History Characters / ExaltedSpirits

The patron of An-Teng and judge of the Solar Exalted.

Thus did the Sea of Shadows, the original AftertlifeAntechamber of Creation, disgorge great continents and a Labyrinth made of the dead Primordials' regrets - the first true afterlives of the nascent [[TheUnderworld Underworld]].\\

Thus did the Sea of Shadows, the original AfertlifeAntechamber of Creation, disgorge great continents and a Labyrinth made of the dead Primordials' regrets - the first true afterlives of the nascent [[TheUnderworld Underworld]].\\

* AmbiguousDisorder: It's been implied that a lot of the design ethic behind his characterization was inspired by various versions of autism and Asperger's Syndrome, which fits in well with the writers designing the Primordials after various disorders.

** However, the idea of a [[GeniusLoci sentient]] [[DeusEstMachina divine]] [[EternalEngine machine planet]] that acts a a progenitor to a race of RidiculouslyHumanRobots is decidedly more recent in origin, with a lot of Autochthon's aesthetics being essentially a SteamPunk version of [[GreaterScopeParagon Primus]] from ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''.

%%* DisproportionateRetribution: His GoalInLife.%%Is?

%%* SicklyGreenGlow: In universe, Malfeas is the ''reason'' this trope exists.

%%* SiblingTeam

* 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 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 virtuous enough 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]]. There are few individuals who are classed as "Creatures of Darkness" on technicalities though, such as the entirely benevolent Five Days Darkness.

* AllYourPowersCombined: Her stats in the sourcebook "Glories Most High: Luna" show she can use any Terrestrial and Celestial Martial arts that are associated with a type of creature [[note]]Such as animals or Hero styles of the Exalted[[/note]], every non-chimera Knack that doesn't require traits that Luna doesn't have [[note]]Such as a Solar mate[[/note]], all raksha graces at rating 10 [[note]]Although she doesn't have any actual graces, so they can't be vexed from her[[/note]] and every Fair Folk Charm.[[note]]Although she has to commit one mote of essence per charm she wants, and must spend 3 motes of essence for every point of gossamer required[[/note]] Since any Lunar can create new Knacks, any essence user could create a new martial art and Fair Folk (and Eclipse Solars) can create new Fair Folk charms, Luna's already immense power has huge potential to grow.

* GodOfKnowledge: She is the goddess of recorded knowledge, and is aware of every fact put down in writing and of the location of every book and scroll in Heaven and Creation. She seeks to foster literacy and its spread among mortals, in the hope than age of universal literacy would boost her power enough to allow her to claim the leadership of the Division of Secrets from Nara-O.

* 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 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 virtuous enough 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]].

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: Mentioned repeatedly, usually in the context of Saturn and the Unconquered Sun. To put it in context: The Unconquered Sun can't lose at anything, meaning that his win-streaks last forever. Saturn is the goddess of nothing lasting forever.

* CompleteMonster: Make no mistake; the Ebon Dragon is just ''awful.'' Even before he became a Yozi he was such an awful person he basically created the concept of good so he could be it's opposite. Thousands of years in Hell has not improved him.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Completely and utterly averted. The Ebon Dragon is not a big believer in moral standards, to say the least.

* AllYourPowersCombined: Her stats in the sourcebook "Glories Most High: Luna" show she can use any Terrestrial and Celestial Martial arts that are associated with a type of creature [[note]]Such as animals or Hero styles of the Exalted[[/note]], every non-chimera Knack that doesn't require traits that Luna doesn't have [[note]]Such as a Solar mate[[/note]], all raksha graces at rating 10 [[note]]Although she doesn't have any actual graces, so they can't be vexed from her[[/note]] and every Fair Folk Charm.[[note]]Although she has to commit one mote of essence per charm she wants, and must spend 3 motes of essence for every point of gossamer[[/note]]

The god of blackmail and [[spoiler:a puppet of the Ebon Dragon]].

Where the Guild (see Characters/ExaltedOther) are living Creation's premier trade organisation, the Timeless Order of Manacle and Coin serve as the Underworld's. The wealth of mortals, however, is a commonplace in the realms of the dead; what truly matters are souls. And the Timeless Order has had many centuries to become adept in trading -- and enslaving -- them.\\

%%* MegaCorp: Undead version!
* NGOSuperpower: If they wanted, they could take on the ''Deathlords''. Unfortunately, most of their leaders are solidly neutral about this (the most prominent advocate of anti-Deathlord policies is the founder of the Guild, and he's the youngest so they don't listen to him).

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.\\

* HumanResources: 7/8ths of his followers have their souls forged into soulsteel equivalents of First Age warships. He plans on building 100 ships before starting to actually destroy Creation.

* TheNecrocracy: Set up something between a Type 3 and 4, and wants to spread his governmental system.

* ContractualGenreBlindness: The Mask acts like a stereotypical supervillain because he's a ghost, and as a ghost ''needs'' melodrama in order to keep himself motivated, and thus he lets things go "wrong" so his story is exciting. This is one of his two {{Fatal Flaw}}s, and the one that's most likely to be exploited by his enemies.

* 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.

* EvilVersusEvil: 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).

* TheManBehindTheMan: Thorns is actually ruled by his Deathknight Red Iron Rebuke, but Mask of Winters is the true power behind the throne.

The first thing to know about the Princess Magnificent is that she is a lie - one of the oldest in Creation, for she came up with it during her life. Her true title is the Black Heron, the self-proclaimed greatest assassin to have ever lived, and a DiabolicalMastermind whose enjoyment of the arts of death is exceeded only by her love of fear. However, she is also currently the weakest deathlord; she once tried to conquer the play-loving divine city of Great Forks, only for its gods to reveal a story of how she might be defeated forever - it might have been a lie, but she panicked and fled, with the break in her forces allowing her rivals to cease the opportunity and drive her from her citadel. Having temporarily pledged herself as a loyal mercenary, she's now nursing a very, ''very'' deep grudge against the city and everyone associated.

* PointyHairedBoss: Becoming a MadOracle for the Neverborn has resulted in a commesurate reduction in the Dowager's management skills (among many other things). She has little knowledge of Creation, and has a tendency to think that it's one of the worlds she created in the Well of Udr and runs on her whims. Her Abyssals frequently have to try and figure out her statements and prophecies, with even the wisest ones struggling to interpet her, and just as frequently have to take down the various horrors she's spawned. The end result is that for the most part, her deathknights take their own initiative on how to serve her, relying on each other to work out how best to do so. As long as it serves the Neverborn, she's rarely unhappy, though she may well not even notice it.

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

* 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.

* 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 [[StrawNihilist raving lunatic]], and in ghosts eventually leads to BrainwashedAndCrazy.

%%* FateWorseThanDeath: Boy howdy. See AndIMustScream.

Some nihilistic ghosts of the Ursurpation, whether out of madness, vengeance, or despair, swear themselves into the service of the Neverborn, working towards their agenda of ending all that is (ostensibly - most of them just wanted the power and [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu can pull real whoppers]]). The greatest of these servants are the Deathlords, the souls of the most decadent and vile Exalted of the First Age. There are thirteen Deathlords, but only nine are named -- mainly so that Storytellers can make up one of the other four if they need a villain.

* FusionDance: Each Deathlord is a fusion of a elder Solar ghost and the ghost of one of the Neverborn's Third Circle Devas, the Deva's ghost serving mainly to empower the Solar's ghost.
* KryptoniteFactor: Some savants believe that each Deathlord has at least one of these, but they aren't sure what they are or even if they exist. It's also possible that these tales are lies spread by the Deathlords themselves, to delude their foes.
* MadeOfIron: As former First Age elder Solar ghosts empowered by the Neverborn, they're pretty hard to hurt.
* {{Necromancer}}: The Neverborn granted the Deathlords immense knowledge of necromancy, and since they were all formerly First Age Solars, some of them already had proficient knowledge when they were alive.

* ThePowerOfTheVoid: On of the big differences between Deathlords and other powerful ghosts is their connection to the Void, allowing them to NoSell the normal anti-ghost measures.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: If something is somehow able to kill a Deathlord it just causes them to reform in their Neverborn patron's tomb in a year.

* SailorEarth: Four of the thirteen Deathlords are left undefined to give Storytellers the option to make their own.

The discoverer of the Great Contagion, the Dowager was once a peerless hunter and necromancer with a notoriously mocking sense of humor - but one day, she grew too confident and tried to fight the Dual Monarchs, the then-rulers of the Underworld capitol of Stygia, alone. They destroyed her - but did not use her weakness, and she was dreamed anew by her Neverborn masters - [[FateWorseThanDeath and perhaps might have preferred to stay that way]]. The Dowager is no longer that wry, ambitious huntress; the Neverborn have remade her in their image, being more or less their avatar, and searches the Well of Udr for both wonders to soothe her and her masters' minds - and new horrors to unleash upon Creation.

* CameBackWrong: In 3e she attempted to infiltrate Stygia long before the Stygian Pact (the main nine deathlords and their allies) conquered it, and the Dual Monarchs promptly dropped the Calendar of Setesh on her. Her pact with the Neverborn brought her back, as promised, but to the horror of the other deathlords she returned as a husk of her former self, her former personality flensed away so that nothing but a servant of the Neverborn bent of destroying all of Creation remained.

The most brilliant scientist of the Deathlords, Eye honestly cares not one whit about the Neverborn - they dealt with them primarily for access to their secrets, which they gleefully put to good use with ever more horrifying creations of necrotech.

* AttentionDeficitCreatorDisorder: In-universe, Eye's greatest flaw as a deathlord is being easily led into new projects, needing other deathlords to keep them on the same track for a while.

* AdaptationalGenderIdentity: In 3E, they're explicitly genderqueer rather than male, though they're occasionally referred to with male pronouns.

* 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.
* ExoticEquipment: For whatever reason, his [[LetsGetDangerous combat form]] has multiple sexual organs.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: When the chimera Echinna raged through Thorns, Mask of Winters recognized it and called it by name, fought it to a standstill using only his Charms, and ''kissed it on the forehead'' before it sending it off to Ma-Ha-Suchi. The strong implication is that Echinna is his former Lunar mate and he still cares enough about that bond not to hurt it.

The first thing to know about the Princess Magnificent is that she is a lie - one of the oldest in Creation, for she came up with it during her life. Her true title is the Black Heron, the self-proclaimed greatest assassin to have ever lived, and a DiabolicalMastermind whose enjoyment of the arts of death is exceeded only by her love of fear. However, she is also currently the weakest deathlord; she once tried to conquer the play-loving divine city of Great Forks, only for its gods to reveal a story of how she might be defeated forever - it might have been a lie, but she panicked and fled, with the break in her forces allowing her rivals to cease the opportunity and drive her from her citadel. Nursing a grudge and having temporarily pledged herself as a loyal mercenary, nursing a very, ''very'' deep grudge against the city and everyone associated.

* AmazonianBeauty: Her GameFace removes all her idealized self to reveal who she was in life, a scarred, lithe, and athletic woman who bares her hard-won experience proudly.

* 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. Downplayed in 3E, which emphasizes she is still a massive threat and most of the deathlords think her defeat and humiliation was a fluke, but everyone recognizes how precarious her position is.

* BadBoss: In 3E, post-armor, they are notoriously awful as a ruler, taking out their anger on those beneath them; only Abyssals are spared, and even then, [[PragmaticVillainy it's mostly recognition of how