound, though, so is she, and so there are limits to what Alveua can fix. When a suppliant gets her attention by sacrificing an innocent to her, Alveua takes the petitioner and [[ForgingScene forges them into a metal object]]. The mortal doesn't survive, but their spirit lingers on in the object, which is destined to serve the mortal's goals and protect the things they loved for as long as it exists.

* TheBlacksmith: Not the UltimateBlacksmith in Malfeas -- that honor goes to Ligier -- but she is very good at what she does.
* DropTheHammer: She carries a massive, permanently red-hot hammer on one shoulder at all times.
* ElegantGothicLolita: She appears to be a small, thin, pretty young woman wearing a black metal dress, with little horns peeking out of her short red hair.
* FriendToBugs: Insects love Alveua, and will attack anyone who hurts her in swarms.
* LittleMissBadass: She's short, slender, and appears rather delicate. This appearance is misleading.

!'''Aetamos, Brother of Brass and Iron'''
'''Constructive Soul of That Which Calls To The Shadows'''

!'''Emerenzia, the Minister of the Ivory Tassel'''
'''Defining Soul of He Who Deceives'''

!'''Sigereth, the Player of Games'''
'''Indulgent Soul of That Which Wears Down The Mountains'''

When you summon Sigereth, you'll see a slim, hairless boy holding a small box in his hands. The boy is a [[EmptyShell mindless puppet]]; the box is Sigereth. She is a master of all games of strategy, holding all sorts of cards, dice and game pieces within the box. She never plays without wagering something, whether money, property, favors, or even abstractions -- emotions, relationships, memories. Those who wager themselves and lose are turned into Sigereth's First Circle progeny, the baidak.

* ChessWithDeath: If a life is wagered, literally nothing in the world will affect the outcome of the game.
* TheGambler
* SmartPeoplePlayChess
* TheStrategist: Commonly summoned as a tutor in strategy.

!'''Iyutha, the Vitriolic Dragon'''
'''Messenger Soul of That Which Wears Down The Mountains'''

Appearing as either a horrifying black-and-purple dragon or an ugly old hag with rusty iron fingernails, Ithuya is one of the most straightforwardly nasty demons in ''Exalted''. The thought of cooperation or social harmony offends and enrages her, and she lives to sow discord, treachery and hatred wherever she goes.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Actually gains Limit if she goes a full month without betraying someone who trusts her.
* HatePlague: Her mere presence has this effect.

!'''''Kimbery's Dawn'', Dam of the Eristrufa'''
'''Progenitive Soul of The Tide That Knows No Life'''

!'''Janequin, Fortune's Fool'''
'''Indulgent Soul of the Misconstrued Counselor'''

Remondin, the Misconstrued Counselor, knows all possible futures. Janequin personifies his delight in the most outrageous and unlikely ones. One of the most unpredictable demons in Malfeas, she has no purpose but to [[ChaoticNeutral act capriciously on her own whims]]. Although she's a skilled swordswoman, her luck is her greatest weapon.

* BornLucky
* ConspicuousConsumption: She always wears extravagant [[PrettyInMink furs]] and [[PimpedOutDress silks]] and [[EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry jewelry]], and though she's constantly spending money, she always finds more somehow.
* TheGambler
* LovableRogue
* MismatchedEyes: One aquamarine, one rust-colored, both without iris or pupil.
* WindsOfDestinyChange

!'''Isary, the Four-Helmed General'''
'''Warden Soul of the Wayward Child'''

!'''Nizar, the Unending Glance'''
'''Messenger Soul of the Wayward Child'''

!'''Corr'dal, the Slug Mother'''
'''Unknown Progenitor'''

Before we begin to describe Corr'dal, one should hear the story of the Invisible Fortress, masterwork of the ProperlyParanoid First Age Twilight Kal Bax (and, coincidentally, the mentor of the Solars who became the Deathlords Mask of Winters and Walker in Darkness). Unlike his fellows, he suspected that the Usurpation or something similar would occur, so he build a mighty [[PlaceOfPower manse]], the aforementioned Invisible Fortress, to hide from the Bronze Faction and the Dragon-Bloods during the political upheaval. Of course, even a master architect like Bax couldn't create something that needed no maintenance, even with the self-preserving power of manses, so he summoned a Second Circle demon and her entire progeny to protect and defend it. That Second Circle demon was Corr'dal, and her progeny the dal'sharr (though the latter call themselves the Founders now).

Unfortunately, Bax and all of his eleven apprentices died before they could get out (or rather, Bax died and the other, more insane Solars killed each other off soon after) and so, Corr'dal and her children ended up stuck in Creation...in what quite possibly is the most miserable part of it, the [[GrimUpNorth distant]] [[DeathWorld North]]. Needless to say, she isn't particularly a fan of the Exalted. This would simply be another aside, a story about a miserable demon and her spawn guarding a place that no one would bother with...

...Were it not for the fact that as befitting someone called the Slug ''[[EvilMatriarch Mother]]'', Corr'dal has [[DoubleEntendre certain appetites]] that need to be filled. Since the Founders lack the genitals (or given how she's their mother, the desire) to fill said appetites, they have made a habit of rounding up powerful beasts for her to breed with. Being a spirit, many of these actually impregnate her, making her give birth to the [[ItCanThink highly-intelligent]] monsters called ice eaters (so called, because if they don't have fresh food, they'll chew on ice in frustration). As a result, she's become an unintentional bane of the North, and thanks to the mechanics of her binding, she can't permanently die until she's been released from service.

But she's not a dishonorable demon, even if she is passive-aggressive. After all, there might be someone who can free her...

* AnythingThatMoves: She's turned to this out of desperation.
* FantasticRacism: She ''really'' doesn't like Exalts. Can you blame her? That being said, she's willing to swallow her distaste if she thinks they can free her.
* FatBastard / {{Gonk}}: She's called the Slug Mother, what did you expect? That being said, she'd probably get more help if she didn't have such a stubborn and distasteful personality.
* ManipulativeBastard: She isn't ''now'', but before she was bound, she was one of the most adroit speakers in existence, to the point where Kal Bax actually ''crippled her ability'' to manipulate. If she were free, her tongue would very quickly turn superhumanly silver again.
* MotherOfAThousandYoung: Again: Slug ''Mother''. All of her children are sexless, so she actually has to breed to make each and every one of them.
* SealedEvilInACan: Subverted. She'd just like to go back to Malfeas, but her bond of servitude has forced her to remain in Creation, making her more dangerous than she should be.

!'''Erymanthoi, the Blood-Apes'''
'''Progeny of She-Who-Stands-In-Doorways'''

Most Exalted demons, while not peaceful, are rather alien to popular ideas. They aren't ravening monsters, they aren't elemental beings of fury, and they don't kill for the hell of it.

Erymanthoi are the exception that proves the rule.

Carnivorous gorillas with [[SpikesOfVillainy bone spikes]] sticking out of their joints and reddish fur, Erymanthoi are the cheap muscle of the Yozis, with their fast reproduction process (utilizing painful acupuncture to make a blood-ape scream ''just so'' that the sound gathers flesh and becomes a new Erymanthus) makes them cheap and effective soldiers to throw at a problem needing to be dead or harried, and great for heavy lifting. {{Blood Knight}}s to the core, an Erymanthus that is allowed to [[HorrorHunger hunt for his own food]] is a happy Erymanthus, leading them to be the [[MascotMook minion of choice]] for infenalists everywhere.

* BloodLust: It's literally their race's Motivation in general, meaning the average Erymanthus can imagine nothing better to do then hunt and eat the flesh and blood of their enemies.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: ...If you're employing them. For everyone else, it's [[TheUsualAdversaries "oh dear god why won't these crazy apes stop coming oh god."]].
* MascotMook: For the Yozis.
* ZergRush: Subverted. They're common and easily ordered around, but they're pretty effective soldiers in their own right. They just tend to [[OhCrap show up in platoons]].

!'''Neomah, the Weavers of Flesh'''
'''Progeny of the Weaver of Voices'''

Attractive, shapeshifting demons that live to fulfill a business arrangement: negotiable affections in exchange for pieces of flesh from their clients. From these pieces, they create new life, and then move on.

* DesignerBabies: They can be summoned to make them.
* EvilutionaryBiologist: Sort of. They're not particularly good at it.
* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Comes from being able to change gender at will. That being said, the default form of a neomah is a slightly-androgynous female, so neomah traditionally get feminine pronouns.
* HornyDevils: The poster "[[GenderBender girls]]".
* MundaneUtility: That a neomah can produce a child from any donors, and that one of the ways a neomah can be called to Creation is via the mixing of parents' tears and afterbirth of a stillborn child, cannot possibly be coincidence.
* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Purple-Hided Demon Lady]]: A neomah's true form.

!'''Noresores, the Passion Morays'''
'''Progeny of the Weaver of Voices'''

!'''Decanthropes, the Body Snatchers'''
'''Progeny of the Grieving Lord'''

!'''Metody, the Malfean Elementals'''
'''Progeny of the Grieving Lord'''

Metody are the elementals of Vitriol, a liquid that catalyzes growth and transformation. The hate of Malfeas has turned it into an incredibly caustic acid, but Metody can be instructed to cleanse it into its more useful form.

* ElementalPowers: Of a sort.
* HollywoodAcid: Even in its purified state, Vitriol is still a "transcedent acid", a fact metody use to their advantage. Still, if properly used, purified Vitriol can burn away only the weakness of items immersed in it, given, say, silk the resistance of steel while remaining its flexibility and softness.

!'''Gilmyne, the Dancers at the Saigoth Gates'''
'''Progeny of the Guardian of Sleep'''

!'''Perronele, the Living Armor'''
'''Progeny of the Guardian of Sleep'''

!'''Tinsiana, the Scorpion Demons'''
'''Progeny of the Guardian of Sleep'''

!'''Agatae, the Beauteous Wasps'''
'''Progeny of the Whim-of-the-Wind'''

As their title implies, agatae are wasps so impossibly beautiful that even their cruelest summoners can rarely bring themselves to harm one unless their lives depend on it. Big enough to carry two armored men, their purpose is to serve as steeds.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: ...But beautiful ones, and quite likeable overall as demons go.
* HorseOfADifferentColor
* GiantFlyer
* StarfishAliens: Agatae are actually highly intelligent, in an inhuman way that's very difficult to comprehend.
** MoodSwinger: The strange philosophical thoughts they're usually thinking can sometimes trigger bizarre and unpredictable mood swings.

!'''Naneke, the Readers of Forbidden Texts'''
'''Progeny of the Masterful Scholar'''

!'''Gethin, the Harvesters of Rarities'''
'''Progeny of the Living Tower'''

!'''Luminata, the Deer That Hunt Men'''
'''Progeny of the Living Tower'''

From a distance, a luminata looks like a beautiful white deer. Up close, you can see it's actually a deer-shaped mass of writhing white tentacles. It'll generally run from humans...until the hunters stumble or tire. Then, [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted the hunt turns around]].

* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame
* KryptoniteFactor: They're burned by the touch of oak, ash or rowan.

!'''Tomescu, the Clamorous Cloud Arsenals'''
'''Progeny of the Living Tower'''

Many species of demon fight, but there are a few who are exclusively meant for the battlefield, and most of these are motivated by loot, glory, or bloodlust. Not the tomescu. The clamorous cloud arsenals are brave in battle not because of their attitude towards it, but because each and every one of them [[YourDaysAreNumbered knows that it will die, and has a general idea of how]].

It's [[TheFaceless impossible to tell what a tomescu looks like]], because as the title suggests, [[OminousFog they're surrounded by a thick cloud at all times]] (though anecdotal writing suggests they look like a cross between a crab and a praying mantis). What ''is'' visible, though, are the [[MultiWielding dozens of weapons]] they're holding at any given time-and they're very good at wielding them, to the point where they can counter or parry against all attackers in a given combat. The other part of their name refers to an interesting quirk of theirs-every day, at dawn and dusk, the vast majority of clamorous cloud arsenals [[HowlOfSorrow scream in dismay]] at the anticipation of their inevitable doom (and indeed, [[MundaneUtility this is how demons can tell what time it is]]-thanks to [[EndlessDaytime Ligier never setting]], the screams of the tomescu are the only way to tell when it hits night or day in Creation). Only one in 10,000 tomescu don't do this, and 99 times out of a hundred, that's because the individual tomescu is mute or insensate, or they've simply come to terms with their death.

The hundredth? He doesn't scream, [[DyingMomentOfAwesome on the basis that his death is too glorious for him to worry about]]. ''Fear these tomescu''.

* TheFatalist
* ScrewDestiny: They don't actually try this, but thwarting a destiny in Creation occasionally lets one out. Most of the escapees get ganked by Sidereals drawn to the glitches this causes, but there's always going to be a few stragglers...
* {{Seers}}: Due to their interesting relationship with Fate, a tomescu often understands how fairly minor actions can advance the cause of the Yozis. As a result, stopping a tomescu is often a lot easier then ensuring her schemes don't come to fruition.

!'''Gallmau, the Hooded Lanterns'''
'''Progeny of the Answer to the Earth'''

Despite their mother having changed in nature and title, the gallmau are still very much an extant race of demons, still cleaving to the purpose of guiding people through spelunking the Demon City's and Creation's deep places. Serpentine, flexible demons, a gallmau's face is [[EyelessFace little more than a mouth with a pale blue-white glow shining from it]]...right up until they [[GameFace peel their lips back like a hood]], which reveals the source of the light is a rather large tongue, and the inside of their mouth looks something like an [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily ivory flower]].

Guiding people around is not the general GoalInLife of the hooded lanterns, though -- no, that would be [[ExplosiveBreeder making more hooded lanterns]]. And it's pretty easy for them, too -- in a place lit only by its own tongue, a gallmau plucks out a dying person's (human or demon-they aren't picky) teeth and tongue, and impregnates itself with them. [[ExpressDelivery One hour later, it spits out a larval gallmau]], which grows to maturity in a year.

Oh, and if a gallmau is born in Creation, it ''stays'' in Creation, free of any sorcerous bindings on its parent. [[GoddamnedBats Yeah, they can get to be a problem]].

* ALightInTheDistance: Gallmau will resort to this tactic if they can -- and their Charms make their tongue-light seem even more appealing.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Inverted. They're Aliens Full of Other Species' Wing Wong, with the caveat it's not exactly Wing Wong.
* {{Hermaphrodite}}: It's arguable whether they even ''have'' genders, and in any case, all gallmau can give birth.
* KillItWithFire: Why explorers of dark places are advised to carry torches-open flame inflicts aggravated damage on hem.
* TyphoidMary: Their saliva carries rabies. They could not care less.

!'''Angyalkae, the Harpists'''
'''Progeny of the Kite Flute'''

!'''Teodozjia, the Lions Sent Into The World'''
'''Progeny of the Kite Flute'''

Teodozjia look like [[PantheraAwesome big jade lions]]. Their purpose is to recite and spread their scripture, which teaches the folly of loving mortal things when it is the will of the Yozis that humanity should wither and die.

* AntiChrist: The teodozjia attack priests of the gods on sight.
* CrossMeltingAura: Their presence taints and destroys holy symbols.
* HiveMind: Every teodozjia shares the same mind and memories.
* TheMissionary

!'''Amphelisiae, the Teakettle Courtiers'''
'''Progeny of the Jewelled Auditor'''

!'''Demjen, the Quickeners of Ores'''
'''Progeny of the Jewelled Auditor'''

[[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Mermaid]] (and merman)-like demons with the ability to [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial swim in the air]], demjen are one of the Adorjani demon races whose music their progenitor cannot stand, but unlike their anglykae cousins, music is not their end goal as well-rather, it's the [[MagicMusic magic]] by which they get their name: by singing at metals, a demjen can cause it to animate and assemble itself into a crustacean-shaped RobotBuddy called a chalcothete, which serve as both minion and [[EatTheDog occasional food source]] (though the demjen honestly hate it when they have to do that). While not mean by any stretch (they have a Compassion of 3 and their general GoalInLife is simply to create more chalcothetes from unworked metal), they can be a real pain in the hands of a clever master-''any'' metal is game for their abilities, up to and including that used in weapons. Thus, a demjen able to get within voiceshot of a heavily armed warrior can walk away with a dozen more chalcothetes, and the warrior either naked and/or dead, depending on the quickener's mood.

* FearlessFool: Not them, but chalcothetes simply don't care if they die, only about the pain. They are also rather stupid.
* SirensAreMermaids: They look like merpeople, and they universally posses a nice set of pipes.

!'''Marottes, the Hopping Puppeteers'''
'''Progeny of the Jewelled Auditor'''

An inactive marotte looks like a fist-sized knot of rope covered in disgusting slime. When it's active, several gangly legs extend from the central mass. Naturally driven to alter their environment, they're very handy for construction jobs.

Hopping puppeteers are particularly notable for being very fond of human infants...in more or less the same way humans are fond of flowers: while they really genuinely like the infants, it's in a way that [[LackOfEmpathy doesn't involve empathizing with them]] or knowing anything about how to take care of them. Given the opportunity, a marotte will carry around as many babies as it can manage until it notices they've died of thirst, at which point it drops the corpses and wanders off to look for fresh ones.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: In the most disturbingly literal way!
* BlackComedy: There's a lot of potential for it in the whole infant obsession.
** Not actually DeadBabyComedy as we define the trope, however.
* InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers
* PoisonousPerson: Their slime is not exactly literally poisonous, but it is addictive, and once the addiction has progressed far enough it generally leads to attempts to ingest an entire inactive marotte, which will kill you.

!'''Chrysogonae, the Crying Women'''
'''Progeny of the Sigil's Dreamer'''

Ever wonder what the Exalted version of a "demonic tempter" is? Well, this is them.

A chrysogona resembles what would happen if you took a tree and carved it to resemble an impossibly old woman with a Tragedy mask for a face, who walks on her long branch-fingers (but ''not'' by moving them-rather, when they want to go somewhere they grow new finger-branches while burning the excess ones). [[ManipulativeBastard Master manipulators]], chrysogonae feed on [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]], to the point where an ambitious subordinate overthrowing his rightful (by cultural standards) leader can allow one to escape Malfeas without summoning. They set about this by encouraging people to act on their desires instead of their needs, so a smart summoner sets them to advise their enemies and watches from a safe distance as they self-destruct.

That being said, their common appellation arises from something that actually [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusts them]]-the crying women despise beauty being destroyed or true love betrayed, and that's what causes them to turn on the WaterWorks. But don't be fooled-they won't hesitate if their summoner orders them, and even when they're gone, a piece of themselves remains in those they manipulate-[[ParanoiaFuel and their crying can be heard in the rain...]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: They're fairly civil, for demons. But they're still some of the most dangerous off the battefield.
* EmotionEater: Ambition is the only sustenance they find palatable.
* ObviouslyEvil: Lampshaded-the text of their [[CharmPerson Subtle Whisper]] ability points out it's the only thing that allows a chrysogona to be trusted.
* TheVirus: A chrysogonae's bite causes their victims to transfigure into wood. Thanks to their HealingFactor, Exalts can recover, but a mortal killed by this has their wooden corpse quickly turn itself into a new chrysogona. Thankfully, they can't use this to create a [[ZombieApocalypse Crying Women Apocalypse]]-they're rather frail.

!'''Bisclavarets, the Shadow Eaters'''
'''Progeny of the Shadow-Lover'''

!'''Firmin, the Makers of Needles'''
'''Progeny of the Keeper of the Forge of Night'''

!'''Sesseljae, the Stomach Bottle Bugs'''
'''Progeny of the Keeper of the Forge of Night'''

!'''Aalu, the Cannibal Bureaucrats'''
'''Progeny of the Minister of the Ivory Tassel'''

!'''Baidak, the Empty Pawns'''
'''Progeny of the Player of Games'''

!'''Radeken, the Madling Hellstorms'''
'''Progeny of the Vitriolic Dragon'''

!'''Eristrufa, the Mist-Demons'''
'''Progeny of the Dam of the Eristrufa'''

!'''Heranhal, the Fervid Smiths'''
'''Progeny of the Blood of the Forge'''

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Pretty much -- they're womanizers, and they're excellent blacksmiths. They just happen to have a wider range of crafts then most dwarves in fiction.

!'''Anuhles, the Demon Spiders'''
'''Progeny of everyone and their mother'''
[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Fair Folk]]
'''The Fair Folk'''

TheFairFolk -- or raksha, as they call themselves -- are, to put it simply, sentient aspects of [[ChaosWorld the Wyld]].

In their native, Unshaped forms, the raksha appear as a combination GeniusLoci[=/=]HiveMind -- a setting, and the major characters within it. [[WildMassGuessing (The similarities to the Primordials have been noted.)]] To survive in Creation, they must take on a shaped form, and subsist off the emotions of mortals. They don't ''have'' to damage the mortals they feed on... but it's often more nourishing for them.

Being effectively {{Eldritch Abomination}}s in the guise of living stories, the raksha don't think like mortals do. They think in terms of narratives and stories -- what is most dramatically appropriate. They put on roles and cast them off as they see fit. That the Creation-born don't think this way can be a source of resentment or fascination for the raksha, depending.

One thing that may help to understand something of raksha psychology: in their native realms, normal actions ''don't matter'', since they can just shrug them off. The only real way for raksha to have an impact on one another is through shaping combat, their reality-warping games. Creation, and the Creation-born, ignore this, enforcing their reality on the raksha. When something of Creation acts on the raksha, that action has lasting results, and cannot be shrugged off. As with so much else about Creation, this leaves the raksha... conflicted.

* ArbitrarilyLargeBankAccount: Raksha can turn gossamer (a substance they harvest from the Wyld or the dreams of mortals) into anything, including money. A Raksha with a Gossamer 3 Background has the equivalent of Resources 5 in Creation. At Gossamer 4, they can make three Resources 5 level purchases (i.e., palaces or private armies) per game session. And at Gossamer 5, they can make infinite Resources 5 purchases until the Wyld Hunt or the Sidereals get curious enough to investigate. And then it is time to run.
* BarehandedBladeBlock: Your basic Raksha defensive Charms provide this in Creation.
* TheBeastmaster: "World-Angering Beast Mastery" and "Thousand Gnawing Fangs" provide this power.
* TheBeautifulPeople: Raksha nobles are fabled for their superhuman Appearance ratings. And there are Raksha Charms that make the user so beautiful that [[CharmPerson people will do whatever they want]] or even [[FantasticDrug become physically addicted to their presence]].
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: They honestly don't understand why their actions have permanent consequences in Creation, and that frightens them to no end.
* ChangelingTale: Quite often, Raksha in Creation will satiate their hungers by abducting a mortal to MindRape. This practice, probably more than any other, is what makes them so feared. On the other hand, many just [[PragmaticVillainy buy slaves from the Guild]] instead.
* ChurchMilitant: The Church of Balor draws its thematic from that trope-even though most raksha know it's just another story to keep themselves alive and entertained.
* CreativeSterility: Paradoxically, since they can't create anything lasting, raksha have a hard time drawing new ideas from themselves without giving themselves partially over to Creation-in which case they aren't truly raksha anymore.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: All Raksha courts are these.
* TheDreaded: ''Nothing'' scares the {{Muggles}} more than the Fair Folk. Even many Dragon-Blooded see them as bigger threats than the Solar Exalts.
* EldritchAbomination: Unshaped Raksha.
* ElementalEmbodiment: "Assumption of (Element) Shape" will turn a Raksha into this.
* ElementalPowers: The Elemental Influence Charm tree.
* EmotionBomb: The Emotional Influence Charm tree.
* EmotionEater: In their case, the Virtues. If they chew on down long enough, the victim is left a [[EmptyShell mindless husk]].
* TheFairFolk: ''[[CaptainObvious No]]''. [[SarcasmMode Really? We never would have guessed]].
* FateWorseThanDeath: A mortal who falls in with the Raksha will be repeatedly {{Mind Rape}}d until he/she becomes a soulless, near-mindless drone. And then he/she will probably be sold to the Guild as a slave.
* {{Glamour}}: All Raksha Charms that affect the world around them are called "glamours," but certain Charms are what this trope describes. Most Raksha use them to recruit victims for [[EmotionEater feeding]].
* HumanoidAbomination: Shaped Raksha.
* HumansAreCthulhu: Sort of. They understand humans perfectly well, and admire our imaginations. Creation ''itself'' freaks them out.
* ImAHumanitarian: The hannya, the generation of Unshaped that arose after the Balorian Crusade. They are endlessly hungry, predatory stories, and what they prey on is other raksha.
* ItAmusedMe: If a shaped Raksha is not an OmnicidalManiac, this will probably be its motivation.
* LackOfEmpathy: Most Raksha, specifically those with a Compassion Grace below a certain level. They don't understand that other creatures are not merely an extension of their will.
* LittleBitBeastly / PettingZooPeople: Depending on how many Mutations a Raksha with "Assumption of Bestial Visage" takes, they will appear to be one or the other.
* MagicallyBindingContract: A Raksha who swears an oath is compelled to fulfill it or suffer severe consequences. Some Creation-born think they can trick Raksha into making such an oath and thereby control them, but any Raksha worth its salt is a master of LoopholeAbuse and ExactWords for precisely that reason.
* MasterOfIllusion: In the Wyld, Raksha are {{Reality Warper}}s. In Creation, they have to make do with spreading a little gossamer into the surrounding reality and creating illusions of what they want. These illusions last a season (or until the Raksha leaves reality and heads back to the Wyld), but YourMindMakesItReal until that happens.
* MindRape: In theory, a Raksha requires consent to use its EmotionEater powers on you. In practice, "consent" obtained through MindManipulation counts. This creates something of a disincentive for a Raksha to take the time to talk to you into it.
* NighInvulnerability: A Raksha with "Bastion of the Self (Heart)" is totally immune to all forms of damage except those delivered by magic or weapons forged of ColdIron.
* OmnicidalManiac: Many Raksha want to destroy all of Creation and return all to the Wyld. On the other hand, many, if not most, have [[GoingNative gone native]] and want to keep Creation around, if only ForTheEvulz.
* OurElvesAreBetter: Enforced by game mechanics. A Raksha noble is at least better than average in all Attributes, the peak of human achievement in most, and superhuman in at least a couple. And then there's the Charm that grants them automatic successes on a chosen skill.
* PsychopathicManchild: Most of them. They just don't "get" how reality works. Specific areas they have trouble grasping include the sentience of other creatures and the permanence of death.
* RealityWarper: In the Wyld, a Raksha noble can summon up and dismiss whatever it wants: objects, buildings, mythical beasts, whole countries full of people, whatever. They need to use a Charm to make it permanent, but those are easy enough for a noble to learn.
* SpeakOfTheDevil: Saying their name won't actually summon them, but most mortals believe it will. Hence, "the Fair Folk."
* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: The closest thing the Wyld has to a law of physics. Raksha glamours work by bringing a little of that into Creation and spreading it around.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: In the Wyld, a shaped Raksha can look like whatever it wants. In Creation, they have to make do with Charms (which have to fit the theme of their Assumption).
* WeaksauceWeakness: ColdIron.
* TheWildHunt: Both inverted and played straight. The Wyld Hunt is actually an organization of Dragon-Blooded originally tasked with hunting down Raksha that stray into Creation (but having since undergone mission creep to the point that their primary targets are now Solar and Lunar Exalted). The Raksha themselves do often play out this trope, though, especially in the South.

'''Ishvara'''

The ishvara are the ultimate stage of raksha development, their effective apotheosis; so rare are they that only a handful have ever been recorded in all of existence. An ishvara's personal legend has become so strong, so powerful, that everyone - not just other raksha, ''everyone'' - goes along with it, and in the process the raksha in question is transfigured into a myth incarnate, a being of terrible power. They can even stand in combat against one of the Celestial Incarnae, wielding their own unique and potent Charms. None have won, so far, but it's been a close-run thing...

!'''The Fomorian Dream'''

The Fomorian Dream took the form of a great darkness that shrouded the sky from horizon to horizon, and thundered with the steps of a nightmare beast. He declared that he would crush Creation between his teeth, and managed to battle the Unconquered Sun for a full day before finally being destroyed.

* BrownNote: To imagine the creature that made the Dream's steps was to die of fear on the spot.

!'''Prince Laashe, the Morning Star'''

The Unconquered Sun is perfect, but not infallible.

Laashe's court was in the middle of a war against Creation when its then-leader attempted to catch the Unconquered Sun's Godspear, and was vaporised in the process. Laashe ascended to the throne, and promptly surrendered.

He convinced Ignis Divine that he wished to live in peace with Creation, and that with an oath from the Unconquered Sun that he would not attack Laashe to back him up, he would have the authority to help prevent other raksha from attacking. Impressed, the Unconquered Sun swore that so long as Laashe never sent his forces against Creation, he would not so much as raise his hand against him.

However, the oath didn't stop Laashe from making war on other raksha courts, and this he did, making himself a tyrant, murderer, and torturer. As he did so, he told his greatest story yet - Ignis Divine would come to strike him down with the Godspear, but he would return from the ashes as something greater.

When the Unconquered Sun heard of Laashe's atrocities, and his boastful story, he realised he had been tricked, and set out to deliver justice. Seeing what Laashe had done, Ignis Divine broke his oath, and struck Laashe down with the Godspear, before returning to the Daystar. However, Laashe had faked his death, taking advantage of the broken oath to hide himself upon Ignis Divine's person.

As the Unconquered Sun slept upon the Daystar, Laashe resumed humanoid form, shook hands with the Sun's shadow, sought out the Daystar's heart, and cast himself in. Almost anyone else would have been destroyed utterly, but for Laashe it was part of the story he had created. There, in the heart of the sun, he took hold of a narrative that gave him power and might enough to rival the Unconquered Sun, and ascended.

To Creation he returned, on a torrent of flame, and there forced the sun to set. For a moment, the sky became morning, and Laashe the only star therein.

Once the Unconquered Sun returned the Daystar to its proper place, he descended upon Creation to strike Laashe down one last time - only to find Laashe devouring mortal souls. Ignis Divine could not slay Laashe without destroying those souls, which his great compassion could not accept; and despite everything he had done, he had not violated his original oath, denying the Unconquered Sun another font of power.

Laashe pressed his advantage, seeking to imprison Ignis Divine in a tomb of jade - but when it seemed he was on the verge of triumph, he disappeared.

For Laashe had forgotten that Ignis Divine was not Creation's only defender. Luna caught hold of him, of the Wyld in him, pulled him into the Beyond, her birthplace and crucible - and in doing so, made it that he never existed.

He rages there still, and will for all eternity.

* AndIMustScream
* BatmanGambit
* SealedEvilInACan: Currently stuck in the Beyond, the Forge of Oramus, ie [[EldritchLocation "The Place Where Things That Cannot Be Exist".]]
* TricksterArchetype: His ascension into an ishvara was catalyzed when he ''tricked the Unconquered Sun''. (It's left unclear who 'the Sun's shadow' of the story refers to - quite a few take it to mean Laashe impressed the Ebon Dragon.)

!'''Prince Balor of the Terrible Gaze'''

Looking at a map of Creation in the First Age, you may notice it was once bigger. As in, ninety percent bigger. And that there weren't nearly as many pockets of the Wyld.

Balor would be the main reason-but still, you have to thank him. After all, without his bit of the Wyld mutating the survivors, the [[ThePlague Great Contagion]] [[NiceJobFixingItVillain would probably have killed all of them]].

An ishvara Anarch (a raksha defining himself as a wandering warrior-diplomat, essentially) who defined himself around the mythical role of "the One Who Will Take Back Creation For The Wyld", Balor, with some assistance from the unshaped Thief of Words, was able to organize the leaders of the raksha at that time (Princess Melusine, the Duke of Mirrors, the sisters Incarnadine and Viridian) into a great Crusade that attacked Creation from all sides, having been explicitly allowed to by the First and Forsaken Lion and Eye and Seven Despairs. He proved himself a brilliant tactician and skilled leader, dissolving much of Creation back into the Wyld with ruthless efficiency. His most awe-inspiring accomplishment, however, was to actually organize the raksha into a coherent military-as might be expected from what is essentially a race of chaos elementals, [[WeAreStrugglingTogether the Fair Folk are not particularly bound to each other]].

And unfortunately (for him, miraculously for Creation), that same disorganization is what killed him.

As mentioned above, raksha thrive on stories and heroic drive, and the conquest of Creation was a grand story indeed. However, when it appeared the raksha might actually ''win'', Melusine began to fear that its actual destruction might destroy him without a cause to fight for. Far better, in her eyes, to ensure he was martyred and become a legend, to be toasted to when the raksha won. So, she convinced the sisters to murder him, and so ensure his name live on forever.

And it was at that moment that the Scarlet Empress [[BigDamnHeroes figured out how to operate the Sword of Creation]].

And so the Balorian Crusade, without its leader to put them back together, was destroyed and routed, and the raksha fell back into disorganization. What's more, they found they could not escape back to the Wyld-Balor's legend had shaped the mortal idea of the Wyld as a vast predator, and [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve thanks to the mechanics of unshaped creation]], had given rise to the ''hannya'', who would devour their cousins with relish.

But, ironically, his name ''did'' live forever. It is likely that the aftereffects of the Crusade will be felt for Ages to come, and-well, there's a reason it's called the Church of ''Balor''. So, maybe it doesn't matter.

* DarkMessiah: To the raksha, though they would dispute "dark"...
* EvilEye: His title came from a unique ability of his to instantly Shape anyone he glared at out of existence. Which was one of his ''less'' powerful abilities.
* PosthumousCharacter
* NearVillainVictory: If it wasn't for his men and the Sword of Creation.


'''Notable Unshaped Raksha'''

!'''Princess Melusine of the Glittering Train'''

!'''The Duke of Mirrors'''

!'''Incarnadine and Viridian'''

!'''Thief of Words'''

!'''Orchinast, the Golden Mirror'''

!'''Salt That Cuts'''

!'''Semiramis, the Whisperer in the Leaves'''

!'''Swar, the City of Formlessness Constrained'''

!'''Prince Ginnungagap'''

'''Notable Shaped Raksha'''

!'''Neshi of the Double Whips'''

!'''Dilari of the Sea Foam'''

!'''Nlassa of the Lion's Mane'''

!'''Shizuki the Weaver'''

!'''Lord Kazour'''

!'''Subarto'''

!'''The Laughing Boy'''

!'''Judge Nehemeth'''

'''Hannya'''

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder: Ghosts]]
'''Ghosts'''

!'''The Dual Monarchy'''

'''Deathlords'''

Some nihilistic ghosts, whether out of madness, vengeance, or despair, swear themselves into the service of the Neverborn, working towards their agenda of ending all that is. The greatest of these servants are the Deathlords, [[CompleteMonster the souls of the most decadent and vile Solars of the First Age]].

!'''The First and Forsaken Lion'''
Often considered the greatest deathlord in terms of personal power, resources, and military prowess, The First and Forsaken Lion is often the standard BigBad for most {{Exalted}} games. [[FanNickname FaFL]] [[NeverLiveItDown is most famous for]] being spot-welded to his armor by his Neverborn masters after botching the Great Contagion by involving the Fair Folk invasion that is believed to have halted the Contagion in its tracks. [[OrcusOnHisThrone He's now banished to a far off mountain range, gathering resources and plotting his next move on Creation,]] [[JustifiedTrope so that he doesn't mess up a second time.]]

* BigBad: A favorite of Storytellers when starting a campaign.
* EvilOverlord: The most obvious example in {{Exalted}}, though he plays with the trope since he wants to send everything into oblivion instead of conquering Creation. Maybe...
* OrcusOnHisThrone: After [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment how he was punished last time,]] he wants to make sure he succeeds this time.
* ScaryImpracticalArmor: His trademark. Not that he has any choice in the matter, though.

!'''The Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate In Unrent Veils'''
The discoverer of the Great Contagion, the Dowager is a civilized savage (to the point where some Deathlords think she's an ex-Lunar), and a powerful necromancer. One of the three canon Deathlords that plans to actually destroy Creation (the others want to rule over its corpse), the Dowager is a shameless psychopath and torturer, even worse than some of her contemporaries. [[MoralEventHorizon See: her orphanage]].

* EldritchAbomination: ''All'' of her forms. They have to qualify, seeing as how she keeps [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes asps for fingers]] and cloven hooves.
* EldritchLocation: The Dowager lords over the Well of Udr, a dimensional nexus where all possible realities collide and disintegrate. Anyone who looks into it without proper protection goes mad. She had such protection, and was able to extract the Great Contagion from the Well.
* EvilOldFolks: Her human form looks a little past middle age.
* OrphanageOfFear: Hoo boy. She steals the children of villages she's killed, raises them with [[SarcasmMode all the love and affection]] of a mass murderer, furbishes their rooms with soulsteel ''made from the ghosts of their parents'', then proceeds to release them once they come of age...until they have children of their own, at which point she attacks them and ''does the whole thing over again''. She ''says'' this is to create the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds ideal Abyssal]], but she's been at it a lot longer then they've been around, meaning that she just has a reason other than ForTheEvulz now.
** Or to put it shorthand, the setting's equivalent of [[Characters/NewGods Granny Goodness]].
* VoluntaryShapeshifter: All the Deathlords are, really, but she's mastered it.

!'''Eye and Seven Despairs'''
Some of the Solars did not do very nice things in the First Age, and Eye and Seven Despairs is testament to being on the losing side of that. He was the youngest in his circle, and was in fact the next incarnation of their lost member. This means he was, effectively, their punching bag, and lined up for all sorts of abuse. This culminated in being told that everything was over, his circle mates had realized what dicks they were being, and presenting him with a gift that would make it all up to him -- [[EyeScream his father's eye]]. He killed himself right after this, and claims to have been the first Solar ghost to sell himself to the Neverborn.

And what has he accomplished with this? Absolutely ''dick''. He's a genius among the Neverborn, able to do things no one else has. But he hasn't done anything to actually kill Creation because he's busy focusing on tracking down the reincarnations of his old circle and doing hideous things to them, over and over again, for all time. As such, he's the lowest in station among the Deathlords, even compared to Princess Magnificent (who almost got shunted into the Void for her grand screw-up).

* BrilliantButLazy: He has made, among other things, a [[ZombieApocalypse plague that raises its victims as zombies]] and Cold House (see below). But he hasn't actually done anything with this stuff because of his obsession.
* ButtMonkey: This is who he was in the First Age and, given his current interests, who he is among the Deathlords. It's gotten to the point where his only Abyssal servant (who he Exalted mainly to fill a quota) is considering throwing himself behind some other undead master.
* EldritchLocation: His particular manse, Cold House, is both somehow in Creation and overlooking the Void ''at the same time''.
* GenderBender: In addition to ShapeshiftingSquick below, he also has as one of his primary alternate identities the Prioress of Bloody Sands.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: ShrugOfGod says that it's quite possible for a storyteller to make it so that his {{Harmless Villain}}y is really a cover so he can bide his time.
* RevengeBeforeReason: His modus operandi.
* ShapeshiftingSquick: One of his favorite ways to break the reincarnations of his circle mates is to take on the form of one of their lovers (or someone they'd fall for) and then sow discord from there.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Look at what happened to him in the First Age, and you see he may just have a point. Well, if he tried actually destroying anything besides his old circle.

!'''The Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears'''
Another walking testament in NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast, the Lover believes in both the little death and the big one. She wants to take all of Creation to the limits of pleasure, and by showing them how fleeting it is, instill a cosmic urge for suicide. Her fellow Deathlords mainly think she's using this as an excuse to get off, and don't think too highly of her.

* CombatSadomasochist: She pioneered the Laughing Wounds Style of martial arts, which uses BDSM tools and gear as form armor and weapons and grants the user bonuses based on how much pain they're feeling.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Her First Age incarnation did something so hideous that even the Silver Prince -- who's widely believed to be the ghost of [[CompleteMonster Desus]] -- looks on her with fear.
* NietzscheWannabe: Even ''before'' she was a Deathlord.
* OutWithABang: She takes a ''lot'' of lovers... mainly because most of them don't survive the experience.
* TooKinkyToTorture: Again, Laughing Wounds Style.
* TheVamp: ''Boy howdy''.
* XanatosGambit: She created a giant soulsteel warstrider that ended up getting captured by Lookshy for inspection. It's stated that she did this mainly so it would end up in Lookshy's possession...

!'''The Bishop of The Chalcedony Thurible'''
One of the other Deathlords that seeks to destroy Creation altogether (and friends with the final one, Walker in Darkness), the Bishop is also, oddly, the [[WellIntentionedExtremist most sympathetic]] one. Somewhere along the line, he came to believe that existence is the root of all suffering. He took that to its [[OmnicidalManiac logical conclusion]] and decided that Oblivion is the only really meaningful thing. What makes him ''sympathetic'' is that he...really isn't a jerk about it. Truthfully, he thinks that he can willingly convert everyone to his philosophy of suicide, and while he's certainly willing to resort to [[TraumaCongaLine blunt means]] to get his point across, he prefers to be as peaceful as his position will allow him.

He's also the first of the four Deathlords that has the Sidereal known as the Green Lady on staff, though he thinks she's a guy.

* ActualPacifist: To an extent. He doesn't object to violence, he just thinks it's pointless since most ghosts [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnate]] without persuasion.
* EldritchLocation: The "Chalcedony Thurible" in his name, also known as the Hidden Tabernacle. Besides being a fairly spooky monastery, it has the ability to teleport anywhere he desires.
* HannibalLecture: ''Huge'' fan of these.
* SinisterMinister: Buddhist version.
* TomeOfEldritchLore: The ''Tome of the Endless Night'', [[HannibalLecture the treatise on his philosophy]]. Has been known to cause people to GoMadFromTheRevelation, just as he intended.
* XanatosSucker: [[ShrugOfGod Maybe.]] He's the most bamboozled as to the Green Lady's real identity (he thinks she's a very ''[[SamusIsAGirl male]]'' Endings named Ten Thousand Whispers), but only one other Deathlord is aware she's on his staff, and he's (mostly) friends with that one.

!'''The Bodhisattva Anointed by Dark Waters'''
Some Deathlords are keen to preach philosophy, or conquer, or torment and harrow. Not the Silver Prince. He rules openly, and clearly, and fairly. In the Skullstone Archipelago, he oversees a transhumanist religion and government that focuses on fairness in both this life and beyond. The ghosts of the dead are full citizens, and encouraged to provide for the state on both sides of death in return for noble rewards.

It's all a hideous lie, of course. The Bodhisattva has set all this up so that he has a steady stream of souls willing to throw themselves upon his forges (not that they know it until it's too late) so that he can build up an armada of necrotech and soulsteel. He built the religion of the Archipelago, vanished for a few centuries, and returned so that he could claim the rewards. And he has a plan...

...Assuming the Green Lady, who is also on his staff, doesn't stab him in the back beforehand.

* TheChessmaster: He's been pulling off a ''very'' long plot, centuries in the making. And it's pretty clear he has everything planned out; when the Scarlet Empress vanished, he was relieved, as that shaved a few centuries off the whole thing.
* TheNecrocracy: Set up an apparent Type 4 that's really a Type 3.
* PathOfInspiration: The religion he set up has souls who've fulfilled their purpose going on to a better reward. In reality, they're turned into soulsteel.
* XanatosSucker: Green Lady, again. He knows she's a girl, but thinks she's very young for an Exalt (she's an elder) and is named Unfolding Corpse-White Lotus. Again, [[ShrugOfGod maybe]].

!'''Mask of Winters'''
The main reason the people of Creation know Deathlords exist, and the only one whose living identity we know (Larquen Quen). Four years before the return of the Solars, he marched out of the Underworld and laid siege to the city of Thorns. Thanks to his army of deathknights and his [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot undead behemoth]], he managed to claim the city. He now rules over it with a firm hand, and has even set about reestablishing trade relations with pretty much everyone. He's the "kind" tyrant, the one who rules the conquered city and plans to extend his hand to the rest of the world.

[[spoiler: ...except in Return Of The Scarlet Emperess, wherein Her Redness pwns him.]]

* TheChessmaster: Not as keen on playing the long game as the Silver Prince, but he does have a hand in all the affairs of Thorns and is slowly working his grip outwards, both through his machinations and that ever-expanding shadowland of his.
* EvilOverlord: Somewhat more suave about it than the First and Forsaken Lion.
* EvilVsEvil: He and Walker in Darkness do ''not'' like each other. Which makes sense because he killed Walker's living self (though thanks to LaserGuidedAmnesia, Walker doesn't know that).
* GenreBlindness: His FatalFlaw-he doesn't realize that a lot of his schemes are well-treaded in the supervillain world.
* {{Kaiju}}: His personal behemoth, Juggernaut, is an undead citadel behemoth that was one of the key parts of his siege engine.
* [[spoiler: SortingAlgorithmOfEvil]]: [[spoiler: Ends up on the losing side]] in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'', when [[spoiler: the Empress's first act upon returning is to grab the reins of the Realm Defense Grid and nuke Thorns right off the map.]]
* TwoFaced: His title descends from the fact that he wears a mask with two faces -- one face is happy, and the other face is displeased. Each side takes up the front or back of his head, and he indicates his mood by reversing every joint in his body so that the side in question is now facing his subject.
* XanatosSucker: Yup, the Green Lady's playing him, too -- and he's the one who's got the hooks in deepest, as he loved her ''before'' he went all Deathlord.

!'''Princess Magnificent with Lips of Coral and Robes of Black Feathers'''
Princess Magnificent was one of the key figures in making sure the Great Contagion reached all corners of Creation. Resting high on the laurels of her success, she settled in the East and attempted to establish dominance as "the Heron" over three tribes with their own gods. And that's where she screwed up, as the three gods of what would become Great Forks drove her off with a story. A resonant, glorious story, but a story nonetheless. She was forced to flee, and her bosses weren't happy. She was about to be tossed headfirst into Oblivion until the First and Forsaken Lion spoke up on her behalf, offering to take her under his wing. She's been there ever since, extremely bitter and trying to make her own way.

* ButtMonkey: She's the second lowest in regard amongst the Deathlords, was stripped of absolutely none of her faculties after being shanghaied into the Lion's service, and has spent every minute of her existence since then dreading and loathing.
* EldritchLocation: Her former citadel, the House of Bitter Reflections. When she fled, she cursed it, and mortals who live there tend to die, their souls dragged screaming into the Void.
* OverlyLongName: Her name is pretty much the longest of all the named Deathlords.
* ParasolOfPain: Her weapon of choice is the Umbrella of Discord, woven from the flesh and bones of five dead Solars.
* TheStarscream: She's just looking for the right moment to stick the dagger between the Lion's shoulder blades.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Almost ended up a victim of this.

!'''Walker in Darkness'''
Some Deathlords do it ForTheEvulz, for power, for revenge, or for the orgasms. Walker in Darkness does it because he truly, honestly believes that dumping all of Creation into the great cosmic garbage disposal is a good thing. The warrior-priest of the Deathlords, he regularly takes to the field and preaches the word of Oblivion. He's also got a grudge against Mask of Winters, but he'll be damned if he can remember ''why''...

...Oh yeah, and the Green Lady is on ''his'' staff as well.

* AnAxeToGrind: His weapon of choice, the Ebon Spires of Pyrron, is a gigantic grimcleaver that no non-magical creature can ever hope to lift.
* ColonelBadass: Whereas other Deathlords are content to just send their deathknights out with vague orders, the Walker is more than happy to join them on the field, fighting the same fight.
* EvilVsEvil: It's left unstated if he dislikes Mask Of Winters because of residual memories or because of the latter's recurrent GenreBlindness. Either way, they spend as much time scheming against each other as they do actually pursuing their goals.
* FantasticCasteSystem: For all his positive traits, the Walker in Darkness believes every Abyssal should be good at ''every'' part of their Caste skills, which means he'll occasionally have Daybreaks who specialize in necromancy and necromancy alone try to put together soulsteel warstriders.
** This also results in some rather [[WhatAnIdiot boneheaded]] position assignments-he gave a Dusk who is quite legtimately insane-and not AxCrazy, ''insane''-control of his armies, and his Moonshadow ambassador to the Funeral City of Sijan? An ''ex-gladiator''.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: The Walker in Darkness doesn't remember that Larquen Quen, the Solar who became Mask of Winters, betrayed him and murdered him.
* XanatosSucker: The Walker believes he wooed the Green Lady away from both Heaven and the command of the Mask of Winters. He is wrong on at least one count there.

[[/folder]]
----
[[folder:The Rest]]

'''Dragon Kings'''

[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Mayan/Aztecan styled dinosaurs who are effectively immortal, and realize their previous lives' memories and abilities as they grow older, starting out as feral creatures when they're hatched.]]

----

'''Mountain Folk'''

OurDwarvesAreDifferent. The Mountain Folk are a race of people [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame born out of rocks found deep underground in Creation]]. Except that only some castes are short, surly, bearded fellows. Some of them are [[OurElvesAreDifferent tall, lithe, pretty, and have pointed ears]]. They're all basically [[FairFolk Raksha]] who were [[SealedArmyInACan caught]] in the formation of Creation. This of course drastically changed their natures, and they went from being creatures of story to creatures of work. They were awakened by Autochthon, whom they worship and revere.

----

'''God-Blooded'''

The HalfHumanHybrids of the setting, God-Bloods are the children of the various supernatural beings in {{Exalted}} and mortals. They're stronger than the average [[PunyEarthlings mortal]] but are usually weaker than an [[ShowyInvincibleHero Exalted]] in power. In spite of being called God-Bloods in general, they're divided by their supernatural parentage. These include [[OurGodsAreGreater God-Blooded]], [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demon-Blooded]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghost-Blooded]], [[TheFairFolk Fae-Blooded]], the Half Caste children of powerful Exalted and [[{{Squick}} Beastmen]].

* HalfHumanHybrid
* [[SemiDivine Semi Spirits]]: All of them, essentially.

!'''The Lintha Family'''

Demon-Blooded descendants of the Yozi Kimbery, the Lintha are a thousands-strong extended family of thieves and killers who dwell on Bluehaven, a living island that is part demon and part lashed-together shipwrecks. They control a vast pirate fleet, extensive slavery operations, and, through a network of witting and unwitting fronts, a growing land-based criminal empire in the Southwest of Creation.

* BodyHorror: Lots and lots of Lintha have Wyld mutations. Furthermore, many Lintha ritualistically castrate themselves for religious reasons, and any non-pureblood who hopes to visit Bluehaven is required to be castrated.
* CardCarryingVillain: As close as you can get in Exalted-they openly worship Kimbery, they are gleeful slavers, and they want to TakeOverTheWorld.
* TheClan
* CompletelyMissingThePoint: The incest-and-castration bit was actually cribbed from an Ancient Lintha's writings that was actually filtering their glories through a NostalgiaFilter. He himself was actually documenting how sure he was the Lintha would go extinct, not laying down a guide book for how to return to glory.
* TheDon: The senior grandmother of a sept (the individual clans within the Family) fills this role. Dukantha (Kimbery's [[TheDragon favorite akuma]]) is often one for the Family as a whole.
* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether
* FantasticRacism: Against all non-Lintha.
* IHaveYourWife: Initiates into the Family are required to turn over a child or close family member as a hostage to ensure their loyalty. The hostages [[GildedCage live in supreme luxury]]...unless the initiate ever betrays the Family, at which point they are tortured in prolonged and inventive ways.
* ImAHumanitarian: The Lintha often consume the flesh of other Lintha as a sign of respect.
* {{Irony}}: Where do we ''start''...?
** See CompletelyMissingThePoint above-and keep in mind that it's canon that interbreeding with normal humans wouldn't dilute the blood, and may actually start reviving its potency.
** They claim to honor the Ancient Lintha, an ancient [[OurElvesAreDifferent elf-like]] race created by Kimbery. Their ghosts are still around, and they are disgusted by the Family.
** And last, but not least-their living island, Lintha Ng Hut Oroo, is constantly being drained of LifeEnergy to preserve the Family. The constant sucking of it is killing her, and she has begun to sink.
* {{Matriarchy}}: Kind of. The senior grandmother of each sept is its absolute ruler on Bluehaven itself, and sets the budget for the sept's operations throughout Creation. Grandfathers, however, directly manage the sept's piracy, slavery, and other criminal operations off of Bluehaven, as well as being the sept's diplomats, so a particularly wily and ruthless grandfather can remain independent of a senior grandmother in practice.
* {{Pirate}}: Very definitely Type 1.
* PirateGirl: Sometimes, although it is looked down upon. The Lintha have fairly rigid ideas about gender roles and pirating is thought to be the man's job, while the women stay home and run things.
* {{Polyamory}}: Pureblooded Lintha are expected to take dozens of spouses during their lives, to increase the possibility of breeding more purebloods.
* ReligionOfEvil: The official Lintha religion, the Cult of Dukantha.
* SuperBreedingProgram: They try, but with all the aforementioned polyamory going on, it's impossible to prove beyond a doubt which male Lintha sired which offspring.
* TheSyndicate
* TattooedCrook: Demon-ink tattoos (which is to say, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin tattoos made from the magically rendered essence of demons]]) are very popular.
* ThievesGuild: Although based around an actual family, the Family does allow people to buy their way in as initiates. These initiates rarely rise even to the rank of father or mother, however, and most are taken for all they are worth and then unceremoniously killed. It is, after all, an article of faith among the Lintha that [[FantasticRacism no human has real value compared to a Lintha]].
* VillainousIncest: It's actually a crime in Lintha society for a pure- or halfblooded Lintha to mate outside the Family, and mating outside their sept requires permission from the heads of each sept.

!'''The Emissary'''
----

'''Mortals of Creation'''

!'''The Perfect of Paragon'''
Ruler of the PoliceState of, well, Paragon, the Perfect ([[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep he doesn't use his real name anymore]]) may often ''look'' (and act) like a First Age Solar, but in reality, he isn't even a Terrestrial-he's actually the result of what happens when a [[AdventurerArchaeologist scavenger lord]] gets incredibly lucky and knows he has.

After finding an incredibly powerful Artifact called [[SuperFunHappyThingOfDoom the Scepter of Peace and Order]], the man who would become the Perfect overthrew the original city-state's crime lords and its ineffectual and corrupt monarchy. Soon afterward, he discovered the Scepter had made him [[{{Immortality}} ageless]] as well, and proceeded to reform the city-state to depend on him and the BloodOath power the scepter gives him. Soon, he transformed the nation into a callback to the First Age's living conditions, leaving only one question...

Namely, ''[[IJustWantToBeSpecial why isn't he a Solar already!?]]''

He knows perfectly well that the Second Breath comes to heroes, and what can be more heroic than recreating the First Age for the South? Thus, he has grown more and more bitter about his mortality, not helped by the fact that his favorite consort is a Solar herself. Until then, however, he's just trying to be the best ruler he can, iron fist or no.

* AGodAmI: Averted. He doesn't act like one, ''knows'' he isn't one, and is greatly vexed by that fact.
* AntiVillain: As far as rulers go, he's actually pretty lenient and compassionate towards his people. Unfortunately, a lot of Paragon's {{Magitech}} requires human sacrifice...
* ArtifactOfDoom: The Scepter. It was built by an UnholyMatrimony of Solar/Lunar mate pair, and it's deliberately built for creating an oppressive, draconian society.
* BadassNormal: Sure, he had help, but he's still the guy who built an entire {{Magitech}} metropolis from scratch. Show him some respect.
** BadassAbnormal: What he's pretty much become thanks to the Scepter.
* EvilSorcerer: "Evil" is a bit of a stretch, but he has the thematic.
* GreenEyedMonster
* MarkOfTheBeast: People who swear a BloodOath to the Scepter develop the tattoo of an eye somewhere on their bodies. [[SinisterSurveillance This is more than symbolism]]: the Perfect can hijack a marked person's senses at will and [[GrandTheftMe commandeer their bodies]].

!'''The Guild'''

The only organization that goes beyond claiming to have control over the entirety of Creation, and actually does so. The Guild is a worldwide organization of tradesmen, craftsmen, bureaucrats, gangsters, and drug dealers. They are [[XMeetsY the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Freemasons, drug based gangs, and all Fortune 500 companies]] shoved in a blender. [[DontAsk With dinosaurs that eat opium poppies and piss heroin]].

!'''The Cult of the Illuminated'''

!'''The White Veil Society'''

[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Please disregard this entry. The White Veil Society does not actually exist.]] Its nonexistent membership is not cleverly concealed amongst the highborn socialites, partygoers, and debutantes of the Realm, Lookshy, and the Threshold, nor does it use these nonexistent connections to gather vast amounts of money, favors, and blackmail to further the far-reaching political agenda it doesn't have. It is, furthermore, patently absurd to suggest that an organization that does not exist could have the resources or talent pool to invent its own unique martial arts style. White Veil Style does not allow its nonexistent practitioners to kill the enemies they don't have in plain sight, without anyone, including the victim, noticing there was ever a fight. (Which, of course, there wasn't. Obviously.) Poison and disease are not potent tools of this nonexistent style, and obstacles to the White Veil Society's nonexistent agenda do not die, sometimes silently and sometimes screaming, days or weeks after not being on the receiving end.

!'''Nexus'''

!'''Great Forks'''

!'''Sijan'''

Sijan is the city of the dead. Not in the sense of being a necropolis - well, okay, it's ''something'' of a necropolis. Wait. Let's start this over.

Sijan is a city built entirely around being the final resting place for thousands. It is a neutral party in most conflicts, and serves clients from all over the Shadowlands. Being a city of the dead, the Deathlords have great influence in the city, but even then, they're not the paramount power. Sijan's also not a city of the dead entire - there are plenty of mortals who live in the city, but remain below ground, as the surface is the province of the dead and buried. And their ghosts, who are often recognized as equal citizens.

* GraveRobbing: Very, very, ''very'' discouraged. If the Morticians don't get you, the hungry ghosts will. And there are a ''lot'' of hungry ghosts.
* TheNecrocracy: The city is ruled over by the Mortician's Order, who oversee the preparation and burial of the dead, as well as the preservation of their grave goods. And of course, the Deathlords are all too willing to throw their muscle about to get some corpses and souls.
* UrbanSegregation: Dead people up above, living people down below.

!'''Thorns'''

!'''Halta'''

!'''Linowan'''

!'''Chaya'''

!'''Gethamane'''

A mountain in the North which was partially hollowed out back in the First Age and hosts a moderately well-to-do city-state in the Second. There's a steady supply of filling if somewhat bland mushroom-based food, the Realm doesn't bother them much since they don't have much to offer, and in the event that something big and nasty comes rolling along they can just close the massive First Age doors and wait for it to leave. Most of the lights still work, lots of traders stop by regularly, and folks generally get along well enough.

Well... there's the crazy cult of farmers who figure that blood sacrifice is needed to keep the mushroom trays working. They're wrong, but try telling them that. And it really wouldn't be right to gloss over the giant centipedes that break through the floor regularly. And, well, they appear due to the fact the whole city is kind of [[{{Hellgate}} built on top of the corpse of a dead Primordial, whose mad and wrathful spirit threatens the boundary between Creation and the Underworld with its very presence.]]

Nice place, aside from that. Bring the kids.

* BlobMonster: The aforementioned mad and wrathful spirit is represented by Vodak, a [[HPLovecraft shoggoth]] {{Expy}} made from the Neverborn's heart's blood. Oh yeah, and another thing about Gethamane? There are no ghosts, because Vodak ''ate them''.
* DungeonTown: Yeah, kind of.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The whole thing, top to bottom to even lower bottom. Originally built as a back-up Pole of Earth in the event that the midden ''really'' hit the windmill.
* TunnelNetwork: Most of the lower levels are unmapped tunnels which lead to other tunnels, which themselves lead to even more tunnels, and then you've gone [[DugTooDeep much, much too far down.]]

!'''The Haslanti League'''

!'''The Icewalkers'''

!'''The Lap'''

!'''Paragon'''

!'''An-Teng'''

!'''Varang'''

!'''Gem'''

* DoomedHometown

!'''Chiaroscuro'''

!'''The Coral Archipelago'''

!'''The Wavecrest Archipelago'''

!'''The Skullstone Archipelago'''

!'''The Neck'''

!'''Luthe'''

----

'''Mortals of Autochthonia'''

!'''Claslat'''

!'''Yugash'''

!'''Estasia'''

* HiredGuns: ''The nation itself'', in return for resources.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Deconstructed-they're not particularly good at anything else.

!'''Sova'''

!'''Nurad'''

!'''Kamak'''

!'''Jarish'''

!'''Gulak'''

!'''Loran'''

!'''Xexas'''

[[/folder]]

* IJustWantToBeFree: So long as he is restrained in any way whatsoever, he is ''completely incapable'' of taking any action that does not have the ultimate goal of trying to free himself.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: As Abyssals rise in Essence, they have one of two options - either start investing points into Appearance and become the death that men crave, or let their Appearance naturally rot away and become the death that men fear.

** Should his mad plan work, the Ebon Dragon plans to be first out of Malfeas just so that he can seal the other Yozis in permanently and laugh in their faces. Of course, while he tries to do this, his own component souls will likely be fighting him to make sure ''they'' get out and the core of the Dragon gets screwed. That's right; his ultimate plan of inevitable betrayal may get screwed because ''he will be betraying himself at the same time''.

* ManipulativeBastard: He tries his best to be one. [[spoiler:and in Return of the Scarlet Empress, he might do a damn good job of succeeding.]]