TEXT: TM
  
  1
  BY CONRAD HUBBARD, LYDIA LAURENSON, 
  PETER SCHAEFER, DUSTIN SHAMPEL, JOHN SNEAD
  TM
  
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  CREDITS
  Authors: Conrad Hubbard, Lydia Laurenson, Peter 
  Schaefer, Dustin Shampel and John Snead
  Comic Scripter: Carl Bowen
  Developers: John Chambers and Dean Shomshak with 
  John Masterson
  Editor: Carl Bowen
  Art Direction: Brian Glass
  Artists: Newton Ewell, Andrew Hepworth, Jeff Holt,  
  Imaginary Friends Studio (with Aramia, Jho, Kiat and 
  Yina), Saana “Kiyo” Lappalainen, Pasi Pitkanen, UDON 
  (with Joe Ng and Chris Stevens) and Melissa Uran
  Cover Art: HOON
  Book Design: Brian Glass
  COMING NEXT:
  THE MANUAL OF EXALTED POWER —
  THE SIDEREALS
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  224 PAGES
  Gifted with power by the Five Maidens, the Sidereal 
  Exalted were once the trusted advisors to the Old Realm’s 
  Solar masters. However, believing the Curse-maddened 
  Lawgivers’ irredeemable and unshakably convinced in 
  their moral duty, the Chosen of the Maidens persuaded the 
  Dragon-Blooded to rise up and slaughter their masters in 
  order to end the Solars’ depredations. Since that time, the 
  Sidereals have inﬂ uenced events behind the scenes in order 
  to safeguard Creation from its myriad of enemies. But with 
  the return of the Solars, the advent of the deathknights, the 
  Dragon-Blooded Realm nearing civil war, the tribes of the 
  Lunars threatening war and the Fair Folk massing for another 
  assault on the shaped world, will the Fivefold Fellowship win 
  the day or will its many sacriﬁ ces have been for naught?
  COMING NEXT IN THIS SERIES:
  THEBOOKS OF SORCERY, VOL. IV — 
  THE ROLL OF GLORIOUS DIVINITY I: 
  GODS & ELEMENTALS
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  160 PAGES
  In this fourth of Exalted
  Exalted’s ﬁ ve Books of Sorcery
  Books of Sorcery, el-
  ementals and spirits ﬁ nally get their due. This supplement 
  outlines both the little gods of Creation and the Terrestrial 
  Bureaucracy, as well as the elementals and their many 
  courts. In addition, it also reveals the many spirit Charms 
  available to these divine beings (as well as to enterprising 
  Eclipse and Moonshadow Caste Exalted).
  © 2007 White Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is ex-
  pressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal 
  use only. White Wolf and Exalted are registered trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved. The Books of Sorcery, 
  Oadenol’s Codex, Wonders of the Lost Age, the White and Black Treatises, Scroll of the Monk, the Compass of Terrestrial 
  Directions, the Scavenger Lands, the Compass of Celestial Directions, the Blessed Isle, the Wyld, the Manual of Exalted 
  Power the Dragon-Blooded, the Manual of Exalted Power the Lunars, the Age of Sorrows and the Second Age of Man 
  are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by 
  White Wolf, Inc.
  The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or 
  copyright concerned.
  This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are ﬁ ction 
  and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
  Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com/
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  3
  TABLE OF CONTENTS
  INTRODUCTION 
  4
  CHAPTER ONE: ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE 
  8
  CHAPTER TWO: DEMENSE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE 
  44
  CHAPTER THREE: THAUMATURGY 
  108
  CHAPTER FOUR: MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA 
  145
  TM
  
  4
  
  INTRODUCTION
  5
  Welcome to Oadenol’s Codex, a supplement in 
  the Books of Sorcery series for Exalted. In the world of 
  Exalted, supernatural power comes from manipulating 
  the universal force of Essence. Charms, by which Es-
  sence augments the ordinary talents of mind and body to 
  supernatural extremes, form the basis of Exalted power. 
  The Exalted core rulebook and the various books in the 
  Manual of Exalted Power series describe the Charms of 
  the various sorts of Chosen. Sorcery and its dark reﬂ ec-
  tion necromancy enable stranger feats of greater power, 
  as described in The White and Black Treatises. In the 
  First Age, the Exalted developed a third way to wield 
  power: Essence-fueled magitech that the Second Age 
  duplicates with difﬁ culty, if at all. The magitech described 
  in Wonders of the Lost Age did more than either Charms 
  or sorcery to make the elder world an Age of Splendor 
  in contrast to the current Age of Sorrows.
  But Creation also holds other forms of magical 
  power, which the Exalted did not invent. Some-
  times Essence naturally concentrates in certain 
  locations called demesnes, and in particular plants, 
  animals and minerals. Long ago—before the gods 
  Exalted their chosen champions—mortal creatures 
  learned to tap and control these natural sources 
  of Essence.
  Oadenol’s Codex describes four of these ancient 
  modes of magic. They lack the portable raw power 
  of Charms and sorcery, or the flash and dazzle of 
  magitech. Nevertheless, the Exalted use them all. 
  Just as the mightiest combat Charm grows from the 
  sweat and blood of mundane weapon skill, some 
  of the greatest feats of Exalted power depend on 
  paying attention to the Essence already at large 
  in Creation.
   
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  
  6
  WHAT’S IN THIS BOOK
  Each chapter of Oadenol’s Codex describes one 
  source of magical power.
  Chapter One: Artifacts and Artifice tells of the 
  enchanted wonders whose magic comes from crafts-
  manship and mystically potent ingredients rather than 
  sorcerous science. Artifacts range from writing-brushes 
  that take dictation to mighty weapons any Exalt would 
  fear to face in battle. Not only does the chapter describe 
  dozens of artifacts, but it gives a thorough discussion 
  of how to create them—from the perspectives both of 
  a character and a player or Storyteller.
  Chapter Two: Demesne, Manse and Hearth-
  stone expands upon the core rulebook’s discussion 
  of demesnes, those places where Creation’s Essence 
  wells up in superabundance, and the manses built to 
  channel that power. This chapter discusses new ways 
  that characters can gain power from demesnes and give 
  power to their manses. It also explains the techniques 
  of geomantic construction that produce manses, and 
  can create or modify demesnes—or destroy them. The 
  chapter ends with more than 100 hearthstones, those 
  magical jewels that channel Essence from manses and 
  confer other strange powers.
  Chapter Three: Thaumaturgy discusses the 
  11 magical Arts that mortals can use. The rituals of 
  thaumaturgy may seem slow and weak compared to 
  Charms and sorcery, but they are powerful enough that 
  the Exalted should not take them lightly. This chapter 
  reveals the history of thaumaturgy and describes the 
  people and groups that practice it.
  Chapter Four: Magical Flora, Fauna and Phenom-
  ena collects a sampling of creatures and substances that 
  magical forces have shaped. Some of these phenomena 
  are deadly threats to all who encounter them; others are 
  natural artifacts waiting for anyone brave and strong 
  enough to collect them.
  HEROIC MORTALS AND MAGIC
  The subjects of these four chapters have something 
  in common: they don’t need the Exalted. People who 
  can’t even perceive Essence on their own can learn 
  thaumaturgy, collect magical plants, craft the weaker 
  sorts of artifacts and even build manses. Exaltation 
  helps, but it isn’t completely necessary. Therefore, a 
  few topics about mortals and magic deserve special 
  discussion here since they have relevance for more 
  than one chapter. But ﬁ rst, a word about heroic mortal 
  characters in general.
  ESSENCE AND MORTALS
  Mortals typically have Essence 1 and no Essence 
  pool. This might change two distinct ways, though a 
  character could potentially beneﬁ t from both.
  Increased Essence: Rarely, heroic mortals gain a 
  higher permanent Essence score. The mortal attunes to 
  Creation and feels some degree of its Essence ﬂ ows. By 
  itself, this does not grant the mortal an Essence pool. 
  However, having an Essence rating of 2 or 3 does give 
  the mortal the other beneﬁ ts that come to the Exalted, 
  such as an increased Dodge DV, greater minimum dam-
  age and higher minimum dice pools. Mortals cannot 
  have Essence 4.
  Essence Pool: Mortals with the ability to actually 
  manipulate Essence are called enlightened mortals. 
  Unless the Storyteller makes the differences between 
  sources of enlightenment an important part of her 
  series, pools of (Essence x 10) motes will serve as a 
  “quick and dirty” rule. The character can use the ﬁ rst 
  (Essence x 3) motes easily. If the enlightened mortal 
  spends a Willpower point, he can access the remaining 
  (Essence x 7) motes for the rest of the scene.
  Chapter Three includes a ritual by which mortals 
  can gain Essence pools. Scroll of the Monk, pages 17-20, 
  discusses several more. Half-mortal characters, such as 
  the God-Blooded, Ghost-Blooded or Half-Castes (chil-
  dren of powerful Exalts) can have Essence pools, too. A 
  mortal with an Essence pool can increase his Essence 
  rating, and his pool with it, through experience.
  ATTUNEMENT
  Enlightened mortals can use their Essence to at-
  tune artifacts, manses, demesnes and hearthstones—but 
  they need thaumaturgy to do it. The thaumaturgical 
  Procedures are easy, though; see Chapter Three. Once 
  an enlightened mortal attunes something magical, 
  she gets all the normal beneﬁ ts from that item. She 
  can swing the daiklave that’s bigger than she is, gain 
  Essence from a hearthstone, and so on.
  With so little Essence, though, keeping an artifact 
  or manse might become a problem…
  THE ENLIGHTENED MORTAL SORCERER
  Much has been made of the fact that mortals can-
  not normally learn the powerful spells of sorcery and 
  necromancy. However, Creation is vast enough to 
  permit exceptions. A mortal who achieves a permanent 
  Essence of 3 and Occult 5 can learn the Terrestrial 
  Circle Sorcery Charm and sorcery spells, provided 
  she could endure the trials of initiation. The same 
  goes for necromancy. A mortal cannot become both a 
  
  INTRODUCTION
  7
  sorcerer and necromancer—but even the Exalted ﬁ nd 
  that difﬁ cult.
  Even if a mortal somehow gains the prerequisites, 
  learning sorcery takes longer and requires more effort 
  for a mortal than it does for any of the Exalted. As 
  such, mortals must pay 15 experience (12 experience 
  if Occult is Favored) for the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery 
  Charm and for each spell learned.
  FOLK RESOURCES
  Crafting artifacts, building manses and performing 
  many thaumaturgical rituals costs a lot: as described in 
  Exalted, most of these activities demand that characters 
  muster considerable Resources. The high expense of 
  workshops, tools and materials might seem to place 
  artifact creation beyond the reach of tribal shamans, 
  village witches and other folk savants, while building 
  manses would be unthinkable. How do they even afford 
  the higher-Degree rituals?
  Remember that Resources measure more than cash. 
  For folk magicians and savants, Resources indicate 
  direct access to raw materials and accumulation of 
  time and effort.
  For instance, a barbarian shaman might chant prayers 
  in a hut while he kneels on a mat and scratches symbols 
  on a talisman of wood and feathers… but the hut is made 
  entirely from the bones and sinews of tigers. The mat was 
  woven from hair of the shaman who trained him, the 
  shaman who trained her, and so on back six generations. 
  He scratches the symbols with the claw of a gryphon his 
  grandfather slew. The feathers come from birds that nest 
  in the tree of a forest’s ruling god. Even though by most 
  standards the shaman and his people are desperately 
  poor, the shaman still has a master’s workshop, because 
  a civilized artisan would need to pay a fortune to obtain 
  a similar panoply of mystic tools.
  Folk magicians usually limit themselves to the 
  talismans and minor enchantments of thaumaturgy. 
  Nevertheless, the wise folk of barbarian cultures can 
  sometimes craft artifacts as powerful as any from the 
  Realm.
  Even manses are not beyond the reach of a deter-
  mined tribe or village. Building a manse takes years. They 
  have years. If a community doesn’t have large numbers 
  of skilled artisans, well, it takes a bit longer—but they 
  can do it if they really want to. The chief limiting fac-
  tor is knowledge… but knowledge has a way of getting 
  around, especially in a world of magic where shamans 
  can summon spirits and priests can talk to gods.
  
  8
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  9
  Artifacts are the tools of the Exalted. As a sword is 
  to a soldier, so a daiklave is to a Dragon-Blood. One of 
  the Chosen can shift earth with a mattock and shovel, 
  but why would she when she can wield a fabled singing 
  staff? Artifacts range from tools of convenience, such as 
  animate brushes, to true world-changing wonders, like a 
  blade that cuts time. This chapter discusses the creation 
  and use—for players, Storytellers and characters—of 
  artifacts for Exalted.
  A BRIEF HISTORY OF WONDERS
  Tools of power ﬁ rst entered the hands of the Exalted 
  as gifts. The Incarnae’s servants and the machine-god 
  Autochthon created artifacts, mostly weapons, in prepa-
  ration for the ﬁ rst rebellion and gave them to the gods’ 
  Chosen. Most were magniﬁ cent wonders, the like of 
  which are seldom seen in the Age of Sorrows. The gods 
  considered small artifacts unimportant in their quest 
  for freedom. As beings of magic, they didn’t think to 
  bind with artiﬁ ce the small miracles that accompanied 
  their every breath.
  Exalted craftsmen changed that even before the 
  ﬁ rst offensive of the Primordial War. Almost childlike 
  in their exploration, they created toys, minor useful 
  tools and other things unnecessary to war. Eager to 
  explore the nature of Essence, they crafted the most 
  basic equipment as experiments. Some daiklaves and 
  suits of enchanted armor crafted then, the simplest of 
  artifacts, still exist today.
  Lesser wonders existed before the Exalted created 
  them. The vegetative artifacts of the Dragon Kings, 
  greened-copper wonders of the Western princes and 
  other objects of power were already in Creation. But 
  these people did not bless humanity with their clever-
  ness, instead treating them as slaves or lesser beings. Gods 
  Exalted humanity, and humanity invented anew.
  CHAPTER ONE
  CHAPTER ONE
  ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  
  10
  The War changed everything. Uncountable ar-
  tifacts of tremendous power were lost in battle along 
  with the heroes that bore them. Others took their 
  places as the gods forged fantastic new weapons for the 
  Exaltations’ new hosts. Unique wonders disappeared 
  forever during that period, their powers never again 
  to grace Creation.
  Combat with the Exalted’s alien foes spurred 
  creativity. Capturing a Primordial’s tooth or ligament 
  opened inﬁ nite possibilities to Exalted artisans. Even 
  in wartime, they took opportunities to forge wonders 
  from their spoils. Traveling inside foreign worlds deﬁ ned 
  by Primordial Essence, where natural laws became un-
  natural, made unheard-of marvels possible.
  When the war ended, the Exalted turned their at-
  tention to governing Creation, and they gained time 
  to engage in research for its own sake. Artifacts became 
  varied in purpose, origin and appearance. First Age 
  craftsmanship had no equal, before or after. The best 
  artiﬁ cers of the Age surpassed their instructors by far.
  ARTIFICE IN THE SECOND AGE OF MAN
  A large portion of Creation’s wonders disappeared 
  in the Usurpation, effectively forever. Many resources 
  were destroyed by defeated but spiteful god-kings or 
  by fearful Terrestrials and Sidereals. Even the Lunar 
  survivors lost some of their equipage to the Wyld.
  Burial of the Solar Exalted caused an enormous 
  depletion of the First Age’s artifacts. Rightfully afraid 
  of hungry ghosts bloated by “Anathema” powers, the 
  usurpers did everything they could to mollify the dead 
  spirits. They interred the slain with full regalia and the 
  Exalted’s favored weapons and tools. Some burial parties 
  threw in artifacts that had no connection to the Exalt 
  in question, simply as a safety precaution.
  The artiﬁ ce of Creation dwindled rapidly. Even in 
  the early Shogunate (called the Low First Age by some), 
  the weapons and tools that the Exalted created were of 
  a lesser sort. Though skilled, the artisans could not ap-
  proach the level of sheer ingenuity that existed in the 
  previous Age. Very occasionally, a wunderkind would 
  arise among the Dragon-Blooded, or one of the Sidereal 
  or Lunar Exalted would ﬁ nd the leisure and resources to 
  craft an object of great power, but even those could not 
  approach the height of the First Age’s wonders.
  Today, great artifacts are legacies of a time lost 
  more than things to be made. Scavenger lords rarely 
  consider that their treasures could be made rather than 
  found. The Great Houses of the Scarlet Empire pass 
  down arms and other artifacts carefully from parent to 
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  11
  child; many are even more careful, never doing more 
  than ofﬁ cially loaning them.
  The returning Solar Exalted, however, have the 
  most reason to see artifacts as tokens of vanished glory. 
  Dragon-Blooded, at least, have the time and resources to 
  create new wonders—if only of a lesser sort—in a world 
  gone dusty and gray. Solars spend their time surviving 
  ﬁ rst, and pursuing their visions second.
  Very soon, that will change. Everything is coming 
  to a head, and very soon, Creation may see new artifacts 
  that have never before graced the world.
  a character, driving her to seek out lost treasures not 
  (just) for power but for their legends. It colors the way 
  she uses artifacts, because each has a special meaning 
  to her and to history.
  Games that use this role make artifacts’ histories 
  important to the story. Where it came from, who wielded 
  it in what battle and when it was buried or lost are all 
  relevant, perhaps clues in a grand mystery. The group 
  can also use artifacts to play with themes on loss.
  Artifacts as objectives. Acquiring them is a goal 
  in itself, or an important means to another end. A 
  character can have many reasons to make an artifact 
  an objective. Seeking something that belonged to 
  a previous incarnation is common. Artifacts can be 
  mysteries to be discovered and solved. Characters can 
  also seek an artifact that will help them defeat enemies 
  or keep them safe. This applies equally to characters 
  on a mission to create or repair an artifact.
  This is one of the easiest roles for a Storyteller 
  to invoke, but it works better when the players are 
  also interested. Artifacts can be classic, plot-driving 
  MacGufﬁ ns—ﬁ nd the (ﬁ ll in the blank) to save the 
  world!—and tied to Creation-spanning quests. Take 
  care not to overuse this role, though; one “treasure 
  hunt” after another can get old.
  Artifacts as companions. They have a character all 
  their own that comes out in play. This doesn’t refer to 
  automatons and magical intelligences (both covered by 
  The Books of Sorcery, Vol. I—Wonders of the Lost 
  Age), but to artifacts that color the way they are used 
  and affect the nature of their wielders. A warrior might 
  pull steel at the drop of a hat until she recovers her First 
  Age incarnation’s daiklave—and then learns that it was 
  only drawn in order to kill. A gleeman might go to great 
  lengths to recover his stolen sitar because it is as dear to 
  him as a sister. Many characters of legend had tools that 
  became as famous as the characters themselves.
  Most games need to apply a special level of impor-
  tance to artifacts in order to give them character. Some 
  players do this on their own, and some do not. It’s not 
  a problem unless you want to establish an overarching 
  theme involving artifacts. Because the nature of an 
  artifact is reﬂ ected in the character that bears it, play-
  ers can easily make an artifact a special companion 
  without assistance; they only need to make it a part of 
  the character’s attitude.
  Most games mix and match these different roles 
  for artifacts without a thought. Thinking about what 
  you want artifacts to be about in your game allows you 
  to ﬁ ne-tune artifacts’ involvement and themes until 
  you’re satisﬁ ed.
  GRAVE GOODS
  Anything buried with a person may manifest 
  in the Underworld along with the person’s ghost. 
  No one can guess how many First Age artifacts 
  now have spectral duplicates—which might ex-
  ist long after the originals were destroyed. Their 
  arsenal of grave goods no doubt helped the nascent 
  Deathlords’ rise to power. Now they turn those 
  artifacts against the descendants of their murder-
  ers—and the rest of Creation.
  USE OF ARTIFACTS
  This section focuses on using artifacts in your game, 
  from both players’ and in-game perspectives.
  WHAT ARE THEY FOR?
  Artifacts play many roles in Exalted. You can approach 
  artifacts’ roles from the character’s perspective and the 
  game’s perspective. Several approaches are given below as 
  extremes, but none of them are exclusive of any others.
  Artifacts as equipment. They are magical tools, 
  and that’s about it. To a character, this makes a daiklave 
  just a better sword and a tireless brass horse just a way 
  to get there faster. This sort of Exalt doesn’t need to 
  be buried with his equipment, and probably also won’t 
  respect the equipment of others, which might leave 
  some unsettled spirits behind him.
  When a series follows this standard, artifacts are 
  things for players to pick out and give to their characters. 
  There may be an excuse for that wavecleaver, but there’s 
  no real reason for it: players don’t care much about their 
  tools’ origins or destinies. And that’s okay. You can tell 
  a thousand different stories in Exalted without tying 
  them to the character’s artifacts.
  Artifacts as legacies. Remnants of a greater past 
  lure characters to greater heights and sadden them at 
  what was lost. Every artifact tells a story. This motivates 
  
  12
  SCRIPT IMMUNITY
  A Storyteller is usually free to arrange the theft of a 
  character’s assets, kidnap his family and kill off friends 
  and allies, all in the name of story. Many players feel 
  more protective about their characters’ artifacts. Maybe 
  they like having “stuff,” or maybe they resent the loss 
  of something they paid points at character generation 
  to have. So, what’s a Storyteller to do?
  Figure out which artifacts mean something to their 
  players and which don’t before you start messing with 
  them. Don’t start a new campaign and yoink daiklaves 
  from the players’ hands—play a few sessions (at least) to 
  see which players (characters also, but players especially) 
  feel strongly about their artifacts. All you really need to 
  do is make sure that anything you do with an artifact is 
  reversible. Create a story: hunt down the thief, or ﬁ nd 
  a First Age workshop to start repairs.
  This applies more to artifacts purchased at the start 
  of game with Background points than to artifacts found 
  during play, with exceptions. The weapons and armor the 
  heroes lifted from the failed Wyld Hunt are easy come, 
  easy go. (Unless someone becomes really attached to one 
  as a great trophy.) After the inﬁ ltration of a Realm armory 
  to ‘liberate’ an earlier incarnation’s weapon (in addition 
  to any earlier buildup to the theft), though, a player may 
  be less willing to lose her new acquisition.
  GAME IMPACT
  An artifact is only as useful as you let it be. A gauntlet 
  that drains living plants for Essence is worthless in the 
  desolate South, on board a ship in the West or in the 
  Underworld. A daiklave is only useful in battle, and 
  in a few additional circumstances (like intimidation or 
  blowing your cover). Who needs a folding boat when the 
  entire game takes place in a landlocked kingdom?
  Players and Storytellers should both be aware of the 
  game. Players should know better than to spend all their 
  points on armor and weapons in a series about court 
  intrigue. Storytellers should warn players against taking 
  useless traits. On the other hand, Storytellers should 
  also recognize that putting points into combat means 
  the player wants to see her character kick butt.
  A player might intend to take an artifact she 
  never uses—like being the bearer of the Tzaddik Key 
  but sworn not to use it, which is a story hook that 
  the Storyteller should seize like a pit bull. If there’s 
  no such intention, then something should change to 
  bring unused artifacts into play.
  Conversely, artifacts may be very, very useful. This 
  can be a case of a man with a hammer seeing only 
  nails, but it’s also up to the Storyteller to make sure 
  that no single artifact dominates the game’s conﬂ icts. 
  If a single artifact solves all the characters’ problems, 
  either it is too powerful or the characters are meeting 
  too limited a range of challenges. A daiklave can’t make 
  the maharani fall in love with you or repair the dikes 
  before they burst.
  COMMON TRAITS OF ARTIFACTS
  Unless noted otherwise, all artifacts share a number 
  of general traits.
  • Artifacts register as magical. They may be 
  detected by their ﬂ ows of Essence. All-Encompassing 
  Sorcerer’s Sight (see Exalted, p. 222) and similar effects 
  detect artifacts instantly unless concealed (by Stealth 
  Charms or other means). A ritual using the Art of 
  Geomancy also enables a character to identify objects 
  as artifacts (see p. 138).
  • Artifacts are eternal. Wonders do not wear 
  down, wear out or break accidentally. A very few 
  artifacts are, of necessity, fragile enough to shatter or 
  tear if not well treated. Even these artifacts never just 
  wear out, assuming they are not ill-used. The power of 
  an artifact is bound into it forever and does not need 
  maintenance, unlike the “magitech” found in Wonders 
  of the Lost Age.
  • Artifacts are difficult to break. Creation of a 
  magical wonder solidiﬁ es Essence ﬂ ows in a harmoni-
  ous manner, making artifacts difﬁ cult to break. The 
  base (Strength + Athletics) needed to break an arti-
  fact equals that of a normal object of its type plus its 
  Artifact rating. First Age artifacts increase this value 
  by another one, due to techniques now lost. Also, 
  use the mundane equivalent’s soak and health levels, 
  adding two to each trait per dot of the artifact’s rating. 
  Artifacts that are more or less difﬁ cult to destroy say 
  so in their descriptions.
  • Artifacts require Essence, committed or spent. 
  Most artifacts’ Essence patterns are quiescent. Only 
  when attuned with Essence, through a lasting com-
  mitment or an instant expenditure, can it function 
  as designed.
  • Artifacts do not count as Charms. Activating 
  an artifact’s powers does not interfere with the use 
  of an Exalt’s Charms, except inasmuch as the ac-
  tions conflict (one cannot use a simple Charm and 
  a miscellaneous action simultaneously). Likewise, 
  bonus dice gained from an artifact do not count 
  against the limit of dice gained from Charms (see 
  Exalted, p. 185).
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  13
  DESIGNING ARTIFACTS 
  (FOR PLAYERS)
  A new artifact should begin in the mind of the player 
  before it ever becomes dots on paper. Here are some 
  suggestions on how to do that. Consider the following 
  before you even go so far as to assign a dot rating to a 
  prospective artifact.
  • Artifacts do things mundane items cannot. The 
  hammer that adds two dice to all Craft (Fire) rolls could 
  be an artifact, but it could also be a well-crafted mundane 
  hammer. See Exalted, pp. 365-366, for the limits of non-
  artifact equipment. If an artifact’s magic can be duplicated 
  without enchantment, reconsider its powers.
  • Artifacts should do more than add dice. More 
  than anything else, an artifact should be fantastic. 
  Daiklaves are larger than life, beﬁ tting the heroes who 
  wield them. Spell-capturing cords are interesting and 
  duplicated nowhere else. But no one ﬁ ts an arrow to a 
  bow and exults that it adds two dice. Excellencies can 
  do that, and better. Artifacts should do wondrous things 
  that leave normal rules behind.
  • Artifacts should be more than just powers. They 
  should also be history, plot hook, signature equipment 
  and a lure for trouble. If you’re not interested in getting 
  anything from your artifact but its special effect, and 
  especially if you would hate it were that power suddenly 
  stolen from your character’s hands, consider making the 
  artifact into a custom Charm (or set of them) instead.
  If you still want an artifact, summarize it with a 
  brief concept much like you might a starting character. 
  In the same way, you should ﬁ nd the concept interest-
  ing or engaging. Why would one of the Exalted make 
  something that was boring?
  From the concept, you should have some idea what 
  the artifact can do in a mechanical sense. Reference 
  the scale below for a sense of what level the artifact 
  should be.
  THE FIVE-DOT SCALE
  As a game where nearly all traits are rated on a 1-5 
  scale, Exalted cannot help being imprecise at times. The 
  difference between a two-dot and a three-dot artifact 
  is often little more than a gut feeling to the people 
  involved. Of course, it often matters only at character 
  generation, when players distribute Background dots 
  and bonus points for their characters. Once the game 
  starts, it only matters what an artifacts can do—not its 
  point value to a starting character.
  That said, this section makes an effort to clarify 
  what each dot of the Artifact Background means. Each 
  dot has a description of the power scale, including a list 
  of the maximum beneﬁ ts an artifact of that level can 
  bestow. Just as the description is a guideline, so are the 
  “hard caps.” If it’s clear to you that an artifact should 
  be rated Artifact X, go for it. Each level of artifact also 
  lists standard Essence costs. The number before the 
  slash is standard commitment; the number after is the 
  standard expenditure for instant effects.
  Hard caps disappear after artifacts rated at three 
  dots. Four- and ﬁ ve-dot artifacts are extremely potent, 
  and their powers should be difﬁ cult to quantify. A 
  ﬁ ve-dot artifact could add 10 dice to every Athletics 
  roll, but it would be an exceptionally boring use of a 
  ﬁ ve-dot artifact. Artifacts should probably not exceed 
  the bonus limits for three-dot artifacts, displaying their 
  power in more interesting ways instead.
  Required commitments and expenditures of Essence 
  can vary both up and down. This ﬂ exibility helps to 
  balance artifacts; when you disagree on the relative 
  usefulness of two artifacts of the same rating, adjusting 
  their relative commitment or instant costs is an easy 
  way to readjust on your own.
  Hearthstone sockets are another way to ﬁ ne-tune arti-
  facts. Having a hearthstone socket is a power for lower-level 
  artifacts (see the hearthstone amulet, Exalted, p. 380), but 
  after Artifact 2 or so, the sockets become secondary. Most 
  arms and armor have at least one, and some have two or 
  more. Adding one or taking one away is an easy way to 
  slightly increase or decrease an artifact’s power.
  In the end, assigning a dot value to an artifact re-
  quires understanding and compromise between players 
  and Storyteller.
  POWERS VERSUS POWERS OR CHARMS
  When an artifact’s deﬁ nite, unrolled power 
  contradicts another unrolled, deﬁ nite power, 
  resolve it by referencing “Unstoppable Force, 
  Immovable Object” in Exalted, p. 179. If either 
  qualiﬁ es as an attack and the other a defense, the 
  defense wins. If neither is an attack or defense 
  but both originate from artifacts or other, similar 
  inanimate sources, the higher-rated artifact wins. 
  A tie means that neither effect takes place.
  When an artifact’s power goes head to head 
  with a Charm, the player whose character activated 
  the Charm rolls whatever is appropriate at a dif-
  ﬁ culty of the artifact’s rating. Success means the 
  Charm effect overrides the artifact’s effect; failure 
  means the opposite.
  
  14
  • Toys and Minor Tools: One-dot artifacts have 
  minor effects with limited inﬂ uence on the game. One-dot 
  artifacts are weak. They might amaze a mortal, but a 
  one-dot artifact should not much impress an Exalt; 
  they do cooler things themselves. Such artifacts are 
  often tools of convenience: writing brushes that take 
  dictation, or cups that create limited amounts of water 
  or ale. The least of the artifact weapons and armors are 
  one-dot artifacts because they improve only slightly on 
  the mundane weapon.
  Most magical toys are one-dot artifacts; some of 
  these may have an incidental ability to aid a very 
  limited set of tasks. Very large toys may have greater 
  artifact values to represent their grand scale and that 
  they required more effort to craft. Artifacts with minor 
  beneﬁ ts may require less committed or spent Essence. 
  One value of toys (versus the more effective minor tools 
  at this level) is that they are more easily sold. Rich lords 
  may spend money for an animate soldier; fewer care to 
  own an aid to surviving the wilderness.
  Maximum benefits: Attributes +1, Abilities +2, 
  Soak +2 and Hardness 2, Damage +2, Rate +0
  Standard Essence (C/E): 2m/2m
  Examples: A brush that paints as its owner mentally 
  directs, enabling it to include details smaller than most humans 
  can manage. This decreases the difﬁ culty of appropriate rolls 
  by one and works while the character performs other actions. 
  A drum that slowly beats through the night without a player, 
  keeping wild animals away. Toys: A toy soldier that animates 
  and moves as directed. A Gateway board that plays out its 
  own games. The ﬁ rst might aid in increasing the War skill 
  if used in numbers, decreasing the untutored training time 
  by one day. The second might similarly reduce training for 
  a Gateway specialty under War or Lore.
  •• Effective Tools: Two-dot artifacts are quite useful 
  in speciﬁ c circumstances or moderately useful in a broader 
  range of situations. An artifact falls at this level if it has 
  signiﬁ cant effects on the game by eliminating certain 
  worries or strongly aiding a range of actions. These 
  artifacts allow a character to surpass certain obstacles 
  with relative ease. A two-dot weapon might make beat-
  ing a mortal opponent easy but only provide a small 
  advantage against other Exalted. Two-dot artifacts are 
  common enough (especially as daiklaves) that their ad-
  vantages generally balance out when they go up against 
  each other. Two-dot artifacts may mimic the powers of 
  Charms with Essence minimums of one or two.
  Maximum benefits: Attributes +2, Abilities +4, 
  Soak +4 and Hardness 4, Damage +4, Rate +1
  Standard Essence (C/E): 5m/3m
  Examples: A pair of sandals that increases the charac-
  ter’s foot speed is somewhat useful in combat, in competition 
  and when every second of dashing counts, making it generally 
  useful and a two-dot artifact. A chair that makes the person 
  seated in it aware of all who approach is a two-dot artifact, 
  because it doesn’t automatically defeat Stealth Charms and 
  is conditional. A lantern whose glow illuminates the undead 
  is handy only when such creatures are concealed. A whip 
  that gives those struck by it a -1 MDV penalty toward the 
  wielder is not tremendously potent, but useful no matter 
  what sort of order the character wishes to give.
  ••• Wonders: Three-dot artifacts confer a great 
  advantage in a single discipline or a signiﬁ cant advantage in 
  a broad range of circumstances. These powerful items give 
  their owners signiﬁ cant abilities denied to people who 
  lack such artifacts. A character with a grand daiklave, 
  facing a character with no artifact weapon whatsoever, 
  gets all the bets. Although truly clever or powerful 
  characters may be able to best the effects of a three-dot 
  artifact in its area of focus, it’s rarely a sure thing.
  Three-dot artifacts may change the way certain 
  aspects of the game are played. Artifact weapons are 
  common enough that possessing one, even a three-dot 
  artifact weapon, only escalates combat rather than 
  changing it. But a knot that captures sorcery and paper 
  that becomes any contract, written and signed, provide 
  entirely new solutions to the game’s conﬂ icts. Three-
  dot artifacts can be equated with Essence 3 or 4 Solar 
  Charms, but it’s a rough balance.
  Maximum benefits: Attributes +3, Abilities +6, 
  Soak +6 and Hardness 6, Damage +6, Rate +2
  Standard Essence (C/E): 8m/5m
  Examples: Anyone would fear, and rightly so, the 
  warrior who wields a grand goremaul in battle. A belt of bat 
  wings that grants the ability to walk as a shadow confers a 
  matchless power. An enchanted mirror that allows a character 
  to speak through other mirrors is extremely useful, especially 
  in Exalted’s world of limited travel and communication. 
  A staff that places objects (not people) it strikes Elsewhere, 
  and can call them back just as quickly, has a myriad uses 
  in a clever character’s hands.
  •••• Greater Wonders: Four-dot artifacts provide 
  overwhelming advantages in their spheres of inﬂ uence, 
  or great advantages in many situations. These wonders 
  perform feats that are ﬂ at-out impossible to most 
  inhabitants of Creation, letting the character travel 
  miles in the blink of an eye or shape the earth with a 
  melody. A character equipped with a four-dot artifact 
  has an advantage over anyone else in the artifact’s 
  realm of effect—even four-dot weapons rarely cancel 
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  15
  each other out, as their unique powers are not easily 
  predicted or countered.
  Four-dot artifacts almost inevitably change some 
  aspect of the game. Characters who wield them have 
  very attractive options open to them that are closed 
  to nearly everyone else, which can avail them with 
  a variety of problems. A character with a singing 
  staff (see Exalted, p. 392) can use it to shape the 
  course of a battle, provide irrigation or break into a 
  vault just as easily. This broad usefulness suggests a 
  diminished focused power, and it’s true: the singing 
  staff is hardly insurmountable by opponents—but 
  it opens possibilities a character might not imagine 
  otherwise. Four-dot artifacts are roughly on par 
  with high-end Essence 4 and Essence 5 Charms, or 
  Celestial-circle sorcery.
  Standard Essence (C/E): 10m/6m
  Examples: A clockwork bird that can lead its owner to 
  any named person or object in Creation. A shield that protects 
  its wielder completely from all physical harm as long as the 
  owner harms no one. A seed that grows a forest overnight. 
  A needle that, when used to pierce the eardrum, allows a 
  character to eavesdrop on anything he can imagine.
  ••••• True Marvels: Five-dot artifacts offer un-
  beatable advantages in their areas of focus, or overwhelming 
  advantages in many situations or in a few potentially vital 
  conﬂ icts. Whatever powers an artifact of this level pos-
  sesses, they are usually unique and often impossible to 
  counter. A daiklave of conquest (see Exalted, p. 392) 
  makes a character a supernal general who will nearly 
  always rout her enemies. Memories cut from victims of 
  the Forgotten Edge can never be regained. A Dragon-
  Blooded warrior with the Eye of the Fire Dragon should 
  be a true nightmare to the Solar Exalted.
  It is hard to quantify a ﬁ ve-dot artifact’s range of 
  power more precisely than above, but they may be 
  likened to higher-Essence Charms (6+) or Celestial 
  or Solar Circle sorcery.
  Standard Essence (C/E): 10m/8m
  Examples: A key that opens any door and allows the 
  owner to step out through any other doorway he wishes. A 
  great orichalcum staff that can deﬂ ect any attack toward 
  another target, including overtly magical attacks. A knife 
  that severs committed Essence and ends lasting enchantments 
  permanently. A prayer strip that ensures that a single object 
  will never again be found by anyone.
  
  16
  DRAWBACKS
  Drawbacks are restrictions to a wonder’s use or 
  penalties commensurate with its power. They scale from 
  one to ﬁ ve dots as a measure of how much they hinder 
  a character who owns or wields the artifact. Drawbacks 
  can justify decreased commitment or Essence cost for 
  an otherwise expensive-to-use artifact. A drawback of 
  an equal or greater level than the artifact that possesses 
  it reduces the artifact’s rating by one.
  Examples: The four-dot clockwork bird above can lead 
  its owner to any person, place or thing the owner names, 
  regardless of sorceries used to conceal it. This might be an 
  overwhelming power… except that anyone who seeks the 
  character attuned to the artifact immediately knows exactly 
  how to ﬁ nd him. The two-dot sandals that increase speed may 
  only function if the owner has slain a woman and trodden 
  in the blood in the past day. This drawback far outstrips the 
  artifact’s two-dot rating, reducing the sandals to Artifact 1 
  and perhaps reducing commitment.
  Drawbacks come in many forms. They may limit the 
  artifact’s power so it only functions in certain situations, 
  on certain targets or once certain conditions are met in 
  advance. The artifact may malfunction in predetermined 
  or essentially random ways. It may also have unwanted 
  side effects that occur with regular activation of the 
  artifact, causing trouble after the fact.
  In a player’s design process, drawbacks are generally 
  optional. Players should choose drawbacks that they 
  think are exciting or will be fun to play out. In these 
  cases, applying drawbacks may reduce the artifact’s rat-
  ing or somewhat improve its powers. The player and 
  Storyteller should both be satisﬁ ed with the balance of 
  an artifact’s powers and drawbacks.
  After a drawback is decided, that’s just the way the 
  artifact is (or will be). The drawback is not a ﬂ aw in the 
  design; it’s a natural part of this artifact. Such drawbacks 
  cannot be corrected later. If it is a ﬂ aw, it may be a ﬂ aw 
  the artifact had since the First Age or a ﬂ aw the player 
  wants the character to let slip into the design. Either 
  one is a story hook eager to land a story ﬁ sh.
  The character’s design process (see p. 18) is an at-
  tempt to realize the player’s ideas in-game. Drawbacks 
  arise from this process when a research roll botches. 
  These drawbacks are ﬂ aws in the design that manifest 
  in the ﬁ nal product. Unlike intentional ﬂ aws, they 
  can be corrected, though the process is equivalent to 
  creating an artifact equal in rating to the drawback 
  being ﬁ xed. Drawbacks that can be repaired, whether 
  caused by the dice or the player’s design, do not affect 
  the rating or power of the artifact.
  • Minor: The artifact has a restriction that rarely 
  comes up or isn’t difﬁ cult to meet, an annoying quirk 
  or a side effect that causes little trouble.
  Examples: The artifact is unusable if the character 
  hasn’t prayed to the Unconquered Sun within a day. The 
  artifact doesn’t function without enough light to read. The 
  artifact targets the wrong individual when there are at least 
  four redheads in the wielders vision. The artifact makes the 
  wielder dizzy (-1 internal penalty for two actions).
  •• Moderate: The artifact has a restriction that 
  comes up regularly or isn’t easy to meet, a moderate 
  glitch in the way it functions or a side effect that 
  causes problems.
  Examples: The artifact only works if the character 
  utters an audible prayer (miscellaneous action) to the Un-
  conquered Sun before activating it. The artifact requires a 
  dedicated hearthstone to function. The artifact only func-
  N/A: WORLD-SHAKING WONDERS
  Some artifacts are so potent that they transcend 
  the ﬁ ve-dot rating system. This actually means that 
  they cannot be purchased at character generation 
  and that only Storytellers can introduce them into 
  a game. They have vast powers, such as granting 
  wishes wholesale or allowing unhindered travel 
  and spying across all Creation. They also inevitably 
  come with associated (and grandiose) drawbacks, 
  like granting wishes in perverse and malicious ways 
  that loosen the bindings on the Yozis.
  Example: The Eye of Autochthon is Creation’s 
  most notorious N/A artifact. In each of its three ap-
  pearances since the Great Contagion, this indestructible 
  relic of the Great Maker sparked wars that shook 
  Creation. The sorcerer Bagrash Köl conquered an 
  empire in the North that eclipsed the ﬂ edgling Realm, 
  until it all vanished. The Empress’ grandson Manosque 
  Viridian used the Eye to usurp control of the Realm’s 
  war manses. He was three days from the Imperial City 
  when his army fell into the sky. The prophetess Ikerre 
  led her Cult of the Great Maker in a rampage across 
  the Southern Wyld that left a thousand miles of barren 
  crystal behind her. When the Realm’s top agents caught 
  up to Ikerre, they found her entire caravan transformed 
  to quartz, but the Eye was gone.
  Games revolve around N/A artifacts. That’s 
  not to say you can’t run a game where the Eye of 
  Autochthon is just part of the background, but it 
  would throw some people off. N/A artifacts have no 
  standard Essence commitment or expenditures.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  17
  tions during the daytime. The artifact affects the wielder if 
  she targets a redhead. The artifact harms the wielder (one 
  level of bashing damage).
  ••• Significant: The artifact has conditions that 
  require signiﬁ cant effort to meet before it can be used, 
  a very troublesome malfunction or a consternating 
  side effect.
  Examples: The artifact does not function unless the 
  character has converted someone to the worship of the 
  Unconquered Sun within the past week. The artifact only 
  functions if the character has sacriﬁ ced a living creature to it 
  within the last month. The artifact requires three dedicated 
  hearthstones. The artifact only functions at the sun’s zenith. 
  The color red defends against or can banish the artifact’s 
  effects. The artifact drains the wielder’s life (one level of 
  aggravated damage).
  •••• Massive: The artifact’s conditions may 
  present great obstacles to its use, and its side effects 
  can be devastating.
  Examples: The artifact does not work unless the char-
  acter has sacriﬁ ced a human to it within the last week. Only 
  by sacriﬁ cing a family in the Unconquered Sun’s name can 
  a character activate the artifact. One mote attuned to the 
  artifact must instead be attuned to a simple, fragile object, 
  like an egg; destroying this object deactivates the artifact 
  until it can be replaced. The artifact drains Essence of those 
  around it for several hours after activation. The artifact 
  causes widespread ﬂ oods or droughts nearby.
  ••••• Overwhelming: The artifact cannot be 
  used unless severely onerous conditions are met, 
  and the side effects it causes can trigger entire 
  adventures.
  Examples: The artifact must bathe in fresh human blood 
  before each use. The artifact must consume an orichalcum 
  prayer strip to the Unconquered Sun (essentially Artifact 1) 
  to be used. Activating the artifact opens a door elsewhere in 
  Creation for a Second Circle demon. The artifact invents 
  archrivals for the wielder out of whole cloth when used. 
  The artifact rips Essence from its surroundings, draining 
  demesnes for months or leaving plant and animal life for 
  miles around to slowly die.
  OTHER SIDE EFFECTS
  Nothing exists in a vacuum, especially in the very 
  full world of Exalted. Every character worth playing has 
  an enemy or six; likewise, any artifact worth having is 
  coveted and makes people think that you, because you 
  have it, are one bad mother.
  Enemies: Two- and three-dot artifacts may have 
  people following them. Some come without strings, 
  especially forgotten ones, but many of them have people 
  coming to steal them… or steal them back. It’s just more 
  interesting that way, and Exalted lead interesting lives. 
  It might be an heirloom daiklave, or maybe your hero 
  snatched it from the wrong tomb.
  Four- and ﬁ ve-dot artifacts have reputations all 
  their own, and there’s nothing an owner can do about 
  it. Unless these mighty wonders are kept secret (and 
  that’s hard to do), even the suggestion that they’re 
  out there will bring out the treasure-hunters, hopeful 
  merchants and thieves.
  Reputation: Having and using artifacts marks your 
  character as one of the Exalted. Even the most average 
  daiklave is a condemnation, proving a character more 
  than mortal. There’s no certainty that your character 
  is Anathema (though orichalcum does tend to make 
  the educated suspect), but there’s no guarantee she’s 
  not, either. And that’s just for the small fries.
  Four- and ﬁ ve-dot artifacts give their owners 
  reputations, just like they provide ready-made enemies. 
  Even if the character wielding Soul Mirror (see p. 14) 
  means well, people will fear him and his blade that 
  consumes souls. Some artifacts are just that scary. As 
  the character becomes associated with the artifact, he 
  may experience bonuses or penalties on certain social 
  rolls (for Soul Mirror, bonuses on intimidation and 
  with a foul sort of people, penalties with goodly folk) 
  and people simply treat him differently. By this point, 
  even getting rid of the artifact may not be enough to 
  shake the stigma without real effort.
  Not everything incidental to owning an artifact 
  is terrible.
  Allies: There are people who aren’t thieves in 
  Creation, believe it or not. Some of them may respect 
  a character who can wield such-and-such artifact, 
  while others will want to manipulate that character. 
  Either one manifests in the form of temporary allies, 
  connected to the artifact rather than the character. 
  Four-dot artifacts usually produce no more than two-
  dot allies, while ﬁ ve-dot artifacts can go as high as four 
  dots. Whether or not the character can leverage them 
  into true allies is up to her.
  DESIGN NOTE: DRAWBACKS AS FLAWS
  Drawbacks that are reparable ﬂ aws do not help 
  balance an artifact’s power because, somewhere, 
  someone would use drawbacks to lower the artifact 
  rating and then quickly eliminate the ﬂ aw. Yes, 
  he ruined it for all of us.
  
  18
  Followers: This is the watered-down version of 
  allies and usually only kicks in for four- and ﬁ ve-dot 
  artifacts. When the artifact has an expansive reputation, 
  it can attract people who’d rather follow it than steal 
  it. They may be cultists, worshiping the soul-drinking 
  power of the blade, or musicians who wish to study the 
  singing staff. Sure, they’re following the artifact, but the 
  wielder gets to use them. Four-dot artifacts may produce 
  as much as two dots of Followers, and ﬁ ve-dot artifacts 
  can go as high as three.
  Influence: This goes hand-in-hand with reputa-
  tion. The more people have heard of a given wonder, 
  the more they expect the person carrying it to act this 
  way and deserve yea-much respect. And so they give 
  it: A character with a four- or ﬁ ve-dot artifact gains the 
  equivalent of one or two dots in Inﬂ uence, anywhere 
  the artifact is recognized. In areas where the character 
  already has Inﬂ uence, this Inﬂ uence increases by a dot. 
  People listen to someone with the fabled veil that holds 
  back time (for example).
  All these qualities are at the Storyteller’s discretion. 
  An artifact lost before the First Age won’t have much 
  reputation and won’t attract enmity or hangers-on, at 
  least until word spreads. The nature of some artifacts 
  (such as the Forgotten Blade) prevents them from 
  becoming well-known.
  Lore, Occult and the appropriate Craft (often Fire or 
  Air, but any of the ﬁ ve is possible). See the table on 
  this page. If the character meets that requirement, he 
  may begin designing the artifact.
  DESIGN
  Before crafting an artifact, a character must ﬁ rst design 
  it—deduce the materials and procedures needed to create 
  patterns of Essence that achieve the desired effect.
  The most difﬁ cult way to design an artifact is to 
  work from ﬁ rst principles. The character has nothing from 
  which to work and makes all decisions regarding the 
  artifact’s construction as part of the extended creation 
  roll. About half the crafting time actually consists of 
  research and experimentation, just as sorcerers must 
  (often disastrously) cast their half-formed spells. Up to 
  half the research (a quarter of the total necessary suc-
  cesses) can be done theoretically. A character doesn’t 
  need a workshop or tools while working theoretically, 
  and he can retain all accumulated successes as long as 
  he carefully records all his work (and doesn’t lose these 
  records). Discovering necessary exotic materials is a 
  natural part of this process; seeking them out delays the 
  extended roll without endangering the ﬁ nal project. Ev-
  ery ﬁ ve successes reveal one necessary exotic ingredient 
  in addition to accomplishing preliminary crafting.
  On the other hand, a character can use existing plans. 
  First Age artisans could access complete design notes, 
  including step-by-step instructions and comments on the 
  process from millennia-old masters. Second Age artisans 
  are rarely so lucky. Possessing complete plans for crafting 
  an artifact reduces the cumulative crafting difﬁ culty by 
  half. It also saves time, because the character knows what 
  exotic materials he needs before he starts. By deﬁ nition, 
  original artifacts can never beneﬁ t from this bonus.
  Characters can seek out complete artifact designs 
  in a number of places. Creation’s most complete arcane 
  libraries (in the Imperial Manse, Lookshy, Mahalanka 
  and one or two other locations) hold hundreds of de-
  signs but are jealously guarded. Other artifact designs 
  are recorded in ciphers now nearly impossible to crack. 
  Still more reside only within the minds of surviving First 
  Age Lunars and Sidereals, though persuading them to 
  share such secrets would be a pretty trick indeed.
  The disadvantage of using someone else’s ﬁ nished 
  design is that you must also use exactly the same magical 
  ingredients. If an artifact’s design calls for nothing more 
  exotic than jade or orichalcum, this is not much of a 
  problem. If a recipe means you have to bargain with 
  the Fair Folk for the love of a mountain for the sky, 
  you may face greater difﬁ culties. But such difﬁ culties 
  DEDICATED HEARTHSTONES AND ESSENCE
  This text assumes a dedicated hearthstone is 
  one set in the artifact, which then draws in all the 
  gem’s Essence. The same Exalt must be attuned 
  to both the artifact and the manse, and she gains 
  no beneﬁ t from the hearthstone.
  There are other sources of Essence for ar-
  tifacts. Most don’t need it, being completely 
  self-contained, or they take it from the Exalt when 
  necessary. Greater wonders of the First Age had 
  Essence accumulators, which drew in ambient Es-
  sence so the attuned Exalt never had to spend her 
  own. One First Age artifact drew its power from a 
  cult speciﬁ cally devoted to the artifact.
  DESIGNING ARTIFACTS 
  (FOR CHARACTERS)
  Forging a work of wonder is not a simple task. It 
  requires a great deal of effort, time and resources. The 
  information from the Exalted book is summed up here. 
  Before a character can begin creating an artifact, he 
  must meet the required minimum Ability scores in 
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  19
  make stories, so a pre-existing artifact design can be an 
  advantage for the player and the Storyteller, too.
  Partial information can reduce the cumulative dif-
  ﬁ culty for creating artifacts. Characters can ﬁ nd partial 
  information in many sources. All the sources that can 
  provide complete artifact designs can include incomplete 
  designs or references to different methods. Libraries have 
  torn-up books or fragmentary journals, and elder Exalted 
  are “forgetful” (usually doling the information out or bar-
  gaining for a better trade). Tombs and lost archives may 
  hold reference materials of use to artifact designers.
  Relevant material adds to the accumulated suc-
  cesses of the crafting rolls by a constant number. The 
  smallest dribbles of information add one success, and 
  the standard range is 2-6 successes for a section of a 
  sorcerer’s workbook or diagrams carved on a lost temple 
  wall. Despite the “standard range,” information can add 
  any number of successes. Finding a complete design is 
  the equivalent of ﬁ nding partial information that pro-
  vides half the necessary successes to create the artifact. 
  No amount of partial information, however, can ever 
  provide more than this many successes.
  If the character has access to a functioning artifact, 
  he can attempt reverse engineering. By examining its 
  Essence patterns and its physical form in minute detail, 
  the character can puzzle out how it functions and back-
  track through its creative process. The player makes an 
  (Intelligence + Occult) roll at a difﬁ culty of the artifact’s 
  rating. Add the roll’s threshold to the Artifact rating; the 
  character adds two dice to his crafting rolls for a number 
  of rolls equal to this number. This only serves as a limit; 
  the actual reverse engineering takes place during the 
  time represented by the extended crafting roll.
  Risk-takers may prefer to cut their time shorter. Dis-
  secting the artifact allows a character to more intimately 
  see how it works. If the (Intelligence + Occult) roll is 
  successful, double the number of crafting rolls to which 
  the dice bonus applies. This destroys the subject artifact. 
  Botching a crafting roll using this method destroys the 
  artifact prematurely and dangerously in addition to any 
  other effects. The character (and anyone working with 
  him) suffers a number of lethal levels of damage equal 
  to the artifact’s rating squared as its Essence explosively 
  ﬂ ows back into Creation.
  Botching on a design roll introduces unnoticed 
  ﬂ aws in the design, which negatively impact the ﬁ nal 
  product. This could represent an oversight (not realizing 
  the process must begin under a full moon) or sabotage 
  from a rival. It may manifest by adding a drawback to 
  the artifact (see p. 16) or increasing the severity of an 
  existing drawback. Multiple botches may do both, or 
  stack to create truly legendary drawbacks.
  COLLECTING THE INGREDIENTS
  Before the character can turn her complete design 
  into a fully functioning wonder, she must obtain the 
  proper materials. This usually includes one of the 
  magical materials. These substances channel and store 
  Essence much better than anything else in Creation, so 
  they tend to appear even in artifacts principally made 
  of other things. For instance, a wooden artifact might 
  hold a sliver of moonsilver or jade in its core. Still, some 
  designs call for very speciﬁ c constructions and cannot
  incorporate one of the magical materials. In other cases, 
  artisans simply cannot obtain the magical materials and 
  must make do with substances of lesser potency.
  ARTIFACT REQUIREMENTS BY RATING
    
     
  Required  
  Ability  
    
  Exotic  
  Repair 
  Rating Difficulty 
  Successes 
  Minimums* 
  Resources 
  Materials 
  Difficulty
  1 
  3 
  10 
  3 
  2 
  1 
  2
  2 
  4 
  30 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  3
  3 
  5 
  60 
  3 
  4 
  3 
  4
  4 
  6 
  100 
  6 
  5 
  4 
  5
  5 
  7 
  250 
  7 
  5 
  5 
  6
  Rating: Artifact’s rating.
  Difficulty: Crafting difﬁ culty.
  Required Successes: Cumulative difﬁ culty of the extended crafting roll.
  Ability Minimums: Rating in the relevant Craft, Lore and Occult necessary to attempt creating the item.
  Resources: Expenditure necessary for raw materials.
  Exotic Materials: Number of exotic materials required for creation.
  Repair Difficulty: Difﬁ culty to repair damaged artifact.
  
  20
  The sheer power of the magical materials can make 
  them difﬁ cult to craft, though. If a character works 
  with magical materials not natural to him (a Solar 
  working jade, or a mortal working any material), his 
  player suffer a -2 internal penalty on each roll. First 
  Age artisans circumvented this limitation by working 
  together, a practice that would work just as well today. 
  Having a single qualiﬁ ed Exalted assistant of the ideal 
  type eliminates the penalty.
  JADE
  The most common magical material is jade. Each 
  of its ﬁ ve varieties forms in a place most suited to its 
  elemental association and works especially well for 
  certain kinds of artifacts, though they see use in all 
  manner of wonders. An artifact whose power can be 
  associated with a particular Ability requires jade of the 
  element associated with the Dragon-Blooded caste that 
  favors that Ability. Stealth artifacts demand blue jade, 
  for example, and Survival artifacts need green jade.
  White jade occurs beneath mountains and near large 
  deposits of dense stone. It is incredibly plentiful beneath 
  the Imperial Mountain, directly over the Elemental Pole 
  of Earth. The Realm uses white jade for its ofﬁ cial cur-
  rency because it resists wear and is so readily available. 
  White jade is ideal for artifacts that manipulate earth 
  and stone or restrain another being’s mind.
  Green jade looks as if it grew like a plant. It develops 
  in regions of plentiful vegetation, such as thick forests 
  or jungles, often entangled among the roots of the 
  greatest trees. Wood elementals and forest gods often 
  become protective of the jade that forms naturally in 
  their domains. Green jade is best for controlling plants, 
  DESIGN NOTE: ARTIFACT DESIGN
  Roll intervals for artifact design are set to make 
  choosing high adventure over research and dice rolls 
  reasonable. If they were too short, even the travel 
  time to distant locations would be prohibitive, let 
  alone the exploration and research. Creation is 
  huge, and many places to visit may not be right 
  next door.
  Finding or possessing a complete artifact design 
  is a huge beneﬁ t, especially for greater wonders. 
  Storytellers should make them commensurately 
  difﬁ cult to acquire—but highly rewarding. If ﬁ nd-
  ing partial information for a handful of successes 
  is a month’s work, cutting the crafting time by half 
  should deﬁ nitely take longer.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  21
  affecting animals and drawing ambient Essence into 
  an artifact.
  Red jade deposits appear in the hottest regions of the 
  world—beneath active volcanoes and in the center of 
  scorching deserts. Its location makes it difﬁ cult to har-
  vest, sometimes requiring Fire Aspects, artifact-equipped 
  mortals or summoned elementals to retrieve it. Red jade 
  is warm to the touch and often ﬂ ickers in the light. It is 
  perfect for controlling ﬁ re or making people immune to 
  it, as well as causing harm or heightening reﬂ exes.
  Black jade forms in deep lakes where water pools for 
  a long time and in large seas. The ﬂ oor of the Western 
  Ocean holds astoundingly quantities, but most of it is 
  so many miles beneath the surface that even Water 
  Aspects cannot easily obtain it. Even a thin shaving 
  of black jade seems to hold inﬁ nite depth, making it 
  highly prized as a meditation aid. Apart from controlling 
  water, this variety of jade works well for affecting or 
  communicating with gods, elementals and demons.
  Blue jade looks almost translucent with misty shapes 
  that appear and vanish. Occultists and soothsayers 
  sometimes use these shapes as an alternative to reading 
  entrails or the constellations. This jade appears in areas 
  of rariﬁ ed air or great cold, such as the heights of the 
  Imperial Mountain or the glacial wastes of the North. 
  Artifacts that control the weather or sense or affect 
  thought are usually best made with blue jade.
  Acquiring jade is sometimes very, very difﬁ cult 
  and sometimes surprisingly easy. Most signiﬁ cant jade 
  deposits are under the direct control of Realm troops 
  led by a good number of competent Dragon-Blooded. 
  For an outcaste or Anathema to access these sources of 
  jade would require signiﬁ cant skill, luck and daring.
  On the other hand, the Realm uses jade for money. 
  Someone with enough ﬁ nancial backing could visit a few 
  banks and come away with a good deal of white jade. 
  Removing currency from circulation is an offense punish-
  able by heavy ﬁ nes that the Imperial Treasury treats quite 
  seriously, especially in this time of dwindling taxes.
  One pound of jade is a Resources 3 expense, up to 
  nine pounds is Resources 4, and a Resources 5 expen-
  diture can procure up to 25 pounds at a go. Even if the 
  ﬁ nal artifact does not require 25 pounds of jade, the 
  creation process often requires more than one would 
  expect—jade can be ground, melted, distilled and 
  alchemically treated in a dozen ways that reduces the 
  quantity while reﬁ ning the quality.
  There are also many tons of jade extant in Cre-
  ation, already part of artifacts. Although few mortals 
  YELLOW JADE
  Yellow jade is a mistake. It doesn’t appear 
  naturally, and no one knows how to create it. 
  Dragon-Blooded alchemists try to create it with 
  different mixtures of regular jade, but none of 
  their experiments ever succeed more than once. 
  Yellow jade only appears when a thaumaturge 
  makes an unrepeatable error when following an 
  intended formula, such as spilling in unknown 
  exotic ingredients or leaving a mixture to simmer a 
  day too long. If any intelligent force decides when 
  and where yellow jade appears, it certainly isn’t 
  the Dragon-Blooded.
  This is a shame, because yellow jade has a 
  wide variety of uses. Artifacts made with this rare 
  material often require less committed Essence or 
  none at all. It is a primary component of many 
  artifacts that mortals can use.
  JADE MATERIAL BONUSES
  The standard bonuses for a Dragon-Blooded 
  hero who attunes a jade artifact reﬂ ect the Ter-
  restrial qualities of preparedness and strength. 
  Jade is a superior magical material for reducing 
  the Speed of a character’s attacks. However, some 
  Dragon-Blooded artiﬁ cers treat jade to bring out 
  other latent aspects of its elemental nature. Each 
  color of jade offers its own suite of advantages to 
  artifact weapons.
  White jade adds +2 to damage and +1 to the 
  difﬁ culty of rolls to resist knockdown and stunning 
  caused by the weapon.
  Green jade adds +1 to damage and steals one 
  mote of Essence from living creatures that take 
  damage from the attack, transferring it to the 
  wielder.
  Red jade adds +3 to damage due to intense 
  heat.
  Black jade adds +1 to damage and adds +2 to 
  defense.
  Blue jade adds +1 to damage and +2 to Rate.
  Each bonus is available to any Terrestrial 
  Exalt who attunes the artifact (or other Exalted 
  who make the effort), not just Dragon-Bloods of 
  the appropriate element. Only one bonus applies, 
  even when a weapon incorporates multiple types 
  of jade. Bonuses apply equally to hand-to-hand 
  and ranged artifact weapons.
  
  22
  would conceive of assaulting a Dragon-Blood for her 
  panoply, other folk are less scrupulous (or scared). Jade 
  in weapons and armor has been alloyed with steel, but 
  that just means a would-be artiﬁ cer must acquire more 
  of it—after the reduction and extraction process, a 
  character has about one-tenth the weight of jade as 
  the alloy she had to start.
  A workshop capable of working jade is a Resources 
  3 expense.
  MOONSILVER
  This magical material forms only in the Wyld. 
  Beams of moonlight unpredictably illuminate a region 
  of the Bordermarches or Middlemarches, boiling off the 
  Wyld and distilling its Essence into the ﬂ uid, watery-
  looking moonsilver. Most Lunar Exalted believe this is 
  a conscious gift to them from their patron.
  Deposits of moonsilver look like normal silver, but 
  they run through exposed surfaces in smooth, ﬂ owing 
  patterns that veins of silver could never match unless 
  melted and sculpted. They also move slowly, and twitch 
  if you touch them. Under the moonlight, moonsilver 
  reﬂ ects things that aren’t there, like the images of 
  dreams and memories sublimating from the observers’ 
  minds. Moonsilver is ideal for artifacts that emphasize 
  ﬂ uidity, transience, chaotic change, sleep and dreams, 
  among other things.
  Raw moonsilver is unstable. An artisan needs 
  special techniques to work it. Silver Pact elders pass 
  down the necessary ritual by word of mouth. The 
  Lunar Exalted also developed special Charms to help 
  them work moonsilver. Any Lunar character with an 
  interest in arcane artiﬁ ce can learn them through that 
  organization. Other folk might have more difﬁ culty. 
  Nevertheless, a few exceptionally learned artisans and 
  savants know the procedure.
  A few records from the First Age suggest that Ex-
  alted smiths then could create their own moonsilver 
  using the Essence tokens from powerful demesnes (see 
  Chapter Two) and moonlight concentrated by occult 
  mirrors, rather like the ones used to create orichalcum 
  (see below). The complete procedure, however, has been 
  lost to all save perhaps a few elder Lunars and Sidereals, 
  who either have no ability or no need for it.
  ORICHALCUM
  The golden magical material of the Solar Exalted 
  is the strongest of all the magical materials. Its sheen 
  bears the warmth and light of the Unconquered Sun, 
  even when lit only by a candle or a caste mark. People 
  mistake it for gold only when the light is dim or they 
  cannot touch it to feel its inner ﬁ re. It is hard to mine 
  and harder still to forge, almost as if it resists being 
  worked by anyone but the Sun’s Chosen. Once incor-
  porated into an artifact, orichalcum represents strength, 
  superiority, order, glory and (to a degree) perfection or 
  striving for the absolute.
  Artisans can ﬁ nd orichalcum where it forms 
  naturally, or they can distill their own from molten 
  gold. Natural deposits appear in areas where sunlight 
  streams down upon an area heated by the blood of the 
  earth—magma. Left there for centuries, gold deposits 
  melt and distill naturally into orichalcum, which 
  earthquakes and shifting earth eventually moves deeper 
  or darker underground where it remains until mined. 
  Alternatively, an artisan could distill his own orichalcum 
  from gold, using a smelter heated by molten lava and 
  sunlight concentrated using mirrors.
  Orichalcum is in scarce supply in the Second Age 
  of Man. The Terrestrial Exalted have guarded the 
  natural deposits of orichalcum since the Usurpation. 
  They fear the Unconquered Sun’s wrath too much to 
  destroy them, and fear the Solar Anathema too much 
  just to bury them. And besides, a few Dragon-Blooded 
  smiths do use orichalcum in their artifacts. In this Time 
  of Tumult, the Great Houses have doubled the postings 
  on the deposits that they guard, hoping to catch the 
  demons there. It’s cheaper than ﬁ elding a Wyld Hunt, 
  and the Dynasts need all the legions they can muster 
  back home on the Blessed Isle. As for making one’s 
  own orichalcum, gold is easy to obtain, but the occult 
  mirrors are not. Both Guild factors and Realm agents 
  might notice buyers of large, custom-made mirrors.
  STARMETAL
  Starmetal resembles mundane iron. Reﬁ ned, it 
  looks like clean steel that—in oblique light—reﬂ ects a 
  faint rainbow of the Five Maidens’ colors. In most other 
  respects, starmetal can be worked like steel, though 
  the result (once bound with the proper Essence pat-
  terns) becomes much harder than the mundane metal. 
  Starmetal is the preferred magical material for artifacts 
  dealing with choices, predictions, time, avoidance, 
  mysteries and knowledge.
  Erudite folk may know that when a star falls from 
  the sky, it crashes into the earth and leaves a deposit 
  of starmetal ore. These deposits are very rare, to the 
  point where the sight of a brilliant falling star can set 
  off a treasure hunt over hundreds of miles. Seekers are 
  usually disappointed: The Sidereal Exalted, however, 
  use their superior astrological methods to predict falling 
  stars and collect the ore as quickly as possible.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  23
  SMELTING PROCEDURES
  The processes that smelt moonsilver, orichalcum, starmetal and soulsteel from their source materials 
  are all Adept-level thaumaturgical rituals in the Art of Alchemy. In each case, the necessary foundry is a 
  Resources 4 purchase (the reusable components for the ritual), while operating it long enough to produce a 
  pound of the desired metal is a Resources 3 expense (the consumed material for the ritual)—not including 
  the raw materials themselves. Characters may learn these rituals as Procedures. In each case, the Willpower 
  expenditure represents the intense concentration needed to see the procedure through to a successful 
  conclusion. To use these rituals, a character needs Craft (Fire) at 4.
  Stabilize Moonsilver (2, Perception, 3, one hour): Raw moonsilver must be collected at night under the 
  light of the moon. The raw moonsilver is still unstable with residual Wyld-energy. Through coaxing songs 
  and careful taps and strokes with crystal hammers and probes, the artisan quiets the Wyldness remaining 
  in the raw moonsilver so it becomes a stable metal. Pacify it too much and it freezes into silver; hit it too 
  hard, and it shatters into drops of quicksilver.
  Distill Orichalcum (2, Stamina, 3, one week): Purifying gold into orichalcum can only be done at a 
  source of molten lava. It also requires large, high-precision mirrors to concentrate sunlight on the molten 
  gold. Boiling the gold continuously for a week, using magma and sunﬁ re, to drive out impurities, is not 
  intellectually challenging… but the prolonged, constant attention to direct the mirrors and keep the lava 
  from contaminating the gold is remarkably fatiguing.
  Smelt Starmetal (2, Wits, 3, one day): Pulling starmetal from its ore should be easy. It uses the same 
  smelter and tools used to extract mundane iron—but everything must be consecrated and puriﬁ ed: the 
  clay and charcoal of the furnace, the tree from which the charcoal was made, the spade that was used to 
  dig the clay… The small gods of the forge know the smith works on the remains of their kin, and will spoil 
  the process if not suitably appeased. And then, the smelter engages in a frantic battle of wits to keep the 
  furnace going and the forge uncontaminated as everything that could go wrong, does, driving the smith to 
  his limits through sheer frazzlement.
  Alloy Soulsteel (2, Manipulation, 3, one day): Hammering souls into the sooty ore from the Labyrinth 
  involves more than strength. It is an exercise in cruelty and domination, breaking the will of the captive 
  ghosts so they would rather accept an eternity trapped in black metal than the continued blows of the 
  hammer, the scorching of boneﬁ re and the bitter quenching in bile.
  There’s more to the story, though few humans 
  know it. When a given god’s existence is completely 
  extinguished, that god’s remains fall from the heav-
  ens as a shooting star and becomes a small nugget of 
  starmetal. Gods’ Essences may also be turned directly 
  into starmetal, though doing so counts as murder and is 
  severely punished by the Celestial Hierarchy. Instead, 
  Sidereal Exalted who require starmetal arrange for an 
  appropriate heavenly tribunal to audit, convict and 
  execute a minor god. This creates a deposit of starmetal, 
  at the light expense of morality.
  Because of its rarity and great value to the leading 
  conspiracy in Creation, starmetal is very difﬁ cult to 
  obtain. The raw ore cannot be bought for any price 
  in Creation or Yu-Shan, because the Chosen of the 
  Maidens have usually requisitioned it for their own 
  uses (and acquired legal ownership of it through the 
  Celestial Bureaucracy). Starmetal artifacts are almost 
  as rare and jealously guarded as unworked ore; almost 
  all of them are strongly claimed by a person or cause 
  (though the ownership of many are subjects of ongoing 
  disputes that will likely never see resolution). Disman-
  tling a starmetal artifact for reconstruction into another 
  artifact is sure to offend somebody.
  SOULSTEEL
  Once forged, soulsteel artifacts are a dull, matte 
  black, much like dark iron. Only when in use, or when 
  one looks too closely, do the faces and hands of those 
  souls used in the artifact’s construction become visible, 
  screaming and pushing against the border of their dark 
  prison. Soulsteel has no peer for artifacts dealing with 
  all forms of death, although artisans sometimes employ 
  bone or obsidian if soulsteel is unavailable.
  Soulsteel has two primary ingredients: a black ore 
  found only in the Labyrinth, and souls. Of the two, the 
  ﬁ rst is more dangerous to acquire. The Labyrinth, that 
  endless series of twisting tunnels and hideous chambers 
  
  24
  that squirms between the Underworld and the Void, 
  acts like putty for the undying nightmares of the Nev-
  erborn. Even ghosts fear entering the death-maze and 
  often suffer something more terrible than death if they 
  do, so even the Deathlords ﬁ nd mining soulsteel ore an 
  expensive prospect.
  Souls are easier to procure and far less dangerous. 
  The skills and Arcanoi of ghosts rarely help them much 
  against a driven Exalted opponent or the Deathlords’ 
  “press gangs.” An artifact requires one soul in its con-
  struction for every 10 successes the artiﬁ cer’s player 
  must accumulate when crafting it (one for Artifact 1 
  up to 25 for Artifact 5).
  The Labyrinthine ore is brittle unless properly treat-
  ed, and the smith must carefully fold the souls into the 
  alloy many times to ensure that they cannot escape. The 
  entire process requires a complex necromantic work-
  shop. Ghostly sages know that, occasionally, passages 
  in the Labyrinth open to reveal complete workshops 
  perfect for smelting and forging soulsteel. None know 
  whether these are remnants of dark enchantments 
  worked by the Deathlords or somehow natural.
  EXOTIC MATERIALS
  Artiﬁ cers use magical materials because they are 
  usually ideal to contain the desired Essence pattern the 
  artifact requires. But magical materials are fairly blank 
  slates, and a craftsman must seek out other occult ele-
  ments to complete the artifact. The natural Essence 
  patterns of these exotic ingredients reinforce those 
  desired in the wonder or serve as a mold to shape the 
  artifact’s Essence ﬂ ow.
  Artiﬁ cers use exotic materials in various ways. These 
  ingredients may be alloyed into the magical metal, 
  woven into cloth (often through magic), used to fuel 
  mystic ﬁ res for glassblowing or forging, sublimated into 
  the material or anything else appropriate to the task. An 
  ingredient might also ﬁ nd use in a tool used in creating 
  the artifact, such as brewing other ingredients in the 
  skull of a sage who confounded 10 gods, or wielding 
  chisels made from a Second Circle demon’s teeth.
  In nearly every case, acquiring such materials requires 
  an arduous search of some kind. The more powerful the 
  desired artifact, the more rariﬁ ed the necessary compo-
  nents. Ingredients may be conceptual, such as “the last 
  dream of a fetus before it is born,” but this requires dealing 
  with Fair Folk nobles, demon princes or other powerful, 
  dangerous entities that can blur the categories of reality 
  and turn concepts into tangible entities.
  Crafting powerful artifacts was once much easier. 
  The preponderance of Exalted artisans and high 
  OTHER SOURCES OF MAGICAL MATERIALS
  Each magical material’s description suggests 
  where to obtain or how to make that material. 
  Other sources exist. For example, when a human 
  prays to a speciﬁ c god, those prayers materialize in 
  Yu-Shan in the form of ambrosia, which the gods 
  value highly. Ambrosia may be made into nearly 
  anything (and is always of ﬁ ner quality than the 
  most expensive such goods in Creation proper), 
  including jade. There is, therefore, a great deal of 
  jade in Yu-Shan. However, only ambrosia created 
  by prayer to the Unconquered Sun, Luna or the 
  Five Maidens can become that particular Incarna’s 
  associated magical material. Acquiring ambrosia 
  is a neat trick, but so is mining the Labyrinth, 
  dodging Realm garrisons at orichalcum mines, or 
  beating the Sidereals to a fallen star.
  Another source, which the gods do not dis-
  cuss for obvious reasons, is the gods themselves. 
  Through special Charms, a god may be forged into 
  artifacts of jade. They may also be forged into ar-
  tifacts of orichalcum, moonsilver or starmetal, but 
  they provide very small quantities of each unless 
  they are direct servants of the relevant gods—in 
  which case using their Essence for trinkets may 
  not be a good idea.
  Neither of the above methods creates soulsteel. 
  In the First Age, soulsteel was a recognized and oft-
  abused magical material. It has many uses, and using 
  it treads on no gods’ toes. Only the walking dead 
  objected then, and few in the First Age gave their 
  opinions much weight. Execution in a manner to 
  create a ghost, followed by permanent imprison-
  ment in soulsteel, became a First Age punishment 
  for criminals of the worst sort, such as serial mur-
  derers and traitors against the Deliberative. Lost 
  workshops may still hold caches of soulsteel.
  enlightenment in the First Age allowed the premier 
  artiﬁ cers to delegate some of their work. Creating an 
  exotic component (an ingredient or tool) for an artifact 
  is equivalent to creating an artifact one dot lower than 
  the artifact for which it is intended. This includes the 
  need for natural exotic materials… or reagents equiva-
  lent to still weaker artifacts.
  A Twilight artisan, therefore, could have her ap-
  prentices working on Artifact 1 ingredients and tools 
  for her advanced apprentices’ Artifact 2 components. 
  These would in turn fuel her journeymen’s Artifact 3 
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  25
  handiwork, which might even be reﬁ ned into Artifact 
  4 ingredients by the masters she trained in the past. 
  The Twilight herself would then turn them into the 
  ﬁ nal item, no doubt saving herself years of research, 
  travel and exploration.
  In time, even this delegation became considered 
  inefﬁ cient. In the Old Realm’s height, an Exalted master 
  artiﬁ cer could request time at an appropriate factory-
  cathedral outﬁ tted to produce artifact components of 
  the proper sort. Then, such wonders (Artifact 5 all 
  by themselves, and bound to manses) could produce 
  Artifact 3 ingredients for use in greater wonders.
  The Usurpation reduced this industry of artifacts, 
  and the Contagion almost completed its ruin. The 
  sorcerer-engineers of Lookshy struggle merely to sustain 
  the city-state’s magitech arsenal. The Realm has built 
  a few Shogunate-level workshops inferior to actual 
  factory-cathedrals, which produce jade-steel weapons 
  and armor for the legions. Reconstructing a true fac-
  tory-cathedral would be a legendary feat worthy of the 
  returning Lawgivers.
  irritation. The juxtaposition of such impossible purity 
  being expressible only through the creation of impurity, 
  given immense strength by the commitment of a being’s 
  entire Essence (which the enlightened mortal could not 
  recover) made this exotic component perfect for elimi-
  nating ﬂ aws from artifacts during creation.
  • Heaven Leaf Fallen: In the densest jungles 
  of the East, Wood-aspected arborists grew massive, 
  broad-leafed trees with canopies large enough to sup-
  port palaces. Instead, the master gardeners planted 
  over them, growing more than a dozen layers of trees 
  on top of each other. When the topmost tree brushed 
  the ﬁ rmament with a single leaf, the god responsible 
  for keeping the sky clear smote the entire series from 
  the very top to the bottommost root. Only the highest 
  leaf survives, charged with the pure quality of towering 
  height and fecundity with a ﬂ avor of hubris.
  • Infinite Seeds: Through miraculous alterations 
  of vegetable life, Exalted gardeners designed a low but 
  sturdy bush that grew a hard-shelled nut. Earth Essence 
  made the hut’s husk as strong as steel while Wood Essence 
  ensured that the plant-to-be inside that nut continued 
  to grow. The strength of the shell forced the plant grow 
  to maturity conﬁ ned within that small space. It would 
  grow and die, leaving behind a nut of the same nature 
  just small enough to ﬁ t inside. Another plant would 
  grow inside that, and so on. Even the plant’s designers 
  were unsure when, if ever, the cycle ended. Artiﬁ cers 
  incorporated these seeds into their artifacts in order to 
  lengthen its nature or incorporate inﬁ nity.
  • Neverdreamt: Using captive or willing heka-
  tonkhire and powerful sorcery, Exalted would merge the 
  creatures into aspects of the Underworld’s dead gods that 
  even the Neverborn had not conceived in their worst or 
  most joyous nightmares. Using multiple source entities, 
  the resultant amalgams would be separated along differ-
  ent lines than they were ﬁ rst joined, creating altogether 
  new hekatonkhire, which would be combined with the 
  products of other such experiments. After repeatedly 
  distilling more and more rariﬁ ed qualities from the source 
  hekatonkhire, a ﬁ nal process instilled this Essence into a 
  crystal for use with an artifact. This component was much 
  desired for creating wonders that would manipulate or 
  change the Underworld and Labyrinth on broad scales, 
  or one that might harm the Neverborn themselves.
  • Children of Breeding: The Old Realm founded 
  long-running eugenics programs in far-ﬂ ung regions of 
  Creation. Some administrators bred for selected qualities, 
  others bred selected qualities out of the population. After 
  several centuries, the Celestial Bureaucracy assigned a 
  god to each program. With a small number of appropriate 
  SELECTING EXOTIC INGREDIENTS
  A Storyteller or player devising a list for artifact 
  creation should ask, “What sort of objects does 
  one associate with the artifact’s purpose? What 
  elements remind one of its focus? What might 
  carry similar power or wonder?” More importantly, 
  “What inspires a fun adventure to retrieve?” Ideally, 
  someone reading the list of exotic items can make a 
  reasonable guess at the artifact’s intended abilities. 
  The goal is to increase the adventure of creating 
  an artifact—just having a well-equipped workshop 
  and a pile of jade out back isn’t enough.
  SAMPLE FIRST AGE EXOTIC MATERIALS
  The First Age of Man reached greater heights than 
  most in the Age of Sorrows can dream, even the Dragon-
  Blooded. Its mastery of science and the occult enabled 
  First Age savants to create fantastic components for 
  their world-shaking wonders. Four- or ﬁ ve-dot artifacts 
  require at least one ingredient comparable to these.
  • Essence of Pearl: Exalted bred a species of giant 
  oyster that could survive only in the farthest West, ﬂ oating 
  forever on the currents because there is no ocean ﬂ oor. 
  The oysters’ tenders, often enlightened mortals, com-
  mitted all their Essence to the air before them, creating 
  a physical grain that they would place inside the oysters’ 
  shells. Over many years, an oyster so irritated would grow 
  a pearl composed of the purest water Essence around the 
  
  26
  bribes and blackmails, the Exalted behind the programs 
  convinced these gods to procreate with some participants 
  of the programs they oversaw, creating new populations 
  inside the original programs—eugenics sub-programs, 
  administered by members of the original and still ongoing 
  programs. After another period, new gods were named for 
  these internal programs. The process was repeated, and 
  repeated, creating recursive breeding programs that bred 
  selected traits into both the humans and the eugenics 
  gods. Eventually, the humans in the programs and gods 
  of the programs became indistinguishable—and useful 
  components in artiﬁ ce, though they were fairly useless 
  as either humans or gods.
  SAMPLE SECOND AGE EXOTIC MATERIALS
  Without the sophisticated First Age methods and 
  infrastructure, exotic objects take decades to build up 
  the necessary Essence patterns required for greater 
  wonders. Instead, arcane artisans look for ingredients 
  that already possess occult power. See Chapter Four 
  of this book or The Compass of Celestial Directions, 
  Vol. II—The Wyld for potential ingredients suitable 
  for lesser wonders. Artifacts rated three dots or higher 
  require components that are correspondingly more rare 
  and more difﬁ cult to obtain.
  • Frozen Lightning: In the far, far Northwest, sea 
  storms blow heavy and cold along westerlies into the 
  North proper. There, a wind from the Pole of Air might 
  instantly freeze the storm. The thick clouds sometimes 
  become one with the frozen fog so rightly feared in the 
  North, sometimes add a layer to the massive Northern 
  glaciers, and sometimes fall on and kill unwary travelers. 
  When a stroke of lightning leaps in the very moment 
  that the cold front hits, the lightning freezes solid and 
  falls to shatter on the ground. Artiﬁ cers who recover a 
  shard and keep it from thawing have very strong bottled 
  energy on their hands.
  • Mournful Eyes: Two eyes, which need not come 
  from the same person, that have both personally seen all 
  their owners’ descendants die. This can be simple enough 
  for a father of one, but the eyes from the patriarch or 
  matriarch of sprawling clans acquire greater potency. 
  The eyes of gods that have seen their purview completely 
  and permanently eliminated are even better.
  • Spiritual Benefaction: The approval of a god is no 
  trivial thing. Should a god with the appropriate nature 
  bless the manufacture of an artifact, the construction 
  proceeds well. Craftsman gods are always appropriate, 
  but they have grown jaded and rarely give their boons. 
  The benefaction costs the god a permanent Willpower, 
  which it recovers very slowly (over the course of years, 
  sometimes decades). For a benefaction to be effective, 
  it must come from a spirit with a permanent Essence at 
  least two dots higher than the artifact’s intended rating. 
  Demons can bless the process too, when it suits their 
  own malevolent ends.
  • The Eternal Lord: One to whom a people swear 
  fealty gains a measure of power; one who has many 
  subjects and keeps them (or their bloodlines) sworn 
  for centuries has a great deal of power. The remains 
  of a God-Blooded monarch or Exalted satrap who has 
  ruled a province’s people since before their grandfathers’ 
  grandfathers were born might possess enough power for 
  a minor wonder. Sacriﬁ cing a monarch who ruled for 
  at least a millennium could enable the creation of a 
  greater artifact. A few savants whisper that the Perfect 
  of Paragon was set up long ago for just this purpose.
  • Undrowned Losses: An object lost at sea has a 
  trace of occult signiﬁ cance. But such objects eventu-
  ally sink, becoming lost forever, or ﬂ oat to the surface, 
  symbolically found. Some objects do neither, getting 
  caught in the currents of the Western Ocean, never 
  touching the sea ﬂ oor or seeing the sky again. After at 
  least two decades, undrowned losses (which might well 
  be corpses) collect enough power from that uncertainty 
  that they become valid components. Every factor of 10 
  in the number of years spent circulating adds one dot to 
  the level of artifact the exotic item can help create.
  • Perfected Water: Anything from an elemental 
  pole is sufﬁ ciently powerful to use in a minor artifact. 
  Something that has felt the touch of multiple poles 
  gains even greater power. For instance, water from 
  that elemental pole can be carried to the Pole of Air, 
  where it freezes solid. This gleaming ice is then taken 
  to the Pole of Fire, which blasts the ice into vapor. The 
  vapor, collected and condensed, then goes to the Pole 
  of Air to freeze again. After 10 circuits of this brute-
  force distillation, the perfected water becomes potent 
  enough to use for three-dot artifacts.
  • Life of the Dead: When a dead spirit willingly
  volunteers to sacriﬁ ce whatever afterlife remained to it 
  and become a part of an artifact, that is mighty. Willing 
  nephwracks work even better as exotic components, if 
  commensurately more rare.
  • Unseen Ingredients: Something that has never 
  been seen, that has never even been touched by the light 
  that lets man see, has strong connections to both mystery 
  and darkness. Such objects become exotic enough to be 
  worth using in artifacts if they are ﬁ nished products—a 
  fully forged sword or porcelain teacup that has never 
  seen light is an interesting acquisition indeed.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  27
  • Vigorous Blood: Blood from any mighty being 
  carries power that might be transferred into an artifact. 
  Gods and demons must offer their benefaction (above), 
  but elementals, God-Blooded and a myriad of other 
  creatures with magic in their veins may offer blood 
  to aid an artifact’s completion. The creature’s Essence 
  must be at least two dots greater than the artifact’s 
  intended rating. Exalted must have an Essence three 
  dots greater, and they may not spend their own blood 
  to power an artifact they create. Entities of such power 
  often do not think highly of requests for a pint or two 
  of their blood. Blood is an excellent ingredient to tie 
  an artifact to an individual, and even the most skillful 
  artiﬁ cers may be unable to avoid giving an artifact some 
  connection to the donor.
  • Stolen Virtue: Any of the four Virtues make 
  excellent ingredients for artifacts, but only a Fair Folk 
  noble has the power to craft a stolen Virtue into a solid 
  object. Artiﬁ cers must deal with the noble to get what 
  they want. The Virtue used tends to color the artifact’s 
  use, sometimes creating subtle drawbacks.
  DOING THE WORK
  Once a character designs the artifact and acquires 
  the necessary magical materials and components, she 
  may build it—assuming she has a proper place in which 
  to work. The base difﬁ culty to craft an artifact is equal to 
  (artifact’s rating + 2), and each roll represents a season 
  of work. An improperly furnished workspace only makes 
  it harder. In the First Age, Exalted built massive atelier-
  manses for their crafts, which provided an inﬁ nite variety 
  of tools and workspaces while automatically rearranging 
  the geomancy of the workspace for maximum harmony 
  with the current project. Second Age artiﬁ cers are not 
  nearly so lucky. Fortunately, crafting daiklaves and 
  other “no moving parts” artifacts requires less exotic 
  equipment than does magitech, which cannot be built 
  or repaired without a host of dedicated tools. On the 
  other hand, relying on craftsmanship instead of motonic 
  science and prefabricated components means that even 
  the best workshops offer less beneﬁ t to artisans.
  Workspaces range from ideal (the above atelier-
  manses) to rudimentary (a hut with a few scavenged 
  tools). The quality of the workspace includes the 
  existence, quality of and appropriateness of the tools 
  within that space.
  A rudimentary workshop is virtually free, but that’s 
  its only beneﬁ t. It applies an external penalty of -4 to 
  all rolls to craft an artifact because of the great lack of 
  preparedness. Shaping Hand Style (see The Manual 
  
  28
  of Exalted Power—The Dragon-Blooded, p. 142) 
  makes hands into effective tools of any mundane sort 
  and allows a character to function at this level without 
  any workshop at all.
  A basic workshop is well-equipped but entirely mun-
  dane in its focus. This is a village blacksmith’s forge, 
  carpenter’s shop, weaver’s loom or other setup with all 
  the necessary tools. It costs Resources 3 to build a shop 
  and Resources 2 each month to maintain it. The basic 
  workshop applies a -2 external penalty to all artifact-
  crafting rolls. A character using Craftsman Needs No 
  Tools (see Exalted, p. 213) or Clay-Wetting Practice 
  (see The Manual of Exalted Power—The Lunars, p. 
  149), both of which allow an Exalt to function without 
  tools, operates at this level.
  A master’s workshop comes with every tool one 
  could want for mundane artiﬁ ce, whether the craft is 
  weaving, gem-cutting or alchemy. It certainly includes 
  several tools of superior workmanship, and maybe a few 
  of perfect workmanship or preserved from the Shogu-
  nate or Old Realm. Such a workshop costs Resources 
  4 to build and Resources 3 each month to maintain, 
  but does not penalize the rolls to create the artifact. 
  Founding a workshop of this sort is sure to draw atten-
  tion, unwanted by most returning Solars.
  A ﬂ awless workshop is stocked entirely with perfect 
  or First Age tools. The artisan has every mundane in-
  gredient found in Creation, and a few exotic ingredients 
  from demesnes, the Wyld, the Fair Folk or other arcane 
  sources. The Dragon-Blooded preserved such workshops 
  through the Usurpation, so contemporary savants and 
  artiﬁ cers call them Shogunate-style workshops. The 
  Realm, Lookshy and a few other nations of exceptional 
  wealth build and maintain a few ﬂ awless workshops; the 
  Sidereals and the Silver Pact own a few more. A ﬂ awless 
  workshop adds two dice to each crafting roll.
  Assembling a ﬂ awless workshop requires a labor 
  pool like that necessary for creating a three-dot manse, 
  and the spiritual impact is signiﬁ cant. People sensitive 
  to mundane or spiritual events must notice such a 
  workshop’s construction unless the artisans take extreme 
  and supernatural measures for secrecy.
  An ideal workshop consists of a First Age factory-
  cathedral or atelier-manse. Such facilities must be part 
  of powerful manses (see the “Factory-Cathedral” manse 
  power on p. 78). They also require three powerful, exotic 
  components every year to continue operating. An ideal 
  workshop adds four dice to artifact crafting rolls.
  These wonders have all ceased to function since the 
  Usurpation, and the Fair Folk and the Wyld destroyed 
  many of their remains during the Contagion. Any that 
  exist certainly need major repairs. If an ideal workshop 
  could be built or repaired, all the powers-that-be from 
  the Scarlet Dynasty to Malfeas would notice—and if 
  they could not take it for themselves, they would try 
  to destroy it.
  Workshops may have specialties, indicating types 
  of work for which it is particularly well-outﬁ tted. This 
  reduces the external penalties by one for lesser workshops 
  or adds one die per roll for master’s or better workshops. 
  Specialties include silk-weaving, sword-smithing, 
  gem-carving and the like. Reﬁ tting a workshop for a 
  different specialty takes about a month of focused work 
  or the equivalent of an Artifact 2 creation for a ﬂ awless 
  workshop. Ideal workshops can mimic any one specialty 
  at a time after one week of self-adjustment.
  CHARMS
  Exalted artiﬁ cers surpass their mortal colleagues 
  through Charms. The best of the best possess multiple 
  craft-oriented Combos. In the Second Age, Combos of 
  a Craft Excellency + Crack-Mending Technique and 
  Excellency + Craftsman Needs No Tools allow Solars 
  to dominate mundane artiﬁ ce.
  Exalted craftsmen can use Excellencies to improve 
  the skill with which they create wonders, but an Excel-
  lency cannot provide mastery a character doesn’t already 
  possess. In short, increasing the character’s Craft, Lore 
  and Occult dice pools to the equivalent of 6 or 7 with 
  Excellencies does not qualify the character to design four- 
  or ﬁ ve-dot artifacts. That mastery must come naturally, 
  or through other Charms designed for the purpose.
  NEW SOLAR CHARM: 
  WORDS-AS-WORKSHOP METHOD
  Cost: 16m, 2wp; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 4; 
  Type: Supplemental
  Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Shaping
  Duration: Varies
  Prerequisite Charms: Craftsman Needs No Tools
  Creation is the Lawgiver’s workshop. With this 
  Charm active, as the character works he names what-
  ever small things he needs—advanced tools, alchemical 
  substances, common materials—and they appear in his 
  hands, ready for use. Motes spent on this Charm remain 
  committed as long as it takes to resolve a single roll. 
  For artifact creation, this generally means one season, 
  the length of a single roll interval. Words-as-Workshop 
  Method allows the character to function as if he had 
  a master’s workshop.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  29
  NEW SOLAR CHARM: WONDER-FORGING GENIUS
  Cost: —; Mins: Craft (any) 5, Essence 5; 
  Type: Permanent
  Keywords: None
  Duration: Permanent
  Prerequisite Charms: Inﬁ nite Craft Mastery, Crack-
  Mending Technique, Craftsman Needs No Tools
  As the premiere artisans of the Chosen, the Solars 
  can achieve in a mortal lifetime what lesser Exalted 
  require centuries to understand. Purchase of this Charm 
  reduces by one dot each the minimum Craft, Lore, 
  Medicine and Occult requirements to build or repair 
  artifacts—to a minimum requirement of one dot for 
  any Ability normally required for the task. Therefore, 
  a four-dot artifact (normally requiring Lore, Occult and 
  Craft at 6 to build and at 5 to repair) would require those 
  Abilities only at 5 to build or 4 to repair. Purchasing 
  this Charm also reduces by three the total number of 
  dots the character must allocate among Craft, Lore and 
  Occult to design manses. Characters may purchase this 
  Charm up to two times.
  AIDES
  A master artisan can craft artifacts more quickly 
  if she has a team devoted to carrying out her designs. 
  Assistants must have minimum ratings of 3 in Lore, 
  Occult and the appropriate Craft Ability.
  Every ﬁ ve mortal assistants add one automatic 
  success to each extended roll made by the principal 
  artisan’s player, to a maximum of the artifact’s intended 
  rating. Too many cooks spoil the broth, especially for 
  lesser artifacts.
  Supernatural assistants provide greater beneﬁ ts. 
  These include Dragon-Blooded artisans, craft-oriented 
  Terrestrial gods, elementals and First Circle demons. Every 
  two such aides add one automatic success, to a maximum 
  of twice the artifact’s intended rating. Such creatures still 
  need all relevant Abilities rated three or greater.
  Having master artiﬁ cers collaborate for a superb 
  project is tremendously effective. The work of each 
  additional superior artiﬁ cer (to a maximum of ﬁ ve total 
  artiﬁ cers) adds four automatic successes to each roll. 
  Celestial Exalted, Second Circle demons, Celestial gods 
  and the odd hekatonkhire or Deathlord generally rep-
  resent this sort of assistance (though who’s the assistant 
  and who’s in charge can become… debatable).
  The assistance of a Third Circle demon, Incarna or the 
  most powerful hekatonkhires adds six automatic successes. 
  And beyond that? Having Autochthon or Gaia on hand 
  to suggest improvements in method or Essence ﬂ ow guar-
  antees success—but then, the character deﬁ nitely becomes 
  the assistant, merely serving as a Primordial’s hands.
  Teams of occult assistants, whether mere mortals 
  or Third Circle demons, are neither cheap nor incon-
  spicuous. Each member of such teams is a highly skilled 
  professional whose expertise is strongly desired in Look-
  shy or Malfeas. The best of the best are mighty powers 
  in their own right and have other things to do. Just like 
  assembling a superior workshop, however, gathering a 
  superior workforce attracts notice—whether it’s a satrap 
  who wonders why the best glassblowers of 10 provinces 
  have all come to town, to a Yozi who wants to know why 
  its subsidiary soul has been bound. The complications 
  are left as an exercise for the Storyteller.
  REPEAT BUSINESS
  Artiﬁ cers who repeatedly craft a single artifact get 
  very good at it. In the First Age, lesser artisans wrought 
  many minor artifacts for the population’s use, from 
  light-emitting globes and magical ovens to practice 
  or regulation daiklaves for ofﬁ cial duels. The process 
  speeds up after an artisan does it once or twice.
  Example: Peleps Elise wants to equip all her close fam-
  ily with brand-new wavecleaver daiklaves. As a two-dot 
  artifact, the ﬁ rst project requires 30 successes and takes 
  some time. In the process, she learns shortcuts and puts 
  herself in a perfect mindset to make more. Each subsequent 
  wavecleaver requires only 10 successes from Elise’s player: 
  15 because Elise works from a proven design, -5 because 
  she’s already done this task before.
  Workshop 
  +/- Dice
  Rudimentary Workshop 
  -4
  Basic Workshop 
  -2
  Master’s Workshop 
  0
  Flawless Workshop 
  +2
  Ideal Workshop 
  +4
  Assistants 
  + successes
  Mortal Aides 
  +1 per 5
  Artisan First Circle demons,
  Dragon-Blooded, Terrestrial
  gods, elementals, common
  Fair Folk 
  +1 per 2
  Artisan Second Circle demons,
  Celestial Exalted, Celestial gods,
  Fair Folk nobles, Deathlords 
  +4 each
  Artisan Third Circle demon,
  Incarna, powerful hekatonkhire 
  +6
  
  30
  Each artifact still requires exotic ingredients and a 
  supply of magical materials, so a character who intends to 
  make a string of identical artifacts must stock up ahead of 
  time. When the character turns her efforts to other artifact 
  designs or takes more than a full season away from crafting 
  that artifact, her ideal mindset fades. The next time she 
  makes that artifact, it will be at the standard cumulative 
  difﬁ culty (though she still has a proven design).
  ARTIFACT REPAIR
  All but the greatest wonders can suffer damage, 
  sometimes to the point of malfunction. Repairing a 
  nicked daiklave, however, differs signiﬁ cantly from ﬁ x-
  ing an implosion bow or the other magitech described 
  in Wonders of the Lost Age. Magitech artifacts have 
  multiple parts and were designed with wear and tear in 
  mind; muscle-powered artifact weapons, singing staves 
  and other “one-piece” artifacts were not.
  Repairing a damaged artifact uses the same dice 
  pool as to create one, with a difﬁ culty of (artifact’s 
  rating + 1). If the artifact remains functional, each 
  success repairs one level of damage. The time each 
  roll represents depends on the artifact—small artifacts 
  might take only a few days to repair, large ones might 
  take as much as a month per roll.
  Artifacts that suffer enough levels to count as dam-
  aged (see Exalted, p. 154) completely cease to function. 
  These require signiﬁ cantly more effort. The artiﬁ cer must 
  completely realign the Essence patterns and ﬂ ows to 
  make the wonder properly channel magic again. Treat 
  this effort as equivalent to crafting an artifact one dot 
  lower than the artifact being repaired, complete with 
  using exotic materials to reinvigorate the artifact’s 
  purpose. One-dot artifacts require the artisan’s player 
  to accumulate ﬁ ve successes to repair.
  If an artifact suffers enough levels to be destroyed, 
  it becomes highly exotic scrap. Such an artifact cannot 
  be repaired. At most, it might be worth a few successes 
  in the design process to craft a duplicate.
  SAMPLE ARTIFACTS
  The sample artifacts in this section serve both as 
  examples of the system above and as possible additions 
  to your games.
  ARTIFACT •
  BLESSING OF THE SUN
  These slim rings of beaten orichalcum were common in the First Age, usually given by Solar 
  daimyos to their favored enlightened mortal servants. It requires no attunement. Wearing it reduces the 
  Essence cost of effects that evoke non-damaging illumination, such as Essence-fed lamps, by one mote, 
  to a minimum of zero.
  This is a very minor artifact, although Second Age Solars might still appreciate its effects. Even with no 
  commitment, it’s still on the low end for one dot.
  CORD OF WINDS
  These knotted, blue-silk cords are common sights on all ocean-going vessels with any sort of sails. 
  They usually hang from the central mast at head height. Each knot contains a slumbering air elemental, 
  willingly bound at the artifact’s creation. Untying a knot releases the spirit, which then blows in whatever 
  direction the ship’s captain desires for a night and a day.
  Cords of winds contain elementals from Essence 1-4. An elemental increases the ship’s mileage per 
  hour by its Essence. Cords typically begin with a cumulative bound Essence of 40, generally containing 
  four elementals each from Essence one to four, but are usually found with less.
  In any game that spends serious time on the water, this is a useful power to have available. It can defeat 
  both doldrums and pirates. The cord has ﬁ nite uses, though—a restriction signiﬁ cant enough to reduce it from 
  two dots to one.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  31
  THE FUR MERCHANT’S GIFT
  People call this minor artifact by the above name because of its appearance; it has no history to sug-
  gest anything else. It is a heavy fur mantle sized for a child of eight or nine. Any character may attune it 
  for three motes, but it only offers protection to someone it properly ﬁ ts. As long as it remains attuned, the 
  person wearing it reduces all environmental damage from natural cold or heat by three, to a minimum of 
  zero, before soak. The mantle is no more difﬁ cult to destroy than any well-made fur cloak.
  Compared to the golden ﬂ ame (below), the fur merchant’s gift is superior: it reduces environmental damage 
  further and affects both heat and cold. Its damage reduction might qualify it for Artifact 2. But it has a greater-
  than-average commitment, and being restricted to child-sized individuals is a drawback signiﬁ cant enough to ensure 
  that it remains Artifact 1.
  GOLDEN FLAME
  This stylized ﬂ ame is about palm-sized and made of normal gold except for a small core of orichalcum. 
  Some are designed to be worn as pendants, others as broaches or clasps. It requires no commitment, and 
  spending one mote suffuses the character with pleasant warmth for one full hour. It also reduces environ-
  mental damage from natural cold by two dice, to a minimum of zero, before soak.
  Golden ﬂ ames can be very useful in Northern series. They reduce damage by no more than two dice, mark-
  ing them as Artifact 1. The lack of commitment and the low Essence expenditure balances the brief duration and 
  minor protection, making this a solid one-dot artifact.
  HEAVEN THUNDER LEAVES
  Heaven thunder leaves are broad fans, reinforced with a magical material and painted with various 
  scenes. They serve equally well for combat (treat as mundane war fans, see Exalted, p. 370) or courtly 
  dancing. The magical fans add one die to ([Dexterity or Charisma] + Performance) rolls to use them for 
  dancing, and when the fans are ﬂ ourished properly, they tell a classic legend or fable. Each set of heaven 
  thunder leaves tells a different story.
  With at least three successes on the Performance roll, the dancer attracts the attention of local Terrestrial 
  gods, and each success beyond that adds one die to the next social roll the character makes toward one of 
  those gods. With two matching heaven thunder leaves, the maximum dice bonus becomes six. With only 
  one, or with mismatched leaves, the successes necessary to attract gods increases to ﬁ ve and the maximum 
  dice bonus is three. Heaven thunder leaves are Artifact 1 each. Commitment is two motes per leaf.
  Heaven thunder leaves count as magical weapons, but their real strength lies in attracting godly attention. 
  This qualiﬁ es the pair of heaven thunder leaves as Artifact 2. Separated, the difﬁ culty to attract gods becomes 
  high enough to reduce a lone heaven thunder leaf to Artifact 1, even though it can accomplish the same end. The 
  maximum possible dice bonuses are higher than normal, but characters must work to get them.
  PRIVACY VEIL
  Privacy veils are curtains that come in a wide variety of styles. All are opaque—clearly designed 
  for privacy. A character concerned also with being heard may commit one mote to the veil, levying a -2 
  external penalty to any attempt to eavesdrop through the barrier.
  This power is limited in nature. The external penalty has limited impact, as it only applies to eavesdropping 
  or being overheard, and characters with high Awareness, Perception or Investigation ratings can still hear through 
  the veil. Considering that a character must activate the veil, this artifact has a limited effect on games and qualiﬁ es 
  for Artifact 1.
  
  32
  SOLAR SEAL
  These seals have an edge of orichalcum in the engraving and can be two-inch, hand-held seals or 
  signet rings. When a character seals a message with one, she may spend two motes to ensure its security. 
  If the person who next opens the message is not the intended recipient or the author, the writing disap-
  pears instantly.
  The artifact’s owner can only indicate one individual as the intended recipient, not a group. “Mem-
  bers of the White Veil Society” doesn’t count, but “the grandmaster of the White Veil Society” does. First 
  Age seals recognize their masters’ later incarnations, allowing reborn Solars to open secure journals that 
  would wipe clean for anyone else. Dragon-Blooded in this Age use a version edged with blue jade called 
  “auspicious secret seals.”
  The ability to ensure privacy is signiﬁ cant but comes at a large cost. There are many opportunities for others 
  to open the message, and some people have slaves to open and screen their mail. With this enchantment, there is a 
  decent chance that it will not reach the recipient intact, and the text cannot be recovered. This two-dot drawback 
  makes the Solar Seal a one-dot artifact.
  WINTERBREATH JAR
  A winterbreath jar is a small urn or jug, ﬁ nely crafted and inlaid with blue jade. Its enchantment of 
  elemental air keeps its contents at a constant 45 degrees. Inside, perishables remain fresh and sparkling 
  wine nicely chilled. Winterbreath jars rarely hold more than two bottles of wine or a small watermelon. 
  They require no commitment.
  As an object of convenience, especially with the limit on its contents, this artifact will not impact any game 
  strongly—unless the players ﬁ nd some terribly clever use in some extraordinary circumstance. A clear Artifact 1.
  SILVER BRUSH
  The mahogany handle of this writing brush conceals a thin core of orichalcum, but most people 
  see its silver bristles immediately. The silver resists wear but is soft enough for good calligraphy. When a 
  person commits a single mote to the artifact, the brush produces its own ink of any quantity, consistency 
  and color.
  Writing without the need to buy ink or replacement brushes is purely a matter of convenience. The lack of 
  any additional powers set the Silver Brush squarely at Artifact 1—truly no more than a toy.
  SEVEN-JEWELED PEACOCK FANS
  These war fans are half-again as large as normal and reinforced with a magical material. They are 
  called “seven-jeweled” because their join is set with that many gemstones. Skilled warriors can use them 
  to subdue by precisely lashing out with them when closed, to kill by closing the razor-sharp inside edges 
  on veins, and to disarm by capturing or ﬂ icking weapons out of opponents’ hands. They are Artifact 1 
  alone, but 2 for a matched pair.
  Seven-jeweled peacock fans are more accurate and defensive than mundane war fans and gain the disarming 
  bonus, but they are on par with other one-dot artifact weapons.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +3 
  +5B/+1L 
  +3 
  3 
  Str •, Dex •••, Mrt ••• 
  4* 
  D, M
  * Attunement cost is for a matched pair; no offhand penalty to wield set paired.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  33
  ARTIFACT ••
  AUDIENT BRUSH
  Audient brushes are a more sophisticated version of silver brushes. The brush writes on its own, 
  taking dictation from anyone present. It cleverly represents different speakers in different hands and 
  colors, and makes appropriate associations (shades of gold for Solars, silver for Lunars, and so on) though 
  it cannot identify people who conceal their identities. It effectively communicates mood and motive in 
  its calligraphy, allowing readers to discern these with a (Perception + Linguistics) roll at a difﬁ culty of half 
  the speaker’s (Manipulation + Socialize), rounded up (or a minimum of 2—ﬁ guring out a person’s motives 
  from brushwork is a good trick). The brush requires no attunement, but someone must feed it three motes 
  to activate it for a scene. It can also acquire more paper for itself when necessary, as long as some is avail-
  able. Whoever activates it may also indicate people for the brush to ignore and command it to strike out 
  portions (usually in ofﬁ cial proceedings).
  The brush is not a powerful artifact, but it does provide characters the opportunity to record everything said 
  around them and later examine the script for intent. Clever characters will ﬁ nd ways to use the brush for spycraft. 
  It would be a very low Artifact 2 indeed if not for the low mote cost of using it.
  AUTHORITATIVE STAMP
  This heavy seal includes all ﬁ ve colors of jade. When inactive, it bears the sign of a circle in a circle. 
  Any seals, signatures or stamps a character attuned to this artifact personally observes, however, the au-
  thoritative stamp can duplicate perfectly. The artifact can only duplicate examples that its owner has seen 
  while attuned to the stamp, and they turn out exactly like those examples. If the source has an unusual 
  blotch, so does the duplicate. Attunement costs one mote; so does creating a forgery.
  The authoritative stamp only forges signatures, seals and the like. While it’s enough to fool many people, it 
  won’t fool everyone; one beneﬁ t is saving the time necessary for a mundane forgery. It’s very useful but not superbly 
  useful, making this ﬁ rmly a two-dot artifact.
  BRACER OF THE HAWK
  This heavy bracer is entirely made from a single magical material, with a hawk boldly engraved on 
  one side. It requires ﬁ ve motes to attune. At the wielder’s command, the hawk steps out of the bracer and 
  onto it, like a falconer’s gauntlet. The hawk is made completely from the artifact’s magical material and 
  much larger than mortal hawks. It has the statistics of a strix (Exalted, p. 350) but with twice as many -1 
  and -2 health levels, 8L/12B soak and human-level intelligence. It can also talk, the only way it and its 
  owner can communicate.
  The owner of the artifact may return it to the bracer as a miscellaneous action if the hawk rests 
  upon it. If the hawk is destroyed, the artifact loses its magic irreparably. Apply magical material bonuses 
  to the hawk’s attacks.
  A talking, intelligent pet hawk provides no amazing advantages, but it has several useful applications. Able 
  to serve as armed backup, messenger and guardian, it would be a low-end Artifact 3, if not for the danger that the 
  hawk will die and be forever lost.
  CHALCEDONY CHAMBERLAIN’S FLUTES
  These two elegant drinking glasses of chrysoprase—green chalcedony—would grace any aristocrat’s 
  table. Committing two motes to the pair, they automatically neutralize any poison drunk from them.
  Complete immunity to poisons would be a low-end three-dot power. The limitation that the poison must 
  be in special glasses most appropriate at fancy parties is enough of a drawback to make it Artifact 2, even with 
  reduced commitment.
  
  34
  COMPASS OF IMMINENT STRIFE
  This orichalcum-and-starmetal compass only functions when installed at a ship’s helm. Once installed 
  and activated with a three-mote commitment, the compass points toward the largest battle within 50 miles. 
  Size is measured both by number of participants and the power of those involved. A circle of Celestial 
  Exalted tearing up the seas wins out over a ﬂ eet of mortal pirates, for example. While the ship sails in the 
  direction the compass points, its speed increases 50 percent.
  The compass is not insigniﬁ cant. Between its unfailing ability to pinpoint conﬂ ict and the increased speed, it 
  could qualify as a three-dot artifact. The restriction that the compass must be installed in a ship’s helm is also three 
  dots, since the compass will never function without a working ship and simply can’t be used on land. (At least 
  not without a land ship, see p. 38). It also only points to the largest conﬂ ict. Usually, that doesn’t matter. When 
  your Circle-mate ﬁ ghts alone against a kraken and the compass leads you to some pirates attacking a merchant 
  ship, though…
  ESSENCE UNION DART
  Essence union darts come in black and green jade varieties. All can be thrown by hand or ﬁ red from 
  a blowgun (treat as a thrown needle with a +1 accuracy; blowguns have a 30 yard Range). They require 
  two motes to attune. When the character successfully hits a living target with the Essence union dart, the 
  dart creates a mystical link between attacker and target.
  For the rest of the scene, the dart’s user ignores cover, concealment and (his permanent Essence) 
  points of the target’s Dodge DV. This effect does not stack, but the character may affect multiple targets at 
  once. Green jade darts can affect any living and material target; black jade darts pass right through living 
  material creatures but strike immaterial living targets.
  Essence union darts provide a signiﬁ cant advantage, especially against an opponent that depends on dodging. 
  This could be a three-dot artifact, and would were it consistent. But the advantage depends on hitting the target 
  ﬁ rst, and thrown darts can be lost (or taken) and are hard to use more than once per battle. This is a three-dot 
  drawback, dropping the iffy three-dot power down to a medium-low two-dot artifact, which accounts for the low 
  attunement cost.
  GHOST-SUMMONING WHISTLE
  Ghost-summoning whistles are small silver and bone affairs strung with lanyards of braided white 
  hair. During the day, they cause no sound. At night, they can be blown only three times. The ﬁ rst whistle 
  sounds almost delicate, but all ghosts within three miles hear it and perceive it as a request to approach 
  the user and present themselves to him. They may go if they desire. The second whistle is commanding, 
  almost military in tone; ghosts within three miles must spend one point of Willpower not to obey the un-
  natural inﬂ uence. The shrill and threatening ﬁ nal blast sets the whistle shuddering in the owner’s hand as 
  if it fears its own power. Ghosts must spend two further points of Willpower not to obey. After the third 
  whistle, the instrument emits no sound until the sun has set 10 times.
  Ghosts affected, especially by a third blow of the whistle, probably resent the user’s interference. 
  They arrive under no compulsion to obey or to treat the whistle-blower with kindness or respect. Dealing 
  with the ghosts is the character’s own problem.
  On the one hand, forcing all ghosts within a wide radius to approach the user is a three-dot power. On the 
  other hand, letting all the ghosts in the area know where you are and making them angry is enough of a penalty to 
  knock the artifact down to two.
  THE GREENWOOD BLADE
  This artifact looks like a lightweight court sword, but the blade is a length of green sapling and its 
  hilt is laced with green jade. The wooden “blade” is not sharp, so it inﬂ icts only bashing damage (equal 
  to a straight sword) to most creatures. But it can strike immaterial spirits without any additional enchant-
  ment and inﬂ icts lethal damage against them. Material spirits suffer bashing, as normal. Each point of 
  lethal damage the blade inﬂ icts gives the wielder one mote of Essence. The greenwood blade requires ﬁ ve 
  motes to attune.
  The greenwood blade has one additional advantage. All the magic rests in the hilt. If the “blade” 
  breaks, the artifact’s owner can simply remove it and insert a new length of fresh-cut sapling, which then 
  becomes steel-hard in turn.
  The greenwood blade has no numerical enhancements and simply mimics an Essence 2 Charm (Spirit-Cut-
  ting Attack, Exalted, p. 221). Inﬂ icting bashing damage to material targets is a one-dot drawback that balances 
  the small mote regain the weapon offers.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  35
  THE HOUND’S EYES
  The hound’s eyes are a pair of golden orbs with stylized eyes engraved into one side. They were recently 
  discovered sewn into a stuffed ragdoll of a dog, giving the artifact its name. Attunement costs cost four 
  motes. A character leaves one of the two eyes in a location of her choice. Then, as long as she stays within 
  10 miles, she may put the other eye to her caste mark and look through the ﬁ rst eye for one mote per minute. 
  The hound’s eyes increase the difﬁ culty for anyone not their owner to notice them by three.
  Spying on distant locations is a useful power, but not incredibly so—not when you can only spy on one loca-
  tion. The artifact has reasonable attunement and expenditure costs, and the artifacts run the risk of being noticed 
  and stolen during use. It’s a solid two.
  PERFECT TALON DAGGER
  This steel-and-white-jade dagger resembles a large, curving tooth, especially with the red-dyed leather 
  around its hilt. When attuned (two motes), it has the queer property of balancing on any point, from its tip 
  to the rounded end of its hilt. It has the standard statistics for a dagger in hand-to-hand combat but reveals 
  its magic when thrown. Its thrown statistics are below, and the character may reﬂ exively spend additional 
  motes in order to improve them. One mote increases the accuracy or damage by one or the range by ﬁ ve 
  yards. A character may not spend more than three motes on any one quality, nine motes total.
  Statistically, the perfect talon dagger is only slightly better than a normal throwing dagger. It got a one-point boost 
  to accuracy and damage. Its real power consists of the ability to selectively increase its stats for a single, devastating 
  attack, especially since an Exalt could combine it with Excellencies. It exceeds the maximum bonuses for a two-dot 
  Artifact just barely, but accessing those bonuses costs more than the average expenditure—every time. On top of that, 
  it’s hard to throw the same dagger twice. That justiﬁ es it as Artifact 2, even with the low Essence commitment.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +1 
  +3L 
  3 
  15 
  Str • 
  2 
  —
  THUNDERBOLT SHIELD
  Thunderbolt shields are broad shields crafted from a single magical material. They often bear symbols 
  relevant to their wielders, such as sunbursts or stylized dragons. When attuned for ﬁ ve motes, they become 
  lighter than a mundane shield of their size, and almost pull themselves into the path of oncoming attacks. 
  The shield has no mobility penalty and increases the character’s DVs against all attacks by two.
  The magical material involved adds its own effects when the proper Exalted attune to the shield.
  Orichalcum shields move more deﬁ antly, increasing DVs by +3 instead of +2.
  Moonsilver shields seem to push the Lunar out of the way, increasing Dodge DV by an additional +2.
  Jade shields harden the bearer against damage, providing +2L/+2B soak.
  Starmetal shields help the Sidereal avoid small bruises and cuts, reducing dice of damage by one before it 
  is rolled in step 10 of combat resolution.
  Soulsteel shields sap the momentum from attacks before they strike, increasing DVs by +3 instead of +2.
  Mundane target shields add +1 to DVs and have a -1 mobility penalty. Thunderbolt shields increase that by 
  +1 DV (about equal to two dice) and +1 die (for the mobility penalty). This would place them as a medium-low 
  two-dot artifact. The magical material bonuses push it up to a medium-high Artifact 2, and the penalty of using 
  one arm for the shield normalizes it.
  THE UNSURPASSED SANXIAN
  This sanxian is made of polished kauri wood and strung with silver and gold. The snakeskin covering 
  its soundbox came from a serpent-god. The soul of an old master performer is bound into the strings, which 
  never break or need tuning, and aids performances. When attuned for three motes, playing this sanxian 
  adds two successes to Performance rolls. These add to whatever bonus an Exalted player can add through 
  Charms. Any duffer can sound good playing this sanxian; a Solar musician could make Deathlords weep 
  or call stars from the skies.
  Two successes are about equivalent to four dice. The commitment is a little less than normal, but not enough 
  to alter anything.
  
  36
  WAVE-STEPPING BOOTS
  Wave-stepping boots are waterproofed leather boots with soles made of ﬂ exible black jade. With 
  four motes committed, they allow the wearer to treat water as though it were solid ground. As long as the 
  boots are functioning, his entire body (though not held objects, such as weapons) treats water as solid, so 
  he cannot swim, and falling onto water inﬂ icts normal falling damage.
  The underwater society of Skyport, far in the Western Middlemarches, uses an amulet with similar 
  properties to imprison people.
  Wave-stepping boots provide a useful ability—walking on water. A character cannot swim while using the 
  boots, but he cannot swim on land either, so they come with no signiﬁ cant drawback.
  ARTIFACT •••
  BLACK DEPTHS FORETOLD
  Black Depths Foretold is a very sharp dagger that looks as though it were roughly chipped from solid 
  black jade. It is all one piece, and would cut the wielder as well as its victim were it not wrapped with tough 
  leather, and even that needs replacement now and then. The weapon has the special quality of inﬂ icting 
  aggravated damage on dematerialized spirits. Its other special quality is that anyone examining the weapon’s 
  fate divines very clearly that the weapon is fated to slay the god of the Great Western Ocean.
  Inﬂ icting aggravated damage on spirits is part of an Essence 3 Charm (Ghost-Eating Technique, Exalted, 
  p. 221), but that Charm does more than this weapon. That’s ﬁ ne for balance, because the weapon has excellent 
  statistics and can pierce a spirit’s armor. It ends up being a high-advantage weapon against spirits and reasonable 
  against everything else, but never overwhelming. Just right for Artifact 3.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  4 
  +3 
  +4L/+4A 
  +1 
  3 
  Str •, Dex • 
  6 
  P*
  * Weapon is only piercing against spirits.
  CUP OF FLOWING BLOOD
  This large, lidded chalice is forged of a blood-dark red-jade alloy. Any Essence-wielder may attune 
  to it with a few seconds’ concentration for three motes, even multiple characters at once. While attuned, 
  a character cuts her palm and lets blood ﬂ ow into the cup. Each health level of damage suffered is enough 
  blood loss to ﬁ ll the cup one-seventh of the way; the cup is much deeper than it appears when empty.
  Drinking from the cup allows a person to instantly recover one lethal health level as a miscellaneous 
  action, no more than once per action. Doing so removes one health level from the cup and lowers the blood 
  level proportionately. The cup’s magic does not disguise the salt-iron taste of blood but prevents gagging and 
  retching. The blood heals bashing damage only if there is no lethal to heal. Only a character attuned to the 
  cup can bestow health levels on the cup, a measure taken to prevent coercion or theft of life.
  This power has few points of comparison. The cup can rapidly heal a character of seven lethal wounds. This 
  is incredibly powerful, especially in Exalted where quick healing is difﬁ cult to ﬁ nd. Call this a four-dot power. The 
  drawback is equivalent: someone must lose all those health levels before a character can gain them. If this were 
  potentially involuntary, it would be a three-dot drawback at most; some characters wouldn’t hesitate to cut others 
  open for their healing. That life must be volunteered makes the restriction much harder to fulﬁ ll, raising it to four 
  dots and dropping the total artifact level to three.
  DARK RIDER
  Dark riders are foot-high statuettes chipped from obsidian and attached to a thin base of magical 
  material. The ﬁ gures are humanoid but vaguely monstrous. They often show horns, large teeth or elongated 
  normal features such as ﬁ ngers or eyes.
  A character activates the dark rider by committing six motes to it, making the statuette blur into 
  the character’s shadow. The shadow takes the form depicted by the statuette. From there, it watches the 
  character’s back, making it impossible to surprise him. The monstrous shadow also lends the character a 
  frightening appearance, adding three dice to social rolls that beneﬁ t from the unnerving mien.
  The dark rider can also be used offensively. A character mentally commands the rider and may in-
  sinuate it into another person’s shadow, where it conceals itself near-perfectly. Rolls to detect the rider are 
  difﬁ culty 5. The character can see through the shadow’s eyes at will, which causes both the character’s and 
  the rider’s eyes to burn crimson (decreasing the detection difﬁ culty to three). He can command the rider 
  to return if it is within 10 miles, or to envelop a target. The rider then inﬂ icts an eight-die clinch attack 
  that, if the rider maintains it for at least two actions, forces the victim Elsewhere. The dark rider must then 
  immediately return to its master and deposit the victim back in Creation.
  Bright light (such as that of a Solar anima at the 11+ mote level) and ﬁ re both burn away the shadow 
  instantly, ending the attunement and leaving nothing but a small statuette in its place.
  No one of these abilities is very powerful, but all of them are useful. The shadow makes an effective personal 
  guard, spy or kidnapper. It has a weakness against ﬂ ame, but this is a two-dot drawback at best, perhaps accounting 
  for the low attunement cost.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  37
  DUELING TORCS
  Dueling torcs are pairs of thin collars made of alternating bands of white and black jade but bound with 
  an iron clasp. They were common in the First Age; less so in the Age of Sorrows. Two Essence-channelers 
  put on the paired collars, and the iron clasps automatically seal once both contenders commit a single mote. 
  The torcs end the effects of all non-permanent Charms and prevent the subjects from spending Essence. 
  This lasts until one of the two is unconscious, dead or farther than 100 yards from the other. Someone with 
  a permanent Essence higher than that of either character may open a lock by touching it and spending a 
  mote. A torc’s clasp cannot close on an entity with an Essence of 6 or higher; its power is too much for the 
  artifact to contain.
  This one’s really a crapshoot. Blocking all Essence use is a tremendous power—but it’s entirely self-inﬂ icted, 
  when two characters want to be sure neither one uses Charms. It provides a great advantage and abilities not otherwise 
  available. On the other hand, your game may have little use for dueling torcs. If that’s so, reduce them to Artifact 
  2 for the purposes of players buying them with points.
  EVERYMAN ARMOR
  Everyman armor looks like a plain steel suit of lamellar armor. It functions similarly, offering the 
  same amount of protection, mobility penalty and fatigue. Before attunement, its only unique feature is 
  near indestructibility. Attuning it requires six motes, at which point its mobility penalty and fatigue drop 
  to zero. While wearing the armor, an attuned character may spend three motes to reﬂ exively change her 
  appearance. The character can look like any human she imagines, in any dress, and the armor can look like 
  any sort of armor (but provides a constant amount of soak). Mundane attempts to see through the disguise 
  fail, but people with inhuman sensory acuity may succeed. Their attempts are made at +2 difﬁ culty on top 
  of the character’s additional efforts to conceal her identity. The only restriction is that the disguise always 
  includes some form of evident armor.
  In the event that a nonhuman wears everyman armor (such as a Fair Folk or beastman), that character 
  can change his appearance but not his species. A wolfman, for instance, could look like any wolfman, but 
  not a snakeman or human.
  This is an effective power for any character who wishes to remain discreet or inﬁ ltrate an enemy’s gang. It 
  borrows mechanics from an Essence 2 Charm but costs less and has no limits (except species) on the identity a 
  character can choose to display. That armor must always be part of the disguise is no more than a two-dot drawback, 
  accounting for the reduced attunement cost.
  GHOST CESTUS
  This ﬁ ne, black-leather cestus has a solid smashing plate of mixed black and yellow jade, which gives 
  it a mottled appearance. It may be worn and used by anyone without attunement. Whoever wears it can see 
  and, in a way, touch immaterial creatures. A successful attack on an immaterial creature passes through it 
  with meager resistance but devastates the victim’s will. The player rolls (Strength + extra successes - target’s 
  highest Virtue). Each success drains a point of temporary Willpower from the target. This weapon is often 
  found in the possession of the Immaculate Order, used to rob gods of their will and banish them or force 
  penance upon them. Against physical targets, the weapon is simply a cestus.
  This artifact combines an Essence 2 power (Spirit-Detecting Glance, see Exalted, p. 221) with its own unique 
  ability to drain immaterial creatures’ temporary Willpower. The ﬁ rst marks it as a clear two-dot artifact, especially 
  given the usefulness of seeing dematerialized entities, and the second nudges it toward Artifact 3 territory. The fact 
  that mortals can use it and it requires no commitment sends it further upward. It provides no truly overwhelming 
  advantage, so it is a high-end Artifact 3.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +0 
  +3B/special 
  +2 
  3 
  Str • 
  0 
  M
  GAUNTLETS OF DISTANT CLAWS
  These ﬁ ngerless gauntlets of a dark alloy do not restrict manual dexterity in the slightest. There are 
  three depressions on the metal of the back of the hand. The gauntlets always come in pairs and require four 
  motes each to attune. Although the gauntlets do not look like weapons, a character wearing them may 
  reﬂ exively extrude three sharp steel claws from the depressions in the back of one gauntlet or both. These 
  make fearsome weapons, add two dice to climbing rolls and may be retracted reﬂ exively.
  Alternately, the character may ﬁ re the central claw of either gauntlet as a projectile, which remains 
  connected to the gauntlet by a thin, nearly unbreakable chain. These claws can serve as weapons or grappling 
  hooks, striking with enough force to pierce armor or embed themselves in walls and ceilings. Retracting a 
  ﬁ red claw is a reﬂ exive action and occurs with great force. The character can cause the claw to release its 
  grip and return; otherwise, either the object attached to the claw ﬂ ies to the character or the character ﬂ ies 
  to the claw as the chain winds up, depending on which is better secured. Using this method to move rapidly 
  counts as the character’s move action in a tick.
  This artifact resembles razor claws (Artifact 2, see Exalted, p. 388), but they have a number of advantages. 
  The claws can retract, making the gauntlets available but nonthreatening. The ranged attack is based on the ﬂ ame 
  piece (see Exalted, p. 373) with one better accuracy and the bonus that the “ammunition” is free. It greatest ad-
  vantage is the ability to pull objects to the character or pull the character to potential safety (or other places). None 
  of these powers are amazing, but they are all quite useful individually. The collection of Artifact 1 and 2 powers 
  add up to Artifact 3.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +4 
  +5L 
  +2 
  3 
  Str •, Dex ••• 8* 
  M
  5 
  +2 
  8L 
  1 
  15 
  — 
  8* 
  F**, P
  * Attunement is for pair.  ** Though not ﬂ ame, the rules for ﬂ ame type apply.
  
  38
  ILLUSION-SHATTERING MIRROR
  These small hand-mirrors are backed by moonsilver instead of regular silver. When the mirror reﬂ ects a 
  false image or appearance, from magical illusions to mundane disguises, the moonsilver alters the reﬂ ection to 
  display the truth to anyone who looks in the mirror. Confronting a person suffering from an illusion effect with 
  one of these mirrors shatters that effect. The mirror only performs its magic when attuned for eight motes.
  This artifact deﬁ nitely provides a great advantage. No illusions or disguises are safe against a character with 
  the mirror, and it can even defeat some forms of mental inﬂ uence. Some Charms may still confound the mirror if 
  potent enough (see the sidebar “Powers Versus Powers or Charms” on p. 13). Still, this artifact is reactive, not active. 
  It is a signiﬁ cant defense but no more; a character wielding it does not become able to accomplish amazing things. 
  It can also be inconvenient to keep glancing in a mirror. Because it doesn’t qualify for overwhelming advantage, it 
  remains Artifact 3.
  LAND SHIP
  The keel of a land ship consists of white jade sandwiched between black jade; the rest of the ship is 
  ordinary wood, forming whatever vessel the artiﬁ cer desires (but no land ship has ever exceeded 60 feet in 
  length). It must be attuned for 10 motes before it can sail on land. Then, the jade of the keel liqueﬁ es the 
  earth and stone around the ship so that the ship can sail through them. Even large trees ﬂ ow around the ship 
  as it sails, though massive forests are very rough sailing. Once past the ship, the earth ﬂ ows back together 
  and resolidiﬁ es, leaving almost no trace. This can harm man-made foundations, but it’s dangerous for the 
  ship to do intentionally: sailing into a stone wall is like sailing into a waterfall, and a capsized land ship can 
  sink into the ground, never to be seen again.
  Even when the ship is destroyed, the keel can usually be recovered and used for a new ship. Using 
  Sail Charms with an attuned land ship provides a 2m (minimum 1m) discount.
   This ship provides rapid and relatively safe transport across huge swathes of Creation, land and sea, but the sand 
  ships of the Southern deserts sail on land without magic; a land ship merely handles more diverse terrain. A land ship 
  offers great advantages over people who must rely on horseback, though. The mote discount for Sail Charms pushes 
  it from Artifact 2 to Artifact 3. Combining this with the folding ship (see p. 41) might make a decent Artifact 5.
  SCABBARD OF THE LIVING WEAPON
  This scabbard is made of a ﬂ exible but tough black leather of uncertain origin. When attuned for 
  ﬁ ve motes, it changes to ﬁ t any daiklave the character also has attuned (a character with multiple attuned 
  daiklaves chooses one). As long as that daiklave remains sheathed, the character cannot be harmed by 
  mundane damage. Any attack backed by a Charm, made with a magical weapon or otherwise not mundane 
  ignores this protection. Drawing the weapon ends the protection for the rest of the scene.
  The scabbard of the living weapon offers a very useful power: the ability to completely ignore mortals. Not even 
  artifact superheavy plate can do that. But its restrictions are hefty. The character must also have attuned a daiklave, 
  and that daiklave must remain sheathed for the power to function. The defense also fails against Essence-empowered 
  attacks. Since Essence-wielders make up the most effective opponents for Exalts, this defense is certainly not too 
  powerful. It lands at three dots as something that cannot otherwise be done but is not always the answer.
  SLING BOW OF ICE
  These blue-jade-and-ice weapons were popular in the Low First Age when implosion bows and Essence 
  cannon were unavailable—especially as crowd control weapons. They have a similar shape to composite 
  bows, but the center of the high-tension cord is a thick leather cup with a good grip. Sling, or pellet, bows 
  are slightly unusual weapons but occur in several areas of Creation.
  This enchanted sling bow can ﬁ re any solid object that ﬁ ts in the cup, though sling bullets work best 
  and travel farthest. When used to ﬁ re a bullet made of black or blue jade (Resources 3 for 10) and reﬂ exively 
  primed with a mote of Essence, the bullet explodes into a 20-yard diameter cloud of freezing mist upon 
  impact. The cloud hangs heavy; each success on the attack roll prevents the mist from dissipating for one 
  minute. All living creatures within the cloud lose (6 - Stamina) dots of Dexterity, from shivering. These 
  return at a rate of one per action once a victim is free of the cloud, whether because the cloud has faded 
  or the person has ﬂ ed it.
  Enchanted black and blue jade bullets were once common. Artifact 1 for a packet of 20, these bullets 
  did not require anyone to infuse them with Essence before ﬁ ring. Even mortals could then use the sling 
  bows effectively.
  Statistically, the sling bow is a blend of the composite bow and sling—it does as much damage as a broadhead 
  arrow with less range, but it can also ﬁ re capsules of acid or other creative ammunition. Its real power lies in its 
  special bullets. The bursts are potent enough to pose a real threat on the battleﬁ eld. It has a strong drawback in 
  the ammunition, though. Without those bullets, it’s nothing much. This doesn’t pull it down from being a three-dot 
  artifact, but justiﬁ es zero attunement cost and the low price of one mote for a burst.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Rate 
  Range 
  Max Strength 
  Attune 
  Tags
  6 
  +0 
  +2L 
  2 
  150 
  ••••• 
  0 
  2
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  39
  SORCERY-CAPTURING CORD (ARTIFACT •••-•••••)
  Sorcery-capturing cords come in three styles and three levels of power. One is made of threads woven 
  from white, green, red, black, blue and yellow jade; it is Artifact 3. One is made of intertwining moonsilver 
  and starmetal threads and is Artifact 4. The ﬁ ve-dot version consists of orichalcum alone.
  The cord is about two feet long and immensely strong. It requires no commitment. When the character 
  is the target or in the path of a spell, he may use a miscellaneous action to capture it in a knot tied in the 
  cord. Essence channeled into the spell disappears into the knot in a dwindling display of power. Jade cords 
  can capture Terrestrial Circle sorcery. Moonsilver and starmetal cords can capture that and Celestial Circle 
  sorcery. Orichalcum cords can capture spells of all three circles. Capturing a spell requires that the character 
  be able to take an action on the tick that the spell is released and spend temporary Willpower equal to the 
  spell’s circle: one for Terrestrial, two for Celestial and three for Solar. Cords can hold no more than three 
  spells at one time, regardless of circle.
  Releasing a spell is a miscellaneous action to untie the knot. The character must again spend Willpower 
  equal to the spell’s circle in order to channel the energies he is releasing. Spells with multiple versions take 
  the shape intended when originally cast when released. Despite the names, these cords can also capture 
  necromantic spells of the appropriate circles (see The White and Black Treatises for necromancy).
  Capturing and redirecting Emerald Circle sorcery is very useful, but not overwhelming, and it costs a sig-
  niﬁ cant resource (Willpower). It is Artifact 3—about as useful as Emerald Circle Countermagic. Doing the same 
  with the Sapphire Circle means that nearly every sorcerous opponent the characters might face can be subject to the 
  cord. It enables the character to direct signiﬁ cantly more powerful sorceries, though it also costs more Willpower. 
  It is very powerful, and qualiﬁ es for Artifact 4. Wielding this power over all circles of sorcery is unbelievable, not 
  to mention the spells a character might traipse around with ready to set off. It should deﬁ nitely be Artifact 5. Even 
  with all this power ﬂ ying around, the cords’ enchantments are tempered somewhat by the fact that the character 
  must time his action precisely.
  ULTIMATELY USEFUL TUBE
  The ultimately useful tube is a foot-long bamboo tube. The lip of one end is faintly blue; the other 
  lip is faintly red. It looks innocuous and requires ﬁ ve motes commitment.
  An attuned character has a wide variety of options. He can twist the tube to reveal ﬁ ngerholes and 
  an embouchure to play it as a ﬂ ute. Twisted back, no observer can ﬁ nd the holes. If used as a snorkel, the 
  ultimately useful tube keeps out waves and water spray and maintains an ideal length up to two yards while 
  the character changes depth. Used as a breathing tube in open air, the tube weakens airborne toxins, reducing 
  their Damage ratings by half and their Toxicities by two. Twisting the tube the other way thins it to a half-
  inch diameter, allowing the character to use it as a straw and likewise weaken toxins imbibed through it.
  The character can ﬁ ght with the ultimately useful tube as a stick. By pulling on the ends, he can 
  lengthen it to one yard in length and use it as a blowgun. The tube creates its own darts, costing one mote 
  each. Blowing a dart out the blue end coats it with a sleeping poison; the red end creates a fatal poison. Darts 
  are made of Essence and fade away at the end of the scene. Finally, the character can lengthen the tube to 
  two yards in length, making it a ﬁ ghting staff. Even to Essence sight, the ultimately useful tube always looks 
  like a mundane implement, though the blowgun darts shine with Essence.
  The ﬁ rst stat line describes the stick form, the second a staff, the third a blowgun. The sleeping 
  poison is Damage special; Toxicity 3M; Tolerance —/—; Penalty -0; a target failing to resist falls asleep for 
  10 minutes or one hour, the character’s choice on creation of the poison. The lethal poison is arrow frog 
  venom (see Exalted, p. 131).
  Appropriately, the ultimately useful tube is very useful. No power is very great, but it has a myriad of uses. 
  Its stick, staff and blowgun traits are improved over the norm, but not by much. The poisons are effective but not 
  mind-blowing. It could be a high-end Artifact 2, but the sheer range of its capabilities and its concealable nature 
  make it a fair Artifact 3.
  Type 
  Speed 
  Acc 
  Dmg 
  Def 
  Rate 
  Range 
  Min 
  Attune 
  Tags
  Stick 
  4 
  +1 
  +4B 
  +2 
  3 
  — 
  Str ••, Mrt • 
  5 
  M
  Staff 
  6 
  +3 
  +8B 
  +2 
  2 
  — 
  Str •• 
  5 
  2, R
  Blowgun 5 
  +2 
  1L 
  — 
  2 
  30 
  — 
  5 
  P
  THE ULTIMATE DOCUMENT
  The ultimate document is a foot long sheet of blank pearlescent parchment. It’s tough to damage, 
  taking two health levels to damage and 4L/4B soak. It can be attuned for two motes. For six motes, the 
  ultimate document becomes whatever document its owner imagines. It is ﬂ awless, written perfectly and in 
  excellent calligraphy, with picture-perfect signatures in all the right places.
  The artifact has two limits. It cannot duplicate ofﬁ cial documents of Yu-Shan, and telling it to sets off 
  warnings in the Celestial Bureaucracy: repeated offences may trigger censures. The falsiﬁ ed document also 
  remains on the parchment for only one scene—it is excellent for showing people and fooling them, but letting 
  someone walk off with it is always a mistake. People who do rarely see their ultimate document again.
  Because it creates actually authentic documents (except that they’re fake), the ultimate document presents a 
  power unrivaled elsewhere. It’s far from unbeatable, so it’s not worth four dots, but it is impressive. It has a couple 
  extra health levels and soak, which are worth a little, but its drawbacks are enough to counter both that and the 
  minimal commitment. The scene-length effect is a good limit on the artifact’s power.
  
  40
  ARTIFACT ••••
  CLOAK OF VANISHING ESCAPE
  The tough, white fabric of this cloak never seems to soil. It’s thick enough to keep a traveler warm 
  like a heavy mantle, but that isn’t its purpose. The cloak’s wearer can wrap the cloak around herself and 
  disappear in a burst of white light, reappearing anyplace she can clearly see. It attunes for ﬁ ve motes, while 
  activating the cloak requires ﬁ ve motes and several seconds of concentration. In combat, the character takes 
  a miscellaneous action to activate the artifact’s power before disappearing on her next action.
  The character can take up to one additional living creature for an additional ﬁ ve motes, and she can 
  travel no more than (owner’s Essence) miles. Because the character must see her intended location, the 
  cloak does not work well for the blind or in the dark.
  Instantaneous teleportation is a great wonder in Creation, and this artifact makes a character almost impossible 
  to corner or capture. It has the drawbacks of slow activation and limited targeting. It is possible to trap a character 
  using this artifact (in a sealed cell or in total darkness) and to wound or kill her before she escapes—these justify the 
  lower attunement and activation costs. Using it also means abandoning one’s allies. This is a tremendous advantage, 
  but not world-shaking enough to make it Artifact 5.
  CRIMSON BOW
  The crimson bow belonged to the First Age hero Ai, who helped end many Primordials with its arrows. 
  It is king among powerbows, six feet in height and crafted from redwood and orichalcum. It is impossible 
  to draw unless attuned, which costs eight motes. Arrows ﬁ red from this bow burn with the red light of the 
  setting sun, transforming into bolts of pure Essence that defy attempts at evasion. These attacks always hit 
  with a minimum of one success, regardless of the target’s DVs; a target’s only hope is to parry with a stunt or 
  Charm, or to use a perfect defense. If the wielder chooses, he may reﬂ exively spend four motes upon ﬁ ring, 
  allowing the arrow to strike immaterial targets and inﬂ ict aggravated damage.
  Striking every target is a massive effect. It certainly qualiﬁ es as an overwhelming advantage, but not an unbeat-
  able one. Perfect defense Charms can defeat the attack and the damage, and soak can reduce damage to minimum 
  without any effort on the target’s part. Even the additional power is impressive but not terrifying.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Rate 
  Range 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  6 
  +1 
  +6L 
  3 
  400 
  Str •••• 
  8 
  2, B
  ARMOR OF AQUATIC PUISSANCE
  This heavy suit of articulated plate is composed entirely of black jade. Careful examination reveals 
  spun black jade webbing inside the armor that makes it watertight once the helmet is locked into place. 
  It requires eight motes commitment, after which the wearer can breathe underwater, perfectly control his 
  buoyancy to rise or sink, and swim at twice his normal rate. The armor ignores water drag, eliminating 
  penalties for ﬁ ghting or moving underwater. The visor lets the character see through water as though it 
  were air (though clouds of silt, ink and the like still obscure vision). Ranged weapons still suffer normal 
  drag after leaving the character’s hand. The armor has two hearthstone sockets, one on the forehead and 
  one in the chestplate.
  The armor of aquatic puissance provides clear superiority in underwater combat. Alone, the power might be 
  a high three dots rather than four, but combined with a heavy suit of armor, there’s no question.
  Soak 
  Hardness 
  Mobility 
  Fatigue 
  Attune 
  Tags
  +11L/13B 
  7L/7B 
   
  -2* 
  1 
  8 
  * -0 mobility penalty underwater.
  FLYING SILVER DREAM
  At its owner’s command, this broad-bladed moonsilver daiklave ﬂ ies from her hands to enter into 
  battle itself. On her action, the character may choose to use it for offense or defense. In defensive posture, 
  Flying Silver Dream circles its master and parries all attacks against her. This increases her DVs by 2 against 
  all attacks that are not magically unblockable. Used for offense, the weapon attacks at its owner’s direction 
  with its owner’s Attributes and Abilities; it may ﬂ urry as normal. The character may supplement these at-
  tacks with Charms as if the sword were in her hand, as long as the Charm use is legal.
  Aloft, Flying Silver Dream has Dodge and Parry DVs of 8 and 10L/10B soak. Inﬂ icting three or 
  more levels of damage with a single attack knocks the blade down, grounding it until its master can pick 
  it up and throw it into the air again. Flying Silver Dream has a setting for one hearthstone and costs eight 
  motes to attune.
  This weapon effectively doubles the number of attacks a character can make at once or increases the character’s 
  DVs signiﬁ cantly. That the blade’s attacks can also be improved by Charms is impressive, effectively letting her act 
  as the equivalent of two warriors.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +3 
  +8L 
  +3 
  3 
  Str •• 
  8 
  —
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  41
  FOLDING SHIP
  This double-masted ocean-going merchant’s vessel has a hull of strong, gold-tinged wood and steel-
  silk sails (see p. 158). It requires no crew: the ship handles its own sail, bilge and the like. It needs only a 
  helmsman. From the helm, a pilot can verbally command the rest of the ship.
  At its owner’s command, the folding ship folds itself up in a visual spectacle, completing the one-
  minute process as a 1’ x 6” x 6” box that weighs 20 pounds. It takes just as long for the boat to unfold. Twelve 
  straight hours as a box repairs the ship of any damage it may take. If the owner wants, the folding ship can 
  reassemble as a vessel with self-moving oars and a shallower draft for river travel. The attunement cost is 
  10 motes, and using Sail Charms with an attuned folding ship provides a 2m (minimum 1m) discount.
  The folding ship offers complete mastery of water travel. Though it could certainly be more impressive (one 
  of the First Age, hearthstone-powered ships, perhaps), it needs no crew but the character and is ideal for getting 
  just about anywhere on the water. Plus, it’s incredibly cool. This is a greater wonder.
  KIND EDGE
  The kind edge is a reaver daiklave designed to capture opponents alive—or just hold them for execu-
  tion. Its single great edge is slightly concave, but the rest of the weapon is precisely squared.
  Kind edge costs eight motes to attune. When it inﬂ icts damage, a human-shaped phantom leaps 
  from the blade at the target. It body-slams the victim backward and pins him to the ground; the target 
  immediately suffers a clinch attack using the wielder’s (Strength + Martial Arts). The clinch roll beneﬁ ts 
  from any onslaught the weapon’s wielder may have accrued and adds two automatic successes for every 
  level of damage the attack inﬂ icted. The projection remains, beneﬁ ting from its automatic successes on 
  each roll to maintain the grapple, until the target breaks free. It then vanishes. Each phantom costs four 
  motes; the wielder must spend these reﬂ exively when she hits unless she does not have enough Essence to 
  do so. Kind edge has space for two hearthstones.
  Kind edge has slightly better statistics than a normal reaver daiklave. Its power occurs often but costs a medium 
  amount of Essence, and the fact that activating isn’t voluntary is at least a three-dot drawback. It doesn’t reduce the 
  artifact’s rating by a level, but it helps balance the ability to leave struggling captives all over a battleﬁ eld.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +3 
  +10L/3 
  +2 
  2 
  Str ••• 
  8 
  O
  MANACLES OF NIGHT
  Manacles of night are a set of shackles with a ﬁ tting for two wrists and two ankles, designed to lock 
  through a ring in the wall. They consist of orichalcum and soulsteel, twisted and folded together. Breaking 
  free of these manacles requires a (Strength + Athletics) total of 20 for a feat of strength, and they have 
  20L/20B soak, 15 health levels to damage and 30 to destroy. A character bound by these manacles loses 
  one mote of Essence each action (or ﬁ ve seconds) as the soulsteel drains them. He cannot use any Charms 
  while bound, as the orichalcum forces his remaining Essence into impotent patterns. These were once the 
  primary tools in imprisoning Exalted. An Artifact 3 version does not impede Charm activation.
  As a tool that almost guarantees secure imprisonment of even powerful Essence users, this qualiﬁ es for 
  Artifact 4.
  PANACEA PIPE
  Silver-engraved drawings of medicinal herbs cover the ﬁ ne green glass of this hookah. Despite its 
  fragile appearance, it’s as strong as good bronze. Loaded with the proper combination of herbs depicted on 
  the outside and lit with ﬁ ve motes, the hookah heals diseases. Each combination of herbs heals a different 
  sickness, and many herbs are rare and expensive. Finding the proper combination and ingredients to heal 
  a given disease requires research and exploration. With the right herbs lit, up to ﬁ ve people can smoke 
  from the hookah and be healed of the speciﬁ c disease. The pipe can cure even supernatural diseases, all 
  the way up to the Great Contagion.
  This is a very potent effect. The ability to cure the Great Contagion pushes it toward the ﬁ ve-dot level, but 
  the limitation on how many people it can cure and the necessity to acquire the right ingredients and recipes triggers 
  adventures—enough to push it down to Artifact 4.
  
  42
  PERFECTED KATA BRACERS
  Perfected kata bracers are prayer strips crafted of a single magical material and curled into bracers. 
  The strips’ sutras are starmetal engravings, except in starmetal bracers—they use orichalcum. Attunement 
  costs eight motes. When the character activates a Form-type Charm, the sutras inscribed on the bracers 
  glow and lift from the artifact to engulf the character in light for a brief moment. For the rest of the scene, 
  she gains several beneﬁ ts.
  She adds her Essence to the accuracy, damage and defense of her unarmed attacks and of attacks made 
  with the active Form-type Charm’s particular weapons. She may choose to inﬂ ict bashing or lethal damage 
  at will and she may parry lethal attacks unarmed. In addition:
  Orichalcum bracers let Solars inﬂ ict aggravated damage on creatures of darkness.
  Moonsilver bracers provide Lunars additional ﬂ exibility, so they ignore cover and shields.
  Jade bracers add Essence to Dragon-Blooded’s soak and 2 to the Rate of their attacks.
  Starmetal eases the ﬂ ow of martial Essence for Sidereals, reducing the cost of activating Charms of 
  the same style by two motes (minimum 1).
  Soulsteel makes an Abyssal’s attack fatal if it inﬂ icts more levels of damage than a mortal victim’s 
  Stamina.
  Perfected kata bracers provide very signiﬁ cant effects. A skilled martial artist wielding them in battle has a 
  signiﬁ cant advantage over her opponents, especially when wielding artifact martial-arts weapons. They suffer the 
  small drawback of being incredibly obvious. If their beneﬁ ts weren’t limited to the battleﬁ eld, the bracers might be 
  Artifact 5.
  ARTIFACT •••••
  CROWN OF THUNDERS
  The beautiful crown of thunders is solid orichalcum with three hearthstone settings. Legend names its 
  maker the Unconquered Sun, a gift for a hero of the Primordial War. Once attuned (10 motes), it increased 
  each of her Physical Attributes by three dots, but it was a greater tool for rulership. Spending 10 motes give 
  the wearer an aura of command that adds ﬁ ve dice to all social rolls for the rest of the scene. While that 
  power functions, she may spend an additional 10 motes to appear glorious and mighty. Mortals may not 
  attack her and treat all of her orders like compulsions. Other entities compare their Dodge MDVs to her 
  player’s social roll, which gains three bonus successes. Resisting this unnatural mental inﬂ uence costs two 
  points of Willpower, after which one becomes immune for a month and a day.
  This is an incredibly powerful tool of command and could only be Artifact 5.
  CRUCIBLE OF TARIM
  The crucible is a huge brass basin with dragons worked in jade on the side. Its lid seals tightly for the 
  crucible’s use. This artifact captures a sorcerer’s spells in liquid form for later use. The character must ﬁ rst 
  place many occult ingredients worth Resources 5 into the crucible and render them down. After two days, 
  the sorcerer casts her spell and lets the Essence follow the path of her attunement into the crucible, where 
  it invests the liquid with its power. A small spigot in the basin drains the ﬂ uid into a special vial (included 
  in the expenditure).
  Later, using the spell is a simple matter of unstopping the vial and directing the reshaping Essence. 
  Occult requirements make the vials fragile: should one break accidentally rather than be opened on purpose, 
  the spell rips free and wreaks havoc, usually on the person holding it. The crucible of Tarim can capture 
  any circle of spell in this way, though Solar Circle spells require the further sacriﬁ ce of a one-dot artifact. 
  A sorcerer must be attuned, for 10 motes, for the entire distillation process.
  The ability to have any number of any Circle of spells at one’s ﬁ ngertips is an incredible advantage. Hurling 
  Death of Obsidian Butterﬂ ies is nothing when you see the Solar Circle’s attack spells. The ingredient requirements 
  are not small, but not large enough to bring it down a dot. The chance that the vials will break is also not large 
  enough—but it certainly is fun.
  DEATH AT THE ROOT
  Death at the Root is a moonsilver grand grimcleaver, created as a planned byproduct of a Lunar’s ritual 
  suicide after the Usurpation. The great axe can fatally sever ﬂ ows of Essence as well as blood. Its wielder may 
  use it to target the Essence in a manse, demesne or persistent spell. The player rolls (Charisma + Essence) 
  at a difﬁ culty of the target’s rating (for manses or demesnes). Success breaks all current attunements to the 
  manse or demesne or reduces the demesne’s rating by one. Attacking a spell has a difﬁ culty of (spell’s circle 
  + 2) and cannot affect Solar Circle spells. If successful, the spell shatters as if struck with countermagic 
  of an equal circle. Over week-long dramatic actions, the weapon can redirect dragon lines and shape the 
  geomantic landscape, as if performing a year’s worth of geomantic engineering. A single strike, directed at 
  a demesne’s geomantic stress-point, can trigger Essence buildup. (See Chapter Two for rules about creating 
  and destroying demesnes.)
  Striking a person inﬂ icts damage as normal. It also allows the above roll to be made reﬂ exively. 
  Charms or other magical effects currently affecting the target end immediately if the minimum Essence 
  score required to use them is equal to or less than the successes rolled; effects without minimum Essence 
  requirements compare their creator’s Essence score to the number of successes instead. Attuning to Death 
  at the Root costs eight motes. The weapon uses the normal statistics for a moonsilver grand grimcleaver, 
  and its wielder can always channel Conviction for any roll related to Death at the Root.
  Death at the Root guarantees a character has vast control over the magical landscape in his life. He can destroy 
  enemies’ manses permanently and end most effects that protect them. This very clearly qualiﬁ es as Artifact 5, able 
  to completely change the face of a game no matter who holds it.
  
  CHAPTER ONE • ARTIFACTS AND ARTIFICE
  43
  EYE OF THE FIRE DRAGON
  Ten Terrestrial master artiﬁ cers forged this dire lance in secret just prior to the Great Uprising as 
  a fearsome weapon against the tyrannical Chosen of the Sun. It is a thick-handled spear with two broad 
  heads on one end. Its blades are a lightly textured matte black, the red jade showing through only at its 
  highly-sharpened edges; a black cover of some leather-like material usually conceals the heads. It requires 
  10 motes to attune.
  When the black cover sheathes the blades, the weapon appears completely mundane in Essence sight 
  but inﬂ icts only bashing damage; the head requires a miscellaneous action to cover or uncover. Exposed 
  and used against a Solar, however, the weapon inﬂ icts aggravated damage; the weapon’s bearer gains +4 
  DV and MDV against all attacks backed by Solar magic; and successfully striking a Solar sometimes breaks 
  their defenses. Roll one die for each beneﬁ cial Solar Charm affecting a struck Solar target: failure on the 
  roll ends the Charm. Finally, the lance also enhances Fire Aspects’ anima powers, empowering it to cause 
  aggravated damage to Solars.
  A Dragon-Blood wielding this weapon against a Solar will be a truly fearsome enemy. Compared to Death at 
  the Root (above), its magic-ending power might seem a little weak, but the grimcleaver has average statistics for its 
  weapon type; the dire lance is improved, inﬂ icts aggravated (against Solars) and improves defense (against Solars). 
  In its chosen arena, the Eye of the Fire Dragon is Artifact 5.
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Defense 
  Rate 
  Minimums 
  Attune 
  Tags
  5 
  +3 
  +10L/16L 
  +3 
  3 
  Str •• 
  10 
  2, L, R
  FORGOTTEN BLADE
  Perhaps the Sidereals forged the Forgotten Blade in the High First Age, but records of the weapon are 
  scant even in Heaven. The Forgotten Blade may or may not be beautiful—it is impossible to remember. This 
  daiklave has average statistics, but as long as one does not look at it, one cannot remember its appearance. 
  In fact, no one but the person attuned to it can remember it at all when not in its presence. This unnatural 
  mental inﬂ uence requires two Willpower to shake off for a scene. Attuning requires ﬁ ve motes.
  The weapon does not hurt people physically. It inﬂ icts ‘phantom’ damage (mark it with a circle in 
  health boxes). Its damage rating is normal for a daiklave, but the character wielding it adds Intelligence 
  rather than Strength to calculate base damage. Each level of damage the weapon inﬂ icts causes the victim to 
  forget how to use one Ability (determined at random) and the last ﬁ ve years of her life. Someone “killed” by 
  the Forgotten Blade suffers complete amnesia. Victims suffer normal wound penalties due to disorientation. 
  Ability use returns as the wounds heal (at the same rate as bashing), but lost memories are gone forever.
  Compassionate warriors may prefer to cut away smaller chunks of memory or target speciﬁ c memories 
  with called shots. The difﬁ culty of the attack increases by one (“forget only the last year,” or limit the number 
  of random Abilities) to four (“forget the last ﬁ ve minutes,” or, “forget me completely”).
  As an amazing power without any real analog, the Forgotten Blade clearly represents a ﬁ ve-dot power. Its 
  only drawback is that if its owner lets his attunement lapse, he forgets he owns it.
  RING OF BEING
  Forged in the secret manse at the heart of the Imperial Mountain, each ring of being is made only of a 
  single magical material, puriﬁ ed a dozen times over. This complete purity, commingled with the Essence of 
  their unique forge, afﬁ rms and protects its wearer’s identity and nature. Only things of Creation proper can 
  affect the character—the dead, Fair Folk, demons, gods and the Wyld cannot even target the character with 
  their magic. They may use physical and social attacks, but everything else does not touch her. Elementals, 
  however, are of Creation, and a weapon empowered as an artifact or by Charms still counts as physical force. 
  A ring of being only functions for an Exalt natural to the magical material and costs 15 motes to attune.
  This is very, very powerful. Its power names entire classes of entity that no longer threaten the character—at 
  least not effectively. Mundane attacks could still take her down—don’t expect to wrestle the Unconquered Sun and 
  win—but it’s not very likely.
  SOUL MIRROR
  This soulsteel grand daiklave is a ﬂ at black, the moaning spirits common to the magical material 
  conspicuously absent. Four hearthstone sockets adorn the blade, which costs eight motes to attune. Tales 
  say the Lover Clad in Raiment of Tears forged this weapon for her nemissary champion shortly after the 
  Great Contagion. Two Dragon-Blooded martial artists managed to defeat the champion and hide it, but 
  they disappeared mysteriously soon after.
  Soul Mirror consumes souls. When it inﬂ icts even a single level of damage, its victim loses one point 
  of Willpower and (victim’s Essence) motes as the blade tears away bits of soul. Soul Mirror absorbs the soul 
  of anyone it kills, preventing it from going on to Lethe or the Underworld. It imprisons the soul in the 
  blade, up to seven at a time. Reﬂ exively, the character may command the blade to consume a captive soul 
  for power. Sacriﬁ cing a captive soul increases the weapon’s Accuracy, Damage, Defense and Rate by one for 
  the next seven days, to a maximum bonus of +4 to each.
  The blade also has a dreadful anima of its own. When it is ﬁ rst drawn or used in combat, the player 
  makes a reﬂ exive (Charisma + Presence + Essence) roll. Any characters whose MDVs are lower than the 
  rolled successes suffer a -4 internal penalty to all actions out of fear; this unnatural mental inﬂ uence costs 
  two temporary Willpower to shuck off.
  Soul Mirror has one ﬁ nal power. When its wielder suffers a blow that would reduce him to or past 
  Incapacitated, he may reﬂ exively sacriﬁ ce one soul and all his Peripheral Essence to Oblivion. He must have 
  at least 10 motes in his Peripheral pool for this to work. The act completely negates the damage from that 
  attack, heals all his bashing and lethal wounds and (Essence) aggravated wounds.
  Yes, all its powers stem from killing people and using their souls as a mystic fuel. But horriﬁ c evil doesn’t make 
  this artifact any less of a massive advantage in battle and worthy of ﬁ ve dots.
  
  44
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  45
  CHAPTER TWO
  CHARACTER
  CREATION
  CHAPTER TWO
  CHAPTER TWO
  DEMESNE, MANSE AND
  DEMESNE, MANSE AND
  HEARTHSTONE
  HEARTHSTONE
  As Essence pours into Creation, the world shapes 
  its meandering course. Most of Creation’s citizens don’t 
  notice as vast ﬂ ows of Essence stream past, rise, fall, are 
  diverted, well up, or run off. In some places, though, so 
  much Essence concentrates that even mortals feel it. 
  Everything in such places, called demesnes, is steeped 
  in Essence to the point that the whole area becomes 
  more vivid, more intense—more itself.
  The ﬁ rst geomancers practiced their art long before 
  the human race existed. Modern savants know little 
  about these races; but they know the reptilian Dragon 
  Kings watched this ﬂ ux and sought to control it. By 
  looking around them, the Dragon Kings learned the 
  Essence-shaping qualities of landscape. From their 
  example, the ﬁ rst human geomancers gave the name 
  of “dragon lines” to the world’s great rivers of Essence, 
  and said these currents showed the shapes of sleeping 
  entities beneath. Accustomed to thinking of their craft 
  as one that shifted the dragons themselves, the early 
  geomancers coined a cautionary proverb: “Touch the 
  dragon and it may turn over, but no one wishes the 
  dragon to wake.”
  The pre-human geomancers did not wish to disturb 
  the world too much (and perhaps anger its Primor-
  dial masters). They aimed for harmony. In time, they 
  learned how to build in harmony with the unnerving 
  wildness of demesnes and pacify their overﬂ owing 
  energies. Thus, they created the ﬁ rst manses, though 
  their stone circles hardly resembled the polished 
  ediﬁ ces to come.
  The discovery of the sheer power contained in 
  each manse was swift. Soon, geomancers built manses 
  as an end in itself. It didn’t take long for ambitious 
  geomancers to prod the dragon lines for power, but 
  
  46
  her edicts kept the Realm’s practices in consonance 
  with the land—but the commands of a vanished ruler 
  matter little. Perhaps it’s fortunate that modern geo-
  mancers lack the magical and material resources to try 
  establishing new demesnes. Too many shortsighted or 
  conﬂ icting attempts to move and channel the dragon 
  lines could lay waste to whole nations through famine, 
  ﬂ ood, storm or earthquake. Anyone who can shape 
  demesnes would need to invest more effort than they 
  wish, so Creation remains stable for now.
  Geomancers in the Second Age usually sat-
  isfy themselves with building manses to cap existing 
  demesnes—but should a geomancer ﬁ nd a greater 
  demesne, it will do her little good. None of the geo-
  mancers in Creation know enough to fully command 
  that power. Practically nobody in the world today 
  could build a factory-cathedral—though this, along 
  with everything else, could change with the Solars’ 
  return.
  DETECTION
  Essence-wielders can’t help but notice manses and 
  demesnes. Upon entry, an Essence-channeler feels the 
  warmth of upwelling power as a tingling frisson across 
  they quickly discovered that ill-considered geoman-
  tic alteration could cause terrifying environmental 
  catastrophes. For fear of awakening the dragons to 
  wrath, strict laws regulated demesne creation and 
  manse construction.
  When the Exalted began building their own 
  manses, they adopted the rules and safety precau-
  tions of the Dragon Kings. No matter how elaborate 
  or eccentric the appearance chosen by the masters of 
  the Old Realm, the deep structures of their manses 
  adhered scrupulously to the ancient strictures—because 
  their manses exploded if they didn’t. The Shogunate 
  eschewed even the superﬁ cial vagaries of design prac-
  ticed by the Celestial Exalted, for the sturdiest and 
  most reliable construction. The Dragon-Blooded also 
  strove to build mundane buildings and communities 
  according the principles of geomantic harmony, that 
  the farmlands might stay fruitful and the populace 
  contented.
  In the Age of Sorrows, however, basic geomantic 
  concerns and aesthetics are ignored more and more 
  often, creating spiritless, inharmonious communities 
  across Creation. Until recently, the Scarlet Empress 
  kept a close watch on her nation’s geomancy, and 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  47
  her skin. She might also feel the demesne’s aspect. The 
  Essence of a Wood demesne may smell of fresh herbs 
  or ﬂ owers; a Fire demesne could feel as though, when 
  facing it, she’s standing in front of a huge blaze. Sensing 
  a demesne’s aspect requires a simple success on a roll 
  of (Perception + Occult + demesne’s rating).
  The same roll enables an Essence-wielder to sense 
  a demesne from a distance. The number of successes 
  gives the number of miles away the character can sense 
  the demesne; no successes means the character won’t 
  notice the demesne until she steps into it. Turning 
  this about, a character’s distance in miles from the 
  demesne supplies the difﬁ culty to sense it; add 1 to 
  the difﬁ culty if the character does not consciously 
  try to locate it.
  Mortals who are blind to Essence have a harder 
  time noticing demesnes (assuming they don’t realize 
  on their own that a forest of living golden trees or a 
  ﬂ aming lake is something special). A mortal’s player 
  needs a successful (Perception + Occult + demesne’s 
  rating) roll to feel a demesne’s magic at all, and three 
  successes to conclusively tell its aspect—again, assuming 
  the mortal cannot tell at once from the manifestations 
  of superabundant Essence. Mortals can only sense a 
  demesne from at most a mile away, and being outside 
  the demesne increases the difﬁ culty of sensing it by 2.
  Detecting manses uses the same rules as detecting 
  demesnes, but because the Essence is harnessed and 
  damped down, relevant rolls have their difﬁ culties 
  increased by 2.
  Various rituals in the thaumaturgical Art of 
  Geomancy increase the odds to detect demesnes and 
  manses—especially from far away.
  DEMESNES
  Demesnes are common in Creation. Few people 
  live more than a week’s ride on horseback from the 
  nearest demesne, and a traveler can sometimes walk 
  from one demesne to the next within a day. In some 
  countries, such as the Realm, every local demesne 
  is long since built into a manse. Still, not a person 
  in the world hasn’t heard stories of such beautiful, 
  mystical places.
  More than three-quarters of Creation’s demesnes 
  are rated three dots or lower. Of the rest, almost all 
  are level 4. Level 5 demesnes are the stuff of legend. 
  Physically, demesnes are rarely larger than a square mile, 
  and weak demesnes may cover less than an acre.
  Weak demesnes superﬁ cially resemble everyday 
  Creation. Their superabundant Essence manifests in 
  small ways such as trees whose leaves rustle despite 
  the absence of wind, or brilliant sparks from any 
  ﬂ ame brought into the demesne. A demesne rated 3 
  or higher, though, produces blatantly uncanny effects 
  such as music in the air or rocks that burn without 
  being consumed. Ignorant folk may mistake powerful 
  demesnes for pockets of the Wyld.
  Each demesne has a predominating aspect. Most 
  have lesser aspects as well, more lightly inﬂ uencing 
  their Essence. Prevailing theorists believe every dragon 
  line has its own aspect, and their crossings create de-
  mesnes: hence, a dragon line of Hesiesh ﬂ owing over 
  one of Danaa’d might birth a river demesne of cold, 
  aquamarine ﬁ re. But this idea ignores the fact that—as 
  geomancers tracing dragon lines have found—not only 
  can dragon cross without generating demesnes, some 
  demesnes aren’t situated on dragon crossings. In fact, 
  the most powerful demesnes in the world are usually 
  nowhere near the dragon lines. And, of course, there 
  are no Celestial dragon lines at all. At least, no one 
  has found any: a few savants speculate that currents 
  of Solar, Lunar and Sidereal Essence ﬂ ow high in the 
  sky, and occasionally touch down to form Celestial 
  demesnes. Until someone ﬁ nds a way to detect these 
  hypothetical dragon lines, the theory remains nothing 
  more than that.
  Another, highly esoteric theory holds that de-
  mesnes are the lesser souls of Gaia. Just as the Yozis 
  externalize their souls into hierarchies of demons, 
  so does Gaia extend herself through creation in the 
  form of demesnes. This theory has problems, too. In 
  the great days of old, geomancers created demesnes. 
  Did they create new souls for Gaia? Summon them? 
  And again, what about Celestial demesnes, aspected 
  to other Incarnae? Not to mention the horrible Abys-
  sal demesnes…
  In the end, most geomancers simply accept demesnes 
  as a fact of Creation. In the Age of Sorrows, exploiting 
  a demesne matters more than explaining it.
  POWER FROM DEMESNES
  The more Essence pours into a demesne, the more 
  dramatically gorgeous and strange it becomes, but the 
  power doesn’t just run off in ﬂ ickering sunlight and lakes 
  of impossible depth. As noted on page 113 of Exalted, 
  Essence-users can use a ritual to attune themselves to 
  a demesne, and then can regain extra motes while 
  there. They become a focal point for the demesne’s 
  wild Essence, but rather than being overwhelmed by 
  the onslaught, most people feel charged with energy 
  and sensitized to their environment. Striding through 
  the demesne, they understand just how powerful they 
  
  48
  ASSOCIATIONS
  Aspects demonstrate themselves in a myriad of ways, and aren’t always consistent. Essence is ﬂ uid, 
  and many manifestations are possible: a gold forest seems obviously Wood-aspected, but could be a Solar 
  or Earth demesne. The following associations are a mere sampling of potential appearances, inﬂ uences, 
  and products of aspects in both demesnes and manses.
  Air: wind, lightning, storms, thought, music, silence, language, cold, fast, moving, precision, per-
  fection, invisible, pervasive, travel, thrown, open, unlocked, academia, manual dexterity, sky, birds, 
  memory for detail, pale colors, logic, philosophy, puzzles, independence, pride, Eclipse Caste, Maiden of 
  Serenity, straight lines, mountain tops, sapphire, tin, dream-stone, blue jade
  Earth: rock, sand, architecture, toughness, underground, ritual, tradition, internal, reliability, still-
  ness, claustrophobia, humanity, civilization, tools, training, dedication, eternity, landmarks, white and 
  brown, faith, mountains, goats, small furred animals, burrows, serpents, Zenith Caste, Maiden of Battles, 
  right angles, caves, cities, farms, domestication, gems, white jade, lead
  Fire: passion, heat, light, agility, animation, pain, danger, renewal, change, specialization, consump-
  tion, orange, quickness, immediate force, awe, conﬂ ict, sun, desert, volcano, phoenix, reptiles, lions, 
  sacriﬁ ce, puriﬁ cation, instinct, great cats, desert snakes, Dawn Caste, Maiden of Journeys, acute angles, 
  triangles, violence, ruby, red jade, steel
  Water: intrigue, rain, subtlety, emotional memory, ﬂ exibility, acceptance, dark colors, manipulation, 
  unpredictability, unexpected force, persistence, instinct, logic, philosophy, ice, storms, sailing, decep-
  tion, grace, ﬁ sh, versatility, depth, essential natures, purity, usefulness, mazes, complexity, calm, frogs, 
  fog, Night Caste, Maiden of Secrets, waves, turquoise, pearl, coral, black jade, silver
  Wood: plants, animals, seasons, growth, poison, birth, death, cycles, love, forests, green, brown, simple 
  governance, joy, pleasure, spirit, gods, thorns, ﬂ owers, lust, reproduction, drugs, parties, predator-prey, 
  Twilight Caste, Maiden of Endings, circles, spirals, rivers, emerald, amber, green jade
  Abyssal: night, cold, sacriﬁ ce, pain, black, decay, blood, shadows, necromancy, battle, slaughter, 
  seduction, war, ancestors, subservience, regret, depression, insanity, love, fear, disgust, beauty, funerals, 
  introspection, aloneness, raitons, pomegranates, rulership, nocturnal creatures, swamps, cemeteries, 
  battleﬁ elds, darkness, jet, iron, ebony, obsidian, slavery, soulsteel
  Lunar: moon, night, silver, moonsilver, nature, animals, religion, purity, evolution, spirit, cycles, 
  feminine, beauty, honor, motherhood, nurture, truth, defense, strength, battles, wisdom, awareness, inter-
  nal, wit, responsibility, aloneness, water, love, sex, simplicity, destruction, equality, reﬂ ections, mysticism, 
  the Wyld, insanity, rage, claws, heartbeats, bodies, crescents, ﬂ uidity, marriages, white and gray
  Sidereal: stars, night, openness, wonder, Essence, potential, chance, reality, impossibility, age, history, 
  academics, time, patience, pride, control, subtlety, planning, secrets, planets, occult, spirits, bureaucracy, 
  foresight, writing, prayer, starmetal, quicksilver, ﬁ ve-pointed symbols, rituals, knowledge, wisdom, ma-
  nipulation, stealth, spangled black or indigo
  Solar: sun, faith, righteousness, charisma, dominance, civilization, yellow and white, gold, orichal-
  cum, diamond, sorcery, skill, right, religion, bureaucracy, construction, leadership, invincibility, bursts, 
  warmth, marble, open spaces, art, crowns, wars, blatancy, lions, simhata, light, olive, spear, shield, four 
  arms, height, day, masculine, glory, ﬁ re, humanity
  are, like gods walking the world. It feels good, but does 
  lend itself to mania and megalomania.
  HARVESTS: THE PEARL-COLLECTING RITE
  Even with attuned characters claiming Essence, 
  demesnes can’t hold all their power. Each demesne 
  has one major outlet, expressing its nature. Many are 
  physical: Essence might imbue itself into fabulous 
  tri-colored fruit growing from a Wood demesne’s 
  trees, or spill as molten iridescent metal into an Earth 
  demesne’s magma. Crystals are a common expression 
  of a demesne’s power, as if the Essence tried to form a 
  hearthstone all by itself.
  Once a month, a single person attuned to the 
  demesne may use a Soul Sea Meditation, the Pearl-Col-
  lecting Rite, to gather the demesne’s rich harvest—its 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  49
  lower than the demesne; some have drawbacks bal-
  ancing their scale. As such, the river of azure ﬂ ame (a 
  demesne of rating 2) might render attuned characters 
  immune to ﬁ re while there, even supernatural ﬁ re. 
  However, it might then cause normal liquids to pain 
  or poison them—making swimming deadly, drinking 
  unbearable, and kissing awful.
  DEMESNE-INDUCED MUTATION
  The aspected Essence of a demesne streams over 
  everything within the area, evolving it to suit itself. 
  To a certain extent, of course, demesnes are deﬁ ned by 
  their environment; it’s almost inconceivable that a Fire 
  demesne form in the Western oceans. But things too 
  SOUL SEA MEDITATIONS: 
  RITES OF DEMESNE AND MANSE
  Attunement to a demesne is not just a way 
  to access its power, but a new perception of 
  Creation. Every Essence wielder can feel her 
  inner nature, her unique core, the silent pool 
  of her soul. When she resonates with a manse 
  or demesne, she pours herself into the sea of 
  Gaia. Though the word “attunement” is used to 
  designate characters aligning themselves with a 
  place’s geomancy, attempts to sense the world’s 
  Essence are always a kind of attunement. Every 
  Soul Sea Meditation might be thought of as 
  attuning to a place.
  Soul Sea Meditations are instinctive for Es-
  sence-channelers, though knowledge of the world 
  grounds a character’s execution of them: every as-
  pect of Creation hides the keys to Gaia. Thus, they 
  always use Lore as the relevant Ability. The basic 
  rite of attunement to a demesne is called Bathing 
  in the River Meditation. Some meditations can 
  also be performed as rituals of thaumaturgy (see 
  Chapter Four), and skill at the Art of Geomancy 
  may assist in their performance.
  Other Meditations follow later in the chapter, 
  but do not include every possibility. Such rites 
  take (place’s rating) scenes to perform, unless 
  otherwise noted. Distraction won’t affect a roll, 
  but anyone within the place’s range can counter 
  one ritual with another; successes are subtracted 
  from each other. Failing a rite’s roll inﬂ icts a 
  point of lethal damage as Essence slashes across 
  the character’s soul. Botches have variable, un-
  fortunate effects.
  Essence token. The character follows the demesne’s 
  Essence ﬂ ows to ﬁ nd where the Essence token has 
  manifested, and coaxes it to him. This uses a roll of 
  (Wits + Lore), difﬁ culty 2. Botching causes them to 
  hurt the character: harvested magma could burn his 
  hands for three levels of lethal damage, while harvested 
  songs could break his heart, rendering him unable to 
  spend Willpower for the day. (See sample demesnes, 
  starting on p. 55, for more examples.)
  A character who carries the Essence token thereby 
  regain (demesne’s rating) extra motes per hour when 
  away. Once the demesne no longer feeds it, however, 
  the token starts denaturing—fruit rots, metal cor-
  rodes, crystals crack. Characters only gain Essence 
  from a demesne’s primary outlet for (rating) days after 
  collecting it. The demesne does not produce another 
  Essence token until another month passes.
  Some demesnes grow metaphysical or immaterial 
  harvests. One Southern demesne’s main outlet is its 
  feeling of caressing, comforting warmth; one Western 
  demesne gives inhabitants heartbreaking melodies that 
  fade from memory in a day. These mystical Essence 
  tokens make wonderful exotic components for artiﬁ cers 
  across Creation, because their concentrated Essence 
  can still be handled like physical entities—at least by 
  Essence-wielders. The owner of the Western demesne’s 
  melody can sing it in the ear of another attuned person, 
  who then remembers it and draws Essence from it, 
  while the ﬁ rst person forgets the melody. The Southern 
  demesne’s token manifests as an immaterial veil of hot 
  silk, visible to anyone with Essence perceptions, that 
  can be passed among attuned people. Some demesnes 
  are famous for a certain ingredient. (See the sample 
  demesnes starting on p. 55 for examples of how to deal 
  with different Essence-token harvests.)
  If, through accident or design, a demesne’s harvest 
  is destroyed before it denatures, (demesne’s rating x 4) 
  motes of raw Essence explode through the surround-
  ings. The motes are mostly harmless, invoking omens 
  and minor geographical changes.
  ATTUNEMENT
  An Essence-wielder who attunes to a demesne can 
  imbue herself with aspects of the demesne’s power as 
  well as drawing out motes of Essence. Because the geo-
  mancy of a demesne isn’t intended for Essence-wielders, 
  though, attunement also “enhances” a body with the 
  demesne’s geomantic ﬂ aws. Infused effects only apply 
  as long as a person stays within the demesne.
  Abilities granted to those attuned to a demesne 
  should compare to those of a hearthstone one level 
  
  50
  small to deﬁ ne a demesne will be eroded, inﬂ uenced 
  or entirely remade by it.
  Passive, easily shaped people and animals (those 
  with Willpower lower than the demesne’s rating) 
  will be attracted to a demesne when they encounter 
  it. In a way, they fall in love with the place’s vivid, 
  expressive beauty. This is an Emotion effect. Others 
  may share the opinion, but the demesne’s energy has 
  less supernatural sway over them.
  Regardless of how they feel about a demesne, crea-
  tures that remain there for long feel its Essence soak 
  through them. The effects are slow but unmistakable, as 
  the Essence transforms their ﬂ esh and minds to match its 
  own character. Although the resulting changes are fun-
  damentally different from Wyld mutations, Storytellers 
  may use mutations from Exalted, page 288, to emulate 
  them. (See also The Compass of Celestial Directions, 
  Vol. II—The Wyld, and The Manual of Exalted 
  Power—The Lunars for more Wyld mutations.)
  For every year a creature spends largely in a de-
  mesne, it gains one negative point and two positive 
  points for mutations until (demesne’s rating) years 
  have passed—by then, it’s reworked the creature’s 
  substance as much as it can. Poxes and deﬁ ciencies 
  have a value of one point; afﬂ ictions/debilities, two 
  points; blights/deformities, four points; abominations, 
  six positive points. Demesnes cannot mutate Essence-
  wielders, but mortals are forever remade.
  Characters exposed to demesnes don’t become 
  addicted the way the Wyld-tainted do. Demesnes 
  enthrall mortal creatures, but do not twist their souls 
  in the manner of the Wyld. Creatures altered by 
  demesnes also still survive in the rest of Creation, no 
  matter how severely mutated they become. Whether 
  they ﬁ nd the rest of Creation comfortable or wish to 
  leave home is another matter. A woman of sunbeams, 
  no longer requiring food or sleep, has little to discuss 
  with the rest of humanity.
  Objects left in demesnes are inﬂ uenced, too. A 
  God-Blooded hero of the Age of Splendor famously 
  bore a hollow ebony daiklave carved with ever-burn-
  ing runes. It was jade before he lost it for 20 years in a 
  Southeastern demesne. The reshaped daiklave proved 
  able to ﬁ ll itself with ﬁ re that burned everything but 
  living things—even marble, or clouds.
  ESSENCE BUILDUP
  Cutting down fruit-bearing trees, blocking a lava 
  ﬂ ow, or other speciﬁ c events might stop up a demesne’s 
  outlet. This is never good. The Essence builds up until 
  it breaks loose in a tremendous explosion of mystical 
  force. A powerful demesne’s explosion can lay waste 
  to a large area.
  One scene after Essence buildup begins, a (Per-
  ception + Occult) roll, difﬁ culty 3, will detect it; 
  attuned characters notice automatically. Geomantic 
  instruments can also warn of the coming eruption. The 
  amount of time the place then has before it explodes 
  in a vast rainbow of Essence is inversely proportional 
  to its rating:
  Demesne/Manse Rating 
  Time
  1 
  Five months
  2 
  Five weeks
  3 
  Five days
  4 
  Five hours
  5 
  One scene
  N/A 
  Five minutes 
   
  Be somewhere else
  At that point, everyone within (demesne’s rating) 
  miles takes (demesne’s rating x 5) dice of aggravated 
  damage from blazing Essence discharges. Players should 
  make ([Dexterity or Wits] + Dodge) rolls for their 
  characters to avoid splintering debris and Essence-
  lightning; each success reduces damage by one level. 
  Armor soaks this damage normally, as well. Objects 
  suffer double damage.
  THE N/A DEMESNE AND MANSE
  A few demesnes are so powerful that geomanc-
  ers cannot even measure their energy. In a sense, 
  the Elemental Poles are themselves demesnes of 
  limitless power. The Imperial Mountain, directly 
  over the Pole of Earth, holds dozens of demesnes so 
  powerful and unstable that even the Old Realm’s 
  Solars could not control them.
  A few manses display similar power. Most 
  importantly, the Imperial Manse channels enough 
  power to attack any place in Creation. The Realm 
  Defense Grid housed in the Imperial Manse not only 
  draws energy from the powerful demesne beneath 
  it, it also channels Essence from hundreds of linked 
  war manses along the Blessed Isle’s perimeter.
  Characters cannot raise demesnes to N/A 
  level, nor construct N/A manses. Like the fabled 
  N/A Artifacts, these were the products of the 
  Primordials themselves, or decades of work by 
  millennia-old Exalts drawing on the resources 
  of the entire Old Realm.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  51
  The demesne’s power level then drops by one 
  dot. The demesne is still damaged, though, and may 
  erupt again ﬁ ve ticks later. The Storyteller rolls one 
  die and adds the demesne’s new rating: if the result is 6 
  or less, the explosion relieved the geomantic strain. If 
  the result is 7 or more, the demesne sends out another 
  blast, albeit at its new, reduced rating. This continues 
  until the demesne stabilizes or destroys itself.
  An exploding manse produces a partially contained 
  explosion, but that makes the blast more intense. Add 
  ﬁ ve dice to the damage, but reduce the area to (manse’s 
  rating x 100) yards. The remains of such a manse might 
  be salvageable—it should be treated as a manse that 
  has suffered Power Failure (see p. 62). Of course, the 
  underlying demesne has lost power, too. In most cases, 
  though, the whole place is destroyed.
  On top of all this, everyone exposed to the explo-
  sion of Essence might be mutated. For each character, 
  roll their (Willpower + Essence) at a difﬁ culty of 
  the demesne or 
  manse’s rating. 
  On a success, the 
  character resists 
  the transform-
  ing Essence. On a failure, the character gains a pox. 
  A botch inﬂ icts a deﬁ ciency. Roll for each time the 
  demesne explodes and bathes the character in Essence, 
  and count up the total points of positive and negative 
  mutation: two poxes might be replaced by one afﬂ ic-
  tion, or four deﬁ ciencies by a deformity.
  DESTROYING A DEMESNE: 
  THE OPEN-EYED DIVE MEDITATION
  The Essence running through demesnes makes 
  them hard to damage: natural events hardly ever 
  trigger Essence buildup, for even the devastation of a 
  ﬂ ood or tornado tends to follow the existing Essence 
  currents. Demesnes usually explode because of human 
  action—accidentally or on purpose.
  This Soul Sea Meditation reveals how to disrupt 
  a demesne’s heart. The character touches everything 
  within, sensing the Essence patterns, until she ﬁ nds the 
  fracture points where she can inﬂ ict geomantic dam-
  age. The player rolls (Perception + Lore + Geomancy 
  Degree), difﬁ culty 3. The meditation does not grant 
  the power to initiate that destruction, though—the 
  character must do that herself. Botching inﬂ icts a -1 
  internal penalty to mental rolls for the rest of the day, 
  
  52
  as stray Essence bounces around distractingly inside 
  the character’s mind.
  Once a character locates geomantic stress points, 
  attacking each nexus involves an extended (Intelli-
  gence + Occult + character’s Geomancy Degree) roll 
  at difﬁ culty 3. Each roll represents one man-week of 
  work at sabotage. Essence buildup begins when the 
  player accumulates (5 + [demesne rating x 5]) suc-
  cesses: it’s hard to affect powerful demesnes, though 
  they explode quickly thereafter. More than one person 
  can engage in geomantic sabotage, working at a single 
  character’s direction.
  A capped demesne becomes immune to simple 
  geomantic sabotage. The ﬂ ows of Essence are too tightly 
  bound to the manse or stabilized by special artifacts 
  called capstones (see p. 58). A manse, however, can 
  suffer its own sort of geomantic sabotage. A capped 
  demesne can also still be pushed to Essence buildup 
  through the slower processes of large-scale geomantic 
  engineering, described later in the chapter.
  REPAIRING DEMESNES
  Just as sabotaging a demesne takes a lot of work, 
  so does repairing one. Once Essence buildup begins, 
  there are two ways to stop it. The ﬁ rst is to cap the 
  demesne, using the same capstones involved in manse 
  construction. See page 58 for how to use capstones. 
  Within a year, the demesne’s Essence will stabilize 
  into a new conﬁ guration… but the demesne’s power 
  drops by one dot anyway.
  The other way is to repair the geomantic damage 
  directly: replant trees, return a stream to its former 
  course, and so on. This requires use of the Open-Eyed 
  Dive Meditation to analyze the damage, then (Intel-
  ligence + Occult + character’s Geomancy Degree) 
  rolls at difﬁ culty 3 for each man-week of work. The 
  demesne is mended when the total successes exceed 
  the number accumulated by the character who at-
  tacked the demesne.
  CHANGING THE FACE OF CREATION: 
  DEMESNE ENGINEERING
  In the First Age, the Exalted knew how to create 
  demesnes. That knowledge survives, but the geomantic 
  processes demand a controlled environment, a huge 
  amount of work, and a great deal of time—and aren’t 
  safe or reliable. Today, those who can do it don’t bother, 
  for even if they wanted demesnes badly enough to in-
  vest the years and labor, the chance of ruining swaths 
  of the landscape restrain even Dynastic hubris. The 
  Realm outright forbids very little… but the permit 
  processes for major geomantic engineering can take 
  longer than the engineering itself. (See The Compass 
  of Celestial Directions, Vol. I—The Blessed Isle and 
  The Manual of Exalted Power—The Dragon-Blooded
  for insights into the Realm’s bureaucracy.)
  FINDING A LOCATION
  To draw a new demesne from a plot of land, its geo-
  mantic potential must ﬁ rst be determined. Most places 
  are of normal potential (0 potential rating)—they’re 
  aligned with several elements, their natural Essence 
  isn’t monopolized by anything nearby, and they aren’t 
  especially well-positioned. Some, however, are more 
  likely spots: they might have mountains that could 
  reﬂ ect and contain Essence, or rivers that could cir-
  culate it. These are aligned with one primary element, 
  have a positive potential rating and can be forged into 
  demesnes right away.
  Geomantic surveying techniques can analyze the 
  land’s tendencies, ﬁ nding demesnes or areas of high 
  potential. A character needs some knowledge of geo-
  mancy to do this—at least an Initiate degree in the 
  Art of Geomancy (see Chapter Three) or an Occult 
  specialty in geomancy.
  As the character surveys a region, her player makes 
  an extended (Intelligence + Occult + character’s 
  Geomancy Degree) roll, difﬁ culty 2. This roll takes 
  an external penalty of at least -1 for every condition 
  the character sets to her search. For example, “It must 
  be Fire-aspected” might inﬂ ict a penalty of -1 in the 
  desert but -5 in the Western islands. “It should be 
  easily defensible” normally inﬂ icts a -2 penalty, and 
  the character needs at least War 2. The number of 
  successes required equals (rating desired
  2); each roll 
  takes one month if searching for a demesne, two if 
  only seeking an area of potential. With demesnes of 
  rating 2+, the odds are high that something else has 
  already claimed it. Modern geomancers, who don’t 
  wish to take the trouble to create new demesnes, often 
  travel with troops.
  A character who is very lucky might ﬁ nd a latent 
  demesne. Dragon lines already cross there, or other 
  features of the landscape concentrate Essence. In this 
  case, the character only has to perform some special 
  action to awaken the demesne. See “Activating 
  Potential,” page 53, for ways to do this. More likely, 
  the character just ﬁ nds a spot that has, so to speak, 
  potential for potential. The local geomancy has aspects 
  that could contribute to a demesne, but lacks other 
  important elements.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  53
  CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE
  An ambitious geomancer needs Lore and Occult 
  scores equal to (demesne’s desired rating + 3) to hope 
  to create a new demesne. Thus, a savant with Occult 
  5 and Lore 5 might design a level 2 demesne, but not 
  one of level 3. The Geomancy specialty counts toward 
  these scores (hence, 3 Occult with a +2 in Geomancy is 
  effectively 5). Fools who attempt large-scale geomantic 
  manipulations beyond their competence may merely 
  waste time, but could render the land sterile, reduce 
  the lifespans of everyone living there, tear all joy from 
  the air, or lay another local curse. Geomantic curses last 
  indeﬁ nitely, so the Realm (and most other states) is very 
  cautious about letting people try to create demesnes.
  The geomancer raises the demesne’s potential one 
  level at a time—from 0 to 1, 1 to 2, and so on. If her 
  survey succeeds, she not only ﬁ nds a suitable location, 
  she has a good idea what must be done to concentrate 
  the ﬂ ows of Essence. She’ll need to undertake a number 
  of speciﬁ c, major local changes equal to the potential 
  demesne’s new rating. Calling these changes “major” 
  is not an understatement: each one requires a year’s 
  effort. Examples of such undertakings include leveling 
  a mountain, hollowing out a lake, committing geno-
  cide or spreading a new religion. Such labors involve 
  a yearly Resources 5 expenditure for labor, materials 
  and tools. Each alteration incorporates at least three 
  associations with the demesne’s aspect (see the As-
  sociations sidebar). The undertakings must also be 
  precise: Every year, the character engages in another 
  geomantic survey to make sure the land’s Essence 
  changes as intended.
  For the player, creating a demesne calls for an 
  extended (Intelligence + Occult + Geomancy Degree) 
  roll against a difﬁ culty of ([the level to which it’ll be 
  raised] + 2). The Storyteller makes this roll and keeps 
  the results secret from the geomancer’s player. A failure 
  means a year of wasted effort. A botch means that the 
  character thinks she’s progressing—and is actually 
  harming the world, inﬂ icting some curse on the area 
  that can only be repaired by spending a year unmak-
  ing previous work, then starting over from scratch. A 
  character who tries to raise a demesne’s power beyond 
  her competence cannot do so… but the Storyteller 
  rolls anyway, because botches and geomantic curses 
  remain possible. The geomantic restructuring is com-
  plete when the extended roll accumulates ([demesne’s 
  next level] x 10) successes. After that, the character 
  can activate the demesne, or begin another years-long 
  effort to raise its potential still higher.
  If the geomancer wants to bring out a demesne with 
  an aspect other than the land’s most obvious character, 
  add 1 to the difﬁ culty of her roll; if she seeks an aspect 
  that currently hasn’t any local inﬂ uence, add 3. Thus, 
  creating an Earth demesne from land dominated by 
  Fire with Air and Earth overtones adds 1, but creat-
  ing a Sidereal demesne from Fire land without a trace 
  of star-Essence adds 3. Creating a Celestial demesne 
  usually requires working from secondary aspects; loca-
  tions that naturally concentrate Celestial Essence are 
  incredibly rare.
  MAJOR EVENTS
  Occasionally, if local populations honor it for 
  at least a year, an event counts as one of the major 
  undertakings needed to create a demesne. Such 
  happenings must have permanent consequences 
  and, like major undertakings, share associations 
  with the demesne’s aspect. The deaths of powerful 
  Exalted ﬂ avor the area; full-scale life-and-death 
  battles, especially between sorcerers, might count 
  as well. The Storyteller decides whether an event’s 
  both appropriate and important enough to inﬂ u-
  ence the very earth.
  ACTIVATING POTENTIAL: 
  THE RITUAL OF IRRIGATION
  Places with positive geomantic potential just 
  need a sudden shock or burst of energy to become 
  demesnes. Their Essence is like a river ﬂ owing behind 
  a rock wall: punching through the wall releases a great 
  rush. The Ritual of Irrigation sets the currents of Es-
  sence coiling in on themselves like dancing dragons, 
  drawing in Creation’s power, until they stabilize as a 
  new demesne.
  The ritual is a simple meditation at the latent 
  demesne’s geomantic heart. A character spends (de-
  mesne’s rating) hours feeling the currents to Essence. 
  When she knows and touches them all, she links 
  them to herself by simultaneously ﬂ ooding them with 
  (rating x 20) motes of Essence. The Storyteller then 
  rolls the character’s (Intelligence + Lore + Geomancy 
  Degree) at a difﬁ culty of (demesne’s new rating). Suc-
  cess means the demesne activates. A botch means 
  Essence buildup begins.
  If a single character lacks the Essence to activate 
  the demesne, multiple characters can perform the 
  Ritual of Irrigation and contribute Essence. However, 
  the Storyteller must roll for each character, and every 
  
  54
  roll must succeed for the demesne to activate. Any 
  botch triggers Essence buildup.
  ALTERING DEMESNES
  Most geomancers never create demesnes. Indeed, 
  some mystics call it a violent, unnatural tampering 
  with Creation. Many geomancers, however, alter them, 
  and not just with manse construction. The aspect of a 
  demesne can be shifted, perhaps for a certain resource 
  or to better serve a god, or an existing demesne can 
  be strengthened.
  Altering a demesne uses the same dice pool and 
  time scale as creating a demesne from scratch. However, 
  the difﬁ culty of the extended roll and the accumulated 
  number of successes are based on the demesne’s current 
  rating. Strengthening an existing demesne also uses the 
  same dice system as strengthening a latent demesne, 
  with the roll’s difﬁ culty and required number of suc-
  cesses based on the new rating. In this case, however, 
  a botched roll causes Essence buildup and detonation 
  instead of a geomantic curse.
  Altering a demesne involves subtler processes 
  than the massive labors involved in their creation. 
  The geomantic engineer has her labor force perform 
  chants and rituals, as well as small-scale works such as 
  building large granite walls or moving trees.
  A potent source of the desired type of Essence 
  could also used to adjust the demesne’s aspect. Examples 
  include an artifact with a rating that equals or exceeds 
  the demesne’s level, or sorcery whose effects match the 
  associations of the desired aspect. For instance, frequent 
  casting of Stormwind Rider could help nudge a demesne’s 
  aspect toward Air. An Exalt with a permanent Essence 
  at least equal to the demesne’s rating could also speed 
  the conversion through weekly deeds in line with the 
  intended aspect. For instance, a deathknight could 
  devour blood and souls to speed a demesne’s conversion 
  to Abyssal aspect; a Solar could hold court to arbitrate 
  disputes and try criminals; or a Fire Aspect could burn 
  every mote of his Essence through his anima at geo-
  mantically propitious places.
  The Storyteller gives extra successes for each year 
  of such Exalted activities. A simple, easily conducted 
  action (such as the Solar’s court, the Fire Aspect’s anima 
  burn-through or an Emerald Circle spell) conducted 
  monthly contributes one success. An easy, weekly 
  activity or a more difﬁ cult monthly activity (such as 
  ritual sacriﬁ ce of a dozen people or casting a Sapphire 
  Circle spell) is worth two successes. This could reach 
  up to ﬁ ve successes, for an incredible activity repeated 
  at least weekly, such as a Solar Circle spell, sprinkling 
  the entire demesne with powdered jade, or dozens 
  of Terrestrial Exalted burning through their Essence 
  pools at once.
  Spirits associated with the area and elementals of 
  either the current or desired element automatically 
  understand the alterations. They may work against 
  the project: spirits, shaped by their domains, may not 
  wish to become what the geomancer envisions, and 
  elementals sometimes object to ﬁ nding a new home. On 
  the other hand, some could be pleased: a forest spirit 
  rarely objects to more trees. Helpful spirits add one 
  success per year, or two if at least one god or elemental 
  has a higher Essence than the demesne’s rating.
  Bonus successes come in addition to the roll for 
  each year of effort. They do not replace it, or render 
  botching impossible.
  Altering a demesne’s aspect or strength ruins plans to 
  cap it with a manse. The desired manse must be rebuilt 
  too, to match the demesne’s new aspect or strength.
  REDUCING A DEMESNE
  In a few occasions, geomancers have deliberately 
  weakened a demesne. This involves the same geo-
  mantic engineering as creating or altering a demesne, 
  but the difﬁ culty and accumulated successes are based 
  on the new, reduced rating of the demesne. Botching 
  causes Essence buildup if the demesne isn’t capped.
  Why do such a thing? The annals of the Shogunate 
  say the Dragon-Blooded used geomantic engineering 
  to destroy a powerful Anathema who retreated to an 
  invincible fortress-manse. They could not penetrate 
  the manse, so they spent years wrecking the demesne, 
  eventually forcing the cornered tyrant to emerge and 
  ﬁ ght for her life.
  GEOMANTIC ARTIFACTS
  Powerful, landscape-altering artifacts such 
  as the singing staff (see Exalted, p. 392) and the 
  grimcleaver called Death at the Root (see p. 42) 
  can ease geomantic engineering. A character with 
  a singing staff can perform geomantic engineering 
  without the expense of a labor force (though it 
  still takes years), and a week’s worth of geomantic 
  sabotage in a single day. Death at the Root affects 
  Essence-currents directly. It achieves the same 
  results as a year of geomantic engineering in a 
  month, and a week’s worth of geomantic sabotage 
  in a single scene.
  Yes, that’s powerful. That’s why they’re rated 
  Artifact 4 and 5.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  55
  PLACES OF POWER
  A demesne might be nothing more than an oddly 
  colored forest pool that local peasants avoid—or as 
  drastic as an unbridgeable chasm blocking travel for 
  miles. Parents could warn their children away from 
  demesnes as deadly—or as holy ground. Travelers 
  seek demesnes for healing vapors and magical com-
  modities. Whole communities live in demesnes, with 
  all the strangeness that entails, and stories spread to 
  cities miles away. These are just ways mortals might 
  see demesnes; for Essence-wielders, they’re far more. 
  A powerful demesne is a ﬁ ght waiting to happen, and 
  many an epic’s been spun of the blazing battles fought 
  by heroes for their land.
  THE VALLEY OF BLUE MENHIRS
  EARTH DEMESNE •
  Perhaps the winds howling through this cold val-
  ley carry Essence of Air, for echoes refract unnaturally 
  among its standing stones. A whisper from one end 
  can be audible at the other, if the listener stood at 
  a point with the proper acoustics. Those who know 
  the place can easily ﬁ nd quiet corners, and often, in 
  hushed tones, they’ll point out to strangers that the 
  menhirs are warm to the touch.
  The few mortals who live among the menhirs grow 
  taller, with a faint blue duskiness to their features. 
  When they die, their bodies remain upright, loom 
  larger and larger, and eventually calcify into gray-blue 
  stone. Attuned characters also turn to rock if they die 
  in the demesne, but in the meantime, their breath 
  eases, centering their physical Essences.
  Game Effects: After a year, mortals gain the 
  poxes Skin Color (blue-gray) and Large, and the 
  deﬁ ciency Atrophy (Wits) (see Exalted, p. 288). At-
  tuned characters gain three dice to Resistance rolls 
  while in the demesne, but become slow to act, losing 
  a die on Wits rolls.
  The Valley’s Essence token consists of echoes, 
  which attuned characters gather in their throats by 
  calling low notes through the place; as they keep their 
  mouths open, the echoes return and settle in their 
  throats. For the following day, everything they say 
  will echo. Botching the harvest renders them mute 
  for a day.
  RAGARA ANYA’S WHITE MULBERRY GROVE
  WOOD DEMESNE •••
  Warm and softly-scented, suffering the gentlest of 
  rains and lightest of breezes, House Ragara’s legendary 
  mulberry grove was only claimed within the past two 
  centuries. It’s cared for by Ragara Anya, a plain, timid 
  Dragon-Blood who seldom visits home. Middle-aged 
  Anya found the grove herself on a long-ago retreat, 
  and though she’s happy to discharge her ﬁ lial obliga-
  tions by living there, she sometimes wishes the land 
  weren’t quite so valuable.
  The grove’s spare Essence grows into the mulberry 
  leaves year-round, coloring them a disconcerting ivory. 
  Tiny silkworms feed on them, and once a month, the 
  resultant silk—also produced year-round—takes on an 
  odd sheen. It’s spun and sent on its way hastily, for the 
  Essence bleeds out fast; but, arriving on time, infused 
  Ragara silk commands an absurd price. Silken armor, 
  style-changing clothing and other artifacts across 
  Creation are sewn from the coveted textile.
  Anya is required to oversee production on the 
  looms outside the grove, a job she doesn’t mind, 
  and to meet with Ragara representatives to discuss 
  policy, a duty she loathes. Once in a while, factions 
  within House Ragara demand that the grove be 
  surveyed for a manse. So far, economics and Anya 
  have defeated them, but she loves her white mulber-
  ries, and grows more uneasy every time the idea’s 
  brought up. She suspects (correctly) that she’s no 
  match for the adept bureaucrats at home. Moreover, 
  aside from internal House politics, Anya must be 
  wary of local forces. The grove is far from its own-
  ers, and native governments eye it with increasing 
  avarice—particularly in these troubled times, when 
  Ragara needs troops elsewhere.
  By strict order of the House, only Anya may live 
  in the grove.
  Game Effects: Mortals have never lived in the 
  Grove, so its warping effects are unknown; the silk-
  worms, its only fauna, show no physical changes. Ragara 
  Anya’s attunement whitens her skin and slows her 
  aging (half normal rate; at three centuries, she looks 
  only late middle-aged). She must take care with the 
  silkworms, however, for they (and other herbivores) 
  ﬁ nd her deliciously edible.
  The Grove’s Essence harvest takes the form of 
  pale mulberry leaves, which can be plucked by hand 
  if you can ﬁ nd the right ones. Over the next three 
  days, they’ll turn green, and then wither. Botching 
  the harvest poisons the gatherer like a dose of coral 
  snake venom (see Exalted, page 131).
  The silk from the Grove is equal to that from Es-
  sence spiders (see Chapter Four). However, it loses its 
  magic and becomes ordinary silk if it is not woven into 
  an artifact and properly treated within one month.
  
  56
  XOLOTL, THE STAR GARDEN
  SIDEREAL DEMESNE ••••
  As the Maiden of Serenity spreads her constel-
  lations above, Xolotl lights the night. At high noon, 
  Xolotl is dim—but at midnight, its neatly twining vines 
  and perfect ranks of trees glow faintly blue against the 
  blackness. Points of light fall slowly from the leaves, 
  vanishing before they reach the ground, and nostalgia 
  hangs in garlands from each branch. On the rare occa-
  sions that nostalgia has been harvested, the gatherers 
  wept stars as they did it.
  The Essence of Xolotl warps its residents into 
  monsters who shun daylight. It strips the hair from 
  animals and reverses their feet. Men become ﬂ esh-
  less skeletons, or gain the heads of beasts. Still, those 
  twisted by Xolotl are also lucky. When outsiders would 
  die, these misbegotten things barely survive.
  A man who attunes Xolotl won’t physically change, 
  but the nostalgia draped over the garden will ﬂ ood him 
  in a crippling wave. He forgets, for a time, whether 
  he lives now or in episodes of his past; and can lose 
  himself in his memories whenever he chooses.
  Game Effects: Four years in Xolotl gives mortals 
  the Ugly deﬁ ciency (see Exalted, p. 288) and three 
  points of other negative physical mutations that the 
  Storyteller chooses anew for each character. It gives 
  them warped destiny as a blight: they are likely to 
  meet misfortune, but their players can add four dice 
  to any roll needed for the character to survive (if only 
  just barely).
  The Garden’s Essence harvest is the nostalgia, and 
  attuned characters gather it by considering lost people 
  and joys. When they weep a star, they can catch it 
  in a crystal phial. For four days afterward, they’ll be 
  heartsick for faces, feelings and places long forgot-
  ten. Botching the harvest loses them three cherished 
  memories for a month.
  THE BRIGHT PLATEAU
  SOLAR DEMESNE •••••
  High above a scrubby desert stretches a shin-
  ing, empty plateau. Sunlight falls like a benediction 
  on nothing but gold sand and the white and yellow 
  jewels scattered thickly among the grains. Travelers 
  who stumbled upon it and whooped with joy at their 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  57
  fortune have wept when, days later, the riches stuffed 
  into their packs have melted away.
  People who camp on the plateau soon feel lighter 
  and stronger. Their passions remain intense as ever, but 
  they ﬁ nd themselves gentler in expressing them. Once 
  fascinated by the riches all around, they now feel merely 
  aesthetic appreciation. If they have companions, they 
  wonder how they could have missed their beauty: smiles 
  seem whiter, eyes brighter, limbs straighter.
  Eventually, they may need to leave for provisions 
  or to continue on their journey. After all, the Bright 
  Plateau is not a famous destination in itself. Still, most 
  visitors come back again. The rest of the world dims in 
  comparison, and they can’t deny that the time there 
  was good for them. Returning to the Plateau, they eat 
  and speak less and less, contemplating the virtuous life 
  as they bask in the sun’s warmth.
  Soon, their vision has become rareﬁ ed enough to 
  see the golden silhouettes of animals, plants—even 
  people. Not long after that, they join the others who 
  have become sunlight.
  Game Effects: Anything mortal that stays for ﬁ ve 
  years gains an afﬂ iction that raises Appearance and 
  Charisma by one, and another that raises Temperance 
  by one. The creature also becomes an abomination 
  of sunlight: it loses its voice, its body, and the need 
  for food and sleep, and nothing but orichalcum and 
  other sunlight-creatures can physically interact with 
  it. Essence sight spots it, but otherwise it’s invisible 
  and dematerialized unless it enters shadow. The Mood 
  Swings deﬁ ciency makes the creature unwilling to 
  take initiative; the Atrophy deﬁ ciency, taken twice, 
  reduces its Perception by two (minimum 1) when it 
  tries to see anything but sunbeams or orichalcum; and 
  the Diet debility gives it a dependence on sunlight 
  (see Exalted, pp. 288-289).
  Attunement to the Plateau grants +2 Appearance, 
  +1 Strength, and +1 to every Virtue save Temperance, 
  which gains +3. These bonuses can raise traits above 
  5. It also renders the attuned excessively philosophical 
  and uninterested in action; they can no longer channel 
  Willpower through any Virtue except Temperance.
  The Plateau’s Essence harvest is the gold and gems, 
  which can be picked up by hand, but fade into nothing 
  after ﬁ ve days. Botching the harvest makes them ﬂ are 
  sun-bright, inﬂ icting a terrible full-body sunburn for 
  ﬁ ve levels of lethal damage (soaked naturally).
  MANSES
  Despite the name, manses are not always mansions 
  and palaces. Any structure built to channel a demesne’s 
  Essence is a manse. Manses have included cathedrals, 
  bridges, arenas, and in one famous case, a silk web woven 
  among seven trees. Sometimes, a single room in a given 
  building will be a manse; sometimes, many buildings 
  complete one. Portions of the surrounding environment 
  may also be an intrinsic part of a manse’s geomancy.
  Manse architects have wide choices in what they 
  build, but certain demesnes demand certain treatment. 
  Materials and design elements must harmonize with 
  a demesne’s aspect. A talented geomancer may insert 
  opposing inﬂ uences, but she’ll need to know her craft 
  well, taking care to balance the conﬂ icting symbols. 
  The “Associations” sidebar (p. 48) gives examples of 
  design elements and inﬂ uences for each aspect.
  It’s a rare manse that has no function save produc-
  ing a hearthstone and restoring Essence. Most manses 
  demonstrate at least a few other magical features. A 
  manse’s shape and the powers it exhibits usually have 
  to do with its demesne’s nature; still, such qualities are 
  complicated, and can often be expressed in several 
  potential ways. Many an inexperienced manse-builder 
  has been surprised by both the ﬁ nal structure and 
  abilities of her own architecture.
  DESIGN
  The basic skills necessary for manse design allow 
  a character to write blueprints, but without greater 
  expertise, she’ll make little of the power at her com-
  mand. The basic roll to design a manse (as described 
  on p. 133 of Exalted) will sufﬁ ce for a manse that 
  caps a demesne and generates a hearthstone—but 
  nothing else. The builder has no control over the 
  hearthstone’s powers and cannot give the manse any 
  special abilities.
  If a character wants to channel a manse’s Essence 
  into a speciﬁ c power, she needs Lore and Occult scores 
  of at least (power’s point value + 2). For each power 
  she intends to design into the manse (including the 
  generation of a speciﬁ c hearthstone), her player rolls 
  (Intelligence + [lowest of Occult or Lore]), difﬁ culty 
  of (power’s point value + 3). Even if a manse’s “power” 
  is completely passive (such as being defensible as a 
  fortress), the character still needs to harmonize the 
  structures needed for channeling Essence with this 
  other architectural purpose.
  Failure indicates the character may only include 
  the power if she also includes another power of equal 
  point value, chosen by the Storyteller. A botch on 
  this roll renders the power damaged and unﬁ xable (see 
  “Damaged Powers,” p. 62). Certain powers also need 
  certain forms of expertise, depending on their effects. 
  
  58
  Manse powers, point values, extra requirements and 
  so on are outlined beginning on page 63.
  CONSTRUCTION
  Building a manse usually starts with a temporary 
  cap on the demesne. Without an effective cap, the 
  demesne’s Essence warps the mortal laborers. Capping, 
  however, carries risks of its own.
  A demesne is temporarily capped using ﬁ ve cap-
  stones placed on suitable geomantic points. These 
  occult devices may look like man-sized pillars cut with 
  deep and glowing runes, spiky openwork globes or other 
  forms. All weigh a thousand pounds, are constructed 
  as level 3 jade-alloy artifacts, and must be alloyed with 
  the proper magical material to establish Celestial or 
  Abyssal manses. Each set costs Resources 5.
  The ﬁ ve stones must be perfectly placed, rep-
  resented by a difﬁ culty 1 (Perception + Lore) roll. 
  Botching this roll causes Essence buildup at the 
  demesne’s full rating.
  ASSEMBLING A TEAM
  A single person with the necessary Abilities can 
  design a manse. However, a single person cannot usu-
  ally build a manse. Constructing such an occult ediﬁ ce 
  requires a labor force. A prudent manse-builder also 
  recruits a team of experts to deal with the various 
  complications and difﬁ culties that arise when a large 
  construction project intersects with arcane forces.
  The laborers themselves must be skilled stone-
  masons, carpenters or whatever other Craft specialty 
  the manse requires. Everyone who works on a manse 
  needs a Craft score of at least (underlying demesne’s 
  rating - 2), minimum 1, for their work to adequately 
  channel the powerful Essence. Stonemasons need 
  Craft (Earth); a topiary manse calls for Craft (Wood); 
  and so on.
  This assumes the manse’s architect stays on hand 
  throughout the construction to oversee the workers 
  and check the geomancy as the manse is built. If the 
  designer wants to spend more than a month at a time 
  away from the construction site, she needs to hire a 
  professional architect with an appropriate Craft rating 
  of 4 or better, and foremen equal to 10 percent of the 
  labor force, with Craft Abilities at least 1 dot higher 
  than the laborers.
  Building a manse may upset the local small gods 
  and elementals, who may interfere with construction. 
  A spirit negotiator skilled in Bureaucracy, Socialize or 
  other social skills, as well as Occult, can appease the 
  local spirit courts.
  Cuts in the supply of construction materials can 
  doom a construction project. A professional supply 
  manager and comptroller can make sure everything and 
  everyone reaches the building site on time and—just 
  as important—everyone gets paid.
  BUILDING MATERIALS
  A manse should be made from materials that har-
  monize with its aspect. For instance, a Fire-aspected 
  manse must be made principally from materials that 
  owe their origin to ﬁ re, or are associated with ﬁ re, such 
  as lava rock, glass or forged metal. A Wood-aspected 
  demesne should be made, obviously, of wood or at least 
  contain lots of wood. The “Associations” sidebar sug-
  gests possible materials for manse construction.
  A few materials have no aspect. Marble is espe-
  cially useful for manse construction, since it is both 
  an excellent architectural material and is unusually 
  receptive to all forms of Essence.
  PARTIAL CAPPING
  Geomancers who lack conﬁ dence in their 
  ability to create powerful manses—such as those 
  from the Realm, who just can’t design greater pow-
  ers—may decide to build a manse at a lower level 
  than its demesne’s rating. This is a safe and eco-
  nomical choice, but the demesne’s Essence won’t 
  be fully contained. Such a manse is statted out as 
  a manse of the level it was built at—for instance, 
  a level 3 manse on a level 5 demesne starts with 
  6 Creation Points (see “Manses Point-By-Point,” 
  p. 63) and a three-dot hearthstone—and must be 
  constructed with the one-point power Essence 
  Vents (page 67).
  A partially capped manse also leaks Essence 
  into its surroundings. Mortals who cannot chan-
  nel Essence suffer one point of mutation for every 
  level by which the demesne’s power exceeds the 
  manse, just as if they lived in a demesne. Fortu-
  nately, a person has to live in the manse 10 years 
  before they suffer this effect. In the Realm, which 
  has no choice but to partially cap a signiﬁ cant 
  number of demesnes, servants and unExalted 
  family members never spend more than seven 
  or eight years at a time in such manses. A year 
  spent free of excessive Essence exposure ﬂ ushes 
  out the mutagenic force.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  59
  BUILDING STYLES
  The style of a manse also reﬂ ects its aspect. There 
  are no hard-and-fast rules or styles; a skilled manse de-
  signer intuits the forms that resonate with a demesne’s 
  Essence. These are merely suggestions of styles designers 
  might ﬁ nd appropriate. See also the list of demesne 
  associations, and associations with the Aspect Abilities 
  of the Dragon-Blooded aspects. Celestial manses might 
  also emphasize Abilities, activities and associations of 
  a particular caste.
  Air: High ceilings, large windows and hallways, 
  courtyards, towers, clear glass, thin doors or curtained 
  doorways, ﬂ ags and pennants, music, curving forms, 
  open layout, arcane symbols.
  Earth: Rectilinear forms, black or white stone, low 
  ceilings, heavy stone construction, few windows, packed 
  dirt ﬂ oors, brick or adobe walls, manses partly sunk into 
  hillsides, actual caves, stone statues, compact layout.
  Fire: Red, orange or yellow stone or terracotta, 
  angular linear or recurving forms, pointed arches and 
  domes, forged metal, glass, many ﬁ replaces, candles or 
  torches, multiple ﬂ oors, sweeping stairways, weapons.
  Water: Pools and fountains, excellent indoor 
  plumbing, blue, green or purple stone or glass, smoothly 
  curved layout and ornaments, few doors, nautical or 
  oceanic ornaments, martial arts training facilities.
  Wood: Wooden construction, trees and gardens, 
  potted plants, multi-storied layout, organic forms, wide 
  angle, artwork of everyday life, small, comfortable 
  chambers, archery motifs, performance spaces.
  Abyssal: Underground construction, tombs and 
  graves, poor lighting, stagnant water, torture chambers, 
  prisons, black stone or ironwork, bare chambers, secret 
  passages, masks, bone and ivory ornament.
  Lunar: Irregular, crescent or circular forms and 
  layout, optical and architectural illusions, completely 
  natural materials, mirrors, silver accents, shifting orna-
  ment, hunting trophies, animal forms.
  Sidereal: Courtyards, skylights, rooftop obser-
  vatories and amenities, shrines, secret passages and 
  chambers, scientiﬁ c instruments, macramé and netted 
  ornament, star maps, complex geometric forms.
  Solar: Tall buildings, towers, pyramids, large 
  windows and skylights, domes with lanterns, white 
  and yellow stone or tilework, golden ornaments, 
  depictions of battle, rulership or worship, thrones, 
  processional aisles.
  OR JUST HIRE A CONTRACTOR
  A few very remarkable companies offer to 
  handle every aspect of manse construction, from 
  initial design to supplying the furniture. The 
  Realm has three such companies: the Unwor-
  thy Disciples of Honored Pasiap, the Workers 
  of Materials Mundane and Susanta’s Men of 
  Worthy Labor. The highly specialized academy, 
  the House of Well-Favored Aspect (see p. 82), 
  trains geomancers in manse design and can direct 
  would-be manse builders to qualiﬁ ed graduates. 
  Lookshy has a corps of geomancer-architects 
  too, but they work for the Seventh Legion. They 
  don’t work for anyone else unless the Lookshy 
  government approves it and sees advantage for 
  itself. Large, wealthy states and cities such as 
  Nexus and Chiaroscuro have manse contractors 
  of their own.
  Hiring contractors does not increase or reduce 
  the cost of building a manse. It just changes how 
  a character spends the money.
  SORCEROUS CONSTRUCTION
  Practitioners of Celestial Sorcery can learn 
  a spell, Raise the Puissant Sanctum, that raises 
  a manse from a demesne in a matter of days. 
  (See The White Treatise, p. 79, for this spell.) 
  The spell does not strictly require a design 
  roll. Conjuring a manse that people can live 
  in, however, calls for a normal design roll; so 
  does giving the manse any preselected power 
  or selecting its hearthstone. At the Storyteller’s 
  option, undesigned manses raised through this 
  spell may have a full complement of points and 
  powers, but the Storyteller selects them. The 
  manse also gains extra design points for its lack 
  of mundane amenities.
  SHADOW MANSE
  Last but not least, Essence-wielders involved in 
  the process may take a month, Resources equal to the 
  monthly cost of construction, and an (Intelligence 
  + Craft [Earth]) roll to build a manse’s occult shell, 
  shaping Essence enough to produce a “shadow.” The 
  shell is built of enchanted paper specially made for the 
  purpose, in a bamboo frame: both paper and bamboo 
  are such neutral materials that they can’t disturb 
  the geomancy. The shadow manse fades into being 
  over several days, and looks like a dark, translucent 
  
  60
  version of the manse-to-be, its surfaces shimmering 
  in key places, with sparks of color drifting through 
  the immaterial walls.
  An Essence-channeler can attune to the shadow 
  manse. Attunement gives a character no Essence or 
  hearthstone, but grants perception of its Essence ﬂ ows: 
  she’ll automatically perceive Essence buildup as soon as 
  it begins. Moreover, this shadow manse cancels a single 
  1 from any roll for redesigning or repairing a manse 
  in the course of construction. On the other hand, the 
  shadow manse itself is utterly fragile. If it takes even a 
  single level of damage—treat the bamboo and paper 
  as having 3L/6B soak thanks to the Essence running 
  through it—the shadow manse collapses and Essence 
  buildup begins. Prudent builders keep a duplicate frame 
  handy, though they face a race against time to restore 
  the shadow manse before the demesne erupts.
  THE HEARTHROOM
  The most important part of the manse is its hear-
  throom, where Essence converges and crystallizes into 
  a hearthstone. Despite its name, the hearthroom isn’t 
  always a room: for instance, the “hearthroom” of a 
  manse that consists of stone pillars might consist of a 
  large stone block with two intersecting shafts carved 
  through it. In every case, however, the geometry of 
  the hearthroom clearly converges on the spot where 
  the hearthstone forms. That spot holds a plate, cup 
  or container made of a magical material that performs 
  the ﬁ nal concentration. The magical material usually 
  resonates with the manse’s aspect but the architect 
  has some ﬂ exibility here: jade or starmetal usually 
  work for any manse; moonsilver has an afﬁ nity for 
  Air and Water, while orichalcum does not conﬂ ict 
  with Fire. Soulsteel, however, can only be used in 
  Abyssal manses.
  Some architects rely exclusively on geometry and 
  perspective to create the focus of a hearthroom. More 
  often, though, architects use ornament to direct Es-
  sence and the eye. The simplest way is just to carve lines 
  or chevrons pointing at the focus. Artwork can also 
  deﬁ ne the focus; such as statues that all point toward 
  the hearthstone plate, or murals whose composition 
  draws the eye in that direction. Artwork also helps 
  shape the powers of the resulting hearthstone. The 
  structure and architectural ornament of the entire 
  manse help tune the Essence to a particular goal, but 
  the ornament in the hearthroom always gives a strong 
  suggestion of the hearthstone’s power—at least to a 
  character whose player succeeds at an (Intelligence 
  + [lowest of Lore or Occult]) roll. If the hearthroom 
  lacks such ornament, either the designer didn’t care 
  what power the hearthstone had, or he was subtle and 
  skilled enough to diffuse the Essence-tuning elements 
  throughout the manse. In the latter case, the roll’s 
  difﬁ culty rises to 3 and a character must complete a 
  detailed study of the entire manse.
  WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
  If manse construction were simply a matter of 
  time, money and materials, it would be pretty dull. 
  Manse builders pray for dull. Their prayers are seldom 
  answered… and thereby hang stories.
  GEOMANTIC ACCIDENTS
  Any number of things could shift the local dragon 
  lines. A ﬂ ood or earthquake could change the land-
  scape. Barbarian marauders could destroy another 
  manse nearby. The builder has a choice. He can redesign 
  the manse and every intended power (with a new set 
  of dice rolls) to make allowances for the change. Or, 
  he can try to produce some counterbalancing change 
  in the landscape to restore the geomantic balance. 
  Building a manse is slow enough that the character 
  has a year to follow the latter course. The Storyteller 
  makes the same roll for altering geomancy as used in 
  demesne creation.
  Changing the geomancy or the manse design in 
  the middle of manse construction carries special risks, 
  though. If a design roll fails, the associated power 
  deﬁ nitely comes out damaged. A botch triggers Es-
  sence buildup in the demesne. A failed geomantic 
  engineering roll also causes Essence buildup.
  IRATE LOCALS
  Do the people nearby want a new manse? If they 
  don’t, they can sabotage construction. Mortal locals 
  can set ﬁ res, steal tools and building materials, topple 
  capstones or threaten the workforce. If they have a 
  geomancer of their own, they can attempt geomantic 
  sabotage—attacking the Essence stress-points in the 
  demesne, causing Essence buildup.
  Fortunately, most remaining uncapped demesnes 
  are usually in undeveloped wilderness, so powerful 
  governments are then far enough away not to be an 
  issue. Barbarians who try to interfere are dealt with 
  by means of legends planted to make them fear and 
  shun the area, small trinkets such as glass beads, or 
  wholesale slaughter by mercenaries.
  Local spirits can cause worse problems. They can 
  shift Essence ﬂ ows just by changing where they live. 
  Any deity whose domain interacts with the emerging 
  manse, or any local elemental of the same aspect as the 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  61
  manse, can anonymously interfere with its construction 
  automatically as long as it has an Essence score of 3+.
  Most geomancers bring in specialists: negotiators 
  who’ve made a study of dealing with little gods. They 
  spend their time visiting each spirit, making friends 
  with some by offering favors, small sacriﬁ ces and magi-
  cal gifts. Learning the politics of the local courts, they 
  play factions against each other. A court’s two viziers, 
  for instance, might be solidly against human incursions 
  into the demesne, but the majority of the courtiers might 
  think it fun and interesting. In that case, the negotiator 
  might arrange deals between the viziers and their lessers 
  that cost the manse-builders nothing—or gain the ear 
  of the court’s leader and oust the viziers.
  Spirit-negotiators who decide in the end that noth-
  ing will satisfy those interests can advise their clients 
  of simple workarounds. The builder might distract the 
  spirits from the demesne, such as by convincing local 
  worshipers to follow different gods, thereby forcing them 
  to manifest miracles and other efforts to bring them back 
  into the fold. Perhaps the builder can use materials or 
  wards that temporarily block elementals from the area. 
  If a character doesn’t hire a professional negotiator, he 
  must do it himself. Powerful Exalts may be able to bully 
  spirits into compliance, but even a Solar Circle might 
  prefer to treat this as an exercise in diplomacy.
  SUPPLIES AND LABOR ISSUES
  Other potential problems include supplies: teams 
  in the wild require food and amenities from civiliza-
  tion. Materials also need shipping in. A designer may 
  not be able to get around a necessity for obscure and 
  valuable things: Chiaroscuro glass for special windows; 
  rare ﬂ owers and spices to scent the air just so; furniture 
  of platinum, or malachite, or upholstered in a brocade 
  woven only in Tuchara.
  Personnel problems can interfere with manse con-
  struction, too. Team members could quit, competing 
  manse-builders could sabotage the project, or outside 
  funding could suddenly be withdrawn. Many lonely 
  sites bear the shattered ruin of a partially built manse, 
  abandoned and allowed to blow to pieces.
  DAMAGE
  A completed manse becomes exceptionally 
  sturdy—sometimes uncannily so—thanks to the 
  Essence running through it. A normal manse has an 
  external soak of 12L/18B, and 6L/12B internally. A 
  manse of living trees can be quite as sturdy as a manse 
  of granite, too. Manses resist normal weathering and 
  wear: wood doesn’t rot, foundations don’t settle, pipes 
  
  62
  don’t rust. The wild places of Creation hold many 
  manses lost for centuries—even since the Usurpa-
  tion—that remain intact, just waiting for someone to 
  claim them. Other manses have easily held hundreds 
  of residents for centuries at a time.
  Nevertheless, manses can come to harm. Sufﬁ cient 
  physical force, such as trees falling on them or Essence 
  cannon ﬁ re, can still damage them. Other manses are 
  physically fragile, or need constant maintenance to 
  preserve their power. Worst of all, manses can come 
  under geomantic attack: damaging select small portions 
  of them can derange their energies, causing fat greater 
  physical damage or even sparking Essence buildup.
  Vulnerabilities vary from manse to manse—vines 
  twining around the doorframe could be necessary to a 
  Wood-aspected manse carved into a tree, but irrelevant 
  to an Earth-aspected copper palace. The Open-Eyed 
  Dive Meditation (see pp. 51-52) reveals the geomantic 
  stress-points in a manse. So will a careful geomantic 
  survey. Once a character ﬁ nds a geomantic stress point, 
  she may attack it directly. This multiplies the damage 
  done by the number of successes her player scored in 
  the geomantic examination. The roll’s difﬁ culty does 
  not reduce the number of successes for this purpose: 
  if a person can ﬁ nd a weakness at all, any attack that 
  penetrates the manse’s soak will have terrible results. 
  Thus, if an Exalt performed the Open-Eyed Dive Medi-
  tation and her player rolled ﬁ ve successes to recognize 
  the importance of a Wood manse’s vines, her attack 
  that inﬂ icts six levels of damage after soak would inﬂ ict 
  30 total levels on the manse. Any geomantic weak 
  point can be the target of only one such attack, since 
  the damage shifts the Essence ﬂ ows to make that no 
  longer a critical location.
  The hearthroom is always a geomantic stress point. 
  Any attack on the manse in this spot multiplies the 
  levels of damage by ﬁ ve. For this reason, hearthrooms 
  are usually strongly built and carefully guarded.
  POWER FAILURE
  Like any inanimate structure, a manse can endure 
  a certain number of health levels before it counts as 
  damaged (see Exalted, pp. 153-154). Once a manse 
  suffers (rating x 20) points of harm, it counts as dam-
  aged and Power Failure occurs. For all Essence-related 
  purposes, the manse loses one level. Its Essence-fueled 
  powers weaken, attunement provides fewer motes per 
  hour, and the hearthstone ceases functioning entirely. 
  The hearthstone itself becomes brittle and vulnerable: 
  simply dropping it can break it. Power Failure can hap-
  pen more than once—until a manse reaches level 0. 
  At that point, its hearthstone shatters, all its Essence-
  fueled powers shut down, attunements are lost, and 
  Essence buildup commences at its demesne’s rating. 
  The manse is utterly destroyed at that point.
  While a manse is damaged to a certain rating, 
  Essence-fueled powers that relied on its rating being 
  one point higher become damaged (see below); those 
  relying on its rating being 2+ points higher stop func-
  tioning completely. If a given Power Failure affects none 
  of its powers, the Storyteller chooses one to become 
  damaged. (Some powers are not Essence-fueled, but 
  a quality of the manse’s construction. The Storyteller 
  is the ﬁ nal authority on which ones.)
  On top of this, the manse’s rating has dropped below 
  the rating of its demesne (if it wasn’t already). That 
  makes it a partially capped manse. Superﬂ uous Essence 
  must go into Essence Vents (a 1-point power)—but the 
  power is damaged, so the venting happens uncontrol-
  lably inside the manse, as an extra danger to anyone 
  inside. The vents do not inﬂ ict further damage to the 
  manse itself, though.
  Every time Power Failure sets in, the Storyteller 
  rolls one die. If it comes up lower than the number 
  of levels lost to Power Failure, Essence buildup com-
  mences. Power Failure deﬁ nitely happens when the 
  manse’s rating drops to 0.
  DAMAGED POWERS
  When powers are damaged, the geomantic archi-
  tecture shaping them has become ﬂ awed and unreliable. 
  They still fulﬁ ll their function, but not the way they 
  should. For instance, Puzzle Manse (a 2-point power) 
  rearranges its manse’s rooms on a set schedule, but if 
  it were damaged, it might randomly rearrange them. 
  Sentient (a 5-point power) denotes a manse with its 
  own mind and personality; if damaged, it could go mad 
  and start killing its residents. Damaged manses with 
  Password Activations (a 1-point power) might trade 
  passwords among their functions, so a given password 
  wouldn’t do what the owner expected it to.
  Speciﬁ c powers can be targeted, if a character 
  determines what components shape them. Rainbow 
  Tabernacle (a 4-point power), for example, is con-
  structed with gemstone insets to encourage sorcery. 
  Characters whose players succeed on an Open-Eyed 
  Dive Meditation roll could ﬁ gure out that those deco-
  rations were important for a Rainbow Tabernacle and 
  pry them from the walls, damaging the power. This 
  is more difﬁ cult than just looking for a weak point, 
  any weak point, to attack. The roll suffers an external 
  penalty of 2 for characters who don’t have a method of 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  63
  directly observing Essence, such as the Essence sight 
  of certain armor or the Charm All-Encompassing 
  Sorcerer’s Sight (see Exalted, p. 222).
  PATCH JOBS
  If a manse’s residents hurry, they can ﬁ x a damaged 
  manse so failure does not become catastrophic. This 
  requires a patch kit costing Resources 4. In addition 
  to mundane implements such as mirrors, polyhedral 
  blocks of rock crystal, lead foil and emblems of the ﬁ ve 
  elements such as braziers, blocks of wood or bottles of 
  water, the kit must include implements made from 
  magical materials: bars and plates of jade-steel, wires 
  of orichalcum or moonsilver, soulsteel spikes, and the 
  like. To place these items so they redirect, stabilize and 
  bleed off the manse’s Essence, a character must meet the 
  Ability requirements to design that manse. Her player 
  then must succeed in a manse design roll at difﬁ culty 3 
  for every level of power failure the manse has suffered: 
  thus, if damage has reduced a four-dot manse to a two-
  dot manse, players must succeed at two rolls.
  A patch job does not restore lost functions or 
  reverse power failure. All it does is prevent Essence 
  buildup and vents excess Essence harmlessly, buying 
  time for complete repairs.
  Fixing a damaged manse requires an extended Craft 
  (Earth) roll to rebuild staircases, replace windows and 
  tilework, and the like. The repair crew also needs a 
  labor force with the same Craft (Earth) rating involved 
  in building the manse. If the craftsman doesn’t have 
  access to the manse’s blueprints or designer, he must 
  have the Traits to design the manse in the ﬁ rst place. 
  His player then attempts a normal design roll to ﬁ x it. 
  Fortunately, the difﬁ culty to ﬁ x a manse is one lower 
  than the roll to design it, because most of the manse 
  remains intact.
  The expense also drops by one Resources dot, 
  because most of the manse’s structure still exists. For 
  the same reason, repairs take half as long as building 
  a manse from scratch, or 100 man-years of labor per 
  level of power failure that must be reversed.
  A manse reduced to 0 rating cannot be patched. 
  At that point, only placing capstones on the geomantic 
  centers of the underlying demesne can prevent Essence 
  buildup and detonation.
  MANSES POINT-BY-POINT
  The number of Background dots a player pays for 
  a manse is set by the power of the demesne it caps. 
  The manse’s power rating is also the most important 
  measure of the manse’s auxiliary powers. Some of 
  these abilities are magical; others are functions of the 
  materials and design of the manse.
  Apart from the Essence it supplies and its hearth-
  stone, a manse’s abilities are represented through 
  Creation Points. These show how the manse’s designer 
  chose to allocate its mystical energies. Even if a manse’s 
  power has nothing to do with Essence, it still costs 
  Creation Points: the designer sacriﬁ ced a degree of 
  magical power to give the manse certain mundane 
  qualities that were not geomantically optimum.
  Creation Points are an out-of-game abstraction, 
  like a character’s Traits. They offer a framework for 
  designing player manses, not all manses; a Story-
  teller who wishes to design a particularly powerful 
  manse—perhaps the home of a Yozi, or the Imperial 
  Manse itself—should feel free to give it as many points 
  as she deems appropriate.
  MANSES AND OTHER BACKGROUNDS
  Other Backgrounds can prove useful when 
  combined with Manse. Followers could staff a 
  home. Familiars could guard it. Many options, 
  such as guardians, are offered in this system, but 
  players might not want to discount the ﬂ exibility 
  offered by investing in separate Backgrounds.
  SOURCES OF CREATION POINTS
  A manse starts with (its rating x 2) Creation 
  Points, which buy special qualities for the manse. 
  The more Essence the designer has to play with, the 
  greater and more diverse the powers its builder can 
  design into it.
  The usual geomantic architect designs a manse that 
  people can live in, that’s sturdy and doesn’t require a lot 
  of upkeep. Most builders also want the most powerful 
  hearthstone they can manage. If a designer abandons 
  these concerns and merely wants to control Essence as 
  efﬁ ciently as possible, however, she can build a manse 
  with greater power.
  SACRIFICING HEARTHSTONE LEVELS
  A manse will always produce a hearthstone in its 
  geomantic center, the hearthroom. However, a tal-
  ented geomancer can siphon off some of the Essence 
  that would normally go to making a hearthstone, 
  and channel it to other applications. A player who 
  takes a hearthstone of a level lower than her manse’s 
  rating gains one Creation Point for every level she 
  sacriﬁ ces; for instance, if she builds a four-dot manse 
  
  64
  but only wants a two-dot hearthstone, she gains two 
  Creation Points.
  Reducing the hearthstone’s power doesn’t reduce 
  the manse’s rating. Thus, the aforementioned four-dot 
  manse with a two-dot hearthstone is still a four-dot 
  manse in every other way. People attuned to such 
  a manse regain extra Essence, while inside, at the 
  normal rate—in this case, 16 extra motes per hour. 
  However, the hearthstone only grants its level of extra 
  Essence, so a two-dot hearthstone—even for a four-dot 
  manse—grants its bearer 4 extra motes per hour while 
  away from the manse.
  A hearthstone reduced to 0 still solidiﬁ es in the 
  hearthroom. The manse will recognize whoever carries 
  it as the hearthstone bearer. The stone can, if desired, 
  be set into hearthstone sockets. However, the inert 
  crystal grants no powers or extra Essence.
  MAINTENANCE
  This drawback represents how much upkeep a 
  manse requires. Most manses are built solidly, by ex-
  perts. They’ll continue running perfectly to the end 
  of time. Others were constructed by inexperienced 
  geomancers who couldn’t counterbalance their struc-
  tural problems.
  With still others, the builder did not consider 
  maintenance a problem—she might have even con-
  sidered it aesthetic. Because the occult design of a 
  manse can have stranger ﬂ aws than those of mortal 
  buildings, manse maintenance can take unexpected 
  forms. One manse might require sacriﬁ ces at an altar, 
  or that certain vows always be observed. Another 
  might require that all the furniture be kept strictly in 
  line with the walls, and lose power if anyone sloppily 
  leaves a chair at the wrong angle.
  The examples provided below give typical time 
  intervals, time investments, and so on for each level 
  of maintenance difﬁ culty. They aren’t automatically 
  applied to every manse needing that scale of main-
  tenance. Players should feel free to invent equally 
  drastic forms of maintenance instead. Each dot of 
  required Maintenance gives one Creation Point.
  If a manse goes without upkeep, the processes keep-
  ing its Essence ﬂ ows in line falter and eventually burst 
  their channels. After the timespan (listed in paren-
  theses) without maintenance, the manse suffers Power 
  Failure (see p. 62). The manse might then stabilize… 
  but the Storyteller subtracts the Maintenance rating 
  from the result of the die roll to see if Essence buildup 
  commences. Powerful manses with high Maintenance 
  blow up very easily.
  x 
  The manse requires no maintenance.
  • 
  Every few months, the manse should be seen 
  to, but the procedure can be accomplished 
  in an hour by anyone with brief instructions 
  on what to do. (One year)
   
  Example: Altars to the Immaculate Dragons, 
  where the hearthstone bearer performs a short 
  rite at the start of the corresponding season.
  •• 
  The manse requires simple maintenance 
  that can be accomplished by anyone with 
  instructions, but takes a full day and must 
  be performed once a month. (One season)
   
  Example: Washing the manse in clean water 
  on the night of the full moon.
  ••• 
  Complicated maintenance takes a full day and 
  must be performed weekly either by an indi-
  vidual attuned to the manse, or by a technician 
  with at least Occult 3, Lore 3, and Craft (Earth) 
  3. In sophisticated places such as a major city, 
  it might be possible to hire such an expert for 
  Resources 3. (One month)
   
  Example: A temple requiring one silent and 
  unwounded priest always dedicated to its 
  service. Fresh ﬂ owers placed at ﬁ ve special 
  locations in a palace.
  •••• 
  Every week, very complex maintenance must 
  be performed for two days by the hearthstone 
  bearer or a technician with at least Occult 
  3, Lore 3 and Craft (Earth) 4. Whoever does 
  the work needs a team of assistants. In a very 
  sophisticated locale such as Nexus, it might be 
  possible to hire such an expert for Resources 
  3, or 4 if he has his own crew. Alternatively, 
  less complicated maintenance is required 
  daily, or incredibly demanding maintenance 
  at a longer interval. (One week)
   
  Examples: A factory-cathedral that devours 
  an intelligent, Solar-aspected, live sacriﬁ ce 
  every season. A living manse that requires 
  frequent watering and pruning.
  ••••• One scene of maintenance is essential every 
  day, led by the hearthstone bearer or a techni-
  cian with at least Occult 4, Lore 4, and Craft 
  (Earth) 4; such experts are rare enough that 
  they can name their price. The maintainer 
  will need a 10-person team. (One day)
   
  Examples: A palace where the servants tread 
  out symbols of power as they go about their 
  precisely timed, daily tasks. A tower that 
  requires seven mortals singing at all times.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  65
  FRAGILITY
  Most manses can suffer a fair amount of damage be-
  fore they collapse, but some—made entirely of glass, for 
  instance, or woven from living foliage—are more delicate. 
  Each dot of Fragility gives two Creation Points.
  Stronger manses may be purchased with the three-
  point Fortress power.
  x 
  The manse has 12L/18B external soak, 6L/12B 
  internal, and can take (rating x 20) points of 
  damage before Power Failure.
  • 
  The manse has 6L/9B external soak, 3L/6B 
  internal, and can take (rating x 10) points of 
  damage before Power Failure.
   
  Examples: A web of silk steel strung between 
  trees or spars. A glass palace.
  •• 
  The manse has no soak, and can take (rating 
  x 5) points of damage before Power Failure.
   
  Examples: A hedge maze. A multi-chambered 
  tent of ordinary silk.
  ••• The manse has no soak. Every successful attack 
  causes Power Failure.
   
  Examples: An array of mirrors, creating a manse 
  of reﬂ ected light.
  HABITABILITY
  A design that people can live in, or at least move 
  through without impediment, is not necessarily the 
  design that channels Essence most efﬁ ciently. Sacriﬁ c-
  ing human concerns can net the builder extra Creation 
  Points. Each dot of reduced Habitability gives one 
  Creation Point.
  Note that a manse’s location does not affect its 
  habitability. Just because a manse is inaccessible does 
  not matter for purposes of Creation Points. Such loca-
  tions offer advantages as well as drawbacks: a manse 
  built atop a thousand-foot pillar, sunk in an ocean 
  trench or buried beneath desert sands is bad because 
  it’s hard for the owner to reach, but good because it’s 
  hard for enemies to sabotage the manse.
  x 
  The manse has all the zero-point amenities 
  listed later in this chapter, or at least as many 
  of them as the designer wants. It can become 
  a comfortable home without much effort, or a 
  temple, government ofﬁ ce or other structure 
  people use regularly.
  • 
  Uncomfortable: The manse has no amenities, 
  but at least it could provide shelter.
   
  Examples: A mausoleum. A domed pavilion.
  
  66
  •• 
  Minimally Habitable: The manse makes no 
  provision at all for people to live there. At best, 
  you could camp in it.
   
  Examples: A circle of stone pillars. A grove of 
  interwoven trees. A sculpted valley with shal-
  low caves cut in the sides.
  ••• Uninhabitable: No one could possibly live in 
  the manse, possibly because there’s no inside 
  to enter or its environment is utterly hostile.
   
  Examples: A giant statue. A network of incised 
  and inlaid lines in a cliff face. A manse com-
  pletely buried beneath desert sands.
  SPENDING POINTS
  Players spend manse Creation Points on the pow-
  ers listed here, or on player-invented powers—but 
  Storytellers should keep in mind that there are magics 
  inferior manses just can’t muster. Each power costs a 
  certain number of points, and most powers can only be 
  purchased for a manse whose rating equals or exceeds 
  its point value.
  Some listed powers are italicized; those are the 
  exception. Such qualities aren’t fed by the manse’s 
  Essence. Rather, they’re a merit of the materials used 
  in its construction, or were placed in the manse after 
  it was built. Moonsilver wolves, for instance, could be 
  created to guard any kind of manse. So, a player can’t 
  give a manse of rating 3 any powers costing 4 points 
  or more unless they’re italicized.
  Different aspects of Essence work better for some 
  powers than others. A power labeled “(Aspect) Fa-
  vored” is considered to have a point value one lower 
  when purchased for manses of that aspect. Thus, a 
  player could give a Fire-aspected manse of rating 3 a 
  4-point power if the power were listed as Fire Favored, 
  and it would cost 3 points, not 4. Other powers de-
  mand such speciﬁ c kinds of Essence that it can only 
  be purchased by the listed aspects. Such powers are 
  labeled “Only (Aspect)” and cost the listed number 
  of Creation Points, with no discount.
  Finally, powers with listed Ability scores or other 
  capabilities can only be built by an architect who 
  meets those requirements. After all, no matter how 
  skilled a geomancer is, she can’t summon guardian 
  demons if she never mastered sorcery. However, char-
  acters can always team up so one has the necessary 
  manse design skills and the other has whatever other 
  Abilities are needed. The aforementioned geomancer 
  doesn’t need to bind demons herself—she just needs 
  to ﬁ nd someone who can. A player creating a manse 
  to buy as a Background at character generation can 
  ignore these requirements, unless her character built 
  her own manse.
  All powers only function within a manse’s range: 
  everything within its walls (or other bounds), as well 
  as everything touching its walls, is considered in range, 
  unless it’s extended with a power.
  Powers of a manse that partially caps a demesne 
  function at the demesne’s level rather than the manse’s 
  rating if their descriptions designate different effects 
  for different manse or demesne ratings.
  ZERO-POINT POWERS
  Every manse has these properties.
  ATTUNEMENT RECOGNITION
  Upon sensing them, the manse can tell who’s at-
  tuned and who bears its hearthstone(s).
  BASIC SENSES
  If any other power’s use requires the manse to 
  target a creature, the manse has the senses to do so. 
  Although it’s possible to hide from a manse, it’s not 
  easy—even for magical beings. The difﬁ culty to hide 
  from a manse is (its rating), and dice pools to do so 
  are reduced to 0 before Charm use. Immaterial beings 
  disturb a manse’s geomancy as much as material ones, 
  so manses can sense them too. (Whether the manse 
  can affect such creatures is another matter.)
  COSMETIC DISPLAYS
  Manses often manifest useless aesthetic effects, 
  such as color-shifting walls or mirrors that reﬂ ect 
  backward.
  ONE-POINT POWERS
  COMFORT ZONE
  The manse moderates its internal environment 
  for the comfort of residents, such as staying cool in 
  the Far Southern desert, heating itself in the Far 
  North, or maintaining breathable air despite being 
  underwater. Alternatively, the manse adapts the 
  inhabitants to suit its environment. The manse may 
  be carved of ice or underwater, but everyone who 
  enters ﬁ nds it comfortable.
  By taking this power twice, the manse maintains 
  a Comfort Zone despite an environment that people 
  would normally ﬁ nd swiftly lethal, such as very deep 
  underwater or inside an active volcano. Everything 
  within the manse’s range is protected as if by Element-
  Resisting Prana.
  This power is incompatible with a Habitability 
  drawback.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  67
  ESSENCE VENTS
  The manse was built on a demesne more power-
  ful than it can contain, and must bleed off the spare 
  Essence. A manse builder must assign one point of 
  Essence Vents for every point by which the demesne’s 
  rating exceeds the manse’s. One point of Essence Vents 
  creates localized displays within or around the manse. 
  Three points of Essence Vents creates a display that 
  can be seen for miles, such as a jet of ﬁ re that erupts 
  high into the air.
  Essence Vents take many forms, from bowls of 
  ﬁ re on the manse’s roof to shimmering pools in each 
  room’s center. Though beautiful, Essence Vents are 
  dangerous. Anyone touching one suffers (uncapped 
  levels x 5)L/action (Trauma 5) environmental damage 
  as long as she remains in contact.
  MAGICAL CONVENIENCES
  The manse has a few pleasant conveniences that 
  go beyond the possibilities of mundane artiﬁ ce. If a 
  player wishes to make her Magical Conveniences ac-
  cessible only to attuned characters or the hearthstone 
  bearer, she can do so for free, but they can’t easily be 
  deactivated (or re-activated) by anyone without ad-
  ditional powers. Each purchase of this power grants 
  (manse’s rating) Magical Conveniences.
  Examples:
  • Scarlet candles light whenever anyone enters a 
  room.
  • Doors open when approached.
  • Special sheaths in the armory keep stored weap-
  ons sharp.
  • Azure canvases record spoken words in elegant 
  calligraphy, erase on command, and print their contents 
  onto normal paper.
  • If the hearthstone bearer gives the kitchen raw 
  food, it prepares a feast.
  • An advanced training room has complicated 
  training dummies, moving targets and variable dif-
  ﬁ culty settings.
  • A self-updating moonsilver plaque in the 
  library keeps a cross-referenced catalog of every 
  book on its shelves.
  MINOR TRICKS AND TRAPS
  Craft (Various) 3, Larceny 3
  To dissuade unwanted guests, the manse is installed 
  with several relatively harmless means of keeping 
  people out. Every purchase of this power grants (manse’s 
  rating) traps, each designed to be bypassed by anyone 
  who knows the trick. Attunement to the manse grants 
  knowledge of those tricks. Characters can spot the trap 
  with a successful (Perception + Larceny) roll, difﬁ culty 
  2 if characters think to look for traps or difﬁ culty 5 
  otherwise. A successful (Wits + [Athletics or other 
  relevant Ability]) roll, difﬁ culty 3, lets a character 
  evade the sprung trap in some manner.
  Examples:
  • Trapdoors open when characters step on them. 
  The unfortunates are conveyed through a chute into 
  the freezing lake outside the manse. A catch in the 
  hearthstone room deactivates the trap.
  A successful evasion roll lets a character to catch 
  the edge before falling.
  • The manse is a complicated, Essence-blurred 
  maze. Strange mirrors exhaust the eye, normal methods 
  of navigation don’t seem to work, and a lost wanderer 
  always ﬁ nds herself back at the beginning. Eventually, 
  residents learn their way.
  A successful (Intelligence + Investigation) roll, 
  difﬁ culty 3, lets a character navigate the maze. Every 
  successful roll adds 1 success to this roll in the future; 
  each attempt takes 10 minutes to one hour, depending 
  on the size of the manse. Success with a threshold of 
  three extra successes indicates the character has ﬁ gured 
  out the warped perspectives of the maze and can ﬁ nd 
  her way through the manse without impediment.
  • When a character enters the wrong room, the 
  door slams shut and locks, leaving no way out.
  If characters fail to spot the trap or leap out the 
  door before it closes, they can pick the lock with a 
  (Dexterity + Larceny) roll, difﬁ culty 5. A (Strength + 
  Athletics) total of 10 lets a character break the door 
  with a feat of strength.
  • One of the manse’s hallways appears inﬁ nitely 
  long, making intruders feel as though they’re going 
  nowhere. Only a leap of logic brings the characters to 
  the realization that sometimes, forward is not always 
  the way.
  A successful evasion roll of (Intelligence + 
  [Awareness or Investigation]) lets a character spot 
  another route.
  NETWORK NODE
  The manse’s geomancy harmonizes with other 
  manses. They share information near-instantly—so, 
  for example, a threat registered by one manse might 
  trigger a self-destruct sequence in one across Creation. 
  All manses in a network need this power. (The Impe-
  rial Manse, for instance, is the central node for the 
  Realm’s war manses.)
  
  68
  PASSWORD ACTIVATIONS
  The manse resonates with something other than 
  attuned characters. Though its senses aren’t enhanced 
  by this power, the manse can discern certain signals 
  (words, gestures, knocking in a certain pattern, or 
  whatever) and activate or deactivate certain powers 
  when certain conditions are met.
  SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE
  As a last resort, the manse can self-destruct. 
  Only the hearthstone bearer can issue this order, 
  using a means that the manse can recognize. Simple 
  manses sometimes have ruby terminals to register the 
  hearthstone bearer’s touch for such a purpose. When 
  activated, the bearer decides how much time—between 
  30 seconds and 30 minutes—to allow before the manse 
  is lost. Until then, the self-destruct sequence can only 
  be deactivated by her, or by damaging this power. The 
  roiling Essence within and eventual explosion mirror 
  the unfortunate conclusion of Essence buildup.
  WELL-FLAVORED ASPECT
  Manses designed for a certain person can resonate 
  with the core aesthetics of that individual’s Essence. 
  Residing in such a manse is like dwelling in a universe 
  tailored to one’s preferences. If the hearthstone bearer 
  shares the manse’s aspect, everything about the manse 
  subtly cooperates with her: she has dramatic lighting 
  when she makes an important statement, nothing gets 
  in her way when she’s in a hurry, shadows conceal 
  her when she hides. While the character is in the 
  manse, her player receives a +1 bonus to every dice 
  pool for her actions.
  TWO-POINT POWERS
  ARCHIVE
  Occult black pools whose water grants knowledge, 
  antique memory crystals or just a whole bunch of books 
  record a vast amount of information within the manse. 
  This archive contains information focused on (manse’s 
  level) broad topics, each the breadth of an Ability 
  specialty. Thus, any roll that involves those topics 
  gains the beneﬁ t of an extra specialty dot. This value 
  cannot be used when determining Excellency dice pool 
  limits. Archive examples include Fair Folk lore (Oc-
  cult specialty) or siegecraft (War). This power could 
  also represent other sorts of training facilities, such as 
  a magical training room that helps improve gymnastic 
  prowess (Athletics) or a spirit that teaches how to play 
  the sanxian (Performance). Either way, the character 
  effectively has a trainer if she wants to gain the specialty 
  for herself, or to raise the base Ability—once.
  Archives built in-game can only hold information 
  the builder already possesses. The player or Storyteller 
  can stock manses bought at character creation, since 
  others built them, with speciﬁ c powerful knowledge 
  as chosen. At the Storyteller’s option, one topic of the 
  Archive may be replaced by one powerful and danger-
  ous secret, or a selection of spells: ﬁ ve Terrestrial Circle 
  spells, one Celestial Circle Spell, or one-third of the 
  information needed to learn a Solar Circle spell.
  This power may be taken multiple times.
  BOUND SERVITOR
  Craft (Magitech) 4, Craft (Genesis) 4, or other Abili-
  ties needed to create or permanently bind a servant.
  The manse has a servant creature dedicated to 
  protecting it and serving the hearthstone bearer. It 
  could be just about anything: a clockwork automaton 
  built using Craft (Magitech), a life form engineered 
  using Craft (Genesis), an undead thing animated by 
  necromancy, a bound demon of the First Circle, or 
  some other enslaved unfortunate. Bound Servitor may 
  be purchased multiple times.
  A character who builds his own manse needs 
  the Abilities or Charms to create or bind a servitor; 
  a manse the character merely claimed could have 
  anything. First Circle demons bound to the manse 
  count as Bound Servitors, but Second Circle demons 
  are Guardians (Power 3).
  Other sorts of bound servitors can have game 
  traits comparable to First Circle demons. A good way 
  to design a bound servitor is to start with the Regular 
  Troops/Rebels template (see Exalted, p. 279) and add 
  a few Abilities, extra Attributes or supernatural pow-
  ers. Since they are made to defend the manse (among 
  other duties), servitors may have innate weaponry 
  and natural bashing and lethal soak comparable to 
  medium-weight armor.
  A servitor may never change its Motivation to 
  serve and protect, can’t act against its Motivation of 
  its own will, and treats any suggestion to knowingly act 
  against its Motivation as an Unacceptable Order.
  CENTRAL CONTROL
  One vast room is ﬁ lled with jeweled levers, crystal 
  screens and rune-etched consoles that access every 
  corner of the manse. Only attuned characters can use 
  the room to take personal control of the manse (unless 
  the Central Control comes with Password Activation). 
  From the control room, characters can monitor sound 
  and movement within range, set passwords, design il-
  lusions, aim and ﬁ re weapons, activate traps and so on. 
  Without this power, all these functions are determined 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  69
  by the manse’s design, always work automatically, and 
  cannot be activated or deactivated—not even by the 
  hearthstone bearer—without damaging the manse.
  DANGEROUS TRAPS
  Craft (various) 4, Larceny 4
  The manse’s secrets must be valuable, for seri-
  ous traps await the unwary. They aren’t designed to 
  dissuade, but to cripple or kill. Each purchase of this 
  power grants (manse’s rating) Dangerous Traps. Usually, 
  such traps don’t reset themselves, but that would be 
  an appropriate Basic Convenience (Power 1).
  A trap can be spotted with a successful (Percep-
  tion + Larceny) roll, difﬁ culty 4 if characters think to 
  look for traps or difﬁ culty 6 otherwise. A successful 
  (Wits + [Athletics or other relevant Ability]) roll, 
  difﬁ culty 4, lets a character evade the sprung trap in 
  some manner.
  Examples:
  • When unattuned characters get halfway up a 
  treacherous inclined hallway, ﬂ aming oil pours from 
  the wall ahead of them and courses downhill.
  In 3 ticks, the oil reaches the characters who 
  slide, burning, downhill into a ﬁ ery pool unless the 
  evasion roll succeeds. Treat the ﬁ re at a bonﬁ re (see 
  Exalted, p. 131).
  • A main door has no handle and doesn’t open 
  when unattuned characters approach. In the center 
  of the door, a face of jade and brass protrudes. His lips 
  are pursed, with a small gap that appears to have a 
  locking mechanism inside. If an unattuned character 
  attempts to pick the lock, however, the mouth spits 
  sticky, corrosive poison in her eyes and commences 
  laughing maniacally at a volume that drowns out all 
  natural sound for the remainder of the scene.
  Anyone attempting to pick the “lock” with a con-
  ventional lockpick becomes the target for the toxic 
  spray. Failing the (Wits + Dodge) evasion roll means 
  the poison sprays in the character’s face. Use coral 
  snake venom for the poison (see Exalted, p. 131), but 
  the corrosive spray also blinds victims. Succeeding at 
  the Resistance roll means the blindness lasts only ﬁ ve 
  minutes (only a few droplets entered the character’s 
  eyes); failing means the blindness lasts until an Exalted 
  character heals all damage from the corrosive venom. 
  Mortals are blinded forever. Creatures with natural 
  hardness are immune to this effect, as are creatures 
  wearing watertight eye protection.
  • If the manse senses only unattuned characters in 
  a certain room, a net of thin wires erupts from cracks 
  in the tiled ﬂ oor. At tremendous speed, it lifts all the 
  characters in the room straight up into the sword-like 
  spikes that emerge from the ceiling. When the manse 
  detects no further resistance from the intruders, it 
  drops them to the ground.
  Bypassing the trap requires cutting the wires, 
  ﬁ rmly embedded in thin crevices between tiles, or 
  disrupting the mechanisms in the corners of the walls. 
  This requires a successful (Intelligence + Larceny) 
  roll, difﬁ culty 4. Once a character is caught, break-
  ing the wires requires a feat of strength total of 10 to 
  break, and doing so inﬂ icts a level of lethal damage to 
  characters who lack metal gauntlets or the like. The 
  ceiling spikes inﬂ ict 10L piercing, and the subsequent 
  fall at the end of the scene is 20 feet.
  THE EYELESS SIGHT OF DAANA’D
  (WATER FAVORED)
  The manse’s delicate and sensitive Essence in-
  creases the difﬁ culty of any roll to avoid its senses by 3. 
  It also senses through mundane barriers up to an inch 
  thick. Only Essence-created sensory barriers, such as 
  Stealth Charms or certain spells, can block the manse’s 
  awareness. Treat the Eyeless Sight of Daana’d as Essence 
  sight (see Wonders of the Lost Age, p. 85).
  GEOMANTIC SUBTLETY
  The manse’s Essence structures are more com-
  plicated than usual, or a skilled architect disguised 
  tell-tale architectural stereotypes. Unless an observer 
  succeeds at a (Perception + Occult) roll, difﬁ culty 
  3, she can’t determine its aspect. Rolls to ﬁ nd the 
  manse’s hearthroom, damage its powers, or to other-
  wise ﬁ gure out anything at all from its geomancy also 
  suffer a -3 external penalty. This power has no effect 
  within the hearthroom, where Geomantic Subtlety 
  is impossible.
  THE GLORIOUS HALO OF HESIESH
  (FIRE FAVORED)
  Refracting crystals, focused elemental Essence, or 
  other means can convey two- or three-dimensional 
  visual illusions throughout the manse. This lacks the 
  precision to create speciﬁ c objects or people, but can 
  create the suggestion of those things; for instance, 
  Octavian, Demon of the Second Circle, couldn’t 
  be copied, but the manse could show a huge tusked 
  monster riding a giant wasp.
  Figuring out that an image is an illusion requires a 
  successful (Perception + [Awareness or Investigation]) 
  roll—normally a simple success, but many factors 
  inﬂ uence that difﬁ culty, including visual conditions, 
  distance, the brevity of a glimpse, a character’s desire 
  
  70
  to be fooled, and so on. Like most powers, these illu-
  sions work on a set pattern unless the manse can adapt 
  to outside inﬂ uences or the whims of the hearthstone 
  bearer.
  The Glorious Halo of Hesiesh can broadcast a 
  real-time image of the hearthstone bearer. Real-time 
  conveyance is usually conducted to or from a specially 
  prepared space, but with Central Control (Power 2), 
  the hearthstone bearer can set up any area within the 
  manse to convey any image.
  HIDDEN PASSAGES
  Larceny 3
  For those who know its tricks, it’s easy to get 
  around the manse subtly; many of its doors are cam-
  ouﬂ aged. The secret passages open silently, and those 
  who use them gain a +2 bonus to appropriate Stealth 
  rolls. This power needn’t always indicate actual pas-
  sages—sometimes “one-sided doors” simply don’t 
  appear to have another side, for example. Noticing a 
  secret door is a successful (Perception + [Awareness 
  or Investigation]) roll, difﬁ culty 2 if characters search 
  deliberately or difﬁ culty 4 if not. Hidden passages may 
  include a secret escape route.
  LIMITED MOBILITY
  A manse must stay on the demesne it caps, but 
  some manses can rise on pillars or sink into a pit, spin 
  in place, or otherwise move in some limited manner. 
  This was more common in the Age of Splendor than 
  in the Second Age, where architects ﬁ nd stationary 
  manses quite challenging enough.
  MELA’S SWEET WHISPER (AIR FAVORED)
  Narrow ﬂ ues, strategic bells or harmonic strings 
  catching the wind enable the manse to produce and 
  convey sounds. With no other powers, Mela’s Sweet 
  Whisper can welcome guests, berate intruders or fa-
  cilitate communication between residents. With such 
  additions as Invisible Theft (Power 4) or the Glorious 
  Halo of Hesiesh (Power 2), other possibilities present 
  themselves. With Central Control (Power 2), any 
  auditory transmission can be accomplished.
  Usually, such manses are designed to allow com-
  munication between certain locations, or from one 
  spot to everywhere within. Manses don’t naturally 
  record such sounds, however, and reproduced noises 
  are never entirely accurate. If someone tries to fool 
  intruders with an auditory transmission, or unnerve 
  them with sounds apparently from nowhere, the target 
  can ﬁ gure out what’s going on if her player succeeds at 
  a (Perception + [Awareness of Investigation]) roll.
  PASIAP’S BURIED WHISKERS (EARTH FAVORED)
  Buried jade channels or harmonic receivers extend 
  the manse’s sensory range beyond its walls. It can 
  sense, but cannot use other powers, within a radius 
  of (rating2 x 100) yards.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  71
  SUBTLE BREATH OF SEXTES JYLIS
  (WOOD FAVORED)
  By mimicking the geomancy of a certain environ-
  ment, the manse controls its indoor climate, manipulating 
  temperature, humidity, light levels, scent, and similar 
  factors, and eliminating small pests. This can keep the 
  manse comfortable, such as Comfort Zone (Power 1)—or 
  very unpleasant. Under no circumstances can the climate 
  created by this power cause immediate damage. However, 
  heat like a Southern desert at noon, or a moderate breeze 
  at subzero temperatures, could both be dangerous.
  This climate control is not completely effective. 
  Lights uncontrolled by the manse still function in total 
  darkness, a ﬁ re could be started on freezing indoor tundra, 
  and the wind is never strong enough to knock anyone 
  over. The Subtle Breath might be under the hearthstone 
  bearer’s control, directed from a Central Control, set by 
  passwords, or be completely automatic—all approaches 
  have their advantages and limitations.
  SYMPATHETIC DREAM LINK
  So well-harmonized is the manse with its 
  hearthstone bearer that, when she dreams, they “com-
  municate” symbolically. The hearthstone bearer always 
  knows the condition of the manse and if anyone has 
  intruded—but only while dreaming.
  This power doesn’t provide a manse with any 
  special intelligence or cognitive functions, but manses 
  with such a sympathetic link have reacted to their 
  owners’ unconscious wishes. If the hearthstone bearer’s 
  temporary Willpower falls below 3, her manse may act 
  on her secret desires without explicit orders.
  VEIL OF SHADOW
  The manse is overlaid by a ﬂ owing, shadowed 
  geomancy confusing enough to make eavesdropping 
  difﬁ cult. When characters stand in certain areas—ex-
  amples include corners, hallways, arches, et cetera—all 
  attempts to perceive speciﬁ cs about them from outside 
  that area are subject to a -2 external penalty. This ap-
  plies to scrying magic and other methods of distant 
  perception.
  THREE-POINT POWERS
  ANALYTICAL SENSES (WATER, SIDEREAL FAVORED)
  Whether the manse uses geomantically shaped 
  jade lenses, delicate moonsilver and starmetal ﬁ laments 
  or bound spirits of occult awareness, the manse can 
  observe Essences within its range. It automatically de-
  tects and analyzes Obvious Charms, and can learn the 
  capabilities of artifacts unprotected by wards or other 
  such enchantments. Most importantly, it understands 
  the invisible design of souls, noting each person’s Es-
  sence rating, spiritual nature and occult alignments 
  and anomalies—including taints from demonic powers 
  or normally invisible Wyld mutations.
  Without additional powers, however, the manse is 
  fooled by Sidereal Fate-based concealment, and won’t 
  spot the effects of astrology. Powers speciﬁ cally designed 
  to fool Essence-bases senses can also confuse the manse. 
  Occasionally, architects leave rare concealing magics 
  out of the design, which then become a weakness of 
  the manse—not necessarily by accident.
  These senses may be linked to other powers through 
  Password Activation. If the manse has Central Control 
  or some way to communicate with attuned persons, it 
  can be ordered to analyze visitors or objects, and report 
  what it ﬁ nds.
  ARMORED
  A manse with this power was built from excep-
  tionally strong material, further reinforce by Essence, 
  giving the manse more soak than usual. This power is 
  not lost in Power Failure, and can be bought multiple 
  times. However, no one in Creation has been able to 
  give a manse more than two increments of Armor 
  since the Old Realm.
     
  External   Internal    
  Armor 
  Soak  
  Soak 
  Example
  Taken 
  (L/B) 
  (L/B) 
  Material
  Once 
  14/21 
  7/14 
  Thick granite
  Twice 
  17/24 
  9/17 
  Thick metal
  3 x 
  21/29 
  12/21 
  Super-heavy steel
  4 x 
  26/35 
  15/26 
  Jade-alloy
  5 x 
  32/42 
  19/32 
  Moonsilver, 
   
   
   
  Orichalcum,
   
   
   
  Soulsteel
  BOUND SERVANT FORCE
  4 in appropriate Craft, or the ability to permanently 
  bind Servitors
  The manse is guarded by a unit of Bound Servitors 
  with a Magnitude equal to its level. All such Bound 
  Servitors use the same statistics unless the Storyteller 
  chooses to differentiate between them. If used in Mass 
  Combat, the Servant force has Drill of 3. The Servant 
  Force can serve as a powerful tool in social combat, for 
  it can’t lose Magnitude due to loss of Loyalty.
  This power may be purchased multiple times for 
  additional Servant Forces. If all such forces are identi-
  cal, their numbers may be combined to determine the 
  total Magnitude of a single unit, as normal.
  
  72
  DIVINE OBSERVATORY (SIDEREAL FAVORED)
  Mastery of Sidereal Astrology
  Geomancy melds with astrology to track the 
  movements of the Five Maidens, and altars give them 
  worship. Quadrants, astrolabes and armillary spheres 
  track every constellation, guided by starmetal eph-
  emerides. These manses give their owners a nearly 
  direct view of the Loom of Fate from Creation, and 
  are coveted by Sidereals.
  Most importantly, each Observatory’s roof includes 
  a downward-pointing lens, giving the pattern spiders 
  a view of its residents. The spiders are less likely to 
  ignore the immediate. For the purposes of Sidereal 
  astrology rolls, a Divine Observatory reduces each 
  difﬁ culty by one. They also add (manse’s rating) 
  successes to astrological thaumaturgy performed by 
  attuned characters inside.
  DRAGON’S NEST ([ELEMENT] ONLY)
  The manse’s structure concentrates elemental 
  Essence so strongly that every room is overwhelmed 
  with its aspect. Light changes color as it enters, as do 
  any objects left there for long. Moreover:
  • Terrestrial anima banners of the corresponding 
  element cannot damage the manse. The manse’s ener-
  gies absorb their physical power. People, however, are 
  not immune.
  • Appropriately aspected Charms and spells—in-
  cluding the abilities of elementals, Terrestrial Charms 
  with the Elemental keyword, or spells directly affecting 
  the element—have their ﬁ nal cost reduced by (manse’s 
  rating) motes, minimum 0.
  • Children of Dragon-Bloods conceived within the 
  manse gain a +1 bonus to their chances of Exaltation, 
  as if a parent had high Breeding (see The Manual 
  of Exalted Power—The Dragon-Blooded, p. 106). 
  This increases to +2 if the child is brought to term 
  within the manse. The Exaltation’s aspect is hardly 
  in doubt.
  • The hearthroom of the manse is in a state of 
  dangerous elemental upheaval. It’s an environmental 
  hazard with a Damage of 3L/action and Trauma of 5, 
  ignoring armor. The hearthstone bearer is immune to 
  this effect, but probably had trouble attuning in the 
  ﬁ rst place.
  EBON DRAGNET (ABYSSAL ONLY)
  People who die in the manse don’t escape its 
  twisted Essence. Dying characters linger for one scene 
  as the dragnet does its work. If the body’s healed dur-
  ing that time, they can be saved. Failing powerful 
  restorative Charms, however, the dead rise immedi-
  ately as ghosts, and for the following scene, they’re 
  forced by the manse’s dark geomancy to manifest on 
  the premises. After that, they begin their “normal” 
  ghostly existences.
  (ELEMENT) DRAGON’S WILL ([ELEMENT] ONLY)
  Structures of jade-magnetite alloy in the walls enable 
  the manse to control elemental Essence outside itself. In 
  one ﬁ ve-tick span, it can affect a volume of an element 
  equal to its level in yards, cubed (for Fire, yards squared 
  in surface area). Non-magical quantities of that element 
  that fall within that size restriction cannot harm the 
  manse, and against magical instances or amounts greater 
  than it can control, all damage is reduced by (manse’s 
  rating x 2) dice. It can also move the element at three 
  yards per tick; for instance, move enormous stone blocks, 
  slosh water from fountains to put out ﬁ res, or animate 
  the wooden furniture to attack intruders.
  During any ﬁ ve-tick span, the manse can direct 
  one instance of the element to make an attack, ﬂ ip 
  a switch, catch a falling vase, or perform some other 
  complex or delicate action involving a target within 
  (manse’s rating) yards of that quantity. If necessary, this 
  action uses a dice pool equal to (manse’s rating x 2). 
  Any damage inﬂ icted equals the manse’s rating, plus 
  successes, and can be lethal or bashing, depending on 
  what the manse aims to accomplish. Using this power, 
  the manse can issue a feat of strength equal to (level 
  x 2), or with a successful roll, it can impose a penalty 
  equal to its rating on an intruder’s player’s roll (from 
  distraction, pain, loss of balance or the like).
  When manipulating an element, the manse can 
  cause any number of diverse, imprecise effects so long 
  as they do not create, destroy or fundamentally alter the 
  element. Water could become ice or mist. Fire could turn 
  green or ﬂ icker brightly. Earth could melt from sand to 
  lava and solidify into obsidian (but cannot be pressured 
  into diamond). A Wood-aspected manse could directly 
  affect unintelligent life forms and mentally direct most 
  untrained, Essence 1 animals. In an Air-aspected manse, 
  air could refuse to enter an enemy’s lungs or even spark 
  with lightning. As always, manses that are more powerful 
  can perform capable of feats that are more impressive.
  EMERALD/IRON CIRCLE FEEDBACK
  (SOLAR/ABYSSAL FAVORED)
  Sapphire Circle Sorcery/Onyx Circle Necromancy
  The manse’s leaden pillars and runes of abalone 
  suppress the forces of magic. Its hostile geomancy 
  crushes any Emerald Circle spells or thaumaturgy used 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  73
  within its range. This power is not selective. It can be 
  deactivated, but when it operates, it contests all magic 
  within the area. Thaumaturgy won’t function at all. 
  Characters who attempt Emerald Circle sorcery in the 
  manse’s range are wracked by spiritual and physical 
  pain: they must spend another Willpower point and 
  succeed on a (Stamina + Occult) roll, difﬁ culty 4, to 
  push through the agony and continue casting despite 
  this severe distraction (see Exalted, p. 251).
  An alternate version of this power cripples necroman-
  cy of the Shadowlands Circle, as well as thaumaturgy.
  FORTRESS (EARTH FAVORED)
  War 4
  Most manses are strongly built, but a manse with 
  this power was speciﬁ cally designed to resist attack. Win-
  dows are barred and crenellations fortify its walls, built 
  of independently strong stuff and standing unfed by the 
  manse’s Essence. It may have a moat, drawbridge, boiling 
  oil, and other protective measures against large-scale 
  assault. Three of these hazards have danger ratings equal 
  to the manse’s level (see Exalted, p. 247). The fortiﬁ ca-
  tions are always defensive and short-range—artillery 
  is covered by Integrated Essence Artillery (Power 4). 
  What’s more, the manse can sustain (rating x 25) levels 
  of damage before suffering Power Failure.
  This power cannot be lost during Power Failure. It 
  is incompatible with Fragility. Each purchase of Fortress 
  gives three additional defensive hazards and adds 5 levels 
  to the damage threshold before Power Failure.
  GUARDIAN
  Craft (Magitech) 5, Craft (Genesis) 5, or other 
  ability to bind a Guardian
  As Bound Servitor (Power 2), save that a Guardian 
  is considerably more powerful. Guardians are Second 
  Circle demons or creatures of equivalent power.
  PROVIDER (WOOD FAVORED)
  Whether the manse is an underground cave 
  system, habitation dome or multi-tiered tower city, it 
  can care for a group of individuals whose Magnitude 
  equals (its level + 1). Filters purify air and water, and 
  jade-lined gardens grow and prepare food automatically. 
  Animals that need more nourishment might count 
  as two to ﬁ ve people, depending on appetite, but a 
  group of the correct size can survive in a Provider 
  manse indeﬁ nitely.
  PUZZLE MANSE
  Intelligence 5 or Larceny 5
  Each room in the manse is individually aligned to 
  a current of Essence that’s been shifted, uprooted, and 
  left to ﬂ oat. As a result, the manse’s layout changes. 
  Opening a particular door can lead to different rooms, 
  staircases going up can open onto lower ﬂ oors, and 
  even such features as windows or ﬁ replaces might lead 
  to new places within the manse.
  The designer has various options. The Puzzle 
  Manse might rearrange the access between its rooms 
  according to Passwords, or a set schedule. For a 
  complicated system, the key to understanding the 
  manse lies in a pattern or trick of the eye: a success-
  ful (Intelligence + Lore) roll deciphers the former, 
  (Intelligence + Larceny) the latter, each at difﬁ culty 
  of (manse’s rating). Before Charm use, players cannot 
  roll a number of dice greater than the number of rooms 
  they’ve spent at least one scene in.
  Occasionally, Puzzle Manses are built to be solv-
  able only by characters possessing speciﬁ c Abilities, 
  powers or even Virtues, but these are rare, and normal 
  rolls might still apply. Some schemes, however, might 
  not need a roll—it’s something predetermined that 
  observant players can ﬁ gure out for themselves.
  SHADOWLAND (ABYSSAL ONLY)
  Ability to create a shadowland
  Demesnes can exist in shadowlands; in this case, 
  tendrils of iron and tokens of bone anchor a small 
  shadowland to a manse. The manse might even 
  envelop the shadowland; for instance, a bone-lined 
  cellar with a door that merges with the Underworld 
  at night. Fed by the manse’s Essence, the shadowland 
  becomes permanent, never growing or shrinking for 
  any reason save Power Failure.
  THE SILENT VOICE (AIR, SIDEREAL FAVORED)
  Corners of the manse imitate corners of the mind 
  and establish a rapport with sentient mental spaces. 
  Those who address thoughts to the manse will be 
  sensed—and receive responses. It could potentially 
  “hear” mentally provided passwords, provide a mental 
  directory of its cross-referenced library, or the like, but 
  can’t receive thoughts that aren’t intended for it.
  Mental communication happens as fast as speech 
  or showing someone a series of pictures. Characters’ 
  abilities to remember enormous amounts of informa-
  tion aren’t enhanced.
  TEMPLE MANSE
  Priesthood of the appropriate deity
  The manse honors a god to the very roots of its 
  design, celebrating the deity’s greatness. Every inch 
  of its architecture is a prayer. Servants or spawn of 
  enemy powers—for example, Celestial Exalted, in 
  
  74
  the case of Abyssal Temples, or raksha in Celestial 
  Temples—can sense this and are anathema to it. 
  They cannot naturally recover Essence or Willpower 
  points while within range. If they foolishly attempt 
  attunement, they’ll suffer three unsoakable levels of 
  aggravated damage from internal Essence burns.
  Players receive one free bonus success on any roll 
  for prayers issued to the deity from within the manse’s 
  consecrated walls. Furthermore, if a priest of the appro-
  priate god makes a Resources 5 sacriﬁ ce—or sacriﬁ ces 
  something otherwise priceless and powerful—the god 
  receives a great boon: concentrated ambrosia in the 
  shape of the sacriﬁ ce. This is often enough to provoke a 
  response even from the Celestial Incarnae, who might 
  provide a moment of wisdom or token blessing.
  ULTRA-DEADLY TRAPS
  Various Crafts at 5, Larceny 5
  The manse has automatic defenses so powerful that 
  escape, much less survival, seems in doubt. Ultra-Deadly 
  Traps are intended to kill or capture, and are cunning and 
  powerful enough to defeat the Exalted. Each purchase 
  of this power grants one Ultra-Deadly trap.
  Examples:
  • When the characters enter a room, huge stone 
  slabs fall onto every doorway, blocking any escape. Im-
  mediately after, the room begins detaching from the rest 
  of the manse. After 10 ticks, the room and everyone 
  within go Elsewhere—outside Creation itself. There 
  they remain indeﬁ nitely; there will be no escape from 
  the pocket realm unless the manse’s hearthstone bearer 
  chooses to release them, or the manse sustains damage.
  A feat of strength of at least 15 is necessary to 
  lift the slabs on the doors. Stone slabs have 25 lethal 
  soak, 50 bashing, and 60 health levels.
  • The manse contains a soul magnet that sucks living 
  souls from living bodies. When people come near it, it 
  activates with a dull gray light and a loud, low hum, and 
  then swiftly drags them toward it. Nothing is within arm’s 
  reach for characters to catch, and once it touches them, 
  the magnet wrenches their souls from their bodies.
  The soul magnet activates when the ﬁ rst character 
  approaches within 20 yards. It pulls characters ﬁ ve 
  yards per tick with a Strength of 10, -1 for every ﬁ ve 
  yards of distance. A successful (Wits + Athletics) roll, 
  difﬁ culty 2+, lets a character ﬁ nd some way to hold 
  on; if characters who grabbed hold of something else 
  have less Strength than the magnet does at their range, 
  they must take a Miscellaneous Action each tick to 
  roll (Stamina + [Resistance or Athletics]), difﬁ culty 
  (magnet’s Strength - character’s Strength), or be pulled 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  75
  in. Characters hitting the magnet will be inactive un-
  less they summon a feat of strength greater than the 
  magnet’s Strength. After that, they suffer three dice 
  of armor-ignoring aggravated damage on every action 
  until they die. The soul magnet has 9L/9B soak; every 
  three health levels of damage done to it reduces the 
  magnet’s strength by 1.
  • A glowing ﬂ ambeau on the wall, that initially 
  looks like a minor Essence vents, shoots serpent-headed 
  bolts of deadly Essence lightning at anyone except the 
  hearthstone bearer who comes within 10 yards of the 
  ﬂ ambeau and whatever it guards. The bolts have an 
  attack pool of 12 dice, attack one target every tick, 
  and deal eight dice of piercing aggravated damage 
  when they hit.
  WORKSHOP MANSE
  Appropriate Craft at 5
  Built for a long-ago craftsman of the Shogunate 
  or before, the manse is one of the most well-equipped 
  workshops in Creation today. The player chooses a 
  Craft, whether mundane such as Water or esoteric 
  such as Magitech or Genesis, to which her Workshop 
  is dedicated. Those working there have the tools to 
  repair virtually any wonder falling under that Craft’s 
  purview. It is a ﬂ awless workshop for artifact construc-
  tion (see p. 28); if for Magitech or Genesis, it is a 
  four-dot workshop for purpose of repairs on such items 
  (see Wonders of the Lost Age, p. 9).
  ZONE OF INFLUENCE
  Sorcerously immaterial chains, perfectly calculated 
  astrological effects or other technical wonders expand 
  the manse’s geomancy past the area it caps. Its range 
  extends beyond its walls, to a radius equal to (rating2 
  x 100) yards. It can sense normally within the zone 
  and can use any powers there that the Storyteller ap-
  proves—geomantic anomalies or spiritual interference 
  sometimes interfere with certain powers.
  FOUR-POINT POWERS
  ABILITY ENLIGHTENMENT (AIR, SOLAR FAVORED)
  The manse encodes knowledge in its structure, 
  mystic arts have coaxed a hint of mind from its Essence, 
  or perhaps a previous owner was so closely attuned 
  to the manse that her knowledge passed to it. The 
  manse “understands” orders beyond straightforward 
  programming—but isn’t sentient. Although it learns 
  and remembers information, it can only grow so far, 
  and has no consciousness or personality.
  Effectively, the manse has four Abilities it can 
  “think” about. Since the manse doesn’t have At-
  tributes, it receives an automatic four successes 
  whenever a situation would call for a roll using those 
  Abilities. The manse may need other powers to act 
  on its Abilities, however.
  Example: A manse is furnished in exact and courtly ar-
  rangements and lined with cultivated roses, whose colors are 
  used to express a giver’s intentions. Its geomancy expresses 
  principles of empathy, etiquette and subterfuge. It effectively 
  has Socialize 4. When the hearthstone bearer commands it to 
  examine its residents’ Motivations, it evaluates each person’s 
  facial movements, postures, words and reactions to the ﬂ ow-
  ers and other cues. If one person displays her Motivation, 
  the Storyteller applies an external penalty of that character’s 
  ([Manipulation + Socialize] ÷ 2) to the four-success reading 
  Motivation roll for the manse. If any successes remain, the 
  manse understands the character’s Motivation and stores 
  the information for future use.
  Information a manse gains from its Ability En-
  lightenment can trigger other powers. Attunement 
  can train characters in the manse’s Abilities as if they 
  had a teacher, up to the levels it possesses. Ability 
  Enlightenment may be bought multiple times.
  ATELIER-MANSE
  Craft (Magitech) 5, other Craft at 5
  The manse-machine is aligned with a certain el-
  emental Craft and can quickly produce things chosen by 
  the hearthstone bearer. It continues making whatever 
  she designates until it runs out of raw materials, or she 
  assigns it a new task. To set her manse for production, 
  the hearthstone bearer must have the Abilities to design 
  it. She must also feed it enough raw materials to make 
  the product. It is a ﬂ awless workshop (see p. 28).
  Unlike with Factory-Cathedral (Power 5), these 
  manses can’t make magitech. At most, it can duplicate 
  the products of thaumaturgy. Atelier-manses always 
  have Maintenance 3 (gaining Creation Points for that 
  drawback) and Repair 4 (refer to Wonders of the Lost 
  Age, p. 9). Artifacts are beyond them, but they aren’t 
  too limited: everything from swords (Craft [Fire]) to 
  pieces of music (Craft [Air]) can be mass-produced 
  in an appropriate atelier-manse. Use of a suitable 
  atelier-manse also reduces the interval for Crafting 
  rolls, whether for mundane items or non-magitech 
  artifacts: from seasons to months, months to weeks, 
  weeks to days, and days to scenes. Reduce the time 
  one step for items of Resources value 3+, two steps for 
  items of Resources 2 or 1.
  CHASM OF THE MATERIAL
  Material Essence within the manse is magnetized 
  against its immaterial counterpart. The spiritual gap is 
  
  76
  nearly impossible to cross, and makes unaccustomed 
  residents feel uncomfortable, as if their ﬂ esh is too heavy 
  and thick. No beings within range may dematerialize, 
  and nothing immaterial may enter.
  GREATER VEIL OF SHADOWS
  As far as outsiders can tell, the manse isn’t there. Its 
  geomancy redirects the eye so subtly that one must liter-
  ally stumble over it to notice it. It gives no non-tactile 
  sensory impressions, and the land where it should be 
  seems normal (though its Essence ﬂ ows may be felt by 
  sensitive characters or geomancers). Even battles fought 
  within the manse won’t be obvious. The only thing it 
  can’t mask is an anima banner bright enough to be seen 
  to the distance of a spear’s cast—for example, a Solar 
  who’s spent 11+ peripheral motes in a scene.
  INTEGRATED ESSENCE ARTILLERY
  Craft (Magitech) 5, War 3
  The manse’s Essence powers strategic heavy weap-
  onry. This provides (manse’s rating x 2) Artifact dots 
  to spend on weaponry permanently tied to the manse’s 
  geomancy and secured in its structure. Because these 
  artifacts are simpliﬁ ed versions with an enormous Es-
  sence source, they subtract 2 from their Repair Value 
  and ignore requirements involving hearthstones with 
  a value equal to or less than the manse’s rating.
  No weapon’s Artifact rating can exceed the manse’s 
  own rating, and they must be aimed and ﬁ red with 
  Central Control (Power 2) unless the manse has a 
  power such as Ability Enlightenment (Power 4) it 
  can use to ﬁ re them itself.
  See Wonders of the Lost Age for large-scale Essence 
  weaponry. Non-integrated Essence artillery is an artifact, 
  and should be bought as a separate Background.
  INVISIBLE THEFT
  A mind is a space with its own mystical geomancy, 
  each thought like a current of Essence. Odd, twist-
  ing structures in the manse emulate an empty mind, 
  encouraging thoughts to circulate from their natural 
  environment into its rooms. The manse can sense the 
  thoughts of any mind within range. The hearthstone 
  owner can command the manse to search thoughts right 
  down to memories. The manse needs other powers, 
  however, to understand or use the thoughts it reads, such 
  as Silent Voice to pass thoughts to attuned residents, or 
  Sentience to understand the thoughts itself.
  Players must succeed on a (Perception + Occult) 
  roll, difﬁ culty 3, for their characters to realize that 
  their minds aren’t safe. This roll’s difﬁ culty drops to 
  1 if the manse riﬂ es through memories, for the manse 
  then increases Essence circulation, and thoughts are 
  dragged from their homes with unsubtle force. Though 
  it may take characters a moment to comprehend the 
  vague, headachy tingling behind their eyes, the sensa-
  tion is instinctively understood.
  A character with a lot of self-control might quell 
  her thoughts so the manse cannot hear them—but it’s 
  not easy. Manses can still read the minds of actively 
  guarding characters whose Dodge MDVs are lower 
  than 8. On the other hand, characters whose players 
  score four successes on a (Manipulation + Socialize) 
  roll can actually fool a telepathic manse by imitating 
  mental patterns different from their own.
  OUTSIDE FATE
  Craft (Fate) 5 or built by entities outside of Fate
  The manse’s designer exploited a gap in Fate’s 
  pattern. Though the shell of the manse’s Essence 
  seems normal, an unreal principle was built in through 
  “outside channels”—demon craftsmen, perhaps, or 
  Fair Folk—that disguise the place’s existence from 
  the Loom of Fate. Astrology cannot detect anything 
  about the manse, and the eyes of Heaven do not see 
  whatever happens within its range. Its residents are 
  not removed from Fate, but their location is.
  Aiding or abetting the construction—or exis-
  tence—of such a manse is a dire Celestial offense 
  against Yu-Shan’s Bureau of Destiny.
  RAINBOW/BLACK TABERNACLE 
  (SOLAR/ABYSSAL FAVORED)
  Adamant Circle Sorcery/Obsidian Circle Necromancy
  Emerald, sapphire and diamond insets channel 
  the manse’s Essence into sorcerous power. Sorcerous 
  spells cast within the manse’s walls have their mote 
  cost reduced by 10. If this would lower a spell’s cost 
  to less than half its original value, then it’s instead 
  reduced by half (round up). Furthermore, the manse 
  adds one to the caster’s effective Essence score when 
  calculating the spell’s effects. If the tabernacle is Black, 
  ornamented with iron, onyx and obsidian, it affects 
  necromancy instead.
  SAPPHIRE/ONYX CIRCLE FEEDBACK 
  (SOLAR/ABYSSAL FAVORED)
  Adamant Circle Sorcery/Obsidian Circle Necromancy
  As Emerald Circle Feedback (Power 3), save that 
  this works against the Sapphire Circle as the earlier ver-
  sion does against Emerald, and automatically prevents 
  the use of Emerald Circle Sorcery and thaumaturgy. An 
  alternate version cripples necromancy of the Labyrinth 
  Circle and below.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  77
  SOUL PRISON (ABYSSAL ONLY)
  Iron Circle Necromancy
  The manse pulls Essence from the Underworld as well 
  as its demesne. It gains the effects of an Ebon Dragnet 
  (Power 3) and binds anyone who dies within it. Such 
  ghosts can’t leave the manse’s range and must forever 
  obey the hearthstone bearer’s commands to the letter, just 
  as if they had been summoned and bound. (For more on 
  ghost-summoning, see The Black Treatise, pp. 34-35.)
  The manse can contain a unit of ghosts equal in 
  Magnitude to its rating. When bought at character 
  generation, Soul Prisons are stocked with weak ghosts, 
  lacking equipment and Charms, but using the statistics 
  of war ghosts (see Exalted, p. 318). The manse cannot 
  trap ghosts whose Essence exceeds the manse’s rating, 
  but only very heroic ghosts will grow in power while 
  under its awful inﬂ uence.
  The hearthstone bearer may release any ghosts 
  at any time.
  WYLD REVOCATION 
  (ABYSSAL, LUNAR, SIDEREAL FAVORED)
  The manse’s geomancy no longer shapes a real 
  place at all; the architect has engineered a place where 
  certain of Creation’s principles don’t apply, almost like 
  the citadels of the Fair Folk. Things may no longer fall 
  down, but simply ﬂ oat, or Obvious Charms might no 
  longer have an Essence signature. In three-dot manses, 
  only a single room may use this power, though it may 
  be purchased multiple times; a four-dot manse (or one 
  on a four-dot demesne) extends the effect every room; 
  at rating 5, the power affects the entire range, even if 
  extended with another power.
  No one fully understands the principles of Cre-
  ation, and they aren’t what players might think of as 
  the “laws of nature.” Magnetism, gravity and so on 
  are all Creation’s laws, but so are the laws that say 
  active Essence glows and the moon inspires awe. The 
  Storyteller is the ﬁ nal arbiter of what natural laws exist 
  and can be altered by this power. However, Abyssal 
  manses tend to emulate aspects of the Underworld or 
  Labyrinth; Lunar manses become ﬂ uid and shifting, 
  like the Wyld; while Sidereal manses revoke principles 
  of space or time, but also aspects of identity.
  FIVE-POINT POWERS
  ADAMANT/OBSIDIAN CIRCLE FEEDBACK 
  (SOLAR/ABYSSAL ONLY)
  Adamant Circle Sorcery/Obsidian Circle Necromancy, 
  plus Occult 6, Essence 6
  
  78
  As Emerald Circle Feedback (Power 3), save 
  that this power works against the Adamant Circle as 
  the earlier version does against Emerald, automati-
  cally preventing the use of Emerald and Sapphire 
  Circle sorcery as well as thaumaturgy. An alternate 
  version similarly affects necromancy of the Void 
  Circle and below. 
  ALTERNATE LOCATIONS
  Survival 6
  The builder has given up to 5 other locations the 
  same geomancy as the manse—and the manse may 
  vanish from its current location and appear in one of 
  them, while still drawing Essence from its demesne. 
  This process takes one hour, cannot happen more 
  than once a day, and transports everything within the 
  manse’s walls. Usually, manses are built to translocate 
  on a set schedule. Buying this power twice enables the 
  manse to shuttle between 25 locations.
  FACTORY-CATHEDRAL
  Craft (Magitech) 6
  Faith, magic and technology come together in 
  the factory-cathedral. Within its walls are produced 
  glorious wonders reserved for the greatest gods and 
  Chosen. Factory-cathedrals constructed indefatigable 
  guards for the borders of Creation, the royal warstrid-
  ers that once accompanied Dawn Caste generals into 
  battle, and the components of the Realm Defense 
  Grid. Almost no factory-cathedrals endure today, and 
  those that remain are terribly damaged or lost to the 
  impassable wilderness.
  This power imparts all the beneﬁ ts of Temple 
  Manse (Power 3) and an ideal workshop (see p. 28) 
  for Craft (Magitech), with the automated production 
  of an Atelier-Manse (Power 4). A working factory-
  cathedral can make magitech artifacts rated 4 or lower, 
  assuming the owner has the requisite Abilities and 
  raw materials.
  Factory-cathedrals all require Maintenance 4 
  and get Creation Points for this. The Maintenance 
  has two aspects. Everyone who enters must undergo 
  puriﬁ cation rituals, lest unclean Essence contaminate 
  the delicate machinery. Every year, a factory-cathedral 
  also consumes at least three exotic ingredients suitable 
  for crafting artifacts rated 3 or higher: for instance, 10 
  talents of jade, a frozen lightning bolt and the blood 
  of a Second Circle demon. They are also magitech 
  artifacts with Repair ratings of 5. (See Wonders of 
  the Lost Age, p. 9, for Repair ratings and more in-
  formation on factory-cathedrals, as well as Chapter 
  One of this book.)
  Operating a factory-cathedral demands certain 
  rituals and specialized knowledge that has largely been 
  lost. Characters who want to use a factory-cathedral 
  need to ﬁ nd the records or notes of the long-dead 
  Exalted who built it.
  INAUSPICIOUS CITADEL (ABYSSAL ONLY)
  Obsidian Circle Necromancy
  Looking down from the manse’s lowest chamber 
  is inadvisable, for a pit extends into Oblivion. The 
  breath of the Neverborn ﬁ lls the manse, and any ac-
  tion taken therein might impinge on their dreaming 
  consciousness.
  This power comes from a necromancer casting the 
  spell Inauspicious Citadel (see The Black Treatise, 
  p. 53). The spell creates a fortress with many proper-
  ties of a manse. Casting the spell in a shadowland 
  demesne can evoke a citadel that is a manse, though 
  the character still needs all the skills to design the 
  manse and any other powers.
  This power gives the manse as many more Creation 
  Points as the Neverborn feel like granting, plus Well-
  Flavored Aspect (Power 1) for free. However, the builder 
  does not control how those extra points are spent: the 
  Neverborn do (with the Storyteller as their stand-in). 
  The Neverborn can also usurp control over any Essence-
  based powers of the manse, although they seldom rouse 
  from their eternal death-dreams to do so.
  An Inauspicious Citadel must always be in a 
  shadowland. If its shadowland is destroyed, the manse 
  suffers Power Failure straight down to rating 0.
  INDESTRUCTIBLE
  Every mortal Craft at 6
  The manse’s walls are impervious to damage. The 
  hearthstone bearer may deactivate this power. Failing 
  that, it suffers harm only from geomantic attacks.
  ONE MIND WITHIN
  Presence 6
  Symbols of mastery ﬁ ll the manse; its arches are 
  high and spreading, and its halls intimidatingly wide. 
  Like a manse built with Invisible Theft (Power 5), its 
  architecture resonates with the mind, but its structure is 
  unsubtly overpowering. It controls sentients within its 
  walls, directing the activities of any thinking creature 
  with a Dodge MDV less than 10. This is an Unnatural 
  Mental Inﬂ uence for Compulsion.
  Resisting the manse’s attempts to use oneself as a 
  tool costs one point of Willpower, and grants freedom 
  for one action. Beings with an Essence score at least 
  equal to the manse’s rating may shrug off this effect 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  79
  for a scene by spending three Willpower. Attuned 
  characters are immune.
  OTHERWORLD GATE 
  (ABYSSAL, SIDEREAL FAVORED)
  Power to make a portal to another realm of reality
  Somewhere within the manse—perhaps a soaring 
  arch, a pit or an unpretentious door—stands a portal 
  to a place beyond Creation. Any strange place the 
  Storyteller accepts could lie beyond: Malfeas, Yu-Shan, 
  the Labyrinth, the Wyld, Autochthon, who knows?
  If the Otherworld Gate leads to Yu-Shan, this is 
  a Sidereal power; if it leads to the Underworld, an 
  Abyssal one.
  OUTSIDE WORLDS WITHIN
  Sapphire Circle Sorcery
  The builder has used the spell Outside Worlds 
  Within (see The White Treatise, pp. 77-78) to turn 
  part of the manse into a bit of the outdoors, though 
  the area actually remains bounded by the manse’s 
  walls. Tying the enchantment to the manse’s geo-
  mancy makes it permanent. Other magic might create 
  pocket environments such as paintings you can step 
  into and they become real, or similar wonders. Un-
  like the Palace of Unreality (see below), everything 
  in Outside Worlds Within is quite real—though it 
  cannot leave the manse.
  PALACE OF UNREALITY
  The manse is dedicated to the unreal—and can 
  support that unreality. Whether through sorcery, Fair 
  Folk glamour or other magic, the manse can enmesh 
  the people within it in powerful illusions. The illusions 
  can affect all ﬁ ve senses, and will fool anyone whose 
  MDV does not exceed 10. Each scene, the manse may 
  create up to ﬁ ve illusions, which suspicious characters 
  may resist by spending three Willpower points. (This 
  cost drops to 1 if the illusion is shown to be false or it 
  attempts to do something impossible.) Illusions may 
  be people, attacks, traps, darkness, walls, or almost 
  anything else, but they can’t fool characters into 
  thinking they’re dead.
  SENTIENT
  Intelligence 6
  The manse doesn’t just imitate the processes 
  of thought. Its Essence cycles have ﬂ owered into a 
  new consciousness, complete with sense of self and 
  personality. With tastes shaped by its architecture 
  and the desires of its builder, the manse is creative: it 
  extrapolates, guesses and invents. A manse painted 
  with beautiful frescoes might have a strong artistic 
  bent, while one built as a fortress would more likely 
  be a brilliant tactician. It doesn’t even have to like 
  its hearthstone bearer—but it must obey her. If this 
  power becomes damaged, however, the manse goes 
  dangerously insane. Legend also says that the soul of 
  an Exalt who is buried in a beloved manse can merge 
  with its Essence to make it sentient, but the Immaculate 
  Order condemns these stories as heresy.
  The player distributes (manse’s rating x 5) dots 
  among the manse’s Perception, Intelligence, Wits, 
  Charisma and Manipulation. No Attribute values may 
  exceed 5 without Storyteller permission. The manse’s 
  Motivation is probably to serve its hearthstone bearer, 
  but some have been created with others. Moreover, 
  though a sentient manse’s Motivation is usually set in 
  stone and sealed by its internal structure, in the past, 
  at least one manse was designed to ﬁ nd its own way, as 
  a person would.
  The manse can have any Intimacies, Virtues to a 
  maximum of 5, and as many Abilities as it can learn. 
  Bought at character creation, the player distributes 25 
  dots among its Abilities, using the same caps as At-
  tributes. Like any intelligent being, the manse feels, 
  learns, forgets and grows over time; it gains and spends 
  experience points as a mortal would.
  HOMES AND HEARTHS
  Harnessing orders of magnitude more Essence than 
  the Charms of the Celestial Exalted, manses make 
  their architects and owners famous for their taste—and 
  power. Demesnes put their owners in touch with the 
  raw wonder of Creation, but manses reﬁ ne and perfect 
  it. Manses have been command centers for Dragon-
  Blooded generals, dark havens for Abyssals against the 
  rigorous Sun, and workshops for Solar artiﬁ cers repairing 
  the wonders of a lost age. A manse might yet decide 
  the fate of Creation: the Imperial Manse, heart of the 
  Realm Defense Grid, is key to the Scarlet Throne (not 
  to mention the potential saving of the world).
  THE NINE FILIGREED BRIDGES OF FELUBIC
  EACH AIR MANSE •
  Though crisscrossed and surrounded by chasms 
  of dizzying depth, the town of Felubic is glad of it. 
  Invading armies leave Felubic untouched, for the ﬁ ne 
  silver-blue lattices that bridge those ﬁ ssures can nar-
  row to impassability, and the chasms are so wide and 
  sheer that other methods of crossing are more trouble 
  than they’re worth.
  At her maturity, every citizen of Felubic learns the 
  procedure to change those defensive bridges. She must 
  
  80
  stand in the center of one delicately decorated structure 
  and grip two speciﬁ c struts. Then she need only look 
  toward a given bridge and sing the note associated with 
  the desired width. Although the bridge she addresses 
  may be miles away, it instantly becomes wider or more 
  slender. Receiving this important knowledge is a rite 
  of passage for the people of Felubic, and rebellious or 
  widely disliked young people are sometimes shamed 
  by being taught last—or not at all.
  The bridges, made of jointed metal struts less 
  than an inch wide, are strong but light. They wind 
  easily blows them into strange conﬁ gurations. 
  Sometimes one bridge gets so tangled that its Es-
  sence ﬂ ows become confused and it stops working 
  entirely. To prevent this problem, people tie lead 
  weights to various points along each bridge; the 
  weights’ positions are exactly calculated and need 
  adjustment once a season to accommodate the 
  changing winds.
  Students at the Academy of the Glorious Aspect 
  (a respected local school of geomantic architecture) 
  rotate the responsibility of monitoring the bridges’ 
  weights. In exchange for this service, the school’s 
  outcaste owner carries the nine hearthstones, which 
  form in jade bowls at the center of each bridge.
  The nine skystones of Felubic are cobalt orbs that 
  balance perfectly without rolling away, no matter where 
  they’re placed. Each hearthstone grants +1 success to 
  Athletics rolls, but only for keeping one’s balance.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s rating of 1) x 2 + 1 Main-
  tenance (weighting the bridges) = 3 Creation Points. 
  Password Activations (1) allows characters who know 
  the procedure to activate the Basic Convenience (1) of 
  widening or narrowing a bridge, and Network Node (1) 
  lets them change one bridge from another. Each bridge 
  is its own manse with the same powers, not an intercon-
  nected piece of one large manse; in other words, the 
  chasms contain nine very similar demesnes, not one.
  THE SILVER-FLASH GROTTO
  LUNAR MANSE ••
  Shadows lie dark over a cave set in ice, above a 
  sheer cliff slick with frost. Silver chains stretch across 
  the entrance and through the interior caverns, hung 
  with icicles and woven with evening-colored blossoms 
  by the resident priest. Those silver-stemmed ﬂ owers take 
  root in the ice itself, growing in profusion throughout 
  the Grotto and opening beneath the light of the moon. 
  Snowﬂ ake-ﬁ ne panels of ice, shaped in circles and cres-
  cents, have been sculpted wherever it’s open to the sky, 
  reﬂ ecting Luna’s light back at her in homage.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  81
  A lineage of silent priests dwelled in the Grotto 
  for more than 1,000 years, but only one remains. 
  Wrapped in tattered robes, she spends her time in 
  contemplation, wandering through its secret places 
  and receiving food by lowering a basket 3,000 feet to 
  the ground below. The icewalkers keep up their tithes 
  of reindeer-meat and summer greens, but nothing 
  heavier can be exchanged—there are no materials 
  with which to construct a better-engineered lifting 
  system, and nothing strong and stable enough to sup-
  port it if there were.
  A bird-totemed Lunar has claimed the Grotto, but 
  he spends little time there and barely acknowledges 
  the priest. Silence and illiteracy impede her attempts 
  to communicate that she must ﬁ nd new acolytes; 
  she cannot seek them without his help, for a mortal 
  couldn’t possibly scale the cliff. Luna heeded her 
  desperate prayers and sent him a dream, but he didn’t 
  understand it. The hearthstone bearer may only learn 
  how necessary she is when she dies.
  A Lunar version of the jewel of the celestial man-
  darin (see p. 105) crystallizes in a moonsilver cage, set 
  in a ceiling crowded with icicles.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s rating of 2) x 2 + 3 
  Maintenance (silent priesthood) + 2 Fragility (thin 
  ice, ﬂ owers and ﬁ ne chains) = 9 Creation Points. The 
  Grotto is a Temple Manse (3, available to manses 
  of any level). A Veil of Shadow (2) protects many 
  corners under icy overhangs; those formations often 
  contain faux icicles of crystal that may be turned to 
  open Hidden Passages (2), likewise Veiled. A Comfort 
  Zone (1) makes the ice cave seem warm, while Well-
  Flavored Aspect (1) so far has not been enough to 
  help the priestess to communicate through gestures. 
  The Lunar just thinks she’s lonely.
  There must always be at least one silent priest or 
  Power Failure will ensue, but she need not constantly 
  stay in the Grotto as long as she continues to serve 
  Luna. Each priest’s initial dedication must occur there, 
  though. Nor may priests be mute or otherwise crippled: 
  the sacriﬁ ce comes from a whole self. Should the priest-
  hood meet with misfortune, at least one must always 
  be uninjured, or Power Failure will occur.
  THE INFINITELY UNFOLDING MANSE
  SIDEREAL MANSE ••• (BUILT ON DEMESNE ••••)
  When her 400-year-old uncle died, Ledaal Ghire-
  lle was annoyed to ﬁ nd she had inherited only a few 
  rice paddies and a lot of wasteland. She became more 
  interested when her new tenant farmers told her of a 
  “place of ﬂ oating folk and strange omens”: a demesne. It 
  wasn’t, however, like any demesne she’d ever seen before. 
  Ghirelle, a talented and ambitious sorcerer, decided to 
  see whether she could cap it herself—in secret, for she 
  didn’t wish to give the demesne up to her House.
  The local villagers informed her that the demesne 
  hadn’t been there 50 years before, but couldn’t tell 
  her how recently it had appeared. From her uncle’s 
  records, Ghirelle concluded that he hadn’t noticed 
  it before his death. She summarily slaughtered the 
  mutated residents, made a few examples of other lo-
  cals to keep the peasants quiet, and contacted an old 
  architect friend. After swearing him to secrecy, she 
  surveyed the land and got to work.
  Ghirelle grew more and more intrigued as her peas-
  ant and demons laborers built from their blueprints; 
  her friend, Peleps Jiro, grew more and more anxious. 
  They’d designed an Air manse, for Air seemed most 
  like the demesne’s aspect, but the building didn’t 
  cooperate. Granite blocks would lift themselves and 
  ﬂ oat to new locations. Departing one evening with 
  three ﬂ oors ﬁ nished, the two returned to ﬁ nd the 
  ﬂ oors reversed. The top of the manse ﬂ atly refused to 
  be roofed. Still, Ghirelle insisted that they push on, 
  and when the manse was furnished, she immediately 
  ﬂ oated in to attune while Jiro looked anxiously on.
  The manse was supposed to be tall and have a 
  lot of rooms, but they were also supposed to go in 
  order. Ghirelle noticed that the room at the end of 
  the ﬁ rst ﬂ oor’s hallway has a window looking down 
  from the seventh story. She doesn’t mind those things, 
  though—nor the fact that nothing has any weight in 
  the manse, and she’s had to learn to “swim” through 
  air. She enjoys just exploring the building, and ﬁ nds 
  herself more pleasantly surprised by Jiro’s unusual 
  decorative choices every time she goes further in. The 
  other day, she was thrilled to ﬁ nd a hall ﬁ lled with bells 
  that rang 10 seconds after she shook them, and she 
  can’t wait to perform some sorcerous experiments in 
  the room with the self-lighting candles.
  Jiro suspects that the underlying demesne is grow-
  ing in power, but he can’t ﬁ gure out why. He thinks 
  Ghirelle’s memories are being rearranged, like the 
  manse’s rooms, but fears her temper too much to speak 
  to her about it. Ghirelle vanishes within the manse 
  for days, but Jiro lacks the courage to go past the ﬁ rst 
  few rooms. Already, though, he can see how the rooms 
  Ghirelle comes to differ from the rooms he visits—and 
  from her increasingly incoherent descriptions, he’s sure 
  he didn’t draw blueprints for the distant places she’s 
  reached. Worse, he can’t imagine from where their 
  
  82
  contents come. And worst of all, it sounds as if the 
  geomantic inﬂ uences reshaping the physical laws of 
  the manse are actually changing in its faraway corners. 
  That, Jiro knows, just shouldn’t be possible.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s rating of 3) x 2 + 1 for 
  seasonal Maintenance of an Exalt expending every last 
  mote of her Essence pool = 7 Creation Points. Because it 
  caps a level 4 demesne, the Inﬁ nitely Unfolding Manse 
  has Essence Vents (1): small basins in every room gather 
  translucence ﬁ lled with sparks. The Puzzle Manse (3) 
  power causing the manse’s rooms to rearrange follows a 
  different pattern for each person who enters—the room 
  beyond a given door is set by the person who opens it. 
  Each pattern is based on that person’s star chart, and 
  one must learn one’s horoscope to solve it.
  As for the Wyld Revocation (3, brought down from 
  4 by matching aspect), Jiro’s right: It isn’t possible for 
  the power to inconsistently change Creation’s laws 
  throughout the manse. Jiro doesn’t realize that in addi-
  tion to removing gravity and an attuned resident’s need 
  to eat, the Wyld Revocation interacts with Puzzle Manse 
  to send explorers into alternate versions of the manse: 
  ways the manse might have been built, including different 
  packages of changes to Creation’s laws. There are no less 
  than 25 alternate manses, one for each constellation 
  of the Maidens; their study might provide insight into 
  Sidereal arts, if anyone knew what to look for.
  THE DROWNED MOSAICS OF SUMAN TZUNG
  WATER MANSE •• (DAMAGED; REPAIRABLE TO ••••)
  Suman Tzung was considered the greatest student 
  of Silur, a First Age sorcerer who founded a school of 
  magic based on communication and symbolism. Tzung 
  developed a mystically expressive runic language so well-
  constructed that Silurian sorcerers still use it today. In 
  particular, the sorcerers of the Heptagram value the runes, 
  and would like to learn them all. Sadly, Suman Tzung 
  created only one key to his language—tiled in mosaics 
  running through the 77 rooms of his home, a manse built 
  to ﬂ oat over the undersea demesne it capped.
  When the usurping Dragon-Blooded attacked 
  Tzung, they chipped his house’ curving porcelain walls 
  and broke the main indoor stairway. The manse sank 
  and historians believe it was destroyed—but it was built 
  with all the care and knowledge of the First Age.
  Tzung’s 11 ﬂ oors did not collapse, and none of his 
  diamond windows broke. On a seamount a mile beneath 
  the ocean’s surface now lies a manse with pearl-studded 
  walls, seashell carvings and rounded arches. Within, only 
  three rooms have ﬂ ooded; the rest are damp, but ﬁ lled 
  with air. Opening and closing an outside door quickly 
  enough will not even ﬂ ood the rest of the manse. (Clos-
  ing a door against the force of the ocean’s depths does 
  require a prodigious feat of strength, though.)
  The new ﬂ aws in the manse’s structure do make 
  themselves obvious. Freezing rain and hail suddenly fall 
  from the ceilings, while tsunamis rip through the great 
  hall. Previously unﬂ ooded rooms become waist-deep 
  in seawater, complete with ﬁ erce riptides and violent 
  whirlpools, then drain several days later. Fortunately, 
  Tzung’s tasteful glass furniture wasn’t necessary for the 
  manse’s geomancy: chairs and tables have shattered 
  in every corner. A person who spent much time in 
  the manse, even attuned, would suffer a similar fate, 
  battered and slashed by currents loaded with shattered 
  glass and dissolving Essence.
  Tzung’s mosaics were tiled in jade-alloy, however, 
  and they remain perfectly preserved. Because the mosa-
  ics were constructed by means of rituals that drew on 
  certain aspects of the medium, painted copies never 
  fully conveyed their power. If the manse were redis-
  covered, the Heptagram would send emissaries (and 
  navies) to view and claim the original runes.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s original rating of 4) x 2 
  = 8 Creation Points. Tzung’s manse could move be-
  tween its seamount demesne and the surface through 
  Limited Mobility (2). Doubled Comfort Zone (2) kept 
  it pleasantly warm and dry even under a mile of water. 
  Aesthetic rivulets ﬂ owed neatly around residents’ feet 
  and unwanted visitors were buffeted away by waves, 
  thanks to Water Dragon’s Will (2, taken down from 
  3 by matching aspect). Now that it’s lost two levels to 
  Power Failure, those powers keep it mostly ﬁ lled with 
  breathable air, but their damage causes its internal 
  storms as two levels of Essence Vents.
  The manse’s Archive (2) include the mosaics, 
  which—to sorcerers of Silur’s School only—offer a -5 
  difﬁ culty reduction to rolls made to research new spells, 
  a great secret replacing one specialty. The mosaics also 
  provide specialties in Calligraphy, Cryptography and 
  Arcane Symbolism.
  For more on Suman Tzung’s mosaics, Silur’s School, 
  and the Heptagram, see pages 33, 21 and 26-28 of The 
  White Treatise.
  THE HOUSE OF WELL-FAVORED ASPECT
  FIRE MANSE ••••
  The foremost geomantic academy in the world, the 
  Realm’s House of Well-Favored Aspect trains master 
  sorcerers and inexperienced youths alike. Its outstand-
  ing curriculum and willingness to instruct from the 
  ground up aren’t just a factor of sagacious professors, 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  83
  though. The manse itself, an incredible inheritance 
  from the Age of Splendor, also teaches.
  Mere residence in the black-and-red halls of the 
  House is an education. It may be the most beautiful 
  manse in the world, for it hasn’t just been built in reso-
  nance with its environment, but with the principles of 
  architectural harmony themselves. Every measurement 
  is faultlessly judged, every room an ode to the craft. The 
  ﬂ ames in each sconce leap to an ordained height, and 
  the long triangular windows, though crimson-edged, 
  ﬁ lter light of utter clarity. Living there, even the slaves 
  learn something of geomancy.
  Beginning students learn where to stand before the 
  manse’s jade pedestals and how to phrase their ques-
  tions (“House: Show me the 39 greater associations 
  of Air”). At ﬁ rst they watch in awe, later with great 
  attention as three-dimensional displays shimmer into 
  existence above them and a crackling, asexual voice 
  speaks their lesson. Often, they regret having to take 
  their advanced classes from people.
  Fire, observers agree, is not the best element for a 
  teaching environment. While graduates of the House 
  of Well-Favored Aspect are certainly knowledgeable, 
  many feel a strange intensity for their work. When 
  detachment might serve them better, these geomancers 
  fall in love with what they build. Their initial lessons 
  were of unparalleled completeness, but trained them 
  to throw themselves into their designs without wisdom 
  or emotional caution. Some weep when others live 
  in their manses; others prefer to die than let one be 
  damaged or restructured.
  The House’s hearthstone, a dark disc containing a 
  red ﬂ icker, rotates among senior instructors. Its bearer’s 
  player gains +6 to geomancy rolls, but only in places 
  the character loves.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s rating of 4) x 2 = 8 
  Creation Points. The manse’s inherently instructive 
  architecture is its Ability Enlightenment (4), dedicated 
  to Occult, Lore, Craft (Earth) and Linguistics. This 
  supersedes the centuries of accumulated lore about 
  manse construction, which would otherwise form 
  an Archive. Mela’s Sweet Whisper (2), the Glorious 
  Halo of Hesiesh (1, taken down from 2 by matching 
  aspect), Password Activations (1) and the Linguistics 
  4 from Ability Enlightenment all combine to provide 
  the curricula accessed by spoken questions.
  LOOKSHY’S BURIED FACTORY-CATHEDRAL
  SOLAR MANSE •• (DAMAGED; REPAIRABLE TO •••••)
  Most folk of Lookshy know their city has two 
  manses capping level 5 demesnes. Hardly anyone 
  knows their city actually surrounds a third, sunk deep 
  underground. Ancient Deheleshen was a jewel of the 
  Old Realm, important enough that the Solars gave the 
  city a supply of Essence rare even in those days.
  Deep under the twisting halls of Lookshy’s Acad-
  emy of Sorcery at Valkhawsen lies a ruined labyrinth 
  of tarnished metal. Advanced students learn they must 
  don full-body suits of spun orichalcum-steel to survive 
  walking under vents that shower them with glowing 
  heat. Even this special garb, however, could not protect 
  them from the tornadoes of golden-white ﬁ re that rage 
  in certain immense shafts and chambers. They also learn 
  they must never touch the huge spikes and shattered 
  plates of pure orichalcum so carefully placed around these 
  Essence-storms and at certain other locations. They see 
  huge sunbursts of copper and gold set in the vaulted 
  ceilings and between long-neglected altars, and know 
  they tread in a wrecked palace of the Anathema.
  Although this factory-cathedral’s forges and 
  altars are cold, it still needs Maintenance—for the 
  city’s safety. That maintenance takes the form of the 
  seasonal sacriﬁ ce of sentient, sun-aspected Essence. 
  Half-Caste children of Solar Exalted would sufﬁ ce. 
  An attuned Solar Exalt could also pay the price by 
  bleeding herself upon the central altar; she wouldn’t 
  need to die, but the manse would drain her down to 
  her -4 health level with aggravated damage.
  Solars and their descendants being hard to come 
  by, the General Staff addresses the problem by se-
  curing sunbeam people from the Bright Plateau (p. 
  56) and holding them in a greenhouse by means of 
  orichalcum nets. Unfortunately, they don’t breed as 
  often as they could, and the General Staff must send 
  occasional missions to the Plateau for more. Most of 
  the General Staff have convinced themselves that the 
  sunbeam people lack souls and were never human. It 
  helps that they don’t know their gestural language, 
  and can’t recognize their pleas for mercy.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s original rating of 5 x 2) + 
  4 Maintenance (sun-Essence sacriﬁ ces) = 14 Creation 
  Points. Lookshy’s factory-cathedral suffered three levels of 
  Power Failure in the Usurpation. The Sidereals intended 
  to destroy it, but not everything went their way in the 
  Usurpation: brave Dragon-Blooded technicians patched it 
  before it could explode from Essence buildup. The patches 
  also reduce the Maintenance so keeping several sunbeam 
  people captive sufﬁ ces to keep the manse powered, if not 
  functional. Visitors must also purify themselves by passing 
  through burning vents of Solar Essence while wearing 
  the orichalcum protective gear. It no longer deserves the 
  title of Factory-Cathedral (5) anymore: buried, it cannot 
  
  84
  send prayers to the Sun or receive the necessary bless-
  ing to construct artifacts. One Mind Within (5) once 
  bent every thinking creature within its walls to the task 
  of praying, defending it, and servicing its technologies, 
  but now, its vast halls stand quiescent. It can no longer 
  raise itself, in whole or in part, through Limited Mobility 
  (2) to meet the Sun. Only its Password Activations (1) 
  and Self-Destruct Sequence (1) still work—and only 
  Sidereals know of the latter.
  The broken orichalcum mirrors and shattered dia-
  mond lens-windows must be replaced, its metals polished, 
  and its golden spires raised to greet the Sun (using Limited 
  Mobility [2]) if a character wishes to repair this factory-
  cathedral. Unfortunately, the entire Lookshy Academy 
  of Sorcery is in the way. Still, the sorcerer-engineers 
  make use of the buried structure. The ferociously hot 
  Essence Vents that bleed off excess power can smelt any 
  metal and burn off physical and metaphysical impurities. 
  Since the sorcerer-engineers consider this desirable, the 
  Essence Vents [3] now constitute a power in their own 
  right, replacing some of what existed before.
  For more on Valkhawsen, see pages 24-26 of The 
  White Treatise.
  THE HIDDEN TABERNACLE
  ABYSSAL MANSE •••••
  At the heart of a gray tundra towers the most unfor-
  tunate shrine in Creation. Surrounded by bloody, tattered 
  banners, under which ghosts and men ﬁ ght side by side 
  with black swords and undead war-beasts, a golden temple 
  glows like a beacon. Banners, troops and citadel are 
  devoted to the glory of the Shining One, the Deathlord 
  known as the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible.
  A mufﬂ ed, discordant organ echoes through the 
  citadel’s doors. The single mortal guard warns visitors 
  that worship is not today. Beneath the Great Hall, 
  where the frozen organ moans unplayed and a basin of 
  smoking yellow water swirls slowly, dozens of narrow 
  tunnels split into hundreds—winding, intersecting and 
  descending into a cold, black world. Ghosts trail through 
  that echoing maze, seeking wisdom and truth. As their 
  corpus wastes away, they ﬁ nd only emptiness.
  The living are rarely foolish enough to venture into 
  the tunnels. They prefer to worship the Shining One 
  with violent piety. Thousands gather in the surrounding 
  ﬁ elds, in sects claiming the Tabernacle as their right 
  and reward. They come thousands of miles through 
  snow and war and know none are more ready to die 
  in the act of killing than they are—and do.
  Every seventh day, in makeshift shrines, survivors 
  engage in sectarian rituals, consuming bloodied snow 
  and scorched earth. Participants feel a transcendent 
  closeness to the Shining One and redouble their battles 
  the next day with eyes turned solid blue.
  Eventually, one faction wins. Victorious, they 
  venture to the Hidden Tabernacle as night falls at 
  noon. The guard informs them that they’re on time to 
  worship, and the sect’s head leads his followers in. He 
  assumes a position at the organ, which draws out his 
  blood and comes to life; as he drinks the yellow water, 
  it brightens to blue. In the most violent battle of all, 
  he consumes his cult before dying in agony. His body 
  becomes an undead horror, and his soul joins those 
  wandering the endless halls. The Tabernacle vanishes 
  as daylight returns, beginning anew in a different ﬁ eld 
  with a different ﬂ ock.
  Game Effects: (Manse’s rating of 5) x 2 = 10 
  Creation Points—but as an Inauspicious Citadel (5), 
  it deﬁ es normal Creation Point calculations. Its special 
  connection to the Neverborn makes it a Soul Prison (4) 
  for those who die within. The most potent ghosts become 
  its guardians, but the others wander the underways in 
  search of a truth they shall never ﬁ nd. Its hearthstone 
  is a gem of the night sky (see p. 103). The Bishop lives 
  there in contentment, surrounded by sweet incense, 
  thanks to pleasant Basic Conveniences (1). The Nev-
  erborn grow impatient; if he doesn’t expand his empire 
  soon, he may lose his ghostly prisoners.
  The Hidden Tabernacle is a universal truth. It could 
  be in any of 25 Northern shadowlands by means of 
  Alternate Locations (10). These regions are ﬁ lled with 
  religious battles; the bishop’s agents could use wars as 
  major undertakings to create new locations in shadow-
  lands. Its mystery is the catacombs, empty and dark to 
  the point where all are lost to Puzzle Manse (3).
  As the Bishop sits in his library and reads, the 
  books and the manse read him. As an Atelier-Manse 
  (4) devoted to Craft (Water) and, to a limited degree, 
  the Art of Alchemy, the Hidden Tabernacle brews 
  the mutagenic yellow toxin of his thoughts and mixes 
  it with the blood of his followers. The solution runs 
  through underground channels to taint the surround-
  ings, and his worshipers imbibe his absent will through 
  its Zone of Inﬂ uence (3)
  Insane as they seem, the Bishop’s followers are 
  his center and self. His worshipers abandon their 
  lives for their distant prophet, but even if they gain 
  their reward, they die cold and alone. This reﬂ ects the 
  Bishop’s philosophy; wars between cults are his own 
  introspection. His mind’s spiritual poisons have spread 
  through so many veins that his wisdom is unmatched, 
  and forever bodiless.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  85
  HEARTHSTONES
  Hearthstones straddle the line between artifacts 
  and natural wonders. Just as forging an artifact is ulti-
  mately similar to forging a sword or cutting and faceting 
  a precious stone, altering the structure of a manse to 
  create a hearthstone with speciﬁ c properties emerges 
  from other arts directly involving the natural world, 
  like growing bonsai or designing an echo chamber. Any 
  Essence-wielder can easily use a hearthstone if she pos-
  sesses its associated manse, but creating a hearthstone 
  is a complex task requiring both the correct sort of 
  demesne and much skill and patience.
  Some Exalts simply build whatever manse they can 
  and accept whatever hearthstone forms. Building (or 
  rebuilding) a manse so it produces a speciﬁ c hearth-
  stone uses the same process and dice pool as designing 
  a speciﬁ c power into a manse: the hearthstone’s dot 
  rating supplies the difﬁ culty. Most of the work to 
  reconﬁ gure a manse’s hearthstone takes place in its 
  hearthroom, the chamber where the magical stone 
  forms, but this does not reduce costs, difﬁ culty or 
  hazards in any way.
  Few hearthstones are unique, especially the stones of 
  lower power. Low-powered demesnes are both far more 
  numerous and considerably easier to shape and control 
  than powerful demesnes. As a result, many one- and 
  two-dot hearthstones listed here are quite common.
  HEARTHSTONES OF AIR
  GEM OF ECHOES (MANSE •)
  This oval black jewel glows softly with an inner 
  light. It distorts and creates echoes of any sounds its 
  bearer makes, such as footsteps or speech. This makes 
  the bearer harder to locate by sound, imposing a -2 
  external penalty to all Perception rolls to detect or 
  locate the bearer by sound.
  GEM OF VISITATIONS (MANSE •)
  This multicolored, multifaceted gem is an example 
  of an unusually specialized hearthstone. The possessor 
  of this hearthstone can opt to receive an incoming 
  Infallible Messenger mentally, without the visible and 
  audible cherub effect, and can store and redisplay at 
  will up to ﬁ ve Infallible Messenger missives. If the 
  gem’s owner casts Infallible Messenger herself, she can 
  give the spell multiple targets at a cost of 5 motes per 
  additional recipient, up to a maximum of ﬁ ve recipi-
  ents. Finally, the bearer can personalize the cherubic 
  display of the spell to a limited degree. However, the 
  voice from the magical messenger remains the same 
  as the character’s own.
  Sorcerer-architects have designed other hearth-
  stones to modify single spells, but all such hearthstones 
  are quite uncommon. Most sorcerers consider them a 
  waste of geomantic resources.
  GODSPEAKING TRILLION (AIR •)
  This hearthstone resembles a square-cut piece of 
  milky blue topaz. It gives the bearer’s voice the timbre 
  and intonation of one of members of the Council of 
  Winds. Air elementals and gods of weather, wind and 
  sky react more favorably to the character because he 
  sounds like one of them. The character’s player may 
  apply either a +2 bonus to all Social rolls when deal-
  ing with such entities, or reduce their difﬁ culties by 1 
  (to a minimum of 1). This includes Charms that must 
  exceed a target’s MDV to exert mental inﬂ uence, but 
  the player may not apply both advantages at once.
  JEWEL OF THE FLYING HEART (MANSE •)
  This blood-red, triangular stone increases the bearer’s 
  Dodge DV by one. (This bonus applies to the ﬁ nal value, 
  not the pool used to calculate it.) Setting this hearthstone 
  in an edged weapon also grants a +1 bonus to all Melee 
  attacks the bearer makes with that weapon.
  MEMORY STONE (MANSE •)
  The character who carries this iridescent white, 
  cubical hearthstone will never forget anything. Every 
  image or incident, from a face seen in a crowd last 
  week, to the contents of a treaty that he hurriedly read 
  HEARTHSTONE DUPLICATION
  The associations of elements and celestial 
  aspects overlap to some degree. Therefore, manses 
  of different aspects can sometimes produce func-
  tionally identical hearthstones. For instance, a 
  hearthstone that augments Martial Arts prowess 
  could come from a manse aspected to Water (the 
  Terrestrial caste that favors that Ability) or the 
  Sidereals (the most proﬁ cient martial artists in 
  Creation). Storytellers can reassign hearthstones 
  to different elemental or celestial aspects as they 
  see ﬁ t, or create duplicate stones.
  Hearthstones can also appear in versions of 
  greater or lesser power. A more powerful stone 
  might add successes instead of dice, augment a 
  wider range of activities or otherwise offer greater 
  beneﬁ ts; a less powerful stone might offer smaller 
  bonuses to dice pools, operate a limited number 
  of times per day, require Essence expenditures or 
  otherwise limit its power.
  
  86
  before being chased off by guards, will be remembered 
  in perfect and exact detail. The wearer’s player can even 
  make (Perception + Awareness) rolls after the fact for 
  his character to notice further details about an event. 
  Although this hearthstone does not allow the wearer 
  to learn Abilities, Charms or spells any faster or easier, 
  the wearer could read an ancient 1,000-page tome and 
  perfectly remember every word and illustration 50 
  years later. These unnaturally sharp memories begin 
  to fade to normal memories if the character ceases to 
  be attuned to this stone for more than one day.
  STONE OF QUICK THOUGHT (MANSE •)
  This red-and-silver-banded oval allows the bearer 
  to think faster and more clearly than usual. This stone 
  provides the bearer with a +1 bonus to all Wits rolls.
  STONE OF THE SPIDER’S EYE (MANSE •)
  Thin lines of pale blue run through this square, 
  white stone. This hearthstone grants the bearer the 
  ability to see through magical concealments. The stone 
  of the spider’s eye can either cancel up to -2 worth of 
  penalties to Perception rolls due to magical stealth or 
  concealment, or grant the bearer two bonus dice to 
  rolls to see through such enchantments. The bearer 
  cannot apply both bonuses to the same roll.
  CRYSTAL OF THE FROZEN NORTH (MANSE ••)
  Snowﬂ ake patterns run through this translucent 
  white, hexagonal crystal. The bearer becomes immune 
  to all natural cold: he can comfortably swim in an 
  ice-covered river or walk through a blizzard wearing 
  nothing but this stone. In addition, the bearer can 
  create cold by touch. Without spending any Essence, 
  the bearer can chill a warm drink. Spending 1 mote 
  allows her instantly to cool a red-hot sword without 
  taking damage, or to freeze a square yard of water 
  thick enough for a person to stand upon. Additional 
  motes allow the bearer to freeze more water. Freezing 
  a square yard of water well enough to allow a ridden 
  or heavily laden horse to cross it requires 2 motes per 
  square yard. This ice melts normally and in average 
  temperatures lasts several hours. The cold generated 
  by this stone cannot be used to put out ﬁ res—there’s 
  nothing solid enough to touch.
  JEWEL OF SWIFT COMPREHENSION (MANSE ••)
  This colorless ovoid of ice-clear crystal speeds the 
  comprehension of visual information, from reading a 
  text to searching a room. The bearer may accomplish 
  such tasks a number of times faster than normal equal 
  to her permanent Essence +1, without any loss of 
  detail or understanding. A character with an Essence 
  of 3 could thus read four times faster than normal. In 
  addition, this jewel also reduces the difﬁ culty of all 
  Lore and Investigation rolls that involve reading or 
  visual observation by 2 (to a minimum of 1).
  PURIFYING MERCY STONE (MANSE ••)
  This hexagonal crystal of clear rock quartz puri-
  ﬁ es the air around its wearer, keeping him safe from 
  smoke, poisonous gases or even the stench of open 
  sewers. This bubble of pure air extends for two yards 
  around the bearer, so anyone who stays close to him 
  is similarly protected. Smoke and visible vapors swirl 
  around this sphere, clearly outlining its boundaries. 
  The hearthstone does not allow the bearer to breathe 
  underwater or in the absence of air, but it completely 
  puriﬁ es the most poisonous air.
  SAVANT’S ICY EYE (MANSE ••)
  This cube of imperishable, clear-blue ice contains 
  a myriad of shifting, crystalline patterns and shapes. 
  The bearer instantly knows the exact number of objects 
  that he can see and can estimate with almost perfect 
  accuracy the total number of objects present if he can 
  only see a portion of them. He knows the number of 
  trees in a forest, soldiers on a battleﬁ eld or gemstones 
  in a vault. This hearthstone also grants the bearer the 
  ability to work with these ﬁ gures with inhuman speed 
  and accuracy. The savant’s icy eye grants ﬁ ve bonus dice 
  to any task that involves numbers and calculation.
  STONE OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS (MANSE ••)
  This opaque blue-and-white lens gives the bearer 
  an instant sense of the intentions and immediate 
  concerns of anyone she encounters for the ﬁ rst time. 
  This sense occurs the moment the bearer begins to talk 
  with or listen to the person. However, the stone only 
  provides information about a single target per day. This 
  stone also provides no information about someone’s 
  general personality or trustworthiness.
  WIND JEWEL (MANSE ••)
   This transparent, sky blue oval enables its wearer 
  to control minor winds and light breezes within 10 
  yards. The bearer can easily perform simple feats such 
  as clearing a room of smoke in a few moments, blow-
  ing out torches or stilling the wind enough to prevent 
  uncovered candles from blowing out. Occasionally, 
  tiny breezes play around the wearer when he feels 
  some strong emotion.
  The wearer can also precisely direct the wind so 
  that it extinguishes only one candle in a candelabrum 
  or rifﬂ es the pages of a single open tome, while not 
  disturbing the other papers on a table. The character’s 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  87
  player must succeed at a (Wits + Larceny) roll to 
  perform such exacting feats. Failure mean that either 
  the wind cannot achieve the desired task, or that it 
  also affected nearby objects, while a botch means that 
  the wind affected something quite different from what 
  the character intended.
  In addition, the bearer can summon a moderately 
  strong breeze to help or hinder a ship. This wind adds 
  or subtracts up to 10 miles per hour from the speed of 
  any single craft up to the size of a yacht or small cargo 
  vessel and up to 5 miles per hour for larger ships. 
  GEM OF ELEMENTAL TRAVEL (MANSE •••)
  This hexagonal, brilliant-red hearthstone allows 
  the bearer to walk safely over any generally horizon-
  tal or gradually inclined surface, including water, 
  lava, mud, ice, quicksand, on top of a ﬁ eld of grain 
  or on any similar terrain. The bearer can move over 
  these surfaces without injury, slowed movement or 
  an increased chance of slipping or falling. However, 
  this stone does allow its bearer the ability to walk on 
  air, walk up walls or on ceilings. The stone only al-
  lows horizontal movement over a liquid or an at least 
  somewhat solid surface.
  GEM OF FORGETTING (MANSE •••)
  This smooth hearthstone is shaped like an ar-
  rowhead and covered in swirls of light and dark red. 
  Anyone who meets the bearer cannot clearly remember 
  her afterward. Even moments after seeing the bearer, 
  no one can describe anything about her appearance, 
  dress or mannerisms. Repeated and prolonged meet-
  ings gradually counter this effect, allowing the bearer’s 
  family and close companions to remember him clearly. 
  Remembering the bearer after one encounter requires 
  a successful (Intelligence + Awareness) roll at difﬁ culty 
  3. Repeated or extended contact lowers this difﬁ culty 
  by 1 per full day spent largely in the wearer’s presence, 
  or by 1 for every three shorter encounters.
  GEMSTONE OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE (MANSE •••)
  This blue-green prism allows the bearer to under-
  stand and speak any language or dialect, no matter its 
  origin. However, the stone’s power does not extend 
  to written language. The bearer can understand and 
  speak any spoken language as if it were her native 
  tongue, but cannot read or write any language she 
  has not learned.
  JEWEL OF WHISPERS (MANSE •••)
  The owner of this dark blue cabochon can hear any 
  sound occurring near the jewel as if she were actually 
  present at that spot, regardless of her distance from 
  
  88
  the stone. She can also speak and make her voice 
  come from the jewel. To use this stone, the bearer 
  need only leave it someplace she wishes to eavesdrop. 
  She can then recall the stone to her over any distance. 
  By merely willing it, she causes the stone to vanish 
  and instantly reappear in its setting. If the owner 
  wishes to recall this gem, no other hearthstones can 
  be placed in the setting it last occupied.
  KEY OF MASTERY (MANSE •••)
  This ﬂ at, crystalline rectangle is normally clear but 
  becomes cloudy when attuned to a spell. By attuning this 
  stone to a speciﬁ c sorcery spell, the bearer can reduce that 
  spell’s mote cost by (her own Essence x 2). However, this 
  stone cannot reduce a spell’s cost by more than half. Also, 
  no combination of this stone with similar effects (such 
  as the No Moon Caste ability) can reduce a spell’s cost 
  below 1 mote. While the user can possess more than one 
  of these stones, only one can be attuned to a particular 
  spell. Attuning this stone requires the bearer to meditate 
  quietly with the stone for a number of hours equal to the 
  normal Essence cost of this spell.
  STONE OF EASY BREATH (MANSE •••)
  The bearer of this cloudy, almond-shaped gem 
  can breathe easily in any surroundings, such as at high 
  altitudes, in smoke or toxic gases, or even underwater 
  or buried alive.
  LIGHTNING ROD GEMSTONE (MANSE ••••)
  This short, faceted rod of deep purple renders the 
  bearer completely immune to electricity. Any electri-
  cal discharge, whether natural or magical, that would 
  strike within 10 yards of the bearer is instead drawn 
  into the stone and harmlessly absorbed.
  STONE OF AIRWALKING (MANSE ••••)
  This spherical white stone looks like a tiny, solidi-
  ﬁ ed cloud. Whenever the bearer of this stone desires, 
  she can walk upon the air instead of the ground. 
  Although she still moves at her normal movement 
  rate, the character can walk safely across water or 
  quicksand by walking on a layer of air lying above 
  the surface. In addition, the character can walk up 
  or down the air as easily as others walk up or down a 
  staircase. With sufﬁ cient climbing, the character can 
  walk along miles above the ground. If the character 
  trips or is knocked down, however, she can still fall 
  to her death unless she can get her feet under her; her 
  player must successfully roll (Dexterity + Athletics) at 
  difﬁ culty 3. Also, the stone only allows the character 
  herself to move in this fashion. Any steed she rides 
  must still travel along the ground.
  TWICE-STRIKING LIGHTNING PRISM (MANSE ••••)
  This prism-shaped crystal appears at once metallic 
  and transparent. By spending one Willpower point, the 
  bearer can reﬂ exively add 2 to her Essence rating for 
  calculating the effects of a single Charm or spell. As 
  long as the bearer has sufﬁ cient Willpower to spend, 
  she can use this stone as often as desired—but the 
  stone does not enable a character to learn Charms 
  above her normal Essence.
  GEM OF THE WIND’S SECRETS (MANSE •••••)
  This hearthstone, a ﬂ awless diamond the size of 
  a man’s ﬁ st, was never meant to be worn. The only 
  known example of this stone comes from the Aviary 
  in Lookshy, where it tracks the various ﬂ ying vessels 
  and creatures in and around the city.
  When anyone attuned to the Aviary touches 
  this stone, it projects an image of every thing that 
  ﬂ ies within 100 miles around itself. This projection 
  clearly differentiates all ﬂ ying vessels by their size, 
  airspeed and direction (in relation to the Aviary). 
  The user can then sort this projection to eliminate 
  small objects such as birds or bats. He can also magnify 
  any individual image so that it appears as it would if 
  the user was within 500 yards away on a clear sunlit 
  day, regardless of the actual light levels. This stone 
  even reveals dematerialized spirits: only Celestial or 
  Solar Circle sorcery or Charms that require an Essence 
  of 4 or more can hide a ﬂ ying object or individual 
  from this stone.
  THIRD HAND ORB (MANSE •••••)
  This smooth silver oval can store any sorcery spell 
  within it, so that its bearer can later release it. To use 
  this stone, the bearer must ritually attune it to a spell 
  she knows. This takes as many hours as the base Essence 
  cost of the spell, without interruptions. At the end of 
  this ritual, she casts the spell into the hearthstone. She 
  may then release this spell as a reﬂ exive action at any 
  time, as if cast by the wearer. The spell stored inside 
  the Third Hand Orb is lost if the stone is ever caught 
  within the radius of a Countermagic spell sufﬁ cient to 
  dispel the spell inside. Essence committed to casting 
  the spell is committed until the spell is released.
  HEARTHSTONES OF EARTH
  GEM OF DIGNITY (MANSE •)
  This transparent, egg-shaped stone glows with a 
  soft light. It enhances the bearer’s dignity and poise, 
  so that any social attacks to make him look foolish or 
  stupid are at +2 difﬁ culty.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  89
  GEMSTONES OF SYNCHRONICITY (MANSE •)
  A few manses are designed to divide their power 
  among multiple hearthstones. These octagonal, 
  bright green crystals always form in groups of two or 
  more—one for each dot of the manse’s power. Mul-
  tiple characters attuned to the manse can each bear a 
  Gemstone of Synchronicity and regain Essence as they 
  normally would from a one-dot hearthstone.
  Each bearer can faintly sense the pains and emotions 
  of the others. Although this can be unpleasant at times, 
  only the most extreme pain can cause serious distraction. 
  In such cases, the other bearers suffer no more than a 
  one die penalty to all actions. If one of the bearers dies, 
  the others feel her death as a searing pain of the heart 
  that lasts for a full minute before easing. Each bearer 
  also knows the distance and direction of all the other 
  stone bearers. Most importantly, however, when bearers 
  of these hearthstones ﬁ ght side by side, they gain a +1 
  bonus to attempts to coordinate their attacks.
  HARDENED SPIRIT GEMSTONE (MANSE •)
  This octagon of dark, perfectly clear amethyst 
  grants its bearer one additional die to all Conviction 
  rolls, including rolls to regain Willpower. The bearer 
  must have a permanent Willpower of 6+ or a Convic-
  tion rating of 3+ to gain this beneﬁ t.
  STONE OF BREATH (MANSE •)
  This circular hearthstone is pale green, ﬂ at and 
  opaque. It allows the bearer to breathe with maxi-
  mum ease and efﬁ ciency in all circumstances. This 
  improved breath provides an additional three dice to 
  all Resistance rolls.
  STONE OF COMFORT (MANSE •)
  Although this hearthstone looks like a simple 
  oval of white jade, it can impart the calm stability of 
  elemental Earth to a troubled and damaged mind. Once 
  per day, its bearer may touch the stone to someone 
  who suffers from a derangement and ease that person’s 
  insanity for a scene.
  STONE OF EARTH’S BLOOD (MANSE •)
  This oval stone is marbled with russet and maroon. 
  This stone can temporarily save the bearer’s life if he is 
  poisoned, or grant him a short period of sobriety during 
  an evening of debauchery. By spending 1 mote of Essence 
  per minute, the user can completely defer the effects of 
  any poison or intoxicant in his system. If the character 
  stops spending or runs out of Essence, the full effects of 
  the poison or intoxicant instantly return. The stone does 
  not eliminate or shorten the effects of alcohol, drugs or 
  poisons; it merely puts them off until later.
  STONE OF HUMBLE GLORY (MANSE •)
  This faceted pentagonal jewel shines like a sil-
  very mirror. The bearer’s player gains a bonus equal 
  to the average of her character’s Conviction and 
  Temperance (round up) to any Social roll where 
  the character tells the truth without exaggeration 
  or deliberate deception.
  COLD IRON BAUBLE (MANSE ••)
  These small spherical hearthstones of black iron 
  are relatively common on the Blessed Isle, especially 
  in Earth manses near the Imperial Mountain. How-
  ever, they are most treasured in those portions of 
  the Threshold that adjoin the Wyld. Any weapon 
  ﬁ tted with a cold iron bauble inﬂ icts aggravated 
  damage to Fair Folk, just as if the weapon itself was 
  made of cold iron. This hearthstone also inﬂ icts a 
  -1 external penalty on any Fair Folk powers used 
  against its bearer.
  EYE OF THE FIRST GOAT (MANSE ••)
  This stone looks like a pale orange eye with a slit-
  ted, dark red pupil. Its bearer’s player gains a bonus to 
  all Athletics rolls equal to one-half of his character’s 
  Temperance, rounded up. In addition, the bearer gains 
  a +1 bonus to any Melee attacks made with a blunt 
  weapon set with this hearthstone.
  GEM OF PERFECTION (MANSE ••)
  This smooth, moss-green oval enables its bearer to 
  ignore the effects of any long-term injuries, scars or birth 
  defects. Congenital conditions, paralysis and chronic 
  pain all instantly vanish. It can even restore missing 
  limbs or organs, although an entire limb requires two 
  months to regenerate. The bearer cannot ignore penal-
  ties from recently suffered wounds, but after a week of 
  healing all remaining wound penalties vanish. After 
  carrying this stone for two months, all of the Crip-
  pling effects of injuries and defects are permanently 
  restored. Such beneﬁ ts do not reverse themselves if 
  the character later loses the hearthstone.
  The Exalted seldom suffer long-term crippling, but 
  the Gem of Perfection trumps any enduring damage 
  induced by Charms. It also heals damage from wounds 
  suffered before Exaltation. Enlightened mortals, who 
  learned to Channel Essence without Exaltation, value 
  the Gem of Perfection even more highly.
  KILL-HAND GEM (MANSE ••)
  This greenish-black stone is shaped like a jagged-
  edged triangle. When desired, it hardens the bearer’s 
  hands and feet, allowing him to deal lethal damage 
  with all unarmed attacks.
  
  90
  SPHERE OF BALANCE (MANSE ••)
  The bearer of this white-veined, dark-green orb 
  gains superb balance and stability on her feet. Whether 
  walking along a tightrope or dashing along wet ice, 
  her Athletics is treated as 4 greater than it really is for 
  purposes of keeping her balance on unstable footing (see 
  Exalted, p. 155). If that isn’t enough for the character 
  to keep her balance automatically, the (Dexterity + 
  Athletics) roll for her to avoid falling still receives a 
  +2 bonus. So do rolls to resist knockdown.
  A similar, three-dot hearthstone gives its bearer 
  perfect balance and renders him completely unable 
  to be knocked off his feet, so long as he keeps at least 
  one foot on the ground.
  SPIDER’S EYE STONE (MANSE ••)
  The sparkling blue veins in this smooth gray 
  stone resemble a spider web. This hearthstone’s bearer 
  can see through the eyes of any spider within a 10-
  yard radius. This effect also works on all spider-like 
  creatures, including anuhles (spider-demons), spider 
  beastmen, Lunar Exalted in spider form and other 
  spider-like creatures.
  STONE OF THE EARTHWEB (MANSE ••)
  Black veins crawl across this rough, light-gray oc-
  tagon. An Exalt bearing this hearthstone never need 
  fear sneak attacks or stumbling around in the dark. 
  While wearing it, the Exalt can feel the earth around 
  her just as a spider can feel the strands of its web. 
  Within a radius of 10 yards, the Exalt feels everything 
  resting upon the ground or on the same ﬂ oor that she 
  stands upon. She can feel size, approximate weight 
  and any movement of all such objects and individuals. 
  A large chest would be a heavy rectangular weight, 
  while even the most carefully hidden assassin would 
  feel like a live person standing very still.
  So long as the bearer stands upon the ground 
  or a ﬂ oor that is built directly upon the ground, 
  she can feel everything upon the ground that is 
  within her range. However, if she stands on the 
  upper story of a building, then these perceptions 
  only apply to objects and people resting upon that 
  upper ﬂ oor. Also, the mystical perception granted 
  by the hearthstone does not extend to anything 
  that is not on the ﬂ oor. Hanging lamps or assassins 
  crouching on desks cannot be felt with this item 
  (although the desk might seem oddly heavy). In 
  addition, the character will not trip over obstacles 
  in the dark or suffer other penalties to movement 
  based on poor visibility.
  GEM OF SAFE HARVEST (MANSE •••)
  This hearthstone looks like an irregular lump of 
  unpolished, dark-yellow amber. It transmutes anything 
  eaten or drunk by the bearer into safe and nourishing 
  food. Nothing the bearer ingests can cause her any harm, 
  even if it is poisoned with the deadliest alchemical 
  venom. The bearer ﬁ nds a diet of seawater, Yozi venom 
  and fragments of driftwood to be as safe and nourishing 
  as the ﬁ nest meals served to princes and kings.
  GEMSTONE OF THE BROTHER’S BOND 
  (MANSE •••)
  These stones seem like smooth, water-worn pebbles 
  made from a mixture of the ﬁ ve colors of jade. The 
  bearer can attune herself to all other individuals attuned 
  to the manse simply by spending a point of Willpower. 
  This link precisely duplicates the effects of the spell 
  Sworn Brothers’ Oath (see The Manual of Exalted 
  Power—The Dragon-Blooded, pp. 122-123), except 
  that the Oathbond has a ﬁ xed rating of 5.
  GEMSTONE OF THE WHITE JADE TREE 
  (MANSE •••)
  This blue-violet cabochon glows with a pale inner 
  light. This stone hardens the bearer’s skin; any damage 
  the character suffers after soak is cut in half (round-
  ing all fractions upward). This same hardness reduces 
  the possessor’s movement speed by half, rounding all 
  fractions down. This penalty applies to all forms of 
  movement, but can be cancelled by removing the stone 
  from its setting. Doing this also instantly cancels the 
  stone’s beneﬁ cial effects.
  JEWEL OF THE MASTER’S HAND (MANSE •••)
  Intricate copper ﬁ ligree covers this rich brown orb. 
  Its bearer gains extra deftness and insight into artiﬁ ce. 
  The hearthstone gives a +4 bonus to Craft (Earth) rolls, 
  a +2 bonus to Craft rolls aspected to other elements, 
  and a +1 bonus to esoteric Crafts such as Magitech, 
  Moliation or Glamour.
  STONE OF TEMPERANCE (MANSE •••)
  This oval, sea-blue stone gives its bearer three 
  additional dice to all Temperance rolls (allowing 
  the character’s Temperance dice pool to exceed ﬁ ve 
  dice). This includes channeling Willpower through 
  the Virtue (see Exalted, p. 129). However, the bearer’s 
  player must roll the character’s Temperance whenever 
  the character wishes to act contrary to this Virtue, and 
  the stone’s bonus dice also count toward these rolls. 
  The bearer of this hearthstone becomes exceptionally 
  resistant to temptation, bribery or corruption. However, 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  91
  he also becomes virtually incapable of bias, deception, 
  betrayal or impulsive action. There are similar hearth-
  stones aligned with the other three Virtues.
  EARTH-COMMANDING STONE (MANSE ••••)
  This rough-textured stone looks like a sphere of 
  ﬁ red red clay. It allows the bearer to shape and com-
  mand unworked earth and stone. Without spending any 
  Essence, she can shape unworked stone by hand as if it 
  were soft clay. This stone resumes its normal hardness 
  as soon as the character ceases to touch it. Sculpting 
  anything complicated or precise certainly requires some 
  sort of Craft (Earth) roll, set by the Storyteller.
  The stone’s bearer can also command dirt, mud, 
  gravel and unworked stone at a distance by spending 
  2 motes of Essence per action. If she does this, she can 
  cause the land within (Essence x 5) yards of her to shape 
  itself into any form it could naturally assume, including 
  rounded walls, deep pits and similar forms. The area 
  shaped in a single action, however, is limited to (Es-
  sence) yards in any direction. These changes require 
  one minute to complete, because earth moves slowly, 
  and the character must concentrate on directing the 
  ground during this entire time. As a result, this stone 
  cannot be used to attack anyone who can move. If the 
  bearer spends 7 motes of Essence, she can control the 
  earth in this fashion for one full scene.
  STONE OF REFUGE (MANSE ••••)
  This dark green gem looks like a rough, uncut crystal. 
  Its bearer can sink into and become a part of the ground. 
  She can only enter surfaces made from dirt, gravel, mud, 
  or stone that is part of the earth. Paving stones or a tiled 
  ﬂ oor cannot be entered, but the wearer can fade into 
  ﬂ oors made by pounding and grading the local dirt or 
  smoothing and polishing the native stone. Once inside 
  the ground, no trance of the bearer’s presence can be 
  seen, heard or smelled. However, Charms for magical 
  perceptions, such as All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight, 
  instantly reveal her presence.
  Minor damage to the ground, such as removing a 
  handful of dirt or heavy things falling, does not disturb 
  the character. However, digging into the ground above 
  her inﬂ icts one level of bashing damage on the bearer and 
  immediately forces her out of the ground. The character 
  cannot see anything while merged with the ground, 
  but she can hear events on the surface as well as if she 
  were in a nearby room. She can also feel the vibration 
  of heavy footfalls or other movement above. The bearer 
  will starve as normal, but cannot suffocate. The character 
  may emerge whenever she wishes; entering or leaving 
  the ground is a standard miscellaneous action.
  WILLSTONE OF THE STRATEGOS (MANSE ••••)
  This bright-red, spindle-shaped hearthstone has a 
  dark-purple center. This stone provides the commander of 
  any battle with profound insights into the likely course of 
  events and how he can use his troops to best effect. When 
  in mass combat, the player can roll the character’s (Wits 
  + War) as a Speed 3, -0 DV action: Every two successes 
  scored (round up) adds 1 to her unit’s Valor, and every 
  four successes (round up) adds 1 to all of the unit’s other 
  dice pools involving mass combat. If this stone raises 
  the combat unit’s Valor above 5, the soldiers become 
  temporarily immune to fear and will not fail any Valor 
  checks until their Valor falls to 5 or lower.
  The commander must be able to communicate 
  with her troops to grant them these beneﬁ ts. Also, all 
  bonuses are reduced by one every 6 mass combat ticks. 
  Bonuses gained from successive rolls do not stack, but 
  higher rolls can supplant earlier rolls at the bearer’s 
  option. Charms (including Excellencies) cannot be 
  used to improve the (Wits + War) pool, but the char-
  acter can channel Virtues to do so—Valor is always 
  appropriate, and Conviction normally is.
  IRON SOUL STONE (MANSE •••••)
  This smooth, rounded gray stone looks like an 
  ordinary rock with no special properties. However, it 
  protects its bearer and everything he wears or carries 
  from all effects of the Wyld. It also inﬂ icts one level of 
  aggravated damage every 5 ticks to any Wyld-touched 
  creature (including the Fair Folk and mortals assimi-
  lated by the Wyld) who comes within ﬁ ve yards of 
  the bearer. Wyld creatures killed by this deadly power 
  vanish in a puff of ﬁ ne dust.
  All creatures associated with the Wyld can sense 
  the stone’s deadly cold from 15 yards away. Also, all Fair 
  Folk within a mile instantly sense if the bearer brings 
  this stone into any portion of the Wyld deeper than 
  the Bordermarches. Nearby Fair Folk may attempt to 
  destroy the stone and its bearer, drive the bearer out of 
  the Wyld, or simply ﬂ ee, as they judge their strength 
  compared to the stone’s bearer’s.
  HEARTHSTONES OF FIRE
  GEM OF NIGHT VISION (MANSE •)
  As ﬁ re gives light in darkness, so the bearer of this 
  clear, crystal cabochon can see in any non-magical 
  darkness as if he had a bonﬁ re… without the need for 
  a light source that might give him away to an enemy. 
  Even in complete absence of light, the bearer sees 
  clearly out to 10 yards and murkily out to 20 yards. 
  (See Exalted, p. 135, for rules about poor visibility.)
  
  92
  IGNITION GEM (MANSE •)
  This clear, reddish-orange teardrop enables its 
  bearer to ignite any ﬂ ammable material simply by 
  touching it with the stone and breathing on it gently. 
  The stone produces a brief magical spark. All ﬁ res lit 
  by an ignition gem are completely ordinary from then 
  on and can be extinguished normally.
  JEWEL OF FIRE SENSE (MANSE •)
  The bearer of this translucent red sphere can sense 
  all sources of ﬁ re within one mile. The player rolls 
  (Perception + Awareness) at difﬁ culty 2. Each success 
  lets the character know the direction, distance and ap-
  proximate size of every ﬁ re within range, starting with 
  the largest and working down in size. This hearthstone 
  provides no other information about the local terrain. 
  In the Far North, however, it gives invaluable aid to 
  ﬁ nding nearby settlements.
  MEMORIAL IRON (MANSE •)
  This hearthstone looks like a smooth nugget of 
  polished iron. Its bearer can vividly recall (and mentally 
  relive) any particularly positive and will-reinforcing 
  memory. This recollection ﬁ res her resolve, enabling 
  her to recover one point of temporary Willpower each 
  day. This is in addition to any Willpower recovered 
  through the normal, daily Conviction roll.
  STONE OF CIRCULATION (MANSE •)
  This translucent green oval improves the bearer’s 
  blood circulation, aiding her survival in harsh climates. 
  Although it cannot prevent environmental damage 
  from extreme heat or cold, it does grant a +1 bonus 
  to any Stamina or Resistance rolls concerned with 
  enduring heat, cold or dehydration.
  HEARTHSTONES AND THE UNEXALTED
  Although the Exalted and other Essence-
  channelers gain the greatest benefit from 
  hearthstones, they have limited uses for mere 
  mortals, too. Some artifacts draw power from 
  hearthstones without the need for anyone to 
  attune to the stone or its manse. For instance, 
  a crew of mortals could operate a hearthstone-
  powered Essence cannon (see Wonders of the 
  Lost Age, p. 131). Some thaumaturgical rituals 
  might also beneﬁ t from incorporating hearth-
  stones of a suitable aspect as a reusable ingredient 
  or source of Essence.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  93
  STONE OF PASSION (MANSE •)
  This dark-purple teardrop improves the sound 
  and quality of its bearer’s voice whenever the bearer 
  speaks about a topic about which he cares deeply. 
  The bearer’s player gains one additional die on all 
  Charisma and Manipulation-based rolls that have to 
  do with such topics.
  STONE OF THE LIGHT SLEEPER (MANSE •)
  A glowing sunburst marks this ﬁ ery red disk. It 
  enables the bearer to awaken instantly and with no 
  clumsiness or confusion. Also, the bearer awakens at 
  the slightest touch or unusual noise, which can make 
  it difﬁ cult for her to sleep in a noisy location such as 
  the common room of an inn.
  BATTLE FIRE RUBY (MANSE ••)
  This hearthstone is a ﬁ ne ruby with 10 identical, kite-
  shaped facets. This stone continually ﬁ lls the bearer with 
  aggression and certainty. When rolling the character’s 
  Conviction or Valor, add two dice to the roll. Likewise, 
  when rolling Compassion or Temperance, subtract two 
  dice from the roll (to a minimum of one die).
  GEM OF SEDUCTION (MANSE ••)
  This deep purple hexagon changes to dark blue 
  in bright sunlight. It makes the bearer seem more at-
  tractive, especially to anyone to whom he is attracted. 
  The gem gives a +1 bonus to all Appearance rolls or 
  +3 to any rolls involving seduction.
  GEMSTONE OF LAST RESORT (MANSE ••)
  This smooth, dull-brown stone is speckled with 
  black. Its bearer can ignore all wound penalties during 
  a combat. When the character reaches Incapacitated, 
  this effect ends immediately, and he can still die. The 
  bearer can choose to invoke or cancel the stone’s 
  power at will. Wounds sustained while the bearer used 
  this power take twice as long to heal, and the Essence 
  cost of any Charms or other magics used to heal these 
  wounds is doubled.
  HEARTH’S FIRE (MANSE ••)
  This orange-and-red crystal looks like a frozen 
  tongue of ﬂ ame. It bursts into ﬂ ames the instant the 
  bearer places it on any solid surface. Regardless of the 
  weather, the stone creates a ﬁ re two meters in diam-
  eter, which burns without fuel and is hot enough to 
  keep a dozen people warm and dry even in heavy rain 
  or extreme cold. The stone will ignite a ﬂ ammable 
  surface. The bearer may safely snuff the ﬁ re with a 
  thought. Otherwise, it burns until sunlight strikes it 
  on the following dawn.
  PRISM OF FOCUSED PASSION (MANSE ••)
  This prism-shaped carnelian allows the bearer to 
  inﬂ ame passions in others. The bearer can amplify 
  any emotion, turning vague resentment into raging 
  jealousy, slight nervousness into unbridled terror or 
  mild attraction into panting lust. The bearer of a prism 
  of focused passion gains three additional dice on all 
  Presence or Performance rolls designed to inﬂ ame 
  emotions. Also, for purposes of resisting these inﬂ amed 
  passions a target’s Temperance is treated as if it were 
  two points less than it is (to a minimum of 1). The 
  latter effect works only on a single target at a time.
  THE SENTINEL’S STONE (MANSE ••)
  Narrow black streaks run through this spherical, 
  smoky-white stone. At night, the streaks seem to 
  move in a slow circle. The stone grants a +1 bonus 
  to all Awareness rolls, increasing to +3 if the bearer 
  speciﬁ cally stands watch.
  DISCORD STONE (MANSE •••)
  The bearer of this dark-blue disc can make people 
  around her argue and disagree. The character can affect 
  (Essence x 2) people, and this power can only be used 
  once per day. To affect a target, the bearer must be within 
  10 feet and her player must win a resisted (Essence + 
  Willpower) roll. If the target succeeds, his moment of 
  truculence passes. Otherwise, his player must succeed 
  at a Temperance roll or spend a Willpower point for the 
  character to resist any opportunity to argue with another 
  person. The effect lasts for half a day, or until the charac-
  ter spends three Willpower points. After the effect ends, 
  targets whose players successfully roll (Intelligence + 
  Occult), difﬁ culty 3, realize that these pugnacious urges 
  were some form of unnatural mental inﬂ uence.
  FIRE DRAGON’S SCALE (MANSE •••)
  This wedge-shaped piece of cat’s eye protects its 
  bearer with heat drawn from the Elemental Pole of Fire. 
  The stone channels this heat into any melee weapon 
  that strikes the bearer. Metal weapons instantly become 
  red hot and wooden weapons catch ﬁ re. The player of 
  the weapon’s wielder must succeed at a Willpower roll, 
  difﬁ culty 3, or the wielder drops the weapon. Even if this 
  roll succeeds, however, the attacker suffers environmen-
  tal damage from holding onto the burning or heated 
  weapon (1L/action damage, trauma 1). Fire-aspected 
  Terrestrial Exalted who have ignited their animas are 
  immune to the effects of this hearthstone.
  GEM OF DESIRE (MANSE •••)
  This transparent yellow hearthstone is shaped like 
  a faceted heart. Once per day, the bearer can inﬂ ame 
  
  94
  someone with desire for some speciﬁ c object or person. 
  Such desires can range from a sudden thirst for any 
  strong alcohol to a passion for a speciﬁ c person. To 
  inﬂ ict this desire on someone, the bearer’s player must 
  succeed in a reﬂ exive, resisted (Willpower + Essence) 
  roll while the character is no more than 10 yards from 
  the target. If the target succeeds, she is unaffected by 
  this desire. If she fails, she feels this until the sun next 
  rises. If she botches this roll, she feels this desire for 
  the next week. For this duration, the target must make 
  a Willpower roll with a difﬁ culty equal to half the 
  bearer’s Essence (round up) to avoid any opportunity 
  to satisfy her desire.
  GEM OF THE BURNING HOUSE (MANSE •••)
  This two-inch cube of polished crimson stone 
  makes the bearer and everything he wears or car-
  ries immune to all harm from normal heat and ﬁ res, 
  including any damage caused by smoke inhalation. 
  The bearer could enter a burning building or wade in 
  lava without harm, but would still take damage from 
  an attack with magical ﬁ re or Charms such as Fiery 
  Arrow Attack. However, even if the bearer is attacked 
  by magical ﬁ re, neither her nor anything she wears or 
  carries will ever catch ﬁ re.
  GEM OF WHITE HEAT (MANSE •••)
  This translucent, red-orange dodecahedron grants 
  another Essence user the ability to surround herself with 
  an aura of ﬁ re identical to a Fire-aspected Terrestrial 
  Exalt’s anima power. Fire-aspected Dragon-Blooded 
  who use this stone add this damage to the normal 
  damage done by their anima power.
  Producing this imitation anima banner costs 
  Essence. Double the number of motes the character 
  spends, however, to ﬁ nd the intensity of the ﬂ aming 
  aura conferred by the hearthstone. (Of course, the 
  Essence expenditure may well trigger the character’s 
  own anima as well.)
  BLOODY-EYED BURNING JEWEL (MANSE ••••)
  This hearthstone is transparent, four-sided jacinth 
  with a deep red sphere at its center. Its bearer can shoot 
  bolts of brilliant ﬁ re from her eyes. The attack uses a 
  (Wits + Awareness) attack roll and has the following 
  stats below.
  A target may dodge the attack as normal, and may 
  parry it using stunts or Charms that defend against non-
  material ranged attacks. Armor only soaks this damage 
  if it is composed of one of the magical materials.
  BRIGHT EYE OF THE FIRE DRAGON (MANSE ••••)
  This octahedral ruby holds a ﬂ eck of iridescent 
  black in its heart. Its bearer can see through any ﬁ re 
  within (Essence) miles as if he were standing at the 
  ﬁ re’s location. The bearer also automatically knows 
  the approximate distance and location of any ﬁ re 
  within range. The bearer’s player rolls (Perception + 
  Awareness) to ﬁ nd how clearly the character can see 
  through the ﬁ re through which he wishes to look. The 
  bearer can watch his enemies through their campﬁ re 
  or look down upon a battleﬁ eld by ﬁ ring a burning 
  arrow into the sky. The hearthstone’s owner can look 
  through both magical and supernatural ﬁ res or even 
  the bodies of ﬁ re elementals.
  CANDENT CARBUNCLE (MANSE ••••)
  This irregularly rounded stone looks exactly like 
  a glowing coal and is always warm to the touch. As a 
  reﬂ exive action, the bearer can make any weapon he 
  wields burst into ﬂ ame. Not only does the weapon’s 
  damage increase by +4L, but it ignites any ﬂ ammable 
  objects as if it were a lit torch. A character who ﬁ ghts 
  without weapons can envelop her hands and feet in ﬁ re. 
  A character who uses a bow or other missile weapon 
  can also coat them in ﬂ ame; indeed, he can use the 
  Candent Carbuncle on all missile weapons thrown or 
  ﬁ red in a ﬂ urry or using extra action Charms. Flaming 
  weapons continue to burn for 5 ticks after they leave 
  the wielder’s hands.
  Both the bearer and the weapons become immune 
  to these ﬂ ames. The hearthstone’s owner also gains 
  +5 soak against all damage caused by ﬁ re—bashing, 
  lethal or aggravated.
  FIREBIRD GEM (MANSE •••••)
  This palm-sized, egg-shaped ruby glows with a 
  ﬂ ickering golden light. Its owner can transform her-
  self into a human-sized bird made of living ﬁ re. This 
  transformation requires 5 ticks and has no defensive 
  penalty. Everything the character wears, including 
  all weapons and armor, are also transformed. This 
  ﬁ rebird can ﬂ y 300 miles per hour, but the character 
  must return to her natural form at either midday and 
  midnight, whichever comes ﬁ rst, and rest for at least 
  an hour before continuing. At the end of a ﬂ ight, the 
  BLOODY-EYED BURNING JEWEL
  Speed 
  Accuracy 
  Damage 
  Rate 
  Range 
  Minimums 
  Cost 
  Tags
  4 
  +0 
  (Essence x 2)L 
  3 
  20 
  — 
  — 
  F
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  95
  character is as hungry and exhausted as if she had 
  spent the same period running.
  While in the form of a ﬁ rebird, the bearer can 
  ignite ﬂ ammable objects with a touch. All attacks are 
  made as if she wielded any melee weapons she carries, 
  but with an additional +2 bonus to damage because of 
  the heat of her ﬂ ames. She is also protected normally 
  by whatever armor she is wearing. She cannot use 
  any missile weapons in this form. Also, the touch of 
  any liquid more substantial than fog or mist instantly 
  returns the character to her normal form.
  FIRE-EATING ROCK (MANSE •••••)
  This hearthstone looks like a globe of gray rock 
  ﬂ ecked with red sparks. The hearthstone can consume 
  any natural ﬁ re, from candles to conﬂ agrations, leav-
  ing any material that was burning cool to the touch 
  (although it doesn’t heal or repair any damage the ﬁ re 
  has already caused). At its bearer’s will, the rock can 
  consume all ﬁ re in (Essence) yards. The hearthstone’s 
  wearer can cut a swath through a vast inferno simply 
  by holding the rock in front of him and walking into 
  the ﬁ re. This stone also absorbs the heat from lava 
  and similarly hot substances, leaving them cool to the 
  touch and hardening them if they were molten.
  The ﬁ re-eating rock has no affect on magical 
  ﬂ ames such as the anima power of a Fire-aspected 
  Dragon Blood. However, it can extinguish ordinary 
  ﬁ res ignited by a magical ﬂ ame. Also, this stone can 
  douse a ﬁ re elemental. If the stone attempts to absorb 
  a ﬁ re elemental, the players of the bearer and the 
  elemental enter a resisted Willpower roll. If one party 
  has a higher permanent Essence, his player adds the 
  difference to his dice pool. If the hearthstone’s bearer 
  wins, the elemental is drawn into the hearthstone 
  and the bearer regains a number of motes of Essence 
  equal to the elemental’s permanent Essence. If the 
  elemental wins, the stone shatters, but reforms nor-
  mally in its manse.
  GEM OF BONES TO FIRE (MANSE •••••)
  This palm-sized slab ranges from blue-purple at one 
  end to green at the other, with a jagged layer of gold 
  at the purple end is a jagged layer of gold. The bearer 
  concentrates. If his player succeeds at a (Manipulation 
  + Socialize) roll at a difﬁ culty of the target’s Essence, the 
  hearthstone’s bearer has managed to catch his target’s 
  eye. The target’s player then attempts a Willpower roll 
  at a difﬁ culty of the number of successes the bearer’s 
  player received. If the target fails, her bones ignite, 
  inﬂ icting two levels of unsoakable lethal damage every 
  ﬁ ve ticks until death or until the bearer loses sight of 
  her. If the target can escape the bearer’s line of sight, 
  the burning stops, and she may heal as normal.
  HEARTHSTONES OF WATER
  CRYSTAL OF SEAWALKING (MANSE •)
  This faceted oval stone is a shimmering opales-
  cent blue. The bearer can walk on water, quicksand, 
  wine, or other liquids as if they were dry land. The 
  bearer cannot ride a horse or other creature, but he 
  can walk or run normally and can carry any load 
  he can normally carry. Also, by merely willing it 
  to be so, he can temporarily cancel the stone’s af-
  fects and can dive safely into water. When using 
  the stone, the bearer will not sink into lava or 
  boiling oil, but this will not prevent his feet from 
  being burned.
  GEM OF THE NOBLE BROOK (MANSE •)
  This perfectly smooth, pale pink sphere prevents 
  the bearer from having any Social Trait that is below 
  average. If the carrier has an Appearance, Manipu-
  lation, or Charisma of 1, this Trait is raised to 2 for 
  as long as the character wears the hearthstone and 
  remains attuned to its manse.
  JEWEL OF THE CLEVER MERCHANT (MANSE •)
  This silvery-white, many-faceted oval grants 
  a +3 bonus to all Mental or Social rolls involving 
  trade, bargaining, contract negotiations and other 
  business dealing.
  THE LABYRINTHINE EYE (MANSE •)
  Alternating bands of gold and brown cover this 
  spherical stone. Its owner can always ﬁ nd a path to 
  the exit or the center (her choice) when navigating 
  any building, maze or similar structure. The paths 
  that lead to either destination become immediately 
  obvious to the bearer. The labyrinthine eye conveys 
  no knowledge of whether or not a particular route is 
  safe—only which routes lead to the exit or the center 
  and, if there are several options, the relative lengths 
  of the available paths.
  LULLABY STONE (MANSE •)
  This pale-blue, translucent oval enables its bearer 
  to enjoy a peaceful, restful sleep free of nightmares 
  or insomnia. It trumps any external circumstances, 
  including climate, deprivation or noise. In addition, 
  any attempts to invade the bearer’s dreams (such as 
  using the stone of dream entrance; see p. 103) suffer 
  a -2 external penalty. Any Charm, magic or drug that 
  induces nightmares or turns the bearer’s dreams against 
  her automatically fails.
  
  96
  FOUNTAIN-SUMMONING STONE (MANSE ••)
   This ﬂ awless, oval emerald always feels cool and 
  slightly moist. It can call water from the earth to cre-
  ate a spring of pure, fresh water in any location, from 
  the hottest desert of the Southlands to a ﬁ lthy alley 
  in Nexus. The bearer need only stamp his foot against 
  soil, rock or worked stone in contact with the earth, 
  and the spring instantly appears. The duration of the 
  spring depends upon the location: In a desert, the ﬂ ow 
  of water continues for a few hours, while in a moister 
  climate it might run for an entire season.
  A fountain-summoning stone cannot call a spring 
  from a ﬂ oor that is enchanted, made of metal or one 
  of the magical materials, or above a basement, tunnels 
  or other worked openings in the earth. No more than 
  one fountain can be summoned in any area 50 feet 
  on a side, and the stone cannot be used more than 
  once a scene.
  GEM OF TEARS TO POISON (MANSE ••)
  This smooth, azure teardrop transforms the bearer’s 
  tears into a mild poison (2B/1 day, 3M, —/—, -3). 
  These tears have no effect on skin contact, but they 
  induce pain and vomiting if ingested or introduced 
  into a wound. Tears do not become poisonous until 
  they are shed. Tears not ingested within one day of 
  being shed revert to normal tears.
  GEM OF YOUTH (MANSE ••)
  This smooth black lens contains a fossil shell in 
  its center. Anyone bearing this stone never grows 
  visibly older: His skin remains unwrinkled and his 
  appearance is frozen at the moment he attuned him-
  self to it. However, the gem of youth does nothing to 
  lengthen the bearer’s lifespan; he only looks younger 
  than he is. A bearer who loses or ceases carrying this 
  stone resumes his visible aging at the normal rate; his 
  appearance never catches up with his true age.
  KATA-SCULPTING GEM (MANSE ••)
  This pearly white disk glows with a faint white 
  light that brightens and dims in time with its bearer’s 
  heartbeat. The gem allows a Dragon-Blooded martial 
  artist to focus her Essence so that she can activate any 
  known Celestial-level Form-type Charms without her 
  player having to succeed at a (Dexterity + Martial Arts) 
  roll. Only Terrestrial Exalts with Martial Arts of 3 or 
  more possess the precision needed to use the instinctive 
  knowledge of ﬁ ghting katas provided by this hearthstone. 
  This stone also reduces the Essence cost to activate all 
  Martial Arts Form-type Charms by 2 motes (minimum 
  of 1); all Exalted can gain this beneﬁ t.
  MIND-CLEANSING GEM (MANSE ••)
  This sea-blue topaz dodecahedron helps its bearer 
  to resist all attempts to dominate or inﬂ uence his mind. 
  Bearers gain +1 to both their Dodge and Parry MDVs. In 
  addition, if touched to someone who is under any form 
  of unnatural mental inﬂ uence, the stone gives the target 
  a chance to break free. If the target’s player wins or ties 
  an opposed Willpower roll against the controller, the 
  stone instantly frees her from this mental inﬂ uence.
  PEARL OF WISDOM (MANSE ••)
  This iridescent-blue pearl continually ﬁ lls its bearer 
  with calm serenity and self-control. It brings peace to 
  the violent and restraint to the impulsive. When roll-
  ing the character’s Compassion or Temperance, add 
  two dice to the roll. On the other hand, when rolling 
  Conviction or Valor, subtract two dice from the roll 
  (to a minimum of one die).
  STONE OF RECOGNITION (MANSE ••)
  The bearer of this irregular, blue-white orb can 
  make other people believe they have met or heard of her 
  before, which may help in many deceits or attempts at 
  persuasion. Whenever the bearer wishes, her player and 
  the player of a designated target make a reﬂ exive and 
  resisted (Willpower + Essence) roll. If the target’s player 
  fails, that character assumes he has either met or heard 
  of the bearer before and thinks well of her. On a botch, 
  the target has positive memories of spending time with 
  or hearing many stories about the bearer and considers 
  her a good and honorable person whom he likes. The 
  stone’s bearer gains two dice on any Social roll against 
  the target that involves trust or convincing the target 
  to believe something. If the target’s player wins or ties 
  the roll, however, the target feels only a vague sense 
  that the bearer seems somewhat familiar.
  BLOODSTONE (MANSE •••)
  This faceted, rectangular stone is a deep sea green 
  ﬂ ecked with blood red. It puriﬁ es and controls the blood 
  of anyone who carries it. While carrying such a stone, 
  the bearer becomes immune to all non-magical diseases 
  and poisons, from arsenic to plague. The Exalt also gains 
  no effect from alcohol or other intoxicants, other than 
  enjoying their taste. In addition, the bearer automati-
  cally resists all magical poisons, such as Yozi venom or 
  poisons produced through Charms or thaumaturgy, 
  though he still suffers some effect (see Exalted, pp. 
  130-131). Finally, the bearer also never bleeds, even if 
  a limb is severed. Although all wounds produce normal 
  damage, the character never loses blood from her body 
  and so never need worry about bleeding to death.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  97
  JEWEL OF DAANA’D (MANSE •••)
  The bearer of this watery, dark-blue sphere gains 
  a special rapport with water elementals. When she 
  summons water elementals, her spell or thaumaturgical 
  ritual takes her only half as long and costs half as many 
  motes of Essence (count every mote spent as two). The 
  bearer also gains three dice for all rolls to inﬂ uence 
  water elementals, including binding or banishing them. 
  These beneﬁ ts do not apply to gods of water.
  Manses aspected to other elements may produce 
  analogous jewels.
  STONE OF AQUATIC PROWESS (MANSE •••)
  This hearthstone looks like a smooth ovoid of pure 
  water bound into a solid shape. It becomes completely 
  invisible if placed in water. Most examples of this 
  hearthstone come from manses that are partially or 
  completely submerged.
  Anyone attuned to this hearthstone becomes fully 
  amphibious. Not only can the user breathe water and 
  survive swimming in near freezing seas without harm, 
  he can also swim as fast as he can run. The character’s 
  swimming Move and Dash distances are not cut in 
  half, and no Athletics roll is needed (see Exalted, 
  p. 145). All fatigue and mobility penalties for armor 
  are reduced by one while the character is in water. 
  Characters wearing light or medium armor can swim 
  normally. Those wearing heavy or superheavy armor 
  cannot swim, but can comfortably walk along the bot-
  tom of a river, lake or ocean. The user can also ﬁ ght 
  normally in the water and suffers no penalties when 
  ﬁ ghting aquatic creatures.
  STONE OF GENDER TRANSFORMATION (MANSE •••)
  This peach-colored, almond-shaped crystal enables 
  its bearer to change gender at will. This transformation is 
  instantaneous and can be made as a reﬂ exive action.
  The transformation leaves the character moder-
  ately recognizable. The stone does not signiﬁ cantly 
  alter the character’s size or features: A tall, muscular 
  man, for instance, becomes a tall, muscular woman. 
  Any character who knows the bearer can recognize 
  her with a successful (Perception + Awareness) roll. 
  Factors that may increase the roll’s difﬁ culty include 
  radically different clothing, a hidden face or not having 
  seen the transgendered character in a long time.
  STONE OF JUDGMENT (MANSE •••)
  The bearer of this smooth cabochon of the ﬁ nest 
  lapis lazuli gains an uncanny sense for when people 
  lie. If she asks someone whether he committed a 
  
  98
  crime or other harmful act, the bearer’s player reduces 
  the difﬁ culty of the (Perception + [Investigation or 
  Socialize]) roll to determine the truth of any answer 
  is reduced by -4 (to a minimum of 1).
  GEM OF MASKS (MANSE ••••)
  This rainbow-colored crystal sphere has cloudy, 
  rough spots on its surface. While possessing it, the 
  bearer may change the details of her head and face. She 
  cannot use it to change anything about the rest of her 
  body beyond changing the color of her skin and body 
  hair to match that of her head. However, any feature 
  on her head (eye or skin color, nose, lips, the shape of 
  her face, hair color, texture and length) may all change 
  to resemble any human, beastman or other roughly hu-
  man-like creature. The gem of masks cannot alter or 
  hide caste marks, though. The bearer can use this stone 
  to duplicate the appearance of someone she knows well, 
  but cannot duplicate the subject’s height or build. The 
  ability to change one’s appearance this way gives a +4 
  bonus to Larceny rolls involving disguise.
  GEMSTONE OF SOLID WATER (MANSE ••••)
  The bearer of this teardrop-shaped, deep blue 
  hearthstone can solidify—not freeze—an area of wa-
  ter or other liquids, such as oil or wine. For 2 motes, 
  the bearer can solidify (character’s Essence x 4) cubic 
  yards of liquid. The effect lasts for one scene. This 
  solid water must be at least one yard wide, but can be 
  in any shape the character desires.
  Solidiﬁ ed liquid becomes strong enough to sup-
  port a caravan of loaded yeddim or to stop a speeding 
  ship in its tracks, but remains sufﬁ ciently ﬂ exible that 
  a ship that runs into it at full speed takes no damage. 
  Any ﬁ sh or other beings that swim in this water are 
  not harmed—but a swimmer who needs to breathe and 
  who is trapped in this solid water can suffocate.
  The bearer can use this stone as often as he wants. 
  The bearer cannot use this stone to solidify living blood, 
  but he can use it quite selectively. For example, at a 
  banquet where both his friends and his enemies were 
  present, he could solidify the wine in the goblets of his 
  enemies, while allowing his friends to drink freely… or 
  the reverse, so his friends can pretend to drink while 
  only his enemies consume poisoned wine.
  GEM OF SLEEP (MANSE •••••)
  This translucent, cobalt-blue sphere allows the 
  bearer to force other creatures to fall asleep. The bearer 
  must catch the target’s eye, which requires a successful 
  (Manipulation + Socialize) roll at a difﬁ culty f the 
  target’s Essence. Then, the target must resist by her 
  player making a Willpower roll at a difﬁ culty equal to 
  the number of successes on the previous roll. If the 
  target fails this roll, she instantly falls deeply asleep and 
  remains asleep for ﬁ ve minutes. If the target botches, 
  she falls asleep for six hours. Success means that the 
  target feels brieﬂ y tired but remains awake. Targets who 
  fall asleep may be woken normally in any fashion that 
  would awaken someone from a deep sleep, but awaken 
  no more swiftly than normal. If used in combat, this 
  stone requires ﬁ ve ticks to use and imposes a -2 penalty 
  to the bearer’s DV.
  HEARTHSTONE OF WOOD
  DRAGON WILLOW AGATE (MANSE •)
  The bearer of this hemisphere of green and dark 
  umber agate adds +2 to his DV pool against all Archery 
  attacks and all attacks made with wooden weapons.  
  The bonuses from this stone add to the bonuses gained 
  when Wood-aspected Dragon-Blooded activate their 
  anima power.
  THE FARMER’S STONE (MANSE •)
  Any crops tended by the owner of this angular, pale-
  blue spindle grow and bear unusually well. If these crops 
  receive at least minimal water and care, they yield an 
  unusually abundant and early harvest despite poor soil 
  or weather. This hearthstone affects any size of farm, so 
  long as the bearer regularly helps to tend it.
  The bearer may also aid a farm that he does not 
  normally work by spending one full day tending it 
  shortly after planting has taken place. When used in 
  this fashion, the stone aids up to (bearer’s Essence) 
  square miles. In either case, the stone only protects 
  the crops from natural problems such as droughts, 
  ﬂ ooding, insects or blights. It provides no protec-
  tion against armies burning or trampling the ﬁ elds, 
  although the stone would help the ﬁ elds recover more 
  rapidly than normal.
  GEM OF INJURY SENSE (MANSE •)
  Fine, iridescent cracks run through this transpar-
  ent, blue-green teardrop. The hearthstone’s bearer can 
  sense injuries or illnesses as glowing patterns overlaying 
  the bodies of any person or animal she can see clearly. 
  The information revealed by this stone does not provide 
  an exact diagnosis but does tell her both the location 
  and severity of any problem. In addition to reducing 
  the difﬁ culty of Medicine rolls to treat patients she 
  examines by -1 (to a minimum of 1), the stone also 
  allows the bearer to see at once if living allies or foes 
  are near death. She can also tell the living from the 
  undead in even the dimmest lighting.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  99
  JEWEL OF YOUTHFUL SUPPLENESS (MANSE •)
  This faceted, scalloped-edged garnet makes the 
  bearer exceptionally limber and ﬂ exible. Her player 
  gains two dice to all Athletics rolls. In addition, she 
  can both dislocate and relocate all of her joints at will, 
  without discomfort or harm. This ability grants her 
  two dice to any Larceny rolls to escape bondage.
  STONE OF SHELTER (MANSE •)
  This green-ﬂ ecked, dark-blue spindle guides its 
  bearer to locations sheltered from the elements. This 
  shelter can range from a welcoming caravanserai to a 
  hollow tree, but it is always dry and protected from both 
  wind and rain. However, the shelter need not come 
  with food or drink and may have other occupants.
  STONE OF THE EMERALD ROOSTER (MANSE •)
  This polished green cylinder has a rainbow sheen. 
  The bearer gains a bonus on all Survival and Resistance 
  rolls equal to one-half his Valor, rounded-up.
  STONE OF THE HUNT (MANSE •)
  Swirls of light and dark green cover this polished 
  sphere. Its bearer gains an instinctive understanding of 
  the drives and emotions of wild animals. This ability 
  grants two dice to all rolls involved in hunting, taming, 
  tracking or otherwise understanding wild animals.
  GEMSTONE OF DEEP DRINK (MANSE ••)
  This sharp-edged chunk of grass-green stone grants 
  its bearer the ability to drink as many and as much 
  intoxicants as she likes without incurring any penalty. 
  The stone protects a character from all the affects of 
  alcohol and more exotic drugs and renders her immune 
  to all natural ingested poisons. Other than their taste, 
  everything from alcohol to the juice of the deadliest 
  poisonous berries becomes as harmless as pure water.
  OPAL OF THE HUNTED (MANSE ••)
  This polished sphere is a green-and-violet opal 
  ﬂ ecked with gold. It gives a +2 bonus to Wits or Per-
  ception rolls to detect ambushes. If the bearer is ever 
  successfully ambushed, the stone also increases her DV 
  by 1 (see Exalted, p. 155) against unexpected attacks; 
  this bonus affects the ﬁ nal value, not the pool used to 
  calculate it. Finally, the stone gives three dice to all rolls 
  to evade tracking and pursuit (see Exalted, p. 140).
  SCINTILLATING GEM OF ALLY’S EMBRACE (MANSE ••)
  This pentagonal gem is banded with the ﬁ ve colors 
  of magical jade. The gem’s bearer can perform Charms 
  that require him to touch the target at a range equal to 
  his Essence in yards, but only for Charms that empower 
  his allies, such as the Solar Charm Essence-Lending 
  Method or the Dragon-Blooded Charm Strength of 
  Stones Technique.
  STONE OF MENDING FLAWS (MANSE ••)
  This spherical, green-and-blue-striped hearthstone 
  has a porous appearance. Its bearer can mend small tears, 
  cracks, ﬂ aws or blemishes on any non-living material at a 
  touch. Each use of the stone repairs an area up to ﬁ ve feet 
  in diameter. This stone will not repair anything made of 
  the magical materials, nor any other magical or enchanted 
  items, including both artifacts and manses.
  The hearthstone can restore age-ruined cloth, 
  rusted swords or old books so that they look newly 
  made, but it cannot replace missing pieces larger than 
  a lentil. To repair an item, the bearer must touch the 
  stone to it for at least a minute. This stone can be used 
  no more than once per scene, but its owner can use 
  it repeatedly to repair even the largest non-magical 
  objects that are still relatively intact.
  SURVIVAL STONE (MANSE ••)
  Brown striations mark this leaf-shaped, green hearth-
  stone. Although the bearer can still feel thirst and hunger, 
  she cannot die of either. Also, she suffers no impairment 
  from either condition for her ﬁ rst four days of depriva-
  tion. Past this point, her intense pangs of hunger or thirst 
  inﬂ ict a -1 internal penalty to all die rolls.
  ADDER’S EYE (MANSE •••)
  This polished wedge banded with gold and black 
  is much prized by assassins and other people who hunt 
  large and dangerous prey. Any artifact weapon set with 
  this hearthstone becomes coated with a deadly venom. 
  If set in a powerbow, the adder’s eye envenoms any 
  arrows ﬁ red from this bow. This poison acts as coral 
  snake venom (see Exalted, p. 131).
  The Adder’s Eye is only effective when set into 
  weapons that draw blood (though if you could hold 
  a person down and wipe an envenomed goremaul on 
  an open wound, that would work). Its use is always 
  obvious because the weapon visibly drips venom and 
  traces remain in the wound.
  GEMSTONE OF ENTRANCE (MANSE •••)
  The owner of this faceted, shimmering blue 
  hexagon can unlock all locked doors and windows 
  at a touch. However, this stone only opens locks on 
  points of entrance and egress and has no affect on 
  locked strongboxes or shackles.
  GEMSTONE OF MENTAL HEALTH (MANSE •••)
  This cloudy orange ovoid instantly and perma-
  nently cures its bearer of any derangements or other 
  
  100
  forms of madness. Any new types of insanity inﬂ icted 
  on the bearer are cured as quickly as they are gained. 
  What’s more, the wearer automatically overcomes 
  unnatural mental inﬂ uences, such as the obsession 
  induced by a gem of desire, within one scene.
  GLADESTALKER’S STONE (MANSE •••)
  If set in a powerbow, this deep-red cabochon adds 
  three dice to its Accuracy and another three dice to 
  its Damage.
  STONE OF RESILIENT BAMBOO (MANSE •••)
  This cylindrical stone gleams with the bright, 
  opaque green of living bamboo. Its bearer’s intrinsic 
  lethal soak equals her Stamina. She can also parry 
  lethal attacks unarmed without a stunt. In addition, 
  the bearer regenerates one level of lethal or bashing 
  damage every hour. This stone does not speed the 
  healing of aggravated damage.
  STONE OF THE SURE PATH (MANSE •••)
  Yellow striations run through this red prism. 
  Its bearer can ﬁ nd her way to any destination. The 
  more she knows about this destination, the shorter 
  and more direct her path becomes. If the bearer has 
  ever visited this location, the stone leads her there 
  by the shortest and most direct route. If she knows 
  only rumors or suppositions about her destination, the 
  path will be longer and is more likely to hold danger. 
  Regardless of her knowledge, though, the path always 
  eventually leads to the intended destination. In the 
  most extreme cases, this path may take years to walk. 
  Also, the hearthstone will lead the bearer in circles 
  if the destination is hidden by sorcery.
  SONG OF LIFE STONE (MANSE ••••)
  At will, this sphere banded with brown and white 
  forces plants to grow with unnatural speed and vigor 
  anywhere within the sound of the bearer’s voice. Trees 
  put out leaves, ﬂ ower and bear fruit out of season in 
  the span of an afternoon, while vines and other plants 
  undergo a year’s growth in a single scene. This un-
  natural growth ceases at the end of the scene, but the 
  affects remain. The stone’s power also brings wilted or 
  dying plants instantly back to full health. It can even 
  restore dead plants to life as long as they are still rooted 
  in the ground. The bearer can ﬁ ll a barren or ruined 
  ﬁ eld with ripe grain in a single scene and could bless 
  several dozen square miles of land in a day.
  STONE OF HEALER’S FLOWER (MANSE ••••)
  Merely by touching this unpolished, bright blue 
  disk to a living creature’s ﬂ esh, the bearer can instantly 
  heal the target of all her injuries, regardless of their 
  severity. However, this stone will never heal anyone 
  who has used it to heal anyone else. Also, immediately 
  after using this stone to heal, the bearer suffers half the 
  damage he just healed (rounded up). This damage must 
  heal normally, without the aid of Charms, artifacts or 
  drugs short of the celestial wine of Yu-Shan, or the 
  stone shall never work for that character again.
  JEWEL OF THE FOREST WARRIORS
  (MANSE •••••)
  Opaque brown veins run through this translucent, 
  emerald-green triangle. The bearer can animate trees 
  as warriors by touching the hearthstone to a tree and 
  committing 2 motes. The tree then uproots itself and 
  gains both mobility and limited intelligence for the next 
  scene. If the bearer also spends a point of Willpower, 
  the tree remains active for the next full day. Animate 
  trees can be verbally commanded and possess a basic 
  knowledge of strategy and tactics. Tree-minds are too 
  alien to affect by either mundane or magical persuasion, 
  however, and the stone insures their absolute loyalty; 
  treat them as automatons. If the hearthstone is bro-
  ken or unattuned before the trees’ animation expires, 
  however, all animate trees are no longer controlled 
  and defend themselves from whatever they perceive 
  as threats—which may extend to attacking anyone 
  who carries ﬁ re or chops wood.
  A forest warrior has the following combat stats, 
  as seen below.
  STONE OF LOYALTY (MANSE •••••)
  This brown, opaque lens inspires fanatical loyalty 
  in everyone the bearer knows. For anyone under the 
  bearer’s command or who has sworn an oath of loyalty 
  to her, even thinking of betrayal requires a difﬁ culty 5 
  Conviction roll. For friends and allies of the bearer, the 
  difﬁ culty of this roll drops to 3. Players of even casual 
  FOREST WARRIOR
  Str/Dex/Sta 
  Per/Int/Wits/Will 
  Health Lvls 
  Atk S/A/D/R 
  Dodge DV/S
  7/3/6 
  2/2/2/5 
  -0x3/-1x3/-2x3/-4/I 
  Branches: 6/6/7L/2 2/5L/8B
  Abilities: Awareness 2, Dodge 2, Martial Arts 3, Resistance 3, War 1
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  101
  acquaintances must succeed at a simple Conviction 
  roll to betray or consider betraying or opposing the 
  character. If the individual honestly considers the be-
  trayal to be trivial, or done in the bearer’s best interests 
  (“I must save my friend from herself!”) the difﬁ culty 
  of this roll drops by 1 (to a minimum of 1).
  (Willpower + Essence roll), the bearer can inﬂ ict 
  weariness on others. Any target whose player fails this 
  resisted roll feels listless and tired until she next sleeps, 
  temporarily losing one from her Wits score. Characters 
  whose players botch this roll also temporarily reduce 
  their Permanent Willpower by one until they next 
  sleep. The stone’s effects do not stack, so repeated 
  attacks on a target serve little purpose.
  ROAD OF HATRED STONE (MANSE •)
  This gray-and-black, lens-shaped hearthstone 
  reinforces Intimacies based on hatred of someone or 
  something. That Intimacy effectively becomes a second 
  Motivation for the hearthstone’s owner, as far as social 
  combat, mental inﬂ uence and recovering Willpower 
  are concerned.
  PECULIAR HEARTHSTONES
  Most hearthstones grant simple, straightfor-
  ward powers to their owners, and manse designers 
  try to produce such hearthstones. A few hearth-
  stones, however, confer odd powers.
  Student architects at the House of Well-Fa-
  vored Aspect learn, for instance, of the liquid ﬁ re 
  cabochon, a hearthstone of Fire. It imbues the 
  body ﬂ uids of its bearer with ﬁ erce combustive 
  power and ignites them the moment they lose 
  contact with the bearer’s body. While this makes 
  the owner hazardous to attack, sweaty clothing 
  bursts into ﬂ ames and going to the bathroom 
  becomes an exercise in pyrotechnics. The hazards 
  of certain other body ﬂ uids do not bear thinking 
  about. Worst of all, the Cabochon does not give 
  its owner any special resistance to ﬁ re.
  Various hearthstones of Wood protect their 
  owners from poisons and intoxication. The crystal 
  venom jewel does so by concentrating all drugs 
  and poisons in its bearer’s system into a nugget the 
  owner then vomits forth. The one small compen-
  sation for the unpleasantness of this purgation is 
  that the toxins can be dissolved and re-used. Its 
  owner, a member of House Cynis, uses the jewel 
  to concoct unusual drug mixtures in his own body, 
  for later distribution to friends and enemies.
  Some unusual hearthstones come about 
  because the manse’s builder didn’t aim for a par-
  ticular power. Others happen because the architect 
  bungled the manse’s design (or redesign) or because 
  a manse suffered damage. On rare occasions, a 
  hearthstone produced by mischance proves useful 
  enough that geomancers try to duplicate it.
  CELESTIAL HEARTHSTONES
  ABYSSAL HEARTHSTONES
  LIFE-DRAIN STONE (MANSE •)
  This polished, deep-purple teardrop becomes blood 
  red in direct sunlight. If his player wins a resisted 
  ALTERNATE INTIMACIES
  Although Exalted describes Intimacies as 
  something a character loves, hatred and other 
  strong emotions can also supply a basis. They 
  work just the same for social combat: “I hate 
  the Guild and you cannot talk me into helping 
  them.” Basing Intimacies on different emotions 
  does not affect a character’s starting or maximum 
  number of Intimacies—and as with any Intimacy, 
  the Storyteller can declare a driving hatred, 
  phobia or the like has fallen off the character’s 
  list of Intimacies if the player repeatedly passes 
  up chances for the character to act on this sup-
  posedly strong commitment.
  FALSE DEATH STONE (MANSE ••)
  This pale-yellow amber sphere is marked by a 
  dark crack through its center. It allows the bearer to 
  instantly place herself in a death-like trance. The 
  bearer appears dead to anyone who examines her, but 
  remains conscious and all of her senses continue to 
  function normally. She wakes instantly whenever she 
  chooses or if the stone is removed from her body. In 
  this trance, the bearer does not require food, water or 
  air and is immune to the extremes of climate. However, 
  she is still susceptible to injury.
  FLAWED GEM (MANSE ••)
  This transparent, violet-blue hemisphere enables 
  the bearer to make non-living substances decay at 
  great speed. When the bearer touches an object for 
  one minute and wills it to decay, cracks radiate from 
  this point of contact and encompass are area up to two 
  
  102
  yards in radius. Over the next 24 hours, the object ages 
  and crumbles. These ﬂ aws gradually reduce the soak of 
  any item and reduce its health levels. After 24 hours, 
  the object counts as damaged (see Exalted, p. 154) 
  and its soak has been halved (round down).
  A 3-dot version of this stone also exists. It makes 
  objects decay in 10 minutes instead of 24 hours. Neither 
  stone affects any of the magical materials, hearthstones 
  or any other magical or enchanted items.
  GHOSTWALKER CRYSTAL (MANSE ••)
  The bearer of this dark-blue octahedron becomes 
  very difﬁ cult to follow. Increase the difﬁ culty of any rolls 
  to follow her or to hear or see signs of her passage by 2. 
  However, this stone does nothing to conceal her scent 
  and so hounds or other creatures that rely primarily 
  upon smell can track the bearer normally.
  DEATH-SENSE STONE (MANSE •••)
  This disc of opaque white enables the bearer to 
  sense any deaths that occur within a one mile radius. 
  He knows their precise location and can easily ﬁ nd the 
  location. He can also sense and locate any deaths in 
  this radius that have occurred within the last month 
  and can tell the exact moment of each death. The 
  bearer gains no information about a death other than 
  its location and time.
  STONE OF DUST (MANSE •••)
  This spherical gray stone’s surface seems covered 
  in powdery dust. If the character spends 1 mote of 
  Essence and touches any single item made of dead 
  organic tissue, such as leather, bone, wood or ivory, 
  he can instantly turn the object to dust. The character 
  must touch the item directly, and the item can weigh 
  no more than (character’s Essence x 10) pounds. This 
  stone does not affect artifacts, enchanted items or 
  undead of any sort.
  ICE GEM (MANSE ••••)
  This translucent, slightly bluish cube looks 
  like a chunk of ice and stays perpetually cold. 
  Whenever the bearer desires, she can reflexively 
  cover herself and all of her melee weapons with a 
  brutally frigid aura of cold. As long as the target is 
  not immune to cold all melee or unarmed attacks 
  by the bearer inflict an additional +4L damage. 
  Also, anyone who is not immune to cold suffers 
  five dice of lethal damage if they strike the bearer 
  with an unarmed attack.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  103
  GEM OF THE NIGHT SKY (MANSE •••••)
  This transparent black hemisphere is ﬁ lled with 
  tiny, starlike sparks of light. If the bearer concentrates 
  for a minute, he can plunge an area up to a half mile 
  radius around himself into night. The bearer determines 
  the size of this area. The darkness produced by this 
  stone is identical to normal night in all ways and lasts 
  as long as the bearer desires. This unnatural nightfall 
  frightens most ordinary mortals, though: Extras may 
  suffer a -1 internal penalty to Wits or Willpower rolls 
  due to panic, or may require Valor rolls to face anything 
  else that seems the least bit threatening.
  WITHERING GEM (MANSE •••••)
  This translucent, faceted black rectangle enables 
  its bearer to inﬂ ict deadly ailments on others. To use 
  the stone, the bearer spends 1 mote of Essence, and 
  his player attempts a resisted, reﬂ exive (Willpower + 
  Essence) roll against the target. If the target’s player 
  fails this roll, her character automatically contracts a 
  magical illness with a Morbidity equal to the bearer’s 
  permanent Essence, and a Difﬁ culty to Treat and 
  Treated Morbidity equal to half the bearer’s permanent 
  Essence (round up). The symptoms resemble con-
  sumption (see Exalted, p. 351). While the character 
  is ill, she suffers a -3 internal penalty to all actions. 
  This disease can be treated normally with charms and 
  alchemical cures, but cannot be treated with normal 
  medicine. The character can use this stone as often as 
  desired, but the disease is not contagious.
  LUNAR HEARTHSTONES
  GEMSTONE OF SHADOWS (MANSE •)
  This faceted rod is made of silvery crystal. It allows 
  the bearer to summon deep shadows around himself. 
  At the bearer’s command, these shadows can have 
  a diameter of up to two yards, but can also be made 
  smaller. Only magical light can pierce these shadows, 
  but they are not completely opaque. The bearer can 
  see out of them and anyone looking in can see vague 
  shapes. This shadow increases the difﬁ cult to spot or 
  recognize anyone inside by 2, higher if the surroundings 
  are also relatively dark. In any well-lit area, however, 
  the shadow itself becomes exceedingly obvious. Regard-
  less of location, this shadow also increases the bearer’s 
  Dodge and Parry DVs against all ranged attacks by 1. 
  Anyone else who enters the shadow-zone does not 
  gain this advantage against the bearer, though: the 
  hearthstone’s owner can see perfectly well in the zone 
  of darkness (though the hearthstone grants no beneﬁ t 
  in seeing through darkness beyond that area).
  CHAMELEON STONE (MANSE ••)
  This triangular prism, colorless in itself, takes on 
  the color of whatever surface it lies against. Similarly, 
  its bearer can change his skin, hair and eye color, as 
  well as general features such as eye and nose shape, 
  to match the natives of the local area, wherever and 
  whatever that may be.
  JEWEL OF THE GRACEFUL COURTIER (MANSE ••)
  This oval, opalescent jewel seems to shift color with 
  every change of light and background. The jewel’s bearer 
  blends easily into any social situation with the protean 
  ease of the Changing Moon Caste, and never makes an 
  unintentional faux pas: The stone adds one success to all 
  Socialize rolls, making botches impossible and failures less 
  likely in even the most demanding social venues.
  JEWEL OF THE RABBIT’S SWORD (MANSE ••)
  This yellow-green stone periodically changes its shape 
  and the number of its facets. Its owner’s player can reroll 
  all 1s in a single roll by spending one point of Willpower. 
  This power can only be used once for any single roll.
  ORB OF THE UNNOTICED PREDATOR (MANSE •••)
  This ﬂ attened sphere is patterned like the skin of 
  a leopard. The stone prevents its bearer from leaving 
  tracks, even in thick mud or ﬁ ne dust, and eliminates 
  all traces of her scent and the scent of anything she 
  wears or carries. These beneﬁ ts also extend to any 
  animal she rides and to anyone she carries, but do 
  not extend to any companions moving on their own. 
  If the bearer moves in a slow and stealthy fashion, 
  the stone also mutes any noises she makes and bends 
  shadows to her advantage, increasing the difﬁ culty of 
  all Awareness rolls to notice her presence by 1.
  SNAKESKIN STONE (MANSE •••)
  This smooth, irregular stone appears covered in 
  black, red and white snake scales. The next time an 
  injured owner sleeps, she sheds her skin. This process 
  closes wounds and heals scrapes and burns, but does not 
  repair the damage of deep wounds or damaged internal 
  organs. As a result, the bearer heals all bashing damage 
  and half of all lethal damage (round up). The hearth-
  stone does nothing for aggravated damage. It also does 
  not affect Lunars’ moonsilver tattoos or other magical 
  markings, but after shedding her skin, the bearer looks 
  uninjured unless examined by a physician. A single set 
  of wounds can beneﬁ t from this stone only once.
  STONE OF DREAM ENTRANCE (MANSE ••••)
  The owner of this smooth, oval moonstone can enter 
  the dreams of others. To do so, the bearer must either 
  
  104
  be able to see or touch the target, or must have spoken 
  to the target for at least a minute within the previous 
  24 hours and know her name. The bearer may observe 
  the subject’s dreams, speak with the dreamer or alter 
  those dreams as he pleases, turning them into marvelous 
  fantasies or horriﬁ c nightmares. A dream of suffering 
  death or serious harm costs the dreamer one point of 
  temporary Willpower unless her player succeeds at a dif-
  ﬁ culty 2 Willpower roll to wake up from the nightmare. 
  No matter how horriﬁ c the dream, dreamers cannot lose 
  more than three points of Willpower per night.
  Other people can wake up the dreamer by all nor-
  mal means. The dreamer also awakens at her normal 
  rising time. The dreamer’s player must succeed at an 
  (Intelligence + Awareness) roll to remember these 
  dreams; additional successes provide greater detail.
  WILDERNESS GEM (MANSE ••••)
  This rough, pale-purple triangle gives its bearer 
  an unparalleled understanding of the wilderness. The 
  bearer can easily ﬁ nd food and shelter, instinctively 
  understands the habits of animals, can easily track prey 
  and can accurately predict the weather. This stone 
  adds two successes to all Survival rolls and enables its 
  bearer to perform supernatural tracking.
  GEM OF MADNESS (MANSE •••••)
  This hearthstone looks like a jagged, irregular frag-
  ment of jet-black rock. Anyone who physically attacks 
  the bearer goes insane. This insanity takes the form of an 
  extreme expression of the character’s dominant Virtue 
  (or one of her highest Virtues, if her two highest Virtues 
  have the same value). The Virtue Flaws of Solar Exalted 
  (see Exalted, pp. 103-105) are typical examples of this 
  type of madness. Mortals cannot control or mitigate 
  their reactions to this insanity and always suffer the full 
  manifestation. However, the madness may differ from an 
  Exalt’s actual Virtue Flaw; the episode of madness also has 
  no affect on an Exalt’s current accumulation of Limit.
  Exalts and other Essence users can attempt to 
  gain partial control of the insanity (use the rules for 
  partial control listed under the Virtue Flaws). However, 
  gaining partial control is more difﬁ cult than with an 
  ordinary Limit Break. Such a victim must spend two 
  points of Willpower, and her player must succeed at a 
  (Willpower + Essence) roll with a difﬁ culty equal to 
  the hearthstone bearer’s Essence. If this roll fails, the 
  victim cannot control the insanity unless she repeats 
  the Willpower expenditure and her player rolls again. 
  This roll may be repeated as often as desired, but at 
  least one long tick (one minute) must pass between 
  attempts at partial control. This insanity lasts between 
  one scene and one day, as listed in the description. Until 
  the madness ends, repeated attacks on the hearthstone’s 
  bearer do not cause additional insanities.
  SIDEREAL HEARTHSTONES
  EVER-OPEN EYE (MANSE •)
  The bearer of this dull-gray disk of smooth stone 
  can remain awake without fatigue or impairment. 
  However, after he has been awake for two full days, his 
  player must roll (Stamina + Resistance) at difﬁ culty 
  1. For every additional full day the bearer refrains 
  from sleeping, the difﬁ culty of this roll increases by 
  +1. If the player ever fails this roll, the bearer starts 
  hallucinating. These waking nightmares impose a two-
  die penalty from all rolls and cause the character to 
  behave erratically. Regardless of how long the bearer 
  has remained awake, though, he requires only eight 
  hours of sleep to be fully rested and remove all penal-
  ties or necessity for further rolls.
  GEM OF HOLINESS (MANSE •)
  This hemisphere of silver-ﬂ ecked blue stone imbues 
  its bearer with a general aura of holiness. If the character 
  avoids words or actions that obviously contradict this 
  aura, anyone meeting her instinctively regards her as 
  trustworthy and devout. If they don’t know better, they 
  may assume she is a priest. The bearer receives one 
  additional die to any Manipulation or Charisma rolls 
  to gain trust or convince someone of her honesty.
  GEM OF STARLIGHT (MANSE •)
  This rod of silver crystal is lit from within by faint 
  sparkles that look like starlight. The bearer can cause 
  it to glow with a cool light that is never painful or 
  blinding. The stone’s glow can do everything from 
  dimly illuminating a small room to lighting a large 
  hall with brilliantly glittering starlight.
  GEM OF OMENS (MANSE ••)
  This transparent blue-gray, faceted oval stone 
  gives its bearer glimpses of the future in the patterns 
  around her, such as the ﬂ ight of birds, the glinting of 
  sunlight on a lake or the ridges of sand on a beach. 
  These omens are sometimes bafﬂ ing and always in-
  complete, but they offer information about the future 
  gleaned from the Loom of Fate itself. The character 
  concentrates on some pattern or event (usually one 
  found in nature), and the player rolls (Intelligence 
  + Occult). Excellencies can be applied normally to 
  this roll. Success provides some small knowledge of 
  the near future. This predicted future is not ﬁ xed and 
  can be changed based on the information in the omen. 
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  105
  The speciﬁ c events predicted by the omen cannot be 
  chosen by the bearer but always directly relate to her 
  or her companions—they might involve the future 
  of a proposed commercial venture, a coming betrayal 
  by a loved one, or simply the quality of her coming 
  meal. This stone can be used no more than once a 
  scene, and using it more often than a few times a day 
  usually results in the omens revealing increasingly 
  trivial predictions.
  One or two successes reveal nothing more than a 
  basic gauge of success or desirability. A proposed com-
  mercial venture involving a trading ship will fail, the 
  bearer’s upcoming meal will be fraught with danger... 
  Three or four successes reveals some information about 
  the causes of this prediction—the commercial ven-
  ture will fail because the ship is lost in a storm or the 
  bearer’s next meal will be fraught with danger because 
  someone will make an attempt on the bearer’s life 
  during the meal. Five or more successes reveals a few 
  details about this information such as the approximate 
  location and type of the storm that sinks the vessel or 
  that fact that the attempt on the bearer’s life involves 
  an ambush when she gets up from her meal.
  JEWEL OF THE CELESTIAL MANDARIN (MANSE ••)
  This transparent, faceted square stone glows 
  with a faint violet light. The stone surrounds the 
  bearer with a subtle aura of Essence that causes gods, 
  demons and elementals to regard him as unusually 
  digniﬁ ed and well-spoken. This stone reduces the 
  difﬁ culty of all Social rolls the bearer’s player uses on 
  such beings by 2 (to a minimum difﬁ culty of 1). This 
  aura is imperceptible to all other beings except gods, 
  elementals and demons and so has no affect on any 
  other creatures.
  GUARDIAN GEM (MANSE •••)
  This shimmering silver sphere allows the bearer 
  to inﬂ uence both her own fate and the fate’s of others. 
  Twice per story, the bearer’s player can reroll any of the 
  character’s own rolls. Twice per story, the player can 
  also force someone else to reroll one of his character’s 
  actions. Once the bearer’s player sees the result of the 
  reroll, she decides whether to keep the original or to 
  use the reroll. The bearer can also sacriﬁ ce one of these 
  reroll opportunities to subtract two health levels of 
  damage (after soak has been taken into account) from 
  any attack upon herself or another being.
  PRECISION OF FORM GEMSTONE (MANSE •••)
  This brilliantly iridescent, egg-shaped opal reduces 
  the Essence cost to use all Martial Arts Charms of a 
  particular style by 2 motes after the character activates 
  that style’s Form-type Charm. This effect cannot reduce 
  the mote cost of a Charm to less than half its original 
  value. The bearer also cannot activate any Charms of 
  another martial arts style until she abandons the Form 
  she has already chosen. A character could abandon 
  one Form, however, and then activate the Form-type 
  Charm of another martial arts style, gaining the mote 
  discount for all Charms of that style.
  GEM OF WISE DISCERNMENT (MANSE ••••)
  This hexagonal hearthstone is as clear as pure 
  water. A person can easily look through the largest 
  central facet. Looking through this window allows 
  the bearer to see anyone who is invisible and to pierce 
  all disguises and illusions, from mundane disguises to 
  dematerialized spirits and the transformative glamours 
  of the Fair Folk. This stone cannot detect lies or other 
  non-visual deceptions; nor will it reveal anything 
  about someone’s character. However, the bearer can 
  see a Lunar Exalt’s Tell.
  HOME’S HEARTH (MANSE •••••)
  Each side of this irregular, six-sided gemstone is 
  a different color. Once per day, it allows the bearer to 
  teleport himself and up to ﬁ ve other people to or from 
  the stone’s manse. The stone can transport the bearer 
  and his companions from anyplace in Creation to the 
  manse in the blink of an eye. However, teleportation 
  from the manse is limited to 100 miles’ range. Also, 
  while the stone can transport characters both to and 
  from the Wyld, this carries some danger. To do so, the 
  bearer’s player must roll (Wits + Occult). Failure results 
  in the characters all landing somewhere random in the 
  Wyld. A botch additionally renders the stone useless 
  for 48 hours, neither permitting another teleportation 
  attempt nor granting Essence.
  SCRYING STONE (MANSE •••••)
  The bearer of this black stone can see visions of 
  other times and places in its ﬂ at, highly polished sur-
  face—visions of the past, the present or the potential 
  future. They either illuminate some aspect of what will 
  happen or lend some understanding of the situation 
  that the Exalt does not yet have. While every vision 
  is a literal view of some real or potential event, the 
  visions come without context or explanation: The 
  bearer’s player must roll (Intelligence + Investigation) 
  to decipher the visions; Excellencies can apply. As with 
  the gem of omens, more successes indicate more exten-
  sive and precise knowledge—but the scrying stone can 
  also provide information such as a view of an enemy’s 
  
  106
  face or a chance to watch a long-dead sorcerer cast 
  a spell. (Such potent and precise information would 
  require at least ﬁ ve successes, though.)
  SOLAR HEARTHSTONES
  BEACON OF THE UNCONQUERED SUN (MANSE •)
  Despite its name, this gold-spangled crystal cabo-
  chon works for any Exalt. When its bearer places the 
  beacon to her forehead and expends a mote of Essence, 
  her caste mark blazes and projects a beam of light for 
  the rest of the scene. In conditions of less than perfect 
  lighting, this beam provides clear vision to a range of 
  15 yards, and (if necessary) murky vision out to 30 
  yards. However, the narrow beam illuminates an area 
  only 5 yards wide at the end of clear vision, or 10 yards 
  wide at the end of murky vision.
  OATHSTONE (MANSE •)
  This spherical, blood-red hearthstone is unusual 
  in that using it involves giving it away. When the 
  owner makes a bargain, treaty or other agreement 
  with another person, he can give that person the 
  oathstone as a token of the deal. The stone enforces 
  the bargain exactly like the Eclipse Caste anima power 
  (see Exalted, p. 127), except that neither party needs 
  to pay any Essence to seal the oath. If either party 
  breaks the agreement, he horribly botches one of her 
  next vitally important rolls. In addition, both parties 
  instantly know that the agreement has been broken. If 
  the agreement is broken, mutually dissolved or simply 
  concludes naturally, the stone instantly reappears in 
  its rightful owner’s possession. Also, even after giving 
  the stone away, the giver regains Essence from it as if 
  she still carried it.
  JEWEL OF THE LAWGIVER’S AUTHORITY
  (MANSE ••)
  This brilliant-yellow, hexagonal crystal reduces 
  the difﬁ culty of all attempts to sway the opinions or 
  beliefs of others by 2 (to a minimum of 1). It applies 
  to both speech and writing.
  SPHERE OF COURTESANS’ CONSTELLATION 
  (MANSE ••)
  This gold-ﬂ ecked, orange globe raises its possessors 
  Appearance to 3, if it does not equal or exceed that 
  value already. The bearer’s Appearance drops to its 
  original level the moment the Sphere leaves his person. 
  In addition, the bearer’s player gains a +2 bonus to all 
  Performance and Presence rolls.
  
  CHAPTER TWO • DEMESNE, MANSE AND HEARTHSTONE
  107
  CRYSTAL OF LEGENDARY LEADERSHIP 
  (MANSE •••)
  This rounded, many-faced green triangle enhances 
  the bearer’s ability to lead others. The bearer’s player 
  gains one bonus success to any Presence, Performance or 
  Bureaucracy rolls involving leadership or governance, 
  as well as to any War rolls involving rallying troops.
  GEM OF SORCERY (MANSE •••)
  Though transparent, this many-pointed crystal 
  has an oily golden sheen and glows with inner light. 
  Once per day, its bearer can reduce the cost of casting 
  a spell by 10 motes.
  STONE OF FINAL REST (MANSE ••••) 
  This polished onyx sphere recalls the anima power 
  of the Zenith Caste in its power to sanctify tombs and 
  lay the dead to rest. By a touch, the bearer can return 
  zombies, skeletons and other mindless necromantic 
  creations to true, inanimate death. Ghosts suffer one 
  level of aggravated damage for every 5 ticks they spend 
  within ﬁ ve yards of the bearer. Normally, they attempt 
  to avoid the bearer if he comes within 10 yards. All 
  undead see this stone as a painfully blazing light, and 
  although it does no harm to them, Deathlords and 
  deathknights ﬁ nd this light as unpleasant as would 
  any other denizen of the Underworld.
  Ghosts can sense the presence of this stone from 
  100 yards away, and both Abyssals and Deathlords 
  instinctively know the distance and direction of any 
  such stone within (Essence) miles. Deathlords also 
  know if such a hearthstone crosses the border of one 
  of the shadowlands they control. The Stone of Final 
  Rest does not function in the Underworld. In shadow-
  lands, it has no affect on ghosts and only inﬂ icts one 
  level of aggravated damage per action when touched 
  against physical undead. However, all residents of the 
  shadowland within a mile instantly feel its presence.
  STONE OF INHUMAN BEAUTY (MANSE ••••)
  This iridescent white oval adds four dots to the 
  wearer’s Appearance, raising it to a maximum of 7. In 
  addition, the bearer cannot be made to look anything 
  other than beautiful: nothing short of Solar Circle 
  Sorcery can even temporarily reduce his Appearance. 
  If dressed in rags and covered in mud, he appears hand-
  somely disheveled; if disguised to look horribly scarred, 
  he seems to bear noble wounds that must obviously 
  have come from performing some grand feat of heroism. 
  Other people always notice the bearer unless he uses 
  stealth, Charms or the cover of darkness to conceal 
  himself. This is good when giving a speech… not so 
  good for a discreet meeting with an informant.
  GEM OF PERFECT MOBILITY (MANSE •••••)
  This brilliant-red, faceted square glows as brightly 
  as a candle. Any Exalted bearing it is as swift as a beam 
  of sunlight. A character attuned to the hearthstone 
  halves (round up) the number of ticks all actions re-
  quire, without causing any penalties and may divide 
  her dice pools normally to gain additional actions. 
  In addition, these increased speed also applies out of 
  combat, allowing the character to walk, run or sprint 
  twice as fast as normal. The only limitations on using 
  this hearthstone are that sorcery still takes the normal 
  time to cast, and that using these additional actions 
  makes the character appear inhumanly fast. Anyone 
  seeing the character move or react this rapidly will 
  know she is not human. The additional action gained 
  from using this hearthstone is incompatible with all 
  Extra Actions Charms. The character can use one or 
  the other, never both.
  
  108
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  109
  The Exalted absorb prodigious reservoirs of mys-
  tic energy and channel them to perform legendary 
  miracles. Thaumaturgy lacks the raw power of the 
  Charms and spells of the Exalted, but it is embed-
  ded in the natural laws and principles of Creation. 
  Mortals who understand how to coax the existing 
  Essence patterns of the world can perform minor 
  miracles without the control of Essence that comes 
  with Exaltation. With the right technique, the thau-
  maturge can call upon dead ancestors, invoke the 
  perfect form of a mundane weapon or tool, or brew 
  an alchemical mixture that slows his aging. Rare is 
  the community without a local wise woman or savant 
  whose rituals smooth relations with the gods, heal 
  the sick and ward off danger.
  THE ANNALS OF 
  THAUMATURGY
  When Gaia and her brethren built Creation, and every 
  time they modiﬁ ed it, their actions embedded the principles 
  of thaumaturgy into the world. Whether the Primordials 
  intended for mortals to discover rituals with which to ma-
  nipulate Creation, we cannot say; although it is clear that 
  the gods were meant to do so. Rather, they set independent 
  processes in motion that continue to shape and reinforce 
  Creation in an inﬁ nitely recursive manner. Perhaps the 
  clearest example of this lies in elementals, where each exists 
  as an ever-smaller entity that embodies the same Essence 
  as its greater, even though they were originally designed 
  as ﬁ ve unique beings of vast power and singular purpose. 
  Only a system of inﬁ nite complexity could provide a fortress 
  against the Wyld’s inﬁ nite adverse possibility. Fortunately 
  for mortals, the thaumaturge doesn’t have to understand the 
  whole of Creation to manipulate one part of it, any more 
  than a tree needs to understand the stars in order to grow 
  a new leaf. It is enough for mortal thaumaturges to learn 
  the occult connections within Creation and coax them to 
  appropriate purposes.
  —Excerpt from Oadenol’s Commentary on the Procedures 
  of Creation
  CHAPTER THREE
  CHAPTER THREE
  THAUMATURGY
  THAUMATURGY
  
  110
  Mystic lore among mortals developed over thou-
  sands of years. As relative latecomers to the intelligent 
  species of Creation, human beings can scarcely claim to 
  have ﬁ rst discovered the Arts of thaumaturgy. Nonethe-
  less, they have become its most proliﬁ c practitioners. 
  The black-feathered but earthbound alaun perished 
  during the Primordial War, and the triangular-headed 
  race of magi-scientists who worshipped Autochthon 
  fatally angered their patron long before that. Innu-
  merable gods perform rituals to maintain of Creation, 
  but usually they know only a handful of Procedures 
  inherent to their nature. Exalted can practice the Arts, 
  yet commonly shirk their study in favor of the greater 
  power of Charms and sorcery.
  Students of thaumaturgy seek out magical lore, and 
  fortunately, the millennia have left them much to ﬁ nd. 
  From the halls of Yu-Shan to the ruins of the alaun and 
  Dragon Kings, ancient secrets await rediscovery. Instruc-
  tional texts range from the temple scrolls of Great Forks 
  or the Immaculate Order to the magitech manuals of the 
  First Age and the Shogunate. Storytellers and players can 
  ﬁ nd examples of such sources throughout this section.
  IN THE BEGINNING
  The ﬁ rst and most numerous practitioners of thau-
  maturgical Procedures are the gods themselves. While 
  powerful gods often spend much of their time on the 
  Games of Divinity or the politics of Yu-Shan, the lesser 
  gods spend most of their time preserving Creation. The 
  Charms of gods are merely incidental to their function, 
  used to correct extraordinary disruptions to their activity. 
  Most of the time, a god simply performs a simple ritual 
  behavior and an act of will. Virtually all gods know and 
  practice inherent thaumaturgical Procedures.
  Mortals see the effects but seldom think about the 
  divine activities behind them. When a brickmaker 
  places his wares in the kiln, the least god of that block 
  of clay meets with the least god of the ﬁ re. The ﬁ re-
  god sings the Song of Ardent Unity, infusing its heat 
  through all it touches. The clay-god responds with the 
  Mudra of Isolate Stability, asserting its intent not to be 
  consumed. Together, these divine procedures harden 
  the clay and its least god changes nature to match. 
  Clay becomes bricks.
  Only gods can use the fundamental procedures 
  of thaumaturgy in their pure form. No one else re-
  ally needs to. Mortals, however, can approximate the 
  songs, words, gestures and symbols used by the gods, 
  and combine them in novel ways. They can also re-
  combine the physical substances of Creation and coax 
  their least gods to interact in unnatural ways. This is 
  mortal thaumaturgy.
  THE PROCEDURES OF CREATION
  For every concept of importance, Yu-Shan has a god. 
  Long ago, Ryzala, the director of the Bureau of Heaven, 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  111
  appointed the god Shenji to investigate and document the 
  inherent properties of Creation. Given his own sub-direc-
  torate, the Ofﬁ ce of Intelligent Design, Shenji endeavors 
  to record all the thaumaturgical rituals ever discovered. 
  In this way, Heaven may understand the Primordial 
  architecture of Creation and detect changes wrought by 
  alternate systems such as the Wyld and the Underworld. 
  Other bureaus can then examine the new operations of 
  Essence and devise appropriate responses.
  During the First Age, Solars recognized Shenji as the 
  god of thaumaturgy, and early temples honored him for 
  this. Later, the Solar Deliberative forbade his worship 
  to anyone who wasn’t approved to study the Arts.
  The Procedures of Creation is the massive collec-
  tion of scrolls held by the Ofﬁ ce of Intelligent Design. 
  The documents consist of exquisitely ﬁ ne silk-paper 
  scrolls written in silver and golden inks with full-color 
  illustrations. Unfortunately, scribes of the sub-director-
  ate continue to add footnotes and comments to pages 
  without regard for mortal vision. Much of the collec-
  tion is so thoroughly documented that the individual 
  pages are unreadable to anyone without Charms that 
  can pierce thousands of years of layered ink.
  Game Effects: The Procedures of Creation library 
  contains almost every thaumaturgical Procedure ever 
  discovered. Most of them, of course, are not usable by 
  humans—they are divine thaumaturgy. As mortals 
  recombine the elements of Creation, however, they 
  devise new procedures for Shenji’s staff to record. Rites 
  that have only been performed outside of Creation 
  proper (i.e., in the Underworld, Wyld or Malfeas) are 
  unlikely to be in the Procedures, but the scrolls contain 
  every ritual used in Creation.
  The scrolls are written in Old Realm (Yu-Shan 
  dialect), although some reference diagrams or sources 
  in other tongues. Unfortunately, many pages are liter-
  ally unreadable without supernatural senses. Also, the 
  collection is organized in such a single-minded manner 
  that ﬁ nding and studying a single speciﬁ c ritual is rela-
  tively easy, but trying to master a Degree extends the 
  training interval to years (although only requiring the 
  regular number of Occult dots). With time and effort, 
  however, a student might learn nearly any ritual ever 
  devised, one at a time.
  The Procedures contain, quite literally, all the natural 
  science of Creation. The potential beneﬁ t to sorcerous 
  and thaumaturgical research, manse and artifact design 
  and other arcane pursuits is limited only by a scholar’s 
  intelligence and persistence. If a savant has access to the 
  Procedures, her player can add one bonus success to any 
  Craft, Lore, Medicine or Occult roll per week of study, 
  to a maximum of the character’s Intelligence.
  Availability and Cost: One can study The Procedures 
  of Creation only in the Ofﬁ ce of Intelligent Design in Yu-
  Shan. Gaining permission usually requires a supplicant 
  to prove she has legitimate business on behalf of the 
  Celestial Bureaucracy. With a stunt and a compelling 
  argument (Manipulation + Bureaucracy, difﬁ culty 5) 
  a thaumaturge might convince Shenji or his ofﬁ cers 
  of the importance of a ritual to the proper function of 
  Creation. Stealing or copying a few of the scrolls might 
  be possible, but Shenji is an Essence 7 celestial god with 
  a staff of lesser gods in attendance. Thieves invite the 
  wrath of a powerful Celestial god, and the divine allies 
  he can bring to bear against them.
  Artifact Level: The entire collection of scrolls is 
  Artifact N/A, but also takes up an area larger than the 
  Imperial City. Any individual scroll (or copy) would 
  be worth Resources 3 at least.
  OBELISKS OF THE ALAUN
  The black-feathered alaun were so favored by the 
  Primordials that they lived on the southwestern plains 
  of the Isle of the Gods. This simple species worshipped 
  their creators without question, and for this, the Exalted 
  slew them during the Primordial War. Few of their works 
  remain, but there are remnants of their black stone obe-
  lisks, carved from the mountains of the Dragon’s Nest 
  Range near Lord’s Crossing and diligently transported 
  onto the plains. Each obelisk is a tall slender black 
  stone with faintly birdlike features, carved with prayers 
  to the Primordial creators. Most have been destroyed, 
  deemed heretical monuments by the First Age Solars 
  and, later, by the Immaculate faith.
  Game Effects: Designed to offer eternal prayer, 
  these rough monuments contain secrets that aid in 
  the study of the Art of Spirit Beckoning. If one can 
  understand the Old Realm script (alaun dialect), then 
  the monuments might act as an instruction manual. 
  A single obelisk contains only a single Procedure, but 
  a would-be student with access to at least seven of the 
  monoliths could learn the Initiate Degree. Studying 20 
  of the stones might sufﬁ ce to learn the Adept Degree. 
  It is doubtful, however, that more than a few dozen 
  obelisks yet survive.
  Although the Art did not yet exist, the Obelisks
  inadvertently contain prayers that now behave as rituals 
  for the Art of Demon Summoning. Dangerously, none 
  of these rites offer any protection against demons—only 
  rites such as Summon, Beckon and Demonsight. Ad-
  ditionally, reading the prayers within a certain area 
  
  112
  of the mountains near Lord’s Crossing might attract 
  the unwanted attention of the ghosts of dead alaun, 
  surprised to hear their ancient orisons profaned by 
  usurpers’ tongues.
  Availability and Cost: Found in ruins in the 
  southwestern reaches of the Blessed Isle, although 
  fragments of a few have been incorporated into later 
  structures, particularly in small, out of the way villages 
  or the illicit shrines of infernal cults. A perfectly intact 
  Obelisk is worth Resources 4, but owning it invites nega-
  tive attention from the Immaculate Order. Reputedly, 
  House Tepet donated a few to the Heptagram rather 
  than destroy them.
  Artifact Level: Not an artifact.
  THE DRAGON KINGS
  Organized thaumaturgical study among humans 
  began during the time when the Dragon Kings domi-
  nated humanity. Before the gods gave the Exaltation 
  to mortals, humanity held no importance in Cre-
  ation. Mortals were brighter than the alaun, but not 
  as favored by the Primordials. The mighty Dragon 
  Kings ruled the four corners of the world, while the 
  gods resided upon the Blessed Isle. Given dominion 
  over humans, the Dragon Kings weren’t sure what to 
  do with them. Humans seemed too weak to serve as 
  soldiers and too short-lived to master the advanced 
  crystal and vegetative technology of the Dragon Kings. 
  Mortals were also deemed rebellious and proud, and 
  thus considered poor slaves.
  A few Dragon King savants nevertheless spent 
  centuries trying to teach human servants their reptilian 
  paths of magic. Occasionally, a mortal absorbed some 
  tiny aspect of a particular effect and copied it. Such 
  successes seemed promising at ﬁ rst, yet human students 
  could not develop the Dragon King’s mystic paths. Most 
  Dragon King researchers gave up and sought simpler 
  tasks for the “lesser” race. Humans who committed 
  violent crimes were even turned into ritual sacriﬁ ces, 
  their hearts offered up to the Unconquered Sun.
  Some humans escaped and ﬂ ed the cities of the 
  Dragon Kings, living in the wild or settling small vil-
  lages. Humans who had tried to master the Dragon 
  King paths put the lesser tricks they had gained to 
  use, helping their compatriots in a myriad of little 
  ways. Away from the watchful eyes of their reptilian 
  masters, they exchanged secrets and experimented with 
  the world around them. A body of shared thaumaturgy 
  rituals slowly grew, pieced together by mortal savants 
  and bolstered by rites learned from sympathetic gods 
  who saw mankind as a new source of worship. The 
  fundamental practices of thaumaturgy as the “Arts” 
  developed during this period.
  Inevitably, the Dragon Kings captured practitioners 
  of the Arts and discovered their new aptitude. The minor 
  talents of these human thaumaturges did not impress 
  Dragon King savants, but the savants recognized the 
  potential for the study to grow. Finally, a ﬁ eld of interest 
  gave the Dragon Kings hope that they could develop a 
  proper purpose for human beings.
  Under Dragon King tutelage, the study of thauma-
  turgy ﬂ ourished. Some Dragon Kings even spent time 
  learning the Arts as a curiosity, though the power of 
  their own magical paths overshadowed human thau-
  maturgy. Generally the Dragon Kings preferred to act 
  as patrons to skilled thaumaturges, who became valued 
  servants and aides. These practitioners were called 
  amiliki, or “adepts,” and received authority over their 
  fellow mortals.
  When the gods Exalted human beings to serve in 
  the war against the Primordials, the role of the Dragon 
  Kings changed forever. The reptiles suffered tremen-
  dously during the war, with whole nations exterminated; 
  yet, they might have recovered if they had kept the 
  gods’ favor. Instead, the Incarnae gave Creation’s rule 
  to the Exalted, as reward for their glorious victory over 
  the Primordials. The roles of mankind and the Dragon 
  Kings suddenly reversed. The Exalted raised mortals to 
  primacy while their reptilian allies struggled to retain 
  their culture. Within a few centuries, humanity eclipsed 
  their scaled predecessors.
  For more information about the rise and fall of the an-
  cient Dragon Kings, see The Scroll of Lesser Races.
  THE CRYSTAL OF KUAN
  The Arts evolved most rapidly among those prac-
  titioners with Dragon King patrons, who could already 
  manipulate Essence and organize schools. With access to 
  growing libraries of lore and well-stocked laboratories, 
  the amiliki and their First Age counterparts (with Exalted 
  patrons) produced many of the greatest discoveries in 
  the ﬁ eld of thaumaturgy. Perhaps the most accomplished 
  Dragon King patron of thaumaturgy was the Pterok 
  known as Kuan of the Plain.
  The Dragon Kings learned to store information in 
  special reading-crystals. The Crystal of Kuan is a clear, 
  ﬂ at, rectangular plate eight inches on a side and an 
  eighth of an inch thick. Its surface bears the faint blue 
  marking of the Kuan’s name. It contains thousands of 
  pages of research on thaumaturgy.
  During the Shogunate period, soldiers loyal to the 
  Daimyo of Deheleshen took The Crystal of Kuan from the 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  113
  Dragon King capital, Rathess. Dragon-Blooded scholars 
  translated much of the crystal’s contents, and condensed 
  written versions of The Crystal of Kuan circulated among 
  the Daimyo’s thaumaturges. The original Crystal was 
  lost during the chaos of the Great Contagion, but the 
  panel is nigh-indestructible. Lookshyan sorcerer-priests 
  theorize that the raksha may have taken it when they 
  raided the city.
  Game Effects: To view the contents of the origi-
  nal Crystal, the user must spend 1 mote of Essence per 
  scene. The text is written in the Dragon King tongue. 
  For someone who can understand that tongue, the 
  Crystal counts as an instruction manual for the Art 
  of Geomancy up to the Master Degree and the Art of 
  Enchantment up to the Adept Degree. The Arts of 
  Astrology, Husbandry, Spirit Beckoning and Weather 
  Working are described to the Initiate Degree. Much 
  of the text was written by human thaumaturges, and 
  their glowing tributes to their patron Kuan provide 
  enough information about Dragon King society that 
  the Crystal may also act as a tutor for a Lore Specialty 
  (Dragon Kings  +1).
  Printed Shogunate-era translations, written in 
  Old Realm, are condensed and offer instruction up 
  to the Adept Degree in the Arts of Enchantment 
  and Geomancy, and the Initiate Degree for Spirit 
  Beckoning. Post-Contagion renditions, written in 
  Riverspeak, lose much more of the original language, 
  and offer only the Initiate Degrees in Enchantment 
  and Geomancy. A new translation of the original 
  could offer its full benefit, but this would require 
  the painstaking attention of someone who could 
  faithfully reproduce all of the mystic diagrams and 
  subtleties of the work.
  Availability and Cost: Unique, though other 
  Dragon King scholars and their staffs may have scribed 
  similar crystals. Shogunate-era translations cost Re-
  sources 4 and Riverspeak editions cost Resources 3.
  Artifact Level: • for the original. The written 
  translations are not artifacts.
  THE FOLK TRADITION
  The amiliki were not the only mortals to practice 
  the Arts. Escaped students sometimes encountered other 
  people who possessed various minor magical rites—yet 
  had no known ties to the Dragon Kings. They found 
  witches and shamans who dealt with local spirits and 
  brewed magic from animal parts, herbs and minerals. 
  These folk thaumaturges handed down their skills 
  through generations of oral tradition, their source lost 
  in myth. Most amiliki guessed that the arcane customs 
  of the hinterland adepts must have come from the gods 
  of the wild reaches.
  Reactions varied when these disparate thaumaturges 
  came together. Sometimes, they took the opportunity 
  to study each other’s techniques, both sides gaining 
  greater understanding. Unfortunately, many meetings 
  instead resulted in conﬂ ict as indigenous magicians felt 
  threatened by outsiders or escaped amiliki scorned and 
  sought to dominate the thaumaturges they considered 
  inferior. Any attempts by amiliki to re-create the col-
  leges of the Dragon Kings or create a thaumaturgical 
  aristocracy failed, though. In the wilds of Creation, the 
  tradition of trusted student and wise mentor ﬂ ourished 
  while mystic societies quickly fell to inﬁ ghting.
  After the Primordial War, the Solar Deliberative 
  brought all of Creation under its sway. The Old Realm 
  assimilated many folk cultures, but not all. The Solar De-
  liberative crushed anyone who openly deﬁ ed its rule. Some 
  barbarian tribes and rejectionist refugees, however, ﬂ ed 
  into the Wyld-tainted borders of the world. Other cultures 
  found the Exalted god-kings would ignore them if they 
  stayed quiet and hidden in deep forests, swamps, deserts 
  or wastelands. These small, marginal cultures kept their 
  own folk thaumaturgies throughout the Old Realm.
  They could not hide completely or forever. As the 
  Solars consolidated their rule, however, they saw no 
  threat from a few scruffy tribes and backwater villages. A 
  few of the Exalted paid enough attention to notice the 
  folk thaumaturgy traditions, and felt enough curiosity 
  to learn and record their rituals.
  THE GENESIS OF HEATHEN RITUAL
  The Solar known as the Radiant Dowager became 
  fascinated with the thaumaturges whose lore had noth-
  ing to do with Dragon King patrons. Sensing that the 
  march of civilization would eradicate their culture, she 
  bent her impressive resources to studying and recording 
  their mystic knowledge.
  In her monograph, The Genesis of Heathen Ritual, 
  the Radiant Dowager concluded that some folk tradi-
  tions of thaumaturgy descended from mortals studying 
  under terrestrial gods, others from prehuman races and 
  fragments of Dragon King lore. A few mortal visionaries 
  seemed to discover rituals through unexplained inspira-
  tion, but she could not deﬁ nitively prove that point.
  Copies of the Radiant Dowager’s work circulated 
  among Exalted scholars during the First Age, but many 
  Solars disapproved of her assertions that the Arts were 
  not given to mortal races by the Unconquered Sun via 
  the Dragon Kings. Lunars sometimes disliked her ar-
  rogant views toward “barbarian” tribes, while Lawgivers 
  
  114
  disliked her respect for prehuman species. Nonetheless, 
  the Radiant Dowager became the reigning expert in 
  the ﬁ eld of parallel thaumaturgic origin theory.
  Shogunate censors found much of the Radiant 
  Dowager’s work inconsistent with the Immaculate phi-
  losophy and destroyed it. However, records of Radiant 
  Dowager’s scholarly lectures on the subject survived 
  in a number of recorders of everlasting glories kept by 
  various secret societies.
  Game Effects: All of Radiant Dowager’s works 
  are written in Old Realm. A recorder with one of her 
  lectures might contain enough information to teach the 
  Initiate Degree in Alchemy, Enchantment, Geomancy, 
  Husbandry, Spirit Beckoning, Warding and Exorcism, 
  or Weather Working—or it might contain only a few 
  Procedures (at the Storyteller’s discretion). The forgot-
  ten Stalwart Temple in the Radamant Prefecture on the 
  Blessed Isle (see The Compass of Celestial Directions, 
  Vol.I—The Blessed Isle, p.123) also contains complete 
  records of the Radiant Dowager’s researches.
  Availability and Cost: Recorders of everlasting glories 
  with collections of the Radiant Dowager’s works may hide 
  in the archives of the Heptagram, the Lookshy Academy 
  of Sorcery or other arcane academies. Paper transcriptions 
  from such devices might turn up in any arcane collection, 
  but provide only a few Procedures each.
  Artifact Level: •• (recorder of everlasting glories, 
  Wonders of the Lost Age, p.61)
  THE FIRST AGE
  The ascendancy of the Exalted, and by association 
  the human race, freed the amiliki from Dragon King 
  dominance. Although this liberated mortals from reptil-
  ian governance, their Essence-wielding superiors once 
  again overshadowed thaumaturges who did not Exalt, 
  this time in the form of the Exalted. Initially, however, 
  the Exalted sported several amiliki within their num-
  ber, and therefore shared an interest in the continued 
  practice of thaumaturgy. In its early days, the Solar 
  Deliberative encouraged Exalts to learn thaumaturgy: 
  the same schools that taught mathematics and history 
  offered courses in the Arts. The academy of Sperimin 
  even taught thaumaturgy alongside sorcery. In the Old 
  Realm’s height, most First Age farmers could call for rain 
  when their crops needed it and skilled savants competed 
  for positions in the workshops of the Exalted. Much of 
  the thaumaturgy devised in the Old Realm, however, 
  was meant to assist Exalted sorcerers in constructing 
  manses and artifacts.
  As the Old Realm decayed into madness and 
  tyranny, Exalted views changed, and the Deliberative 
  restricted the practice of thaumaturgy. Some of their 
  growing distrust of mortal magicians stemmed from a 
  vague uneasiness that somehow those beneath them 
  might try to replace them… as they had overthrown 
  the Primordials. Unknown to the Exalted, the Great 
  Curse fed upon these suspicions.
  Legitimate concerns arose, too, when the oc-
  casional thaumaturge would perform terrible deeds. 
  Some savants became corrupt, seduced by the very 
  demons they summoned on their Exalted masters’ be-
  half. Other practitioners abused their powers for petty 
  spite or ambition, with offended thaumaturges calling 
  down storms on those who insulted them and jilted 
  lovers brewing philters to enthrall the objects of their 
  obsession. A few thaumaturges became so envious of 
  the power of the Exalted that they pushed their abuses 
  beyond the limits of reason, trying to claim similar 
  power for themselves.
  The restrictions upon thaumaturgy escalated from 
  licensing requirements to harsh punishments for anyone 
  who deﬁ ed the Exalted. At ﬁ rst, the Deliberative limited 
  those Arts that interfered with the spirit courts or gave 
  access to demons. Solar leaders argued that the gods 
  needed respite from mortal interference and that demons 
  were too cunning and treacherous for mere mortals to 
  handle. (As power and arrogance grew, they stopped 
  wondering if demons were too cunning and treacherous 
  for the Exalted to handle.) Later, any thaumaturgy that 
  could potentially inﬂ ict harm was deemed hazardous 
  and heavily restricted. Eventually, the Solars declared 
  the entire ﬁ eld too dangerous for those who were too 
  weak-willed to use them responsibly. Only those mortals 
  deemed trustworthy by their Exalted lords were allowed 
  to study the Arts at all, and even then, they were con-
  strained to whatever knowledge their patrons felt was 
  necessary to their duties. Savants no longer competed 
  simply to see who would work with the Exalted. They 
  competed to see who could gratify the Exalted enough 
  to practice thaumaturgy at all.
  In the ﬁ nal centuries of the Old Realm, thaumaturges 
  fell into three categories: Exalted, servant or malcontent. 
  The Exalted were above mortal reproach, so those who 
  wanted to study thaumaturgy could do so without restric-
  tion. If the Solars ever wondered if thaumaturgy might 
  somehow enable rivals to overcome them, then such 
  worries were dismissed. How could these petty rituals 
  compare to the power of Exalted Charms and sorcery? 
  Unruly Exalts were eliminated, when necessary, and the 
  particulars of whether or not they happened to exercise 
  the Arts never entered consideration.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  115
  Mortal thaumaturges acted as skilled assistants to 
  the Exalted. These magicians carried out innumerable 
  tasks too delicate for enslaved demons and too petty 
  for the Exalted themselves. From carefully tending the 
  forges of factory-cathedrals to maintaining the First Age’s 
  vast arsenal of magitech, these savants became the unac-
  knowledged bedrock of the era’s omnipotent industry of 
  artifacts. The Deliberative even sanctioned special units, 
  called gunzosha, whose mortal soldiers wore magitech 
  armor that vastly magniﬁ ed their might in combat… if 
  the wearer would sacriﬁ ce years of his life. Under Dragon-
  Blooded lieutenants, these thaumaturge-warriors served 
  with distinction in countless skirmishes against the Fair 
  Folk and rebellious outlying provinces.
  The third category of High First Age thaumaturges 
  consisted of malcontents who studied in secret. Some of 
  these groups emerged from the efforts of Terrestrial Ex-
  alted, or even the occasional Celestial (usually a Lunar), 
  who saw little point in restricting such minor magic. 
  Others were the result of persistent efforts by dedicated 
  mortal masters of the Arts who felt they should know 
  whatever they could learn. Some groups used complex 
  codes and elaborate misdirection in hopes of avoiding 
  the attention of the Deliberative’s magistrates. Other 
  societies hid their works in plain sight. Ordinary books, 
  ranging from guides to regional cuisine to syrupy court 
  poetry, hid occult secrets behind a veil of mundanity. 
  Many of these secret societies moved to the hinterlands 
  of the Old Realm, while others chose to hide within 
  the plebeian class in gatherings as diverse as communal 
  farms, craft guilds and monastic orders. Occasionally, 
  grandiose or blatant works of illicit thaumaturgy oc-
  curred during this period, but time and censorship by the 
  authorities destroyed most knowledge of their existence. 
  Nonetheless, if suppressing the study of the Arts made 
  them less prevalent, it rendered a few practitioners 
  more dangerous. Forced to hide their Arts, they grew 
  less scrupulous about what they hid.
  A LOVER CLAD IN BLUE
  This text is an example of the secret manuals of the 
  Old Realm. On the surface, it is a luridly illustrated story 
  of the torrid sexual escapades of Balablara, the Half-Blood 
  daughter of a sorcerer and his demonic neomah slave. 
  Drawn to her own kind, she seduces the neomah who 
  tries to convince her to poison her father with a hairpin. 
  Overhearing the exchange, her father misunderstands and 
  orders the demon to kill his daughter. Its aim is untrue, 
  and strikes the sorcerer by accident. As she clutches 
  
  116
  the stiffening body of her father, Balablara banishes the 
  neomah for a night and a day. She knows the demon will 
  return for her the next night, but cannot afford more 
  materials to ward it off. She prostitutes herself for the 
  money to do so. The rest of the book details the year and 
  a day she spends sleeping with various partners so that 
  she can resist the demon, until ultimately the demon is 
  forced back to the Yozi realm.
  More than one demon-tainted thaumaturge cult 
  owed its origins to the secret Procedures contained 
  within the book. Solar agents destroyed such cults 
  but never ﬁ gured out that this tawdry sex tale was the 
  source—no doubt because no Solar Exalt paid attention 
  to such minor cults. Numerous copies of A Lover Clad 
  in Blue survived the Usurpation, and the Shogunate 
  did nothing to eliminate the text as they felt it painted 
  Solars as the Anathema they meant them to be. Two 
  centuries ago, an obscure bookmaker in Chiaroscuro 
  translated the work into Flametongue, with faithful 
  renditions of the illustrations.
  Game Effects: Hidden within the illustrations and 
  the text are encoded rites related to demons. If she 
  successfully cracks the codes (Intelligence + Linguis-
  tics, varying difﬁ culty), a thaumaturge could gain the 
  Initiate (difﬁ culty 3) or Adept (difﬁ culty 4) Degree in 
  the Art of Demon Summoning. Two Procedures from 
  the Master Degree are contained as well (difﬁ culty 5): 
  The Year and the Day and Beckon Sondok.
  Availability and Cost: A Lover Clad in Blue is il-
  legal in Lookshy, as its depiction of demonic sex offends 
  the sohei priests. In the Realm, the Immaculate Order 
  also objects to the text, but the book is easily avail-
  able to patricians and Dynasts. Copies in Old Realm 
  cost Resources 3, while the Southern translation can 
  be purchased for Resources 2. Should someone ever 
  reveal the book’s secret, it would surely be banned in 
  most civilized states.
  Artifact Level: Not an artifact.
  THE USURPATION
  Thaumaturgy played a surprising role during the 
  Usurpation, considering its relative puny might when 
  compared to Exalted Charms and sorcery. The Dragon-
  Blooded commanders of the gunzosha turned these 
  artifact-encased soldiers against the Solars and their 
  servant creatures. The gunzosha were often effective at 
  delaying Solar forces until the Terrestrials could unleash 
  surprise attacks or battleﬁ eld-grade weapons. Secretive 
  groups of thaumaturges provided innumerable talismans 
  and enchantments to the cause, albeit often unwittingly, 
  long before the rebellion was even set in motion. Once 
  the initial ambush of the Solar Exalted at the Calibra-
  tion feast occurred, and widespread ﬁ ghting began, 
  hundreds of underground cabals across Creation threw 
  their support behind the revolt. Harboring long-held 
  resentment against the Deliberative for its oppression 
  of the Arts, these cloistered savants hoped to cast down 
  the old regime and gain power and respect in the new. 
  As the end of Solar dominance became evident to all, 
  exiles at the edges of Creation invaded the very lands 
  they once called home.
  While the gunzosha and invading outcasts were 
  directly involved in deadly combat, most thaumaturges 
  chose less straightforward approaches. Rituals designed 
  to beckon living creatures lured the mortal progeny 
  of the Solars into mind-numbing emotional traps for 
  their parents. Wards designed to protect against the 
  Solars granted their enemies precious moments in nu-
  merous conﬂ icts. Demons called by thaumaturgy kept 
  their free will, but many nursed bitter millennia-old 
  dreams of revenge and gladly attacked the nemeses of 
  their Primordial creators. The products of Alchemy 
  and Enchantment armed the gunzosha and Dragon-
  Blooded alike, while even the most cowardly astrologer 
  or geomancer could provide useful predictions to the 
  warriors of the Usurpation.
  GUNZOSHA TACTICAL MANUALS
  These specialized devices were revised numerous 
  times during the High First Age and the Shogunate. At 
  any time, the complete manuals contained more informa-
  tion than a single soldier could normally learn… at least 
  in the shortened lifespan of a gunzosha warrior. Manuals 
  were usually divided into 25 different modules designed 
  for sharing within a scale of gunzosha. Each soldier studied 
  one module, usually the one most suited to his job within 
  the unit. Whenever necessary, and commonly during 
  downtime, gunzosha would trade modules. This helped 
  relieve boredom and honed their skills.
  Each of the Gunzosha Tactical Manual modules 
  consists of a blue-jade-alloy polyhedron about an inch 
  across. It plugs into the armor’s helmet through its 
  sensory augmentation crystal-visor. The visor displays 
  the information as quickly as the wearer wants.
  Unfortunate accidents have occurred when Second 
  Age savants have mistaken these devices for lightning 
  boxes (see Wonders of the Lost Age, p. 60). An (In-
  telligence + Lore) roll, plus some familiarity with at 
  least one of the two devices, is required to notice the 
  difference. This roll is difﬁ culty 2 if the would-be user 
  is familiar with only one of the two, or difﬁ cult 1 if she 
  has used them both. Determining the correct purpose 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  117
  of one of these devices with no prior knowledge is at 
  least difﬁ culty 3.
  Game Effects: Activating one of these modules 
  requires the user to wear an active suit of gunzosha 
  commando armor (see Wonders of the Lost Age, p. 
  81). Additionally, the user must pay one temporary 
  Willpower point to access the module for an entire day. 
  A complete set of 25 manual nodes operates as a tutor 
  for all of the following: Lore 4, Occult 3, Craft (Magi-
  tech) 3, Craft (Air) 2, Craft (Fire) 2, Craft (Water) 1, 
  Art of Enchantment (Adept Degree), Art of Alchemy 
  (Adept Degree), Art of Warding and Exorcism (Adept 
  Degree), War 3 (Coordinated Attacks +1), and the 
  Aegis-Inset Amulet Procedure. Additionally, the text 
  gives the user’s player a -1 difﬁ culty (to a minimum 
  of 1) to repair rolls for gunzosha armor, aegis-inset 
  amulets and gunzosha tactical manual modules. If a 
  student has access to less than a full set of the modules, 
  the Storyteller should divide the 25 points of skill or 
  specialty tutor options offered and determine which 
  are available to the user.
  Availability and Cost: The Realm possesses only 
  a single complete set of the modules at the House of 
  Bells, plus an assortment of incomplete modules scat-
  tered among the Great Houses and military bases. Since 
  the Realm does not ﬁ eld signiﬁ cant units of gunzosha, 
  these devices are mostly kept for their military his-
  tory applications. Lookshy keeps one full set in their 
  Academy of Sorcery, one full set in the fortiﬁ ed caves 
  beneath the city, and circulates three sets among their 
  active gunzosha units. Lookshy sorcerer-engineers cur-
  rently attempt to restore three other incomplete sets 
  and hopefully create some new ones. Occasionally, 
  scavengers discover lone modules lost to the diaspora 
  of the Great Contagion. Usually, they sell them to 
  Lookshy or the Realm, but a determined buyer might 
  outbid the military powers of the Second Age.
  Artifact Level: • for each Gunzosha Tactical Manual 
  module. A module is a magitech device with a Repair 
  Rating of 1.
  THE SHOGUNATE
  The battles of the Usurpation raged for a genera-
  tion before the Solars were ﬁ nally defeated. Having 
  found the Arts remarkably useful to their cause, the 
  newly formed Dragon-Blooded Shogunate eliminated 
  or relaxed many of the restrictions on thaumaturgy. 
  Unfortunately, the war destroyed most of the ﬁ eld’s 
  greatest masters and best libraries.
  Since they could not produce the self-repairing Solar 
  wonders of the High First Age, the Shogunate Dragon-
  Blooded needed a well-educated class of thaumaturgical 
  engineers to maintain their magitech. Particularly in 
  the early years of the Shogunate, the state supported 
  numerous academies dedicated to the Arts, and Dragon-
  Blooded artiﬁ cers directly sponsored the most promising 
  students in return for their later service.
  At ﬁ rst, the Shogunate’s master may have truly 
  intended to spread thaumaturgy throughout society. As 
  the Dragon-Blooded discovered how much of the Old 
  Realm’s civilization depended on the Celestial Exalted, 
  however, they became more interested in controlling 
  the Arts than advancing them. Thaumaturges had to 
  work for the State, protecting crops, dealing with spirits 
  who rejected Dragon-Blooded authority and—most of 
  all—building and servicing magitech weapons.
  The Terrestrials (and their Sidereal silent partners) 
  also acquired the same suspicions that had afﬂ icted the 
  Solars. If thaumaturgy was potent enough to hinder 
  centuries-old Solar god-kings, it was too potent for the 
  safety of the Dragon-Blooded. The Shogunate needed 
  the labor of demons, but demons continued to trick, 
  delude and destroy mortals. Thaumaturgy must be 
  licensed, its teaching controlled—for the good of the 
  State, the people and their Dragon-Blooded rulers.
  Despite the nascent Immaculate faith extolling 
  the Terrestrials’ right to rule, the Dragon-Blooded 
  could not inspire awe and devotion as the Solars 
  once did. Bolder thaumaturge cabals rebelled against 
  the limitations, and their suppression encouraged 
  others to take a stand as well. After a few disasters 
  and revolts fueled by thaumaturgy, the Shogunate 
  ruthlessly cracked down on the Arts. Anyone who 
  didn’t work for the Dragon-Blooded was forbidden to 
  study thaumaturgy, and violators received death. Just 
  as the liberators from Solar tyranny ended up relying 
  on slave labor, they ended up restricting the Arts as 
  much as the Solars ever had.
  As before, this merely drove the private study 
  of thaumaturgy underground and forced people who 
  wanted to learn the Arts to bargain with demons or 
  practice illicitly. A few benevolent practitioners studied 
  in secret. Outside of the approved practices of dedicated 
  gunzosha warriors and sponsored thaumaturgical en-
  gineers, however, the exercise of thaumaturgy largely 
  became the province of intellectual criminals and oc-
  cultist radicals. Many of the greatest secret societies of 
  the era were merely demonic cults, their mastery of the 
  Arts descending from their dark patrons. In the wild 
  places and fringes of Creation, however, folk magicians 
  continued to practice their own ancient arts.
  
  118
  THE COMING OF THE SECOND AGE
  While some savants argue that the Second Age 
  properly began with the Usurpation, it is more commonly 
  held that the Great Contagion marked its start. The 
  Contagion crushed human civilization, including the 
  agencies that held thaumaturgical wisdom in reserve. 
  Masters of the Arts fell to the supernatural plague as 
  surely as anyone else, and the Wyld consumed many of 
  their greatest libraries when the borders of Creation col-
  lapsed. Nonetheless, many useful elements of mystic lore 
  spread among the survivors. Numerous thaumaturges 
  delayed death for a time by warding themselves from 
  all contact, thereby keeping the plague away. Forlorn 
  thaumaturges often devoted their last hours to recording 
  their secret rites, and a few desperate Dragon-Blooded 
  commanders distributed vast libraries of classiﬁ ed mate-
  rial to survivors to prevent them from being lost forever. 
  As the Wyld ﬂ ooded into Creation, gunzosha were spread 
  to every corner of the world. When the Contagion 
  ﬁ nished its course and the Scarlet Empress drove back 
  the Fair Folk invasion, surviving gunzosha were often 
  left alone and cut off from any command structure. 
  Many of these survivors settled down with whomever 
  remained alive nearby and taught their thaumaturgical 
  lore to anyone who demonstrated talent.
  With nine-tenths of Creation’s population dead, 
  the barriers of authority dissolved, and remnants of the 
  Arts spread widely amongst those who outlasted the 
  supernatural plague. Arguably, the practice of thauma-
  turgy has become nearly as common in some parts of 
  Creation as it was during the early centuries of the First 
  Age. Inarguably, however, it is less advanced. As the 
  Shogunate-era Dragon-Blooded struggled to maintain 
  civilization, people valued practical results more than 
  occult fundamentals. Many rites were handed down from 
  master to apprentice without anyone understanding 
  the principles behind them. Now, with the Shogunate 
  in ruins and its survivors picking over its corpse like 
  raitons, immediate effects were even more important 
  than mastering the theories behind them.
  As the people of Creation rebuilt civilization, 
  their approaches to the Arts varied. In small villages 
  or the wilderness, shamans and witches practice in ac-
  cordance with tribal customs or solitary desires. In the 
  growing cities, the study of the Arts has been shaped 
  by the relationships between its students and those 
  who governed them. Some rulers, including the Scar-
  let Empress, saw thaumaturgy as a potential weapon, 
  too useful to ignore and too dangerous to allow in the 
  hands of their enemies. Nations such as Lookshy and 
  Thorns saw the Arts as vitally necessary to the rees-
  tablishment of society. Pragmatic states such as Nexus 
  and Sijan simply thought of thaumaturges as mortals 
  whose personal motives were at least as important as 
  the fact they knew a few magical tricks. Will the Time 
  of Tumult bring a rebirth of thaumaturgical wisdom in 
  the wake of the return of Creation’s greatest sorcerers? 
  Or will the spiraling chaos lead to another dark era of 
  oppression and ignorance?
  MYSTICAL GROUPS
  The ordeals of sorcerous initiation are so demand-
  ing that only a fraction of Exalted become sorcerers. 
  This fact, combined with the high cost of esoteric 
  texts and exotic materials required for spell research, 
  makes schools and societies of sorcery quite rare. The 
  Exalted have a far easier time learning thaumaturgy. 
  Not only do the few schools of sorcery also teach the 
  Arts, but many lesser academies in Creation offer a 
  thaumaturgical curriculum. Exalts can also arrange for 
  informal tutoring, usually by serving as an apprentice 
  to a master of the Arts.
  In tribes or small villages, an apprentice probably 
  has her mentor all to herself, but mystics in more popu-
  lous areas often join organized groups. The success of 
  an occult association depends upon factors such as the 
  members’ personalities, the approval (or disapproval) of 
  the local powers that be, and the ravages of time. A few 
  organizations have existed since the First Age, though 
  the passage of at least 15 centuries has muddled their 
  traditions or even caused their origins to be forgotten. 
  However, most mystic societies survive only a generation 
  or two before withering away or splitting into smaller, 
  often hostile, factions.
  Thaumaturgy is easily learned by the Exalted, how-
  ever, for the same reason that swordplay is easily learned: 
  because lots of mortals do it. The Dragon-Blooded, Lunars 
  and Sidereal Exalted have their own arcane societies, but 
  an Exalt does not have to rely on them. A reborn Solar 
  probably cannot rely on them. For this reason, therefore, 
  a Lawgiver who wants to learn thaumaturgy may need 
  to ﬁ nd a mortal teacher and address him as “Master”… 
  perhaps a disconcerting experience for someone who just 
  got used to the idea she is potentially one of the most 
  powerful people in the world.
  THE ARCHITECTURE OF 
  A MYSTIC ORGANIZATION
  Groups dedicated to the practice of thaumaturgy 
  vary greatly in size and purpose. They range from 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  119
  intimate pairings of mentor and student to massive 
  state-sponsored industrial magitech facilities. Large 
  organizations obviously are more likely to have greater 
  impact on Creation, though the vagaries of fate are 
  not always so predictable. The reason for a group’s ex-
  istence shapes its character, image and relation to the 
  rest of the world. The sorcerer-assistants of Lookshy 
  are widely respected by the city-state’s citizens, yet 
  common targets for enemy spies. Infernal cults, on the 
  other hand, usually stay small and secret in all but the 
  most corrupt lands, for their presence attracts violent 
  opposition from virtually everyone else.
  GROUP SIZE
  The Apprentice: The time-honored tradition of men-
  tor and student still forms the most common “group” of 
  thaumaturges. Apprentices usually trade physical chores, 
  such as cleaning the teacher’s house and laboratory, for 
  training in the Arts. Less fortunate students become 
  veritable slaves to domineering, abusive masters, enduring 
  backbreaking manual labor—or even nastier “service”—for 
  the (sometimes false) promise of tutelage.
  This model has endured naturally for thousands of 
  years. In larger communities, masters often take on more 
  than one apprentice or join with other thaumaturges 
  with similar purpose.
  Small groups: Mystic organizations consisting of 2 
  to 10 thaumaturges, plus any students currently in train-
  ing, easily evolve when a master’s former students stay 
  in close contact. Unfortunately, these little lodges often 
  fall apart upon the eventual death of their central ﬁ gure, 
  when students squabble for leadership. Other small groups 
  form around a common purpose: a political goal, fraternity 
  within a school of magic or even simple friendship. Orga-
  nizations of this size may be wealthy or locally inﬂ uential, 
  but their fortunes often depend on their leadership. The 
  master’s death, or the loss of the group’s patronage by the 
  local king or guild, can leave the members struggling for 
  direction or even doubtful about their next meal.
  Medium groups: Smaller groups that survive long 
  enough can outgrow their roots. Sometimes, one or more 
  of the master’s students demonstrates her own talents 
  for leadership and works to build the organization rather 
  than setting out on her own. Alternatively, if the group 
  serves another party, its sponsor may decide to expand 
  the scope of the mystical group. Mystic societies with 
  10 to 30 thaumaturges, with dozens of apprentices or 
  servants, may become local powers in their own right. 
  While their inﬂ uence is generally limited to a single 
  locale, they can usually obtain some degree of protection, 
  sometimes even in the form of private soldiers.
  
  120
  Large groups: Few mystic groups grow larger than 
  a few dozen members. Those that do exceed that mark 
  usually enjoy the support of a powerful ruler, or take 
  that role for their own leader. Dozens of thaumaturges 
  work together to recruit talented apprentices and direct 
  hundreds of lackeys toward their goals. Groups of this size 
  virtually demand a degree of wealth merely to operate. 
  Sometimes, large organizations manage to remain secret, 
  but most of them are publicly known, if not feared.
  Massive groups: Creation holds no more than a 
  handful of truly massive mystic organizations, each 
  boasting hundreds of thaumaturges supported by a huge 
  body of servants and students. Only groups with greater 
  purposes, beyond their magical practice, ever gain such 
  momentous power. Organizations of this size are nearly 
  impossible to keep secret, and most of them beneﬁ t from 
  widespread respect. State-sponsored mystic groups with 
  this kind of clout include the monks of the Immaculate 
  Order and the sorcerer-assistants of Lookshy. Although 
  never ofﬁ cially endorsed by its focus, the Cult of the 
  Scarlet Empress is widely recognized throughout the 
  Realm. In contrast, the furtive Cult of the Darkness’ 
  Unseeing Eye is spread throughout the South, but it 
  is divided into small cells, which are largely blind to 
  each other’s existence.
  GROUP PURPOSE
  Every mystic organization originally gathers for 
  some speciﬁ c reason, even if it is just to share a cup of 
  rice wine with friends at the local teahouse. Over time, 
  its purpose may change or expand to encompass more 
  than one goal. A band of drinking buddies may boldly 
  swear to challenge the king’s corrupt rule, while a team 
  of mystics initially gathered to defend their city against 
  Fair Folk raiders might start demanding regular payoffs 
  for their protection.
  Camaraderie: These thaumaturges congregate pri-
  marily to talk shop and enjoy each other’s company. The 
  group may share other goals, too, but companionship 
  comes ﬁ rst. New associates are sometimes frustrated 
  that parties and other social activities matter at least as 
  much as magical studies. The bonds of friendship don’t 
  instantly extend to recruits, either. Groups based on 
  camaraderie rarely survive beyond the initial member-
  ship unless they ﬁ nd a greater purpose. Nevertheless, 
  most people crave contact with people who share their 
  interests, so this remains one of the most common type 
  of mystic society.
  Defense: Few places in Creation ban thaumaturgy 
  outright, but many locales restrict its use to some degree. 
  A few rebellious souls always defy such restrictions, 
  whether for purely selﬁ sh reasons or legitimate dissent 
  against an oppressive regime. Often, they seek out fellow 
  activists with whom they can share the risks inherent 
  in the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.
  Other mystics gather for mutual protection against 
  a hostile environment, using their magic to defend 
  themselves and their community. Regions threatened 
  by Fair Folk or shadowland incursions often depend on 
  the wards of powerful thaumaturges.
  Groups formed to oppose governmental forces suf-
  fer violent ends more often than they overthrow the 
  current establishment. Those who serve as guardians 
  for their communities usually beneﬁ t from popular sup-
  port, so long as the threat remains and they survive to 
  defend against it.
  THAUMATURGICAL GROUPS 
  AND BACKGROUNDS
  Exalted uses Backgrounds (or the lack thereof) 
  to reﬂ ect the place a character occupies in the 
  world, from enjoying a wide network of well-
  informed associates to being the god-ﬁ gure of a 
  powerful cult. A naïve young apprentice prob-
  ably doesn’t have much in the way of support, as 
  represented by Backing or Inﬂ uence, but she may 
  nonetheless attract the attention of a powerful 
  teacher (a Mentor). Charismatic magicians often 
  attract hangers-on or hire bodyguards (Followers), 
  and the Exalted sometimes even become the 
  object of outright worship (Cult). On the path 
  to mystic power, many thaumaturges collect pow-
  erful friends (Allies), tap into alternate supplies 
  of knowledge (Contacts) and garner signiﬁ cant 
  wealth (Resources).
  If your character belongs to a mystic group, 
  think about what she gets out of it. Try to reﬂ ect 
  this in the way you spend your initial Background 
  and bonus points during character creation. Don’t 
  sweat it too much, as you can always raise these 
  Traits during play. If your Storyteller requires ex-
  perience points to pay for increased Backgrounds, 
  then discuss the growth of your character’s ties 
  with the world and use your experience to reﬂ ect 
  this. If your Storyteller prefers a ﬂ uid system, then 
  she is likely to tell you when your Backgrounds 
  should be raised or lowered to reﬂ ect the events 
  of your Exalted series instead of counting points 
  of experience.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  121
  Political: All too many of the citizens of Creation 
  are sheep, huddling beneath the crook of whichever 
  tyrant decides to call himself their shepherd. While 
  thaumaturges aren’t necessarily any better than any-
  one else, they do have the will to gain power through 
  their studies. Some mystics band together in hopes of 
  inﬂ uencing the world around them, working to main-
  tain strong relations with local rulers or to manipulate 
  society. From trading favors to using their magic to sway 
  the hearts of others, these thaumaturges may exercise 
  their power invisibly or publicly. They could be the 
  hidden power behind the throne or one of a group of 
  competing political interests.
  The purposes of such societies vary widely. While 
  the thaumaturges of Paragon ruthlessly support their 
  monarch, the monks of the Immaculate Order are not 
  afraid to pressure the mightiest Dynasts to follow the 
  philosophies of the Perfected Hierarchy.
  Economic: Skill in the Arts is a valuable talent. 
  Many cities have mystic guilds that trade in talismans 
  and potions. On the other hand, every ruler wants higher 
  tax revenues, and it is a rare organization that doesn’t 
  seek special treatment or fall prey to targeted tariffs. Un-
  less an economic group of thaumaturges gains powerful 
  allies, it eventually attracts the special attention of the 
  Guild. Very few groups can withstand the machinations 
  of the Guild, and sooner or later, most of them fold or 
  seek refuge with some other inﬂ uential partner.
  Power: When a young student dreams about learn-
  ing the Arts, he usually imagines that he will become a 
  powerful magician who dominates the forces of nature, the 
  spirits and the people around him. For some thaumaturges, 
  this desire for power becomes paramount. Groups with 
  this kind of leadership won’t settle for less than complete 
  control over the world around them. Predictably, groups 
  with this outlook often destroy themselves. Power-hungry 
  thaumaturges eventually realize they don’t want to share 
  control, and inﬁ ghting then tears the group apart. Even 
  if a leader emerges who can keep the other thaumaturges 
  in line, Creation holds entities and organizations that 
  can swat down the mightiest thaumaturge—such as 
  greater gods, Lunar elders, the Immaculate Order and 
  Solar Circles with a taste for justice.
  Cult: This type of organization centers around a 
  single powerful entity or a small group of such beings. 
  Sometimes, the cult focuses on a charismatic thau-
  maturge, but most honor one or more Exalted, gods, 
  elementals or other supernatural entities. Despite the 
  disapproval of some within the Immaculate Order, un-
  told thousands worship the Scarlet Empress. The divine 
  trios of Great Forks and Whitewall rule their respective 
  cities and enjoy large followings. The fortunes of a cult 
  may rise and fall over the years, but even a group that 
  fades into obscurity can return to power provided the 
  cult’s central ﬁ gure survives.
  A cult’s activities don’t always involve thaumaturgy, 
  but its magical origin generally ensures some exposure to 
  mystical knowledge. Many cults enjoy popular support, 
  but others face strong opposition. Yozis and Deathlords 
  appeal mostly to the decadent, the dispossessed and the 
  insane. Their cults operate in secret, faced with the 
  constant threat of extermination by the Wyld Hunt 
  or outraged local militias.
  MYSTICS OF THE SECOND AGE
  The threads of the future have yet to weave their 
  way through Loom of Fate, but the mystic organizations 
  found here will be an important part of its unfolding 
  pattern. The Maidens do not so easily reveal all of their 
  secrets, though, and groups yet unseen may play greater 
  roles than anyone imagines. Use these organizations to 
  enrich your series and provide deeper background for 
  your character, or take them as sources of inspiration 
  and create your own thaumaturgical associations.
  THAUMATURGY IN THE REALM
  The Arts are legal in the Realm, but their prac-
  tice is restricted according to Immaculate principles, 
  bureaucratic protocol and the whim of the Scarlet 
  Empress. The Immaculate Order wants individuals to 
  ﬁ ll their proper place in the Perfected Hierarchy without 
  hindrance from unnecessary distraction. The Thou-
  sand Scales are protective of the position of authority 
  the Empress has afforded them. The Empress simply 
  regarded anyone with power as a potential threat to 
  monitor and counterbalance. The Imminent Registrar 
  of Mortal Occultists and Savants attempts to satisfy 
  these competing demands.
  See The Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. 
  I—The Blessed Isle for the whole complicated, 
  expensive system. In brief, the Realm demands that 
  would-be thaumaturges pay for a license and study 
  from state-approved teachers and texts. The program 
  of instruction takes ﬁ ve years and is not cheap, but it 
  turns out competent magicians and savants (minimum 
  Occult 3, Lore 2, and an Initiate Degree in at least one 
  Art is required to pass).
  Even with a thaumaturge’s license, mortals are not 
  normally allowed to summon elementals or demons. 
  Except for monks, mortals are not supposed to be inter-
  acting with spirits in any way apart from honoring them 
  
  122
  on Immaculate holidays. Mortal monks are expected 
  to have limited contact with spirits, including driving 
  off those who defy the ways of the Perfected Hierarchy. 
  Nevertheless, they are mortal and are not generally 
  supposed to summon demons or elementals.
  The Dragon-Blooded of the Realm face fewer 
  restrictions. The Scarlet Empress recognized that the 
  innate powers of the Exalted generally exceed those of 
  thaumaturgy, and that attempting to keep her Exalted 
  subjects from learning the Arts was not worth the ef-
  fort. By restricting thaumaturgical lore for the general 
  populace, she encouraged Dragon-Blooded to see it as 
  a special privilege rather than an incentive to thwart 
  her authority.
  Nevertheless, demons and elementals present a 
  serious danger when treated without care, whether 
  the summoner is mortal or Exalt. Anyone, mortal or 
  Exalt, who wants to legally summon spirits within the 
  Realm must gain a special demonologist or elementalist 
  license—and a mortal thaumaturge needs a Dynast or 
  Immaculate to vouch for her. If a Dragon-Blood is actually 
  a sorcerer, and not merely a thaumaturge, she must also 
  submit an entry to the Ofﬁ ce of the White Registry in 
  the Imperial City (see The White Treatise, p 14, and 
  The Manual of Exalted Power—The Dragon-Blooded, 
  p. 25). The Realm does not tolerate mortal sorcerers.
  The Realm holds summoners responsible for anything 
  their spirit minions do. A license insures a demonologist 
  or elementalist against mischief that result in less than 
  one obol of damage. Beyond this, however, any crime 
  committed by a demon or elemental incurs severe punish-
  ment. The demon or elemental may also be banished or 
  slain. A summoner may not simultaneously keep more 
  than three summoned beings in Creation without special 
  dispensation from powerful authorities.
  Imperial ofﬁ cials limit the practice of other Arts 
  wherever they feel that the Immaculate Philosophy or 
  the security of the Dynasty is threatened:
  • The Immaculate Order believes that ghosts have 
  turned aside from the cycle of reincarnation that leads 
  to enlightenment. The Art of the Dead is permitted 
  only to perform appropriate death rites or to help lay 
  the dead to permanent rest.
  • Only legionnaires, House soldiers, magistrates 
  and Black Helms may use thaumaturgy with military 
  application.
  • Duplicating or interfering with the blessings of 
  the Exalted is restricted, as well.
  • Alchemical solutions may not increase the lifes-
  pan of mortals by more than 25 percent.
  • Drugs such as bright morning are illegal because 
  they allow mortals to interact with spirits.
  • Using astrology to read the future of a Dragon-
  Blood is prohibited.
  • Because of its wide-ranging effects, another Impe-
  rial body, the Bureau of Climatic Deliberations, must 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  123
  and care for the mind, body and soul of the citizenry. 
  Mortal and Exalted members both learn thaumaturgy 
  to help achieve these goals.
  The Immaculate Order particularly favors the Arts 
  of Spirit Beckoning and Warding and Exorcism. The 
  latter enables a monk to drive off rogue gods or hungry 
  ghosts and protect the community from other harmful 
  inﬂ uences. Spirit Beckoning smoothes relations with the 
  Celestial Hierarchy, though many gods wish the Order 
  would pray to them more often than the Immaculate 
  calendar decrees.
  The Order doesn’t ignore the other Arts, how-
  ever. Astrology helps determine when the Anathema 
  will appear so that the Wyld Hunt may destroy them. 
  Celestially guided itinerants, who are always Dragon-
  Blooded, also use the Art to predict unrest within the 
  Realm, bolstering their reputation for rooting out cor-
  ruption within the government and sedition by rebels, 
  bandits or rogue deities. Alchemy and Husbandry 
  are recognized for their value in healing. The Art of 
  Enchantment combined with Warding and Exorcism 
  creates protective talismans.
  The Order discourages its monks from learning the 
  Arts of Demon or Elemental Summoning—a monk does 
  need a demonologist or elementalist license to study these 
  Arts and accepts regular scrutiny by his superiors. Im-
  maculates usually leave Weather Working to the Bureau 
  of Climatic Deliberations. Degrees in the Art of the Dead 
  are unknown within the Order, although a handful of 
  Procedures related to death rites are taught.
  Special: The Immaculate Order values the Art of 
  Geomancy because Immaculate doctrine associates con-
  trol of Essence with spiritual and moral enlightenment. 
  Some mortal monks learn to manipulate Essence through 
  thaumaturgical rituals and rigorous asceticism. Once they 
  achieve this goal, they can learn the Five Dragon Style (see 
  The Manual of Exalted Power—The Dragon-Blooded, 
  pp. 189-191) and perhaps other supernatural martial arts. 
  Indeed, Immaculate monks are the only mortals in the 
  Realm whose use of Charms is tolerated, and even they 
  are only allowed Charms from an approved martial arts 
  style. If other mortals try to imitate the powers of the 
  Exalted, they commit heresy—but monks who use the 
  Charms of an orthodox martial art prove the Immaculate 
  path leads to enlightenment.
  THE CULT OF THE SCARLET EMPRESS
  The Cult of the Scarlet Empress has never enjoyed 
  ofﬁ cial sanction. The Immaculate Order calls the Em-
  press the most enlightened of all Dragon-Blooded, but 
  that doesn’t make her a god. The adherents of the Cult 
  THE LAW AND THE REALITY
  More than 100 million mortals inhabit the 
  Blessed Isle. Searching through ever-growing 
  records of licensed thaumaturges is a time con-
  suming effort, and most enforcement authorities 
  cannot easily detect the use of the Arts. Nearly 
  every village boasts a wise old mystic who could 
  never afford a thaumaturgy license. Even in the 
  Imperial City, the poor scrape together what they 
  can manage to beg the blessing of the neighbor-
  hood wise woman. Various craft guilds may even 
  purchase one or two thaumaturgy licenses yet 
  house dozens of unlicensed practitioners, passing 
  off their work as that of a single licensed master. 
  Heretical secret cults, inspired by sly Yozi demons 
  or rebellious gods of the Blessed Isle, offer magical 
  power to their most devoted adherents.
  The Dynasty bends its own rules, too. 
  Dragon-Blooded commanders sometimes teach 
  legionnaires how to enchant their blade or pray 
  to the war gods. House sorcerers don’t always 
  ﬁ le the paperwork for their laboratory assistants. 
  The mortal staff of the Heptagram absorbs rituals 
  like a sponge soaking up water, and the Sidereals 
  entrenched in the school never submit its daily 
  routines to the scrutiny of clerks. Individuals 
  who know at least one thaumaturgical Procedure 
  aren’t necessarily less common than elsewhere 
  in Creation, they are simply more circumspect 
  about it.
  approve the operations of thaumaturges who practice 
  the Art of Weather Working. Although weather-workers 
  are held to strict rules, even if they are Dragon-Blooded, 
  they also have opportunities to work with well-con-
  nected Exalts and powerful magitech artifacts. See The 
  Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. I—The Blessed 
  Isle, pp. 34-35, for details of Realm weather control.
  THE IMMACULATE ORDER
  Monks of the Immaculate Order are excused from 
  many of the Realm’s regulations, but the rules of the 
  Order are quite as stringent in their way. Terrestrial 
  Exalted lead the Order (with secret Sidereal backing), 
  but mortal monks outnumber Exalted members by doz-
  ens to one. As spiritual caretakers of the Realm, monks 
  must protect the community from rogue spirits, arrange 
  the worship of important gods at the appointed times, 
  bless births and weddings, ofﬁ ciate over death rites 
  
  124
  go beyond appropriate reverence, but no one’s ready 
  to denounce any form of esteem for the Empress. The 
  Empress never publicly addressed the propriety of her 
  cult, and her stance has varied from periods of unspoken 
  approval to covert crackdowns. The Immaculate Order 
  sometimes issues muted, indirect approval or muted, 
  indirect criticism, but most of the time tries to pretend 
  the cult doesn’t exist.
  With no real cohesion except a shared reverence for 
  the same central ﬁ gure, the Cult of the Scarlet Empress 
  stays unorganized and informal. Repeated cycles of 
  suppression have crushed would-be leaders within the 
  Cult, while the shifts from indifference to quiet favor 
  have left members unsure how they might best serve 
  their holy matron. Nevertheless, membership in the 
  Cult is often a useful way for young Dragon-Bloods and 
  patricians to meet potential patrons. Citizens of lower 
  classes sometimes form cult groups of their own.
  Without a central direction, members of the Cult 
  develop their own informal traditions, from celebrating 
  days they think are important to the Empress to sacriﬁ c-
  ing things they think she would value. Cult rites often 
  take place on the anniversaries of their matron’s wedding 
  days, revelations of Imperial consorts or birthdates of 
  her direct children.
  The Cult of the Empress would be nothing but 
  an eccentric social club, except that people often ask 
  their gods to protect them. Every citizen of the Realm 
  knows the Empress saved Creation and protects the 
  Realm. Long ago, her devotees started calling on her 
  to banish ghosts, bring them luck and protect them 
  from life’s other common hazards. Not long after, some 
  cultists learned enough thaumaturgy to give some force 
  to those desires.
  High-ranking members of the cult strive to learn the 
  Arts of Enchantment or Warding and Exorcism. Mortal 
  members sometimes use geomantic procedures to attune 
  to artifacts, demesnes or hearthstones—they can’t use 
  them, but they value the experience as a way to be more 
  like the Exalted and, therefore, closer to the Empress.
  Cultists believe that their rituals call on the Em-
  press’ power. And they work. Whether their working 
  has anything to do with their faith doesn’t really matter. 
  The cult ties every ritual or talisman to some tale about 
  the Empress. For instance, one story says that the scar-
  let crane, a bird that lives in the Juche Prefecture and 
  the Scarlet Prefecture, received its crimson hue by the 
  Scarlet Empress’s blessings. The cult thus uses scarlet 
  crane feathers in a luck charm. Whether the story or 
  the charm came ﬁ rst, no one now can say; such is the 
  nature of folk thaumaturgy—even when the folk are 
  Princes of the Earth.
  The Cult of the Empress currently undergoes rapid 
  changes sparked by their matron’s disappearance. Since 
  she vanished, the Cult has drawn together in unprec-
  edented unity. Larger congregations than ever found 
  before gather in hopes of summoning the Scarlet Empress 
  to restore order and put Creation right again. Some 
  members study other thaumaturgical Arts in search 
  of clues to the Empress’ whereabouts, such as Astrol-
  ogy… and Demon Summoning. Disturbing reports from 
  magistrates and Black Helm authorities suggest that 
  some of these rites include human sacriﬁ ce, and that 
  Cult cells have tried to obtain samples of hair or blood 
  from Dragon-Blooded who are of close lineage with 
  the Empress. Savants in the Realm fear that the Cult’s 
  ignorant, fumbling efforts may threaten the Realm as 
  much as any Dynastic inﬁ ghting.
  SORCERER-ASSISTANTS OF LOOKSHY
  The power of Lookshy depends on its arsenal of 
  magitech and other artifacts. To maintain this arsenal 
  and craft new weapons, the General Staff instituted 
  an Academy of Sorcery that eventually claimed the 
  entire Valkhawsen District of the city. The Academy 
  strives to train as many Exalted sorcerer-engineers as 
  possible… but the city-state doesn’t have enough Ex-
  alted to do all the work. Of necessity, dozens of mortal 
  thaumaturges—sorcerer-assistants—graduate with 
  every Dragon-Blooded sorcerer.
  The Academy concentrates on the Arts of Enchant-
  ment and Alchemy. The other Arts are largely left to 
  the members of the Academy’s brother institute, the 
  sorcerer-priests of the Chaplainry. Citizens of Look-
  shy are expected to serve in the Seventh Legion, and 
  thaumaturges are no exception. However, a skilled 
  practitioner can generally count on serving with little 
  to no combat duty: she is more valuable servicing the 
  city-state’s magitech arsenal. Of course, the military 
  needs technicians in the ﬁ eld, too. Thaumaturges who 
  fanatically desire to serve in battle are encouraged to 
  join the elite gunzosha commando units.
  The sorcerer-assistants of Lookshy beneﬁ t from the 
  city’s strong dependence upon magitech and military 
  prowess. They fall into several groups.
  Sorcerer-priests, also called sohei, work with the 
  Chaplainry to exorcise hostile spirits and summon 
  such beings when it is necessary—often in the midst 
  of battle. Since true control only comes with sorcery, 
  thaumaturgical assistants to sorcerer-priests practice 
  only minor summonings of elementals and beckonings 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  125
  of small gods, and then only under sorcerous supervision. 
  They are usually limited to investigation, exorcism and 
  warding duties.
  Sorcerer-engineers, or wai tan-junai, create and 
  maintain magitech. They must know at least four spells 
  of the Terrestrial Circle, as well as thaumaturgy. Senior 
  sorcerer-engineers rarely leave the city and spend much 
  of their time in the Academy of Lookshy, the district 
  around it or the caverns beneath.
  Sorcerer-technicians, or shugan-junai, assist the 
  wai tan-junai in caring for artifacts and crafting new 
  ones. They also provide magical support for the Legion 
  in combat. Most of them are mortals and only know 
  thaumaturgy. The General Staff wants one sorcerer-
  technician for every fang of the Seventh Legion. This 
  goal may not be completely realistic, but the General 
  Staff seems set upon achieving it.
  Armigers are special troops trained to protect the 
  city’s valuable sorcerer-engineers. Though some armigers 
  are powerful God-Bloods or other strange creatures, 
  most are thaumaturges. These trusted assistants may 
  carry weapons in every situation (even during reports 
  to the General Staff) and serve as personal bodyguards 
  tasked to prevent the loss of Lookshy’s most precious 
  personnel. It is also tacitly understood that an armiger 
  has the duty to kill a sorcerer-engineer who tries to 
  defect or faces capture by enemies who might extract 
  strategic information.
  Gunzosha are elite soldiers who sacriﬁ ce years of 
  their lives to bear the powerful gunzosha commando 
  armor in the service of Lookshy. These individuals 
  need extensive ritual and surgical preparations to use 
  their special armor. They also help maintain their own 
  equipment. Only the most fanatical patriots receive 
  gunzosha duty, for Lookshy closely guards the secret of 
  the armor’s production and the implantation procedures 
  needed to create these super soldiers. Gunzosha can 
  achieve nearly any military rank, though their careers 
  are generally shorter than those of their compatriots.
  For more information on Lookshy, its military and 
  its magitech, see The Compass of Terrestrial Direc-
  tions—The Scavenger Lands. Information about the 
  Lookshy Academy of Sorcery can be found in The 
  White Treatise.
  THE CULT OF THE DARKNESS’ UNSEEING EYE
  Banished from Creation and trapped within a hell 
  composed of their own forms, the defeated Primordials 
  hunger for revenge upon the rebellious gods and their 
  Exalted warriors. Their prison is not perfect, and the 
  Yozis whisper dark promises to those mortals who will 
  listen. Many wicked or deluded cults of mortals serve 
  the secret purposes of the Yozis, and one of the largest 
  of them is the Cult of the Darkness’ Unseeing Eye.
  Small cabals of this cult are spread throughout the 
  South. Each cell has little contact with the others; most 
  members do not know they belong to a larger organiza-
  tion. In fact, some cultists think they belong to some 
  other secret society. The demon-worshipping Salmalin 
  (once served by the Solar Exalted Harmonious Jade) is 
  really part of the Unseeing Eye, though only the highest 
  leaders of the Salmalin know this.
  The cult owes its spread, if not its origin, to the 
  venerable Literary Resurrectionist Society in Chiar-
  oscuro. This handful of bookmakers transcribes and sells 
  ancient works. Two centuries ago, this scholarly guild 
  translated A Lover Clad in Blue into Flametongue and 
  distributed it for sale throughout the South. Whether 
  they did this unprompted, no one can say—but since 
  then, the Cult of the Darkness’ Unseeing Eye has hired 
  these scholarly artisans to translate several other books 
  whose obscurity matches their antiquity.
  Sondok, She-Who-Stands-In-Doorways, a Demon 
  of the Second Circle, directs the Cult of the Dark-
  ness’ Unseeing Eye when she is able. While she lacks 
  the supernatural genius of greater demons, she plans 
  cleverly and patiently. Her cult’s cell structure makes 
  it impossible to root out and destroy, though this also 
  renders it unable to mount any strong, uniﬁ ed action. 
  The cult achieves its goals through subversion, secrecy 
  and stealth, though it does not shirk from violence 
  when it seems expedient. Demon-hunters and state 
  authorities that capture Sondok’s cultists cannot ﬁ gure 
  out her grand strategy. According to the records of 
  First Age sorcerers, Sondok is angry, cold and totally 
  devoted to her tasks… whatever they are. She is also 
  a consummate ﬁ ghter with blood eternally encrusted 
  beneath her black talons.
  The Cult of the Darkness’ Unseeing Eye uses sym-
  bols associated with Sondok, even if its members don’t 
  always know their source. They often dress in dark red 
  leather and black or red silk, and frequently dye their 
  hair black. For jewelry they favor gold and garnets, with 
  wolves’ ears and the dead roots of trees forming an odd 
  ornamental theme. Those who enjoy the company of a 
  pet often prefer a bedraggled brown dog. For weapons, 
  they prefer swords, axes or tiger claws. Sondok’s devotees 
  cultivate a peculiar breed of poisonous red mushrooms, 
  reputedly left by Sondok’s footsteps, and employ it in 
  their assassinations. Stories say that the constellations 
  are faintly visible in Sondok’s blood-ﬁ lled eyes, and this 
  
  126
  leads some of cultists to practice an inauspicious form 
  of astrology. The most knowledgeable of her servants 
  sometimes have a black tattoo upon their left breasts in 
  the form of intricate bird-claw marks. The most fanatical 
  ﬁ le their teeth to sharp points. All of these trappings are 
  common in the thaumaturgical rites of the cult.
  The Cult of the Darkness’ Unseeing Eye focuses, 
  of course, upon the Art of Demon Summoning. Few 
  members develop actual Degrees in the Art beyond the 
  Initiate level, but priests often learn a few Procedures 
  from the Adept and Master Degrees, particularly The 
  Year and the Day and Beckon Sondok. Beyond demonic 
  lore, the Art of Astrology interests a few fervent cult 
  members. The cult’s astrologers strive to discover the 
  most inauspicious moments of their enemies to guide 
  their clandestine operations. Some of the cult’s most 
  inﬂ uential members are disaffected astrologists who left 
  the Varang City-States to escape their assigned lots in 
  life. Otherwise, the cult’s thaumaturgical knowledge 
  is largely focused on individual Procedures that aid in 
  stealth or combat. Cult members often possess appro-
  priate Backgrounds, particularly Contacts or Backing 
  (Unseeing Eye).
  may exchange letters, they know their Arts derive from 
  Creation and no master could possibly keep them for 
  himself. Functionally, the Salinan Society consists of 
  scores of separate thaumaturgical cabals spread across 
  Creation, operating independently and sharing infor-
  mation when they feel like it.
  The Realm and the Immaculate Order condemn 
  the Salinan Society because it acknowledges Salina as 
  a Solar Exalted. Members who lie within areas inﬂ u-
  enced by the Immaculate faith often dislike thinking 
  that their founder had ties with an Anathema, but 
  they don’t want to change established texts, either. 
  (Occasional revisionists argue that Kazenbi was the 
  truly enlightened one and Salina the Anathema stole 
  his insights.) In regions of the Threshold where the 
  Immaculates have little presence, the Salinan Society 
  operates more openly. Of course, every locale presents 
  its own challenges, including the potential for oppres-
  sive or magic-hungry regimes.
  Salinan thaumaturges are true savants who see 
  thaumaturgy as a way to understand Creation. While 
  they maintain many ancient texts, they engage in a 
  great deal of research, too. Many cabals own transcripts 
  of the Radiant Dowager’s The Genesis of Heathen Ritual. 
  These sometimes lead Salinan savants into less civilized 
  areas in search of shamans or witches, hoping to discover 
  folk magic never recorded in the scrolls of the scholarly. 
  Other groups organize expeditions into the edges of the 
  Wyld, hoping to recover lore lost to the Great Contagion. 
  Still other members experiment and observe Creation 
  in hopes of discovering its secrets directly.
  The loose dispersal of the Society means that a 
  student is usually limited to texts held by his local cabal. 
  Provided he doesn’t bring trouble to the group, however, 
  they aren’t likely to judge him for his studies. If a rite 
  is embedded in Creation, it must have some legitimate 
  purpose. Unfortunately, different cabals may not trust 
  each other despite their shared ideals. Since the Society 
  SONDOK’S MUSHROOMS
  The cult slips Sondok’s mushrooms into spicy 
  food or coats weapons with a concentrated blood-
  red paste made from them. The mushrooms are 
  equally lethal in either form, with these traits: 
  Damage 9L/action, Toxicity 5, Tolerance —/—, 
  Penalty -5. Resources 5 (3 for cult members).
  THE SALINAN SOCIETY
  The Salinan Society draws its inspiration from one 
  of the greatest sorcerers of the Old Realm. The society 
  claims it began with Kazenbi, a mortal thaumaturge 
  who served the great Salina and shared her belief that 
  Creation itself was the greatest guide to enlightenment. 
  After centuries of chaos and suppression, no one can 
  prove Kazenbi existed. Nevertheless, the Society’s study 
  of magical theory and its relations to thaumaturgy 
  remain valuable after more than 1,000 years.
  The Salinan Society is a loose fraternal organiza-
  tion dedicated to sharing thaumaturgical techniques. 
  Though individual members have entertained ambi-
  tions for power, the organization as a whole survives by 
  avoiding politics. The Society has no central leadership; 
  each group forms around one or more senior members, 
  who teach students interested in the Arts. While groups 
  THE FOUNDER’S RETURN?
  Every Society member has the same thought 
  if they learn that the new Solar Exalted carry 
  memories from First Age incarnations: Where’s 
  Salina? The current host of her Exaltation could 
  answer a lot of their questions, historical and 
  otherwise, and gain the allegiance of thaumaturges 
  scattered throughout Creation. It would be most 
  unfortunate for Creation if her Exaltation turned 
  out to be held by an Abyssal.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  127
  doesn’t even try to enforce orthodoxy, cabals frequently 
  drift off into their own doctrines and obsessions that 
  clash with the parent group’s traditions. Enough true 
  Salinan groups and texts always survive, however, to 
  keep the Society going.
  THE THAUMATURGE
  Given that mortals outnumber Exalted by at least 
  10,000 to 1, the wonders of thaumaturgy are vastly more 
  common than sorcery. Practitioners of the Arts come 
  from cultures that range from Wyld barbarians to the 
  Realm. Such diversity makes generalization difﬁ cult, 
  but a handful of common archetypes exist. Five such 
  archetypes are brieﬂ y described below, along with notes 
  about Traits they most commonly share. The Occult 
  Ability isn’t repetitively listed, as it is important to all 
  thaumaturges.
  Even though sorcery and Charms greatly overmatch 
  thaumaturgy, a prudent Exalt does not dismiss a skilled 
  practitioner of the Arts. Minor magics can still prove 
  deadly if applied with care and cunning, when a foe 
  is at his weakest—or when several thaumaturges work 
  together. What’s more, any of these ﬁ ve types of thau-
  maturge may have wider social connections that could 
  cause further trouble for an arrogant Exalt.
  CULTIST
  Some thaumaturges align themselves with powers 
  greater than themselves. This might happen through 
  an honest religious conviction or a desire for access to 
  godly might. Some want to control the actions of others 
  as a god’s deputy, while others merely seek a sense of 
  belonging. The nature of a cult matters at least as much 
  as the thaumaturge’s own desires. A well-intentioned 
  individual duped by the Cult of the Darkness’s Unsee-
  ing Eye probably becomes corrupt and dangerous, while 
  the most power-hungry priest of the three gods of Great 
  Forks is constantly pressured to serve the community. 
  Most cults center upon a being of great supernatural 
  power, and thaumaturges tap into the mystic secrets 
  these entities offer to the faithful.
  Traits: The Performance Ability matters a great 
  deal for its use in religious ceremonies, and tricking 
  people in the case of less savory cults. Other Abilities 
  vary according to cult’s nature: combat Abilities for 
  war gods, Craft for a smith god, Larceny and Stealth 
  for secretive groups. Cultists who aspire to leadership 
  develop Presence. Backgrounds such as Allies, Backing, 
  Contacts and Inﬂ uence represent the thaumaturge’s 
  ties to the cult. If the thaumaturge is high in the cult’s 
  ranks, she might enjoy the aid of numerous Followers 
  and access to cult Resources.
  Cultist thaumaturges usually favor Spirit Beck-
  oning, though cultists dedicated to the Yozis or the 
  Underworld prefer Demon Summoning or the Art of 
  the Dead. Any cult might use Enchantment to craft 
  talismans that assist the faithful in secular life as well 
  as cult activities.
  MONK
  Monks and other holy men and women express 
  religious devotion through lives of spiritual discipline. 
  The Immaculate Order is certainly the largest such 
  religious body, but other groups in Creation practice 
  
  128
  similar lifestyles. The rigid practices of the Brides of 
  Ahlat, the Southern God of War, are a good example, 
  for these ﬁ erce warriors rival mortal Immaculate monks 
  with their fanatic devotion and martial skills. Other holy 
  men and women express their devotion by helping the 
  poor, traveling as mendicant preachers, or ascetically 
  renouncing the world, the ﬂ esh and temptation. The 
  self-discipline inherent to these groups lends itself to 
  thaumaturgical study, and most monks enjoy public 
  support that makes it easy to maintain collections of 
  suitable training material.
  Traits: The discipline of the monastic lifestyle usually 
  demands the Resistance and Integrity Abilities. Not all 
  groups practice them, but the Immaculate Order in par-
  ticular stresses mastery of Martial Arts. Itinerant monks 
  learn Survival, and Linguistics if they travel widely. A 
  smattering of Presence, Performance and Bureaucracy 
  are often gained while serving the needs of the organi-
  zation and its adherents. The Resources Background is 
  rare, since monks often take vows of poverty, while the 
  Mentor Background is especially appropriate.
  Immaculate monks favor the Art of Warding and 
  Exorcism, while Geomancy provides a potential path 
  to practicing the supernatural martial arts. Other holy 
  folk may prefer Arts that help them in their lives of 
  service, such as Alchemy for monks who run a char-
  ity hospital.
  SAVANT
  Many thaumaturges learn the Arts through formal 
  training, at one of the schools that teach it or apprenticed 
  to a talented master. These mystics approach the Arts 
  in a scholarly fashion and generally gain employment 
  with respected groups within society. The sorcerer-as-
  sistants of Lookshy are a ﬁ ne example of this archetype, 
  as they pursue vigorous curricula of magical lore and 
  use them to maintain the city’s magitech arsenal. The 
  Salinan Society, on the other hand, avoids worldly en-
  tanglement but members pursue systematic programs of 
  experiment and exploration. Savants aren’t limited to 
  civilized societies, though: the tribal witch who knows 
  the properties of a thousand healing and harming herbs 
  is a savant, too. Savants are deﬁ ned not by their setting, 
  but by their hunger for knowledge.
  Traits: Savants favor Intelligence, Lore and Lin-
  guistics. Those who train as enchanters typically learn 
  Crafts. Other savants study Medicine and become ac-
  complished doctors. Long interaction within scholarly 
  communities may lead to Socialize or Bureaucracy. A 
  savant trained by a master usually has a Mentor, while 
  demand for her skills permits Resources. Savants tend 
  to favor the Arts of Enchantment, Alchemy and Geo-
  mancy, but anything is possible.
  SCAVENGER LORD
  The wonders of the First Age, virtually ubiquitous 
  in their time, become dangerous weapons or valuable 
  luxuries in the Time of Tumult. Extracting these wonders 
  from ruins and tombs is a hazardous task that demands 
  a rare combination of quick wits, physical prowess and 
  attention to details of ancient lore. Although scavenger 
  lords are best known in the East, these explorers can 
  operate anywhere in Creation where First Age structures 
  beg to be explored. Successful scavenger lords often 
  semi-retire and sponsor the expeditions of younger 
  scavengers: they know that sooner or later they could 
  die through a single mistake in trying to circumvent 
  a First Age building’s defenses. Since most ancient 
  defenses rely in part upon magic, wise scavenger lords 
  try to learn some thaumaturgy.
  Traits: Scavenger lords need Awareness and In-
  vestigation to survive their expeditions and ﬁ nd the 
  loot they seek. Linguistics (particularly Old Realm) 
  and Lore provide valuable understanding of First Age 
  threats. Larceny and Dodge prove remarkably useful in 
  defeating troublesome barriers or ducking deadly traps. 
  Artifact and Resources are appropriate Backgrounds for 
  scavenger lords who enjoy any success. Most scavengers 
  employ a small expeditionary team, which is easily 
  represented by Followers or Allies. Scavenger lords 
  are eclectic in their studies of thaumaturgy, tending to 
  gather a body of useful Procedures rather than mastery 
  of any particular Art.
  SHAMAN
  A witch or shaman learns from tradition, the small 
  gods she strives to exploit and appease, and the world 
  around her. Unlike the cultist or monk, she treats 
  the gods as a threat or resource as much as ﬁ gures to 
  be worshipped. Unlike the savant, the shaman cares 
  more about results and serving her community than 
  about systematic acquisition of knowledge. Whether 
  she lives in an isolated village or with a nomadic tribe, 
  the shaman becomes an important ﬁ gure to her people 
  through her Abilities and Arts. She might arrange for 
  better weather, call wild beasts to the hunt, and ward 
  off dangerous foes. Of course, some shamans are feared 
  and tolerated only because they are necessary.
  Traits: The Medicine Ability is important since 
  most shamans serve as healers in their communities. Lore 
  is virtually required, usually specialized in local spirits. 
  Tribal shamans tend to master Survival, while Perfor-
  mance and Presence help them negotiate with spirits. 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  129
  Shamans usually enjoy Inﬂ uence in their community. 
  Friendly spirits or ancestral ghosts become Mentors or 
  Allies, and some shamans will attract a Familiar. Powerful 
  shamans might enjoy access to Resources, Followers or 
  even their own Cult. Almost every Art has its uses for 
  a shaman, from Alchemy to brew magical medicines to 
  Weather Working to aid the village croplands.
  THE ARTS OF THAUMATURGY
  Savants classify thaumaturgical rituals into 11 Arts, 
  each of which constitutes its own Occult specialty: 
  Alchemy, Astrology, the Dead, Demon Summoning, 
  Elemental Summoning, Enchantment, Geomancy, 
  Husbandry, Spirit Beckoning, Warding and Exorcism, 
  and Weather Working. Most of the Arts have existed 
  in one form or another since before humanity existed. 
  Three were created after the Primordial War: the Art 
  of the Dead, the Art of Demon Summoning and the 
  Art of Elemental Summoning.
  Rituals within an Art share common elements. If 
  one knows several rituals within an Art, others become 
  easier to learn. A thaumaturge who learns a single 
  Procedure, and stops there, may never make these con-
  nections. Once she learns multiple related Procedures, 
  she can piece together the principles of an Art. The 
  Degrees of the Arts express how well a thaumaturge 
  understands those principles.
  Rituals in this chapter are divided according to their 
  Arts and are presented in the same format as the sample 
  rituals from Exalted, pages 137-139. To recap:
  Name (Minimum Degree, Attribute, Difﬁ culty, 
  Casting Time): Effect.
  Any special considerations, such as unique tools, 
  expenditures or non-standard dice rolls, are described 
  along with the Effect.
  Some rituals’ names use “Wild Card” forms such 
  as Summon (Species) or Ward Against (Creature). These 
  entries represent groups of rituals with similar effects 
  and game mechanics, such as Ward Against Elementals, 
  Summon Demons, and so on. The standard classes for 
  thaumaturgy are Beasts, the Dead, Demons, Elementals, 
  Exalted, Fair Folk, Gods and Humans. The (Species) 
  term means that a ritual affects a particular sub-class 
  within these broader classes, such as Summon Erymanthos 
  or Beckon Solar Exalted. Characters with an appropriate 
  Degree can learn rituals that affect all members of a single 
  class; isolated Procedures can only affect a single subclass. 
  Many of these rituals, however, can be learned as part of 
  at least two Arts. A Ward Against Demons, for instance, 
  could be learned either as part of the Art of Demon 
  Summoning or the Art of Warding and Exorcism.
  HOW MANY RITUALS?
   The rules of Exalted aim to make thauma-
  turgy as multipurpose as possible, but weaker than 
  Charms, sorcery or necromancy. An experienced 
  magician might know scores of rituals, each de-
  signed for a speciﬁ c limited purpose. Technically, 
  a thaumaturge can use any ritual for which she 
  possesses the proper Degree in the appropriate 
  Art, but things aren’t really that simple. Even 
  the greatest thaumaturge cannot automatically 
  produce an alchemical mixture he has never seen 
  simply because he is a Master of Alchemy. Knowing 
  the underlying theories of an Art to a particular 
  Degree does not mean that a character instantly 
  knows every ritual within that Degree.
  Players should work with their Storyteller to 
  decide which rituals their characters reasonably 
  know already, and keep track of new ones learned 
  during play. A thaumaturge character from the West 
  would need a good reason to justify knowing the 
  secret ritual that Eastern shamans use to harden 
  ironwood. By the same token, why would an Eastern 
  shaman know rituals to call storms at sea?
  Common sense and character concept may 
  be enough for players and Storytellers to decide 
  what rituals a character may know. The need to 
  buy separate Arts and Degrees goes a long way to 
  keeping thaumaturgy broad-based yet limited in 
  scope. If you want a stricter guideline (as an option), 
  you might limit starting characters to a maximum 
  number of rituals per Degree based on Intelligence, 
  Lore or Occult rating. The thaumaturge then can 
  learn more rituals as game events allow.
  THE ART OF ALCHEMY
  The greatest of all First Age alchemists was almost 
  certainly the Twilight Caste Tarim, who surpassed thau-
  maturgical mastery of the Art and devised a means to 
  condense the shaped Essence of sorcery into physical 
  formulas. Thaumaturges cannot match the might of 
  Tarim’s creations, but the Art nonetheless produces 
  miraculous feats.
  Alchemy combines aspects of pharmacy, metallurgy 
  and other Crafts that combine and transform different 
  ingredients. The “rituals” of the Art—which alchemists 
  often call formulas—take place in a laboratory stocked 
  with equipment as mundane as a mortar and pestle or as 
  exotic as the occult mirrors used to smelt orichalcum. 
  
  130
  As well as commonplace techniques such as boiling 
  and crystallizing, alchemists employ strange operations 
  such as calcination, rubiﬁ cation and insufﬂ ation. An 
  alchemist may combine herbs, minerals and animal 
  parts into magical medicines transform lead into gold, 
  or even grant mortals some of the inherent qualities 
  of the Exalted.
  In addition to the Occult Ability, alchemy requires 
  knowledge of diverse living and unliving substances, 
  so an alchemist needs at least Lore 2 to gain a Degree, 
  and Lore 4 to become an Adept. For most formulas, the 
  practitioner must have at least one dot in Craft (Water) 
  for each Degree, unless that procedure is a healing one, 
  in which case it requires at least one dot of Medicine 
  per Degree. Some formulas might require dots in other 
  Crafts, instead. Unless otherwise indicated, assume that 
  a formula requires Craft (Water).
  Alchemical formulas that add to Attributes or 
  Abilities count as dice added by Charms. Most alchemy 
  cannot affect spirits or the dead. Some formulas do 
  not affect the Exalted, especially those designed to 
  temporarily give mortals Exalted characteristics. Unless 
  otherwise speciﬁ ed, the effects of an alchemical formula 
  typically last for one scene. Drinking or applying an 
  already prepared alchemical mixture is generally a 
  miscellaneous action.
  powders that foam when introduced to alcohol or vinegar. 
  Storytellers should consider other similarly innocuous 
  formulas. Each formula is a separate Procedure.
  Blood-Staunching Compress (1, Intelligence, 3, 
  one hour): Bandages steeped in this compound auto-
  matically cause a wound to stop bleeding, and wounds 
  wrapped in these bandages do not re-open unless the 
  character’s player botches a combat or Athletics roll. 
  The compound retains its potency for one year, unless 
  used. Requires Medicine.
  Draught of Blessed Respite (1, Intelligence, 2, one 
  hour): This potion lets its user get a full night’s sleep 
  under nearly any circumstance. A half dose, mixed with 
  wine, puts the imbiber into a half-sleep for four hours. 
  During this time, the user can function if necessary, 
  though all of her dice pools involving Perception, Wits 
  and Dexterity are halved (and that’s after Excellencies 
  and other Charms). Every full hour of this state counts 
  as two hours of sleep.
  Each use of this formula creates ﬁ ve doses, which 
  retain their potency for three years. Blessed Respite ad-
  dicts people who use it more than (Stamina) times in a 
  week. Use the Wyld Addiction rules from Exalted, page 
  288, substituting references to the inﬂ uence of the drug 
  for that of the Wyld, and using a difﬁ culty equal to (half 
  the doses taken during the week). Requires Medicine.
  Eagle’s Eye Potion (1, Wits, 3, one hour): This 
  preparation grants preternaturally clear sight, giving 
  one extra die to all vision-related Perception rolls. 
  The effects last for ﬁ ve hours. Other potions exist for 
  other senses: Fox’s Ear, Bloodhound’s Nose, Exquisite 
  Chef’s Palate and Blind Courtesan’s Caress Potions for 
  hearing, smell, taste and touch respectively.
  Hero’s Recovery (1, Intelligence, 3, one hour): This 
  potion’s effects last for half a day per dot of Stamina the 
  recipient has. During this time, a mortal recovers from 
  injuries as an Exalt does. Serious injuries may require 
  more than one dose over the course of recovery, but 
  mortals cannot stand more than (Stamina) consecutive 
  doses without doubling their healing times instead. 
  Requires Medicine.
  (Type) Venom-Allaying Draught (1, Intelligence, 2, 
  one hour): Each of these draughts is a different formula, 
  speciﬁ c to a particular poison or venom. Once applied, it 
  allows a mortal’s player to make a (Stamina + Resistance) 
  roll to resist a toxin at the same difﬁ culty as though the 
  character were Exalted. These antitoxins retain their 
  potency for ﬁ ve years. Requires Medicine.
  Wound-Cleansing Unguent (1, Intelligence, 1, two 
  hours): If a patient is treated with this unguent after 
  MAGICAL MATERIAL REFINEMENTS
  The Procedures that smelt moonsilver, 
  orichalcum, starmetal and soulsteel are all part of 
  the Art of Alchemy. See page  23 for these rituals 
  of the forge.
  Alchemical Touchstone (0, Perception, 1, one ac-
  tion): When expertise at Lore isn’t enough to identify 
  a substance, an alchemist can rub it against a specially 
  treated ceramic plate—a touchstone—and glean clues 
  from the streak left behind. Other “touchstones” are ﬂ u-
  ids dripped on an unknown substance. Each alchemical 
  touchstone detects the presence or absence of a single 
  substance or property, such as jade alloys, Wyld-taint 
  or snake venoms. Compounding a touchstone may 
  take days, but once made it can be used quickly. A 
  touchstone stays usable for a season.
  Life’s Little Luxury Blends (0, Intelligence, 1, one 
  hour): Numerous minor formulas lie within the alche-
  mist’s grasp. She might concoct such things as deodorant, 
  superior cleaning agents, dyes that resist fading or trick 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  131
  surgery, his player does not need to roll for infection 
  unless the surgeon’s player botched. Dressing wounds 
  with it reduces the difﬁ culty of rolls to resist infection 
  by 1. The unguent retains its potency for a decade if 
  carefully stored or 90 days on an unused bandage.
  Age-Staving Cordial (2, Intelligence, 3, one hour): 
  The alchemist brews a dose of age-staving cordial (see 
  Exalted, p. 378).
  Ardent Embrace Resin (2, Intelligence, 2, one hour): 
  Despite its romantic name, this formula is a lethal 
  weapon. The recipe creates a goo that bursts into ﬂ ame 
  on contact with air or water, and sticks to whatever it 
  touches. It is typically used by packing it into fragile 
  vials or capsules and throwing it at an enemy. If it hits, 
  the enemy suffers environmental damage equal to a 
  bonﬁ re (see Exalted, p. 131) for the next minute.
  Final Vengeance (2, Wits, 3, one hour): Final Ven-
  geance is a powerful painkiller and euphoric. Used 
  mostly by fanatics and assassin cults, this mixture causes 
  the user to ignore all wound penalties and receive au-
  tomatic success on all Valor checks (whether he wants 
  to succeed or not) for one scene. When its effects end, 
  the user’s Stamina drops to 1; he regains one dot per 
  day of complete rest. While his Stamina is reduced, all 
  healing takes place at half normal rate and non-magical 
  methods cannot increase this.
  Muniﬁ cent Antivenin (2, Intelligence, 3, one hour): 
  This powerful elixir can negate even the deadliest poi-
  sons, though it does not repair damage already done. 
  Once ingested, the antivenin purges all poison from 
  the user’s system. The poison sweats from his skin and 
  is vomited forth violently, painfully rendering the user 
  Inactive for 5 ticks per dose of poison in his system. 
  Afterward, the subject is fatigued, suffering a -2 internal 
  penalty until he can rest for at least four hours.
  Philtre of Desire (2, Intelligence, 2, one hour): These 
  potions inspire emotional reactions in the desired tar-
  get. One version gives the imbiber a two-die bonus to 
  Performance, Presence and Socialize rolls made against 
  the victim. Another version reduces the imbiber’s 
  Mental DV by 2, making Social attacks easier. Creat-
  ing a philtre of this type normally requires an arcane 
  link to the victim as part of the formula, although this 
  can be ignored at the price of a +1 difﬁ culty. For +2 
  difﬁ culty, a philtre can be brewed that gives bonus dice 
  to the imbiber’s Social attack rolls against any target. 
  Botches while using a philtre increase in severity, lead-
  ing to decades-long hatred or all-consuming jealous 
  obsession. Once created, these philtres retain potency 
  for only a month.
  Tiger’s Heart Elixir (2, Wits, 3, one hour): This 
  elixir emboldens the spirit and drives away fear and 
  doubt, giving the user +1 Valor for all purposes for the 
  rest of the scene. Other formulas boost Compassion, 
  Temperance and Conviction.
  Valiant Warrior Formula (2, Wits, 2, one hour): This 
  formula appeals to mortal soldiers who wish to compete 
  with great heroes. For one day after its use, the user is no 
  longer treated as an extra. She has the full complement 
  of seven health levels, can spend Willpower for bonus 
  successes or through Virtues, counts 10s as two successes, 
  requires damage to be rolled and is capable of stunts.
  Deathlord’s Breath (3, Intelligence, 4, 20 hours): The 
  alchemist brews a dose of Deathlord’s Breath. A ghost 
  cannot cross a line of this magical dust unless its player 
  succeeds at a Valor roll at difﬁ culty 3; hungry ghosts 
  cannot even try unless some entity of greater power 
  compels them. The barrier of dust retains its potency 
  for one month, after which the difﬁ culty on the Valor 
  roll falls by one per week until the powder is spent.
  When it touches the living, however, Deathlord’s 
  Breath acts as a slow but deadly toxin (Damage 7L/day, 
  Toxicity 4L, Tolerance —/—, Penalty -3). Worst of 
  all, a person slain by Deathlord’s Breath doesn’t stop 
  moving: his body becomes a zombie (see Exalted, pp. 
  314-315), while his lower soul becomes a hungry ghost 
  (see Exalted, pp. 317-318). Deathlord’s Breath is illegal 
  in the Realm and most civilized countries. The toxin 
  remains potent for decades.
  8-Scream Devil Powder (3, Intelligence, 4, one hour):
  The alchemist brews a dose of 8-scream devil powder 
  (see Wonders of the Lost Age, p. 74).
  Heavenly Transmutation Processes (3, Perception, 7, 
  one hour per Resources 4 quantity of ﬁ nal material): The 
  alchemist masters the secrets of turning base materials 
  into more noble ones. He can turn lead into gold, pig 
  iron into ﬁ nest steel and pale, ﬂ awed corundum into 
  rubies. Each process is a different Procedure. Transmuta-
  tion takes about one hour per unit of material (one hour 
  minimum) and results in half as much total material, 
  with a ﬁ nal value of Resources 4. An alchemist cannot 
  make more than one unit of ﬁ nal material at a time.
  Internal Alchemy (3, Stamina, 3, two miscellaneous 
  actions): Mastering this technique enables the character 
  to create another alchemical thaumaturgy formula he 
  has mastered using his own body. Casting this ritual 
  requires one miscellaneous action spent consuming the 
  requisite materials and one miscellaneous action spent 
  processing them inside the thaumaturge’s body. If the 
  alchemist is successful, he is affected by the formula 
  
  132
  he created. Botches result in the caster being poisoned 
  (default to coral snake venom if the Storyteller doesn’t 
  feel some other poison is more ﬁ tting). Using Internal 
  Alchemy costs 1 Willpower in addition to that required 
  by the other formula. Requires Medicine.
  Seven Bounties Paste (3, Intelligence, 4, one hour): 
  The alchemist brews a dose of seven bounties paste (see 
  Exalted, p. 378).
  Sweet Cordial (3, Intelligence, 4, one hour): The alche-
  mist brews a dose of sweet cordial (see Exalted, p. 378).
  Wind-Fire Potion (3, Wits, 4, one hour): Soldiers 
  who have used it say this potion makes them as quick 
  as the wind and ferocious as ﬁ re. Commanders are 
  careful with its use, though, because it makes people 
  harder to control and can have serious side effects. For 
  one scene, the mortal user gains +1 die to all actions 
  involving her Physical Attributes, Wits and Valor, but 
  loses one dot of Compassion, Temperance and Intel-
  ligence. Furthermore, the imbiber no longer counts as 
  an extra (see Valiant Warrior Formula). Heroic mortals 
  gain two additional -4 health levels.
  Once the potion wears off, the positive effects 
  go away, but the negative effects remain for an equal 
  number of scenes. Wind-ﬁ re potion can addict someone 
  who uses it more than once in a month. Use the Wyld 
  Addiction rules from Exalted, page 288, substituting 
  references to the inﬂ uence of the drug for that of the 
  Wyld, and using a difﬁ culty equal to (doses taken dur-
  ing the month + 2).
  THE ART OF ASTROLOGY
  Every god in Creation has a star in the heavens, 
  and their endless dance across the sky writes the destiny 
  of the world large for all to see—or at least those who 
  know what these signs mean. The heavenly Bureau of 
  Destiny and its Sidereal Exalted agents can manipulate 
  these signs to powerful effect. Mortal thaumaturges 
  know nothing of this, but they understand that the 
  stars have much to reveal to the wise.
  The Art of Astrology relies upon gaining important 
  details about its target and translating that informa-
  tion into complex charts that map out the inﬂ uences 
  of the stars upon the target’s fate. Though the Exalted 
  control their own destiny to various degrees, even 
  they do not entirely escape the tapestry of the Loom of 
  Fate. Whatever the stars may currently show, powerful 
  Essence-wielding beings such as the Incarnae, beings 
  outside of fate and the Bureau of Destiny can change 
  events to render such predictions obsolete. The stars 
  reveal likely futures and predominant inﬂ uences, but 
  free will remains ineluctably woven into Creation.
  Astrology requires a quadrant or astrolabe, theodo-
  lite and other instruments to measure the positions and 
  brightness of celestial objects, as well as lorebooks that 
  record centuries of past observations and their inferred 
  effects within Creation. Astrological rituals usually 
  require little in the way of disposable components, 
  but reusable components cost at least Resources 3. A 
  master’s observatory costs Resources 5.
  See Exalted, page 138, for more Astrology rituals. 
  The Lesser Divination, Divination and Greater Divina-
  tion rituals require an astrological proﬁ le generated by 
  the Compile Chart ritual.
  Varangian Casting (0, Intelligence, 3, one hour):
  Within the star-obsessed Varang City-States, every child 
  receives her place in society according to the signs of 
  her birth. Their system is not perfect, but Varangian 
  attentiveness to the workings of fate is a large part of 
  their successful bid to maintain an orderly society. With 
  success, the astrologer learns a single important future 
  Ability of the child (barring relevant interference). Such 
  knowledge suggests where in the social order a person 
  might ﬁ nd contentment. For adults, the Varangian 
  Casting reveals one Favored Ability or one Ability rated 
  3 or higher. This ritual requires an astrological proﬁ le 
  generated by the Compile Chart ritual.
  No Varangian astrologer would ever admit failure 
  with this ritual, for fear of ostracism or even death. Even 
  if a seer wanted to admit failure, botches render con-
  vincing false results. Different seers may even achieve 
  different results, successful or not. Some claim that the 
  Varangian Admiral Lallimes naturally favors the art of 
  the sword, although his ofﬁ cial casting predetermined 
  his current role as master of his nation’s navy.
  Predetermined Attributes (1, Intelligence, 4, one 
  hour): Certain aspects of a being’s life are predominant, 
  and these are often reﬂ ected by her Attributes. This 
  ritual enables the astrologer to determine whether 
  Physical, Social or Mental Attributes will be primary 
  for a child, barring future interferences. This ritual re-
  quires an astrological proﬁ le generated by the Compile 
  Chart ritual.
  Reactive Planning (1, Wits, 5, one hour): If the 
  astrologist successfully predicts a Lesser Divination, 
  Divination or Greater Divination, she may then com-
  pile a list of factors and omens that can increase the 
  client’s chances of future success. One time in the near 
  future, the player of the astrologer’s client can reduce 
  the difﬁ culty of a single roll by 1. This bonus remains 
  available until the Storyteller deems that circumstances 
  have changed too much to gain its effect; the bonus 
  deﬁ nitely ends with the current story.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  133
  Reverse Birth Engineering (1, Intelligence, 4, one 
  day): By gaining sufﬁ cient information (at the Sto-
  ryteller’s discretion) about the deeds of an individual, 
  including their exact dates of occurrence, the astrolo-
  ger can deduce her exact date of birth. This explicitly 
  helps gather information for a Compile Chart action. 
  Depending upon the fame of the individual in question, 
  such information might require investigation or might 
  merely be a matter of historical record.
  Brighter Star (2, Perception, 5, one hour): Astrologers 
  notice that the stars seem to favor certain people. This rite 
  shows a person as “favored” if she is an Exalt or possesses 
  the Destiny Background (see Scroll of the Monk, pp. 
  151-152), though the astrologer has no indication which 
  of these it might be. This ritual requires an astrological 
  proﬁ le generated by the Compile Chart ritual.
  Natural Virtues (2, Intelligence, 4, one hour): With 
  careful study of the target’s compiled chart, the astrologer 
  can determine her primary Virtue due to its endless inﬂ u-
  ence upon her life. This ritual requires an astrological 
  proﬁ le generated by the Compile Chart ritual.
  The Fallen Star (3, Perception, 5, one minute): This 
  rite depends upon one of Yu-Shan’s great secrets: starmetal 
  is made from soul-forged gods cast to the earth. When 
  successfully performed, this ritual allows the caster to sense 
  whether anything that he can see clearly with unaided 
  eyes is partly or wholly composed of starmetal.
  Excellent Orrery Design (3, Intelligence, 5, one year): 
  Through observations of the sky over the course of a 
  year, the astrologer plans the design for an incredibly 
  accurate orrery—a device that mimics the motion of the 
  sun, moon, stars and planets. If she then builds it, her 
  player may use it to gain bonus dice on rolls to perform 
  other astrological rituals. The device is constructed using 
  normal item creation rules (see Exalted, pp. 133-134). 
  A Resources 4 orrery grants +1 die, while a Resources 5 
  orrery grants +2 dice on Art of Astrology rolls that involve 
  its use. First Age orrery artifacts, such as that hidden in 
  the fallen city of Rathess, can have greater effects.
  THE ART OF THE DEAD
  During the early First Age, this Art was largely re-
  stricted to laying ghosts to rest, and some thaumaturges 
  called it the Art of Lethe. Over time, the practice took 
  on darker connotations, becoming more feared respec-
  tively with the discovery of necromancy, the Great 
  Contagion and the rise of the Deathlords.
  In the Time of Tumult, only a few places in Creation 
  permit open dealings with the dead and the Underworld. 
  The Morticians’ Order in Sijan uses the Art of the Dead 
  to facilitate their covenants with the deceased; inhabit-
  ants of the Skullstone Archipelago also use its rituals 
  for similar purposes. The Raiton Academy on Nightfall 
  Island teaches the Art alongside true necromancy. Be-
  yond those three bastions of the Art, merchants who 
  travel near established shadowlands sometimes hire 
  savants who can deal with the dead.
  Both the reusable tools and consumed ingredients of 
  this Art’s rituals frequently are made from parts of corpses: 
  bone amulets, crowns and rods, cups and braziers fashioned 
  from skulls, cords of mummy-hair, candles of human fat 
  and the like. Rituals also employ substances used in em-
  balming, such as pitch, bitumen, natron and myrrh. Only 
  the rituals of warding and banishing, which rely more on 
  salt, incense, bells and other emblems of purity and the 
  sacred, are likely to eschew materials and operations that 
  would not offend most community standards.
  In addition to the rituals here, see Exalted, pages 
  315-317, for information about the exorcism and sum-
  moning of ghosts.
  There are Art of the Dead versions of the follow-
  ing Art of Warding and Exorcism rites: Alarm Ward 
  Against (Creature), Lesser Ward Against (Creature), 
  Ward Against (Creature), Greater Ward Against (Crea-
  ture), and the relevant Ward Maintenance and Keyed 
  Ward rituals. These wards only work against ghosts, 
  zombies, necromantic beasts and the like. The Art of 
  the Dead’s versions of Dishonest (Creature)’s Rebuke, 
  Expulsion and Banish (Creature) only work against 
  ghosts. See the relevant Art of Warding and Exorcism 
  rules, pages 141-144.
  Pierce Shadowland (0, Wits, 2, one minute): This 
  quick ritual involves intense concentration and perfect 
  timing while dripping a bit of blood on a shadowland’s 
  border. The ritual enables the thaumaturge to pass 
  through the shadowland’s border into either Creation 
  or the Underworld at any time of the day or night. Each 
  additional entity brought through the border adds one 
  minute to the ritual.
  Summon Ghost (0, Charisma, 2, 15 minutes): Ghosts 
  are frightfully easy to summon, as virtually any appren-
  tice of the occult can tell you. At a location important 
  to the deceased, a thaumaturge may call a ghost through 
  offerings of grave goods and fresh blood. The roll’s dif-
  ﬁ culty decreases by 1 if performed in a shadowland or 
  the Underworld; increase it by 1 for each 100 years the 
  person has been dead and if summoning a ghost by its 
  qualities rather than its name. When performing this 
  ritual in a shadowland, failure means that ﬁ ve (usually 
  unwelcome) ghosts show up for each success by which 
  the attempt falls short. Ghost summoned by this ritual 
  manifest visibly and audibly but remain immaterial 
  
  134
  unless the ghost can materialize on its own or the sum-
  moning takes place in a shadowland.
  Blood Magic (1, Stamina, 3, ﬁ ve minutes): Blood 
  is a powerful conduit for living Essence. Thaumaturges 
  who are willing to sacriﬁ ce themselves or others can 
  tap into a powerful source of magical energy. For each 
  level of lethal damage the thaumaturge suffers, or that 
  she ritually inﬂ icts upon a helpless sacriﬁ cial victim, she 
  generates one mote of Essence that she must channel 
  immediately. This might allow her to do such things 
  as: activate (but not attune) an artifact, cast another 
  ritual using reduced resources, or replenish her Essence 
  pool (if she is enlightened or Exalted).
  Body Preservation Technique (1, Intelligence + Medi-
  cine, 1, one hour): Through various occult and medical 
  methods, the thaumaturge preserves a cadaver so that it 
  does not suffer any decay for one day per success rolled. 
  The ritual may be repeated sequentially and indeﬁ nitely, 
  but the effects do not stack. Some thaumaturges perform 
  this ritual for legitimate purposes related to burial rituals, 
  while others merely preserve the corpse for use in making 
  zombies or necromantic war machines.
  Deathsight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes): After 
  anointing her closed eyes with blood and certain rare 
  herbal juices, the thaumaturge opens them to perceive im-
  material ghosts with all senses for the rest of the scene.
  Speak with Corpse (1, Perception, 2, one minute): 
  This ritual requires the whole skull of a corpse; if there 
  isn’t enough meat on the bones to hold the jawbone, the 
  thaumaturge must wire the jaw using human sinew and 
  iron pins. The ritual itself involves a period of osculation 
  that most would consider abhorrent. Afterward, the thau-
  maturge may ask and receive an answer to two questions, 
  plus one question per threshold success. Corpses entreated 
  with this ritual only know what their bones have seen since 
  the day before their deaths; to learn what it saw while alive, 
  the necromancer must seek the extant spirit.
  Raise Corpse (2, Intelligence, 3, one hour): To re-
  animate the dead, a thaumaturge must whisper several 
  things the deceased once held secret. The corpse rises as 
  a zombie (see Exalted, pp. 314-315). The zombie follows 
  the thaumaturge’s instructions as a simple person would. 
  After one week per threshold success, the enchantment 
  falters—though the ritual can be performed again.
  Three Days of Hun and Po (2, Charisma, 5, one hour): 
  When a vengeful soul dies, the higher soul or hun remains 
  with the lower soul—the po—until the end of the third 
  night, granting it increased intellect. (See Exalted, pp. 
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  135
  317-318, for further details.) Through this ritual, the 
  thaumaturge convinces the hun to continue helping 
  the po for one additional night per success rolled (so a 
  successful casting always grants at least ﬁ ve days’ effect). 
  This ritual only works when a death results in a hungry 
  ghost, which doesn’t necessarily mean the hun won’t 
  decide to reincarnate once it has helped its vengeful lower 
  soul. However, use of this ritual does encourage the hun 
  to join the ghostly population of the Underworld.
  Summon Nephwrack (3, Wits, 4, one hour): Only 
  the most skilled mortal thaumaturge dares trying to 
  summon the Neverborn’s loyal spectres all the way 
  from the Labyrinth. The ritual uses a dust from the 
  Underworld and blood from several rare creatures, 
  dried in a jade crucible, and then mixed in a mortar 
  fashioned from a skull. The thaumaturge prays over 
  this abhorrent mixture, and then eats it. The ritual 
  projects a call to the Labyrinth’s depths. If the ritual 
  succeeds, the nephwrack comes within the next three 
  nights. When a thaumaturge’s player botches, that 
  thaumaturge is rarely seen again.
  THE ART OF DEMON SUMMONING
  The Art of Demon Summoning came into being 
  shortly after the Primordial War. This dangerous Art taps 
  into the inescapable oaths laid upon those Primordials 
  who chose surrender. When called to service according 
  to the ancient compacts, a creature of Malfeas must 
  attend the summons. Sadly for Creation, every sum-
  moning releases demonic inﬂ uences upon the world, and 
  Creation’s citizens must remain ever vigilant against the 
  potential sinister affects thereof. Worse yet, the terms of 
  these oaths merely bind demons to serve Exalts and gods 
  who are powerful enough to enforce their will. Mortals 
  may invite demons into Creation, but the provisions of 
  those oaths do little to protect them and do not allow 
  them to extract slavish servitude.
  Demon summoning involves elaborate ceremonies 
  with numerous components, both reused and consumed. 
  Many ceremonies require drawing a magic circle or 
  other diagram. Tools include braziers burning stinking 
  incense; weapons; knotted cords, keys and other sym-
  bols of bondage (and its removal); talismans scribed 
  with the symbol of a demon or demonic species; and 
  discordant musical instruments suitable for the spawn 
  of the maimed and twisted Primordials.
  See Exalted, pages 138-139, for more Demon Sum-
  moning rituals.
  There are Art of Demon Summoning versions of the 
  following Art of Warding and Exorcism rites: Alarm Ward 
  Against (Creature), Lesser Ward Against (Creature), Dishon-
  est (Creature)’s Rebuke, Expulsion, Ward Against (Creature), 
  Banish (Creature), Greater Ward Against (Creature), and 
  the relevant Ward Maintenance and Keyed Ward rituals. 
  These wards only work against demons. See the relevant 
  Art of Warding and Exorcism rules, pages 141-144.
  Banish the Faithless Servant (2, Essence + Will-
  power, 2, miscellaneous action): With this ritual, a 
  thaumaturge may attempt to banish a demon of the 
  First Circle only if he was the summoner (usually via 
  Summon [Species]). With a miscellaneous action, the 
  magician enters a contest of wills against the demon. 
  Each participant’s player rolls (Essence + Willpower) 
  until one side achieves a net number of successes equal to 
  the other contestant’s Essence. Each roll requires another 
  miscellaneous action for each participant, and neither 
  can take any non-reﬂ exive actions during the contest 
  without automatically forfeiting. Unfortunately for the 
  thaumaturge, his rolls are difﬁ culty 2, and he needs to 
  show the demon its special sigil. If the thaumaturge 
  wins, the demon disappears back to Malfeas in a ﬂ ash 
  of green ﬁ re; if the demon wins, the thaumaturge may 
  not attempt to banish it again for ﬁ ve days.
  Summon (Species) (2, Intelligence, 5, six hours):
  This ritual works as noted in Exalted, pages 138-139. 
  It is mentioned here to clarify that the summoning 
  must begin at sundown, as with its superior, sorcery 
  equivalent, Demon of the First Circle.
  Each ritual summons one and only one kind of First 
  Circle demon. Each type of demon has its own sigil and 
  array of plants, animals, stones, color combinations and 
  other symbolic elements that must be used in its sum-
  moning. Erymanthoi, for instance, loathe cats above all 
  other creatures, and so, their summoning must involve 
  killing a cat and offering its blood.
  Beckon (Unique Demon) (3, Intelligence, demon’s 
  Essence, six hours): With greater mastery of the Art of 
  Demon Summoning, the thaumaturge may beckon one 
  of the demons of the Second Circle and open a way for 
  it to enter Creation. This ritual must begin at sunset on 
  the night of a new moon or one of the nights of Calibra-
  tion, although some demons have alternative times and 
  conditions under which they might be called instead. 
  Unlike their inferiors, demons of the Second Circle are 
  not bound to answer: they may choose to ignore the call 
  altogether if they wish. As with the Summon (Species) 
  ritual, the thaumaturge cannot control the demon and 
  must bargain or plead for whatever aid it renders.
  Each of these greater demons requires a different 
  ritual, unique to its nature, that incorporates distinc-
  tive symbolic elements. Beckon Sondok, for instance, 
  involves use of a battleaxe, the lethal red mushrooms 
  
  136
  her cult holds sacred, an image of a wolf and offerings 
  of garnets and the decaying corpse of a dog.
  Five Days Foresight (3, Manipulation, 5, six hours): 
  Few sages know that a summoned demon departs Malfeas 
  across the endless desert of Cecelyne ﬁ ve days before the 
  summoning actually takes place. The twisted and fractured 
  connections between Creation and Malfeas give the Yozis 
  and their servants strange insight into Creation’s future. 
  A thaumaturge who knows this ritual can open a mystic 
  connection to a demon currently in Malfeas and ask it a 
  question about the future. Unfortunately for the magician, 
  she does not know which demon she contacts, nor can 
  she compel it to tell the truth (or speak for that matter). 
  The thaumaturge can only issue whatever appeal she 
  thinks most likely to bring her a response. Storytellers 
  might have the demon honestly reveal some relevant 
  information or admit its lack of knowledge… or the 
  demon might lie. Many demons take delight in giving 
  honest answers that corrupt or doom the querist.
  The Year and the Day (3, Manipulation, 5, miscel-
  laneous action): A persistent thaumaturge can rid 
  Creation of a First Circle demon. This ritual only works 
  for a banisher who has successfully repelled a demon 
  from her presence repeatedly for a period of a year and 
  a day. Finally, she uses this ritual, and if successful, the 
  demon returns to Malfeas in a burst of green ﬂ ame, not 
  to return until someone summons it again.
  THE ART OF ELEMENTAL SUMMONING
  The original elementals were gargantuan spiritual 
  embodiments of the ﬁ ve elements, created by Gaia and 
  bound to the will of the gods. When the gods rebelled, 
  the Primordials struck against the elementals ﬁ rst, shat-
  tering their bodies and scattering their Essence across 
  Creation. This scattered Essence birthed the elemental 
  breeds known today, but the strictures the gods laid 
  upon the originals persist. As the presence of elementals 
  became evident to the Exalted, the Chosen discovered 
  methods to call upon elemental aid. In the Ages since 
  then, thaumaturges have devised or discovered many 
  rites related to the elementals.
  Rituals in this Art always involve some literal or 
  symbolic form of the desired element: the burning of 
  rare woods and oils for Fire, crystals and implements of 
  stone for Earth, sprayed perfumes for Air, and so on.
  There are Art of Elemental Summoning versions of 
  the following Art of Warding and Exorcism rites: Alarm 
  Ward Against (Creature), Lesser Ward Against (Creature), 
  Dishonest (Creature)’s Rebuke, Ward Against (Creature), 
  Banish (Creature), Greater Ward Against (Creature), and the 
  relevant Ward Maintenance and Keyed Ward rituals. These 
  wards only work against elementals. See the relevant Art 
  of Warding and Exorcism rules, pages 141-144.
  Elemental Sight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes):
  Spreading a handful of carefully blended ash, ﬁ ne sand, 
  powdered incense, wood shavings and colored dye 
  throughout the target area and speaking the Mantra 
  of Gaia’s Eye, the caster can perceive the shape of im-
  material elementals in the area for one scene.
  Jade Extraction Method (1, Intelligence, 3, ﬁ ve min-
  utes): The magical materials naturally possess greater 
  than normal amounts of Essence. The elementalist 
  can sublimate a bit of jade and thereby extract Essence 
  from it. With success in this ritual she destroys an obol’s 
  worth of jade and gains four motes of Essence. The 
  thaumaturge must channel this Essence immediately. 
  She might activate (but not attune) an artifact, cast 
  another ritual using far less resources, or replenish her 
  Essence pool (if she is enlightened or Exalted). The 
  ritual may only target small bits of jade, and they cannot 
  be part of an artifact or enchanted object.
  Summon (Species) (2, Charisma, 5, four hours):
  An elemental of the desired type is drawn along the 
  dragon lines of Creation to the caster’s location. Each 
  ritual summons a different kind of elemental that has 
  Essence of 3 or less. Thaumaturges have no power to 
  command summoned elementals, but they may bargain 
  with them. Some breeds of elementals perform speciﬁ c 
  services in return for speciﬁ c offerings. Others form 
  private pacts in return for favors from the thaumaturge. 
  For instance, a wood spider might tell forest secrets in 
  return for offerings of blood and a plot of cultivated 
  land allowed to grow wild once more.
  Beckon([Species) [3, Charisma, 5, four hours): A 
  master of the Art can call elementals with Essence 4 to 
  5 and appeal for their help. These powerful elementals 
  often have lesser elemental servants that they may send 
  in their stead to answer a summons. Conversely, a thau-
  maturge might be able to contact mighty elementals such 
  as the dragon Fakharu by working through elemental 
  messengers—but that is probably a work of years.
  Invoke the Elemental Benediction (3, Intelligence, 
  5, six hours): Beginning this ritual at dawn and con-
  tinuing until noon, the thaumaturge invests a single 
  object weighing ﬁ ve pounds or less with one of the 
  ﬁ ve elements, at the cost of 1 Willpower. In the future, 
  someone holding the object can spend 1 Willpower to 
  activate the appropriate Elemental Benediction (see 
  The White Treatise, p. 57) upon the object for a single 
  scene. Once the scene has passed, the effect is gone, 
  and the object can no longer invoke the benediction 
  unless this ritual is performed again.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  137
  THE ART OF ENCHANTMENT
  Some ancient texts say the Primordial Autochthon 
  invented this Art, and some practitioners still honor 
  the Great Maker. Thaumaturges in the Old Realm and 
  Shogunate made many discoveries of their own, though. 
  In the fallen glory of the Second Age, people throughout 
  Creation value the ability to enchant discrete items and 
  to help maintain the magitech of previous times.
  Objects to be enchanted must generally be of an 
  appropriate Resource value (as listed in the Exalted, 
  p.138), although they may be someone else’s craftwork. 
  Efforts to enchant an object personally crafted by the 
  thaumaturge gain one extra die. Enchantment tools 
  and processes vary incredibly, from the intricate and 
  specialized instruments of Lookshy’s sorcerer-assistants 
  to the talismans of wood, bone, shell, feathers and 
  animal sinew crafted by barbarian shamans.
  See Exalted, page 139, for more Enchantment 
  rituals, and The Compass of Celestial Directions, 
  Vol. II—The Wyld, page 142, for talismans to protect 
  against the Wyld.
  Analyze Talisman (0, Perception, 1, ﬁ ve minutes): 
  These simple tests reveal whether an object is enchanted. 
  With at least three successes, the caster gets some basic 
  idea about the enchanted object’s nature, while ﬁ ve 
  successes pinpoint its purpose.
  Fading Color Treatment (0, Intelligence, 2, ﬁ ve min-
  utes): Lookshy security personnel use this Procedure to 
  craft their district transit passes, while clever enchanters 
  ﬁ nd other applications. The thaumaturge alters an object’s 
  surface to give it a particular color in a desired pattern. 
  At the time of the ritual, the thaumaturge speciﬁ es the 
  duration of this treatment. When that period expires, 
  the altered portion changes to a dull gray hue.
  Strengthen Ironwood (1, Intelligence, 2, three hours): 
  The thaumaturge uses secret Eastern techniques to 
  enhance this wood’s qualities. See page 157.
  Enchant Lucky Rock (2, Intelligence, 3, 25 hours): 
  The thaumaturge enhances the power of a normal 
  “lucky rock” and transfers its properties to a weapon. 
  See page 157.
  Process Steelsilk (2, Intelligence, 3, 25 hours): The 
  thaumaturge understands the techniques required to 
  manipulate steelsilk. See pages 158 and 159.
  Aegis-Inset Amulets (3, Intelligence, 5, 200 hours): 
  This specially designed process creates a single set of 
  aegis-inset amulets. These magitech amulets require oc-
  casional maintenance (Intelligence + Lore, difﬁ culty 2, 
  one hour), but otherwise last a lifetime. See aegis-inset 
  amulets, Wonders of the Lost Age, page 71.
  Warding Talisman (3, Intelligence, 3, 50/100/150 
  hours): This ritual is used to create one of the talismans 
  described on page 379 of Exalted. The thaumaturge must 
  determine the desired effect before beginning work, and 
  falling short means her efforts are wasted. One net suc-
  cess is required for each point of the talisman’s rating, 
  and 50 hours of work per rating point are required. If 
  the ritual is successful, the talisman lasts until damaged 
  or destroyed. Charms against disease require the thau-
  maturge to possess one dot of Medicine per rating point. 
  Good luck charms and walkaways require one Degree 
  of the Art of Geomancy per rating point. Warding 
  charms require one Degree of the Art of Warding per 
  rating point. A thaumaturge may substitute appropriate 
  Procedures for the requisite Degrees, but doing so limits 
  the type and rating of the talisman created.
  THE ART OF GEOMANCY
  Geomancy is the art of detecting and manipulating 
  Essence ﬂ ows. At its basic levels, this allows thauma-
  turges to perceive Essence. Eventually, a master might 
  even become enlightened and gain access to her own 
  Essence pool. More surprisingly to those who do not 
  understand the Art, the thaumaturge may tamper with 
  the Essence ﬂ ows of others or sense them from afar. This 
  might allow her to smooth or frustrate the interaction of 
  the target with Creation or even grant a limited ability 
  to scry upon distant locations.
  The most distinctive tool of the geomancer’s trade 
  is the compass plate, a bronze plate engraved with 
  concentric circles and marked with the elemental 
  poles, the constellations and other symbols. Detection 
  rites often involve spinning a spoonlike instrument 
  of jade-infused magnetite on the plate. Geomancers 
  also use pendulums, weights and globes of various 
  metals and minerals, as well as theodolites and 
  other surveying equipment. The geomancer’s great-
  est instrument, however, is the land itself. Rituals 
  with long-term effects usually involve constructing 
  special buildings or reshaping the local landscape 
  with small hills and valleys, creeks and ponds, trees, 
  boulders and other features.
  See Exalted, page 139, for more Geomancy rituals, 
  and Chapter One of this book for the massive geomantic 
  operations that affect demesnes and manses.
  Dragon Line Compass (0, Perception, 1, five 
  minutes): The motions of a compass plate or a jade-and-
  crystal pendulum reveal when the thaumaturge stands 
  within (successes x 10) yards of a dragon line. Once the 
  character locates a dragon line, he can follow it for one 
  hour before needing to perform this ritual again.
  
  138
  Alloyed Essence Indicator (0, Intelligence, 5, ﬁ ve min-
  utes): This simple ritual identiﬁ es an object as an artifact, 
  a hearthstone or otherwise imbued with magical powers. 
  It tells nothing about the nature of those powers.
  Magical Attunement (0, Wits, 3, 20 minutes): By 
  handling and practicing with an item, an enlightened 
  mortal may duplicate an Exalt’s innate ability to attune 
  to an artifact by committing the requisite amount of Es-
  sence. Mortals never gain the magical material bonus of 
  the item. Enlightened mortals do not require this ritual 
  to use their Essence pool to activate artifacts with an 
  Essence cost but no commitment required.
  Bathing in the River Meditation (1, Intelligence, 1, 
  place’s rating hours): This rite duplicates an Exalt’s 
  instinctive ability to attune to a demesne or manse. A 
  character who cannot channel Essence gains no beneﬁ t 
  from this (unless the character wants to live in a demesne 
  without suffering mutation), but it feels incredible. Such 
  a character can also attune to a hearthstone and gain 
  its beneﬁ ts, including Essence recovery if the character 
  can channel Essence.
  Dragon Nest Compass (1, Perception, 2, ﬁ ve min-
  utes): Mortals cannot easily sense a demesne from far 
  away, and even the Exalted have trouble locating a 
  manse. This ritual provides mystic detection of greater 
  sensitivity. For each success, the thaumaturge can de-
  tect the presence of a manse from one mile away, or an 
  uncapped demesne from two miles away. Put another 
  way, the distance in miles sets the difﬁ culty to detect a 
  manse or demesne. The ritual only gives the direction 
  to the manse or demesne, but spending 1 Willpower 
  sufﬁ ces to continue taking readings (each taking ﬁ ve 
  minutes) for the rest of the scene.
  Pearl-Collecting Rite (1, Wits, 3, [demesne’s rating] 
  hours): This rite enables a mortal to ﬁ nd and collect a 
  demesne’s natural Essence tokens the way an Exalt would, 
  as described on pages 48-49. Unlike an Exalt, however, a 
  thaumaturge does not need to attune to the demesne. Even 
  if the thaumaturge cannot personally channel Essence, she 
  may still use the Essence token in other rituals.
  Ritual of Dedicated Puriﬁ cation (1, Perception, 2, one 
  hour): Preparing ahead of another ritual, the thaumaturge 
  (and any assistants) cleanse themselves and the ritual area, 
  using pure elements such as rainwater, unscented soap 
  and sanctiﬁ ed candles. If successful, the thaumaturge’s 
  player can reroll a single botch during the procedure that 
  follows, as the sanctiﬁ cation of the site and participants 
  aids in preventing backlash and mishaps.
  Open-Eyed Dive Meditation (2, Perception, 3, [place’s 
  rating] hours): This rite enables a mortal to ﬁ nd the 
  geomantic stress-points in a manse or demesne, as 
  described on pages 51-52.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  139
  Pulse of the Demesne’s Heart (2, Perception, 3, place’s 
  rating hours): The Essence of a manse is linked to its 
  hearthstone at all times, and a perceptive thaumaturge 
  can follow the ﬂ ows between them. The materials for this 
  rite include a compass needle composed of the magical 
  material appropriate to the manse in question, and the rite 
  must be conducted within the manse’s demesne or while 
  holding its hearthstone. Success from within a demesne 
  points the caster in the direction of its hearthstone, while 
  using the rite on a hearthstone points the caster toward 
  its demesne. The indication of direction only lasts for a 
  moment, so the thaumaturge often needs to recast the 
  rite as she travels toward her target.
  Rattle the Sanctum’s Gate (2, Manipulation, 5, one 
  hour): This rite can only be performed at the entrance 
  to a spirit’s sanctum. By tampering with the Essence ﬂ ows 
  through discordant techniques, the thaumaturge slows the 
  ﬂ ow into the sanctum. During the hour-long ritual, the 
  amount of Essence regained by the sanctum’s owner drops 
  by one mote per success, to a minimum of one, so long 
  as the spirit remains in the sanctum. Most spirits will not 
  tolerate this, and are likely to come out to deal with the 
  thaumaturge. Yu-Shan is not a valid target for the rite.
  Essence Enlightening Sutra (3, Intelligence, 5, ﬁ ve 
  years): This long ascetic regimen can awaken a mortal’s 
  Essence. With success, a mortal becomes an enlightened 
  mortal with an Essence pool. It is much safer than the 
  Essential River Channeling ritual that achieves the same 
  effect (see Scroll of the Monk, p. 19), at the cost of 
  taking ﬁ ve years instead of 24 hours.
  A little-known Old Realm version of this rite, 
  called the Yoga of Celestial Reﬁ nement, requires Lore 
  4 and Martial Arts 4 to use. For a Dragon-Blood, 10 
  years of ascetic study and successful use of this modiﬁ ed 
  Procedure enables the Exalt to learn Celestial martial 
  arts (though she must still ﬁ nd an appropriate tutor).
  House of Good/Ill Fortune (3, Perception, 5, one 
  hour): Examining the local Essence ﬂ ows, the geomancer 
  may create a design that beneﬁ ts or harms a structure’s 
  or landscape’s occupants. The rite doesn’t actually enact 
  these changes; they must be put into place by building 
  or landscaping according to the geomancer’s design. 
  Once the structure or area meets the requirements, those 
  within beneﬁ t or suffer from the rite’s effect. This might 
  be a Blessing or Curse (as per Exalted, p. 139) affecting 
  one occupant per month. A blessing might reduce the 
  virulence of a disease striking the household, the inhabit-
  ants might experience a good crop that year, or the like. 
  The effect lasts at least one month per success.
  Geomantic Countermagic (3, Intelligence, 5, one 
  hour): Sometimes called Marble Countermagic by those 
  with pretensions to sorcerous power, this rite enables 
  the caster to disrupt existing thaumaturgical works. 
  The magician must ﬁ rst use Essence Sense to spot the 
  target effect. Each success gained removes one success 
  from the targeted thaumaturgical effect.
  Scrying (3, Perception, 5, one or more hours): Items 
  exhibit an arcane link with their own substance, and a 
  skilled magician can use this fact to sense a target from 
  afar. The thaumaturge must possess a sample of the 
  person or object he wants to observe, which could be 
  the hair or blood of a person or horse, or wood shaved 
  from a ship’s prow. Each hour, until the caster chooses 
  to stop, his player makes an extended (Perception + 
  Occult) roll, gathering successes. A botch ends the 
  ritual with all accumulated successes lost. When the 
  thaumaturge chooses to complete the rite, she may 
  observe the target for a single scene provided it lies 
  within a number of miles equal to her successes.
  THE ART OF HUSBANDRY
  From calling wild beasts to the hunt to protecting 
  fruit trees from pests to manipulating mortals, the Art of 
  Husbandry has existed as long as humanity itself… maybe 
  as long as the gods themselves, for many of its feats hew 
  closely to the divine procedures that maintain Creation. 
  Mortal practitioners have discovered innumerable secrets 
  from those gods who hold purview over living things.
  There are Art of Husbandry versions of the fol-
  lowing Art of Warding rites: Alarm Ward Against 
  (Creature), Lesser Ward Against (Creature), Ward 
  Against (Creature), Greater Ward Against (Creature), 
  and the relevant Ward Maintenance and Keyed Ward 
  rituals. These wards only work against living mortals, 
  animals or plants. See the relevant Art of Warding 
  and Exorcism rules, pages 141-144.
  Judge the Pure Beast (0, Perception + Survival, 1, one 
  minute): Observing an animal carefully, and whisper-
  ing a prayer to the god most appropriate to the beast, 
  the thaumaturge analyzes its behavior. With a success, 
  the thaumaturge can determine whether an animal is 
  a normal specimen, without magical properties, Wyld 
  taint or the like. If the beast is not normal, the thau-
  maturge learns this, but the rite does not reveal what 
  precisely makes the animal unnatural. This ritual has 
  no Resources cost.
  Warding the Crops (0, Intelligence, 1, ﬁ ve minutes): 
  The thaumaturge forbids one kind of pest from attacking 
  selected plants, plus one additional pest per Degree in the 
  Art. The ritual protects one acre of grain, vegetables or 
  other small plants, or ﬁ ve trees, grapevines or other large 
  plants. The protection lasts one week per success.
  
  140
  Summon (Species) (1, Charisma + Survival, con-
  trol rating - 2, two hours): Whistling up prey to be 
  slaughtered or calling in the herds of Marukan, the 
  thaumaturge may summon the nearest specimens of a 
  particular breed of non-magical animal. The difﬁ culty 
  of this rite equals the creature’s (control rating - 2), 
  with a minimum of 1. Extra successes may reduce the 
  ritual’s casting time by 15 minutes each, to a minimum 
  of 15 minutes, or increase the number of animals called. 
  Calling a speciﬁ c animal known to the thaumaturge is 
  possible at +1 difﬁ culty, unless the character owns the 
  animal; in that case, the difﬁ culty drops by -1 (minimum 
  0). The summoned animal must exist within one mile 
  per dot of the magician’s Essence, or the ritual fails. The 
  rite does not transport the animal to the caster’s side. 
  The beast must travel there on its own.
  Control (Species) (1, Manipulation + Survival, control 
  rating - 1, miscellaneous action): From calming an unruly 
  horse to convincing a bird of prey to bring the character 
  a rabbit, this ritual allows a thaumaturge to give a single 
  animal simple instructions and expect them to be obeyed. 
  The desired action must be within the beast’s capacity to 
  understand. This ritual has no Resources cost.
  Summon Human (2, Manipulation, Mental Dodge 
  DV of target, one hour): The ritual compels a selected 
  human to come to the thaumaturge; a victim travels 
  according to her own abilities. This compulsion is an 
  unnatural mental inﬂ uence, which may be overcome as 
  normal by spending a point of Willpower. For this ritual, 
  Exalted count as humans. So do beastmen, Wyld mutants 
  and people altered by demesnes or other supernatural 
  forces, but the difﬁ culty increases by 2. The thaumaturge 
  needs two ways to specify an individual person, such as 
  a personal name, a genealogy back three generations, 
  or samples of the person’s hair or blood.
  Improved (Species) Breeding (3, Intelligence, 5, one 
  hour): Performing this ritual enables the magician to 
  breed animal stock unnaturally well, quickly magnify-
  ing desired traits. The exact effects of this are up to 
  the Storyteller, but they might result in such things as 
  breeding a faster hose, a larger bird or a more venomous 
  snake. The Marukani horse breeders and the hawkrid-
  ers of Metagalapa have used this ritual for centuries; 
  so have the Haltans in breeding animal companions 
  for greater sentience (though in this case, a pair of old 
  and cunning Lunar Exalted must also receive some of 
  the credit). Other thaumaturges might use it to produce 
  equally wondrous beasts. Although the ritual itself takes 
  only an hour (and is performed right before breeding 
  the animals), the thaumaturge must select the best 
  stock available and care for the female throughout the 
  gestation to ensure its success.
  THE ART OF SPIRIT BECKONING
  The coin of the gods is prayer, and the Art of Spirit 
  Beckoning perfects those prayers in order to gain special 
  favor. The gods are not subject to summoning, but they 
  can be beckoned and may answer those who please them. 
  Little gods are more likely to pay attention to prayers, 
  but are less capable of granting boons. Greater gods can 
  perform great miracles, but are less likely to respond.
  The following section also includes some rites spe-
  ciﬁ c to individual gods, though Storytellers can readily 
  adapt them to other deities as necessary.
  Spirit Beckoning rituals generally include some 
  physical record of a plea, such as a prayer strip, and some 
  form of offering. Beckoning a god becomes far more dif-
  ﬁ cult if the thaumaturge does not know what the god 
  likes; in that case, a ritual’s difﬁ culty increases by 2.
  There are Art of Spirit Beckoning versions of the 
  following Art of Warding and Exorcism rites: Alarm 
  Ward Against (Creature), Lesser Ward Against (Creature), 
  Dishonest (Creature)’s Rebuke, Expulsion, Ward Against 
  (Creature), Banish (Creature), Greater Ward Against 
  (Creature), and the relevant Ward Maintenance and Keyed 
  Ward rituals. These wards only work against gods. See 
  the relevant Art of Warding rules, pages 141-144.
  Spirit Sight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes): Filling the 
  air with prayers, the thaumaturge makes the gods nearby 
  manifest to her senses for the remainder of the scene.
  Beckon [Little God] (2, Charisma + Performance, 
  6 - Resources value of offering, one hour): The thau-
  maturge prays to one of the lesser gods, those with less 
  than Essence 5, and seeks its favor. Prayers may be 
  conducted without this ritual, as detailed in Exalted, 
  pages 378-379. Using this ritual means the supplicant 
  is treated as a priest of the god in question or, if she 
  is already a priest, then the prayer roll’s difﬁ culty is 
  reduced by 1. The ritual also can only call little gods 
  who keep their sanctum within (god’s Essence x 10) 
  miles of the thaumaturge.
  The Hecatomb (2, Charisma + Performance, 2, special): 
  This ritual practiced by the followers of the Southern war 
  god Ahlat involves the ritual slaughter of 100 cows. The 
  ritual ensures the fertility of the tribe’s cattle and women 
  for one month per success, up to a year maximum.
  Beckon (Greater God) (2, Charisma + Performance, 
  6 - Resources value of offering, one hour): This ritual 
  works like Beckon (Little God), except that it applies to 
  deities of 5 or greater Essence. Such deities may well 
  send subordinates to answer the thaumaturge’s call.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  141
  The Tauroboleum (3, Charisma + Performance, 3, 
  special): Reserved for special participants who remain 
  after the Hecatomb, the Tauroboleum’s participants ritu-
  ally bathe in the blood of the cattle slain by the earlier 
  rite. For each success, one warrior who participates in the 
  rite gains an extra -1 health level for three months.
  THE ART OF WARDING AND EXORCISM
  Warding rituals create mystic barriers against in-
  trusion or contamination—and Creation holds many 
  entities that people want to keep out. Warding tech-
  niques range from unbroken lines of salt that hold back 
  the dead to glyphs carved in door lintels and windowsills 
  that keep out Fair Folk in the East.
  Wards can be stacked. When two different wards 
  might affect the same creature, both of them operate. 
  If a thaumaturge places multiple identical wards, only 
  the strongest remains. Thus, a house warded against Fair 
  Folk with an Alarm Ward, Lesser Ward and Adept-level 
  Ward against Fair Folk might trigger an alarm, force 
  the invader to spend a Willpower point and physically 
  prevent its progress. If the ﬁ rst Lesser Ward against Fair 
  Folk was cast with two successes, then a ﬁ ve success 
  Lesser Ward against Fair Folk would supplant it.
  Exorcism takes a more dangerous course. The exorcist 
  directly confronts a malign entity and tries to force its 
  departure. Over the millennia, thaumaturges have devised 
  wards against just about every sort of creature, but exorcism 
  affects only spirits: ghosts, demons, elementals and gods.
  Rituals of exorcism always involve some sort of 
  religious paraphernalia. It also employs substances that 
  symbolize purity, such as salt, or that target creatures ﬁ nd 
  speciﬁ cally baneful, such as iron against the Fair Folk.
  The art of Warding and Exorcism also includes 
  techniques to sense the sometime-unseen targets of 
  its other rituals.
  Sensing the Barrier (0, Perception, 3, one minute): 
  This simple ritual reveals the presence of every mystic 
  barrier within sight, even if it would not affect the 
  thaumaturge. This ritual merely reveals the existence 
  of a ward; it does not reveal what the ward protects 
  against, its strength or any other details.
  Thrice-Warded Gateway (0, Dexterity, 2, one minute): 
  Repeating a short prayer to a god of locks and wards seven 
  times, and wrapping the handle with a bit of twine, the 
  magician causes a door to act as if it were stoutly barred 
  for the next hour. This rite does not strengthen the door’s 
  structure, so it might still be forced.
  Alarm Ward Against (Creature) (1, Perception, 1, 
  one hour): The thaumaturge sets up an invisible magi-
  cal line that alerts the character whenever a particular 
  type of creature crosses the ward. The alert only reaches 
  the thaumaturge if she is within one mile per success 
  she gained during its casting. The alert can manifest as 
  anything from an enchanted bell that rings to a pricking 
  sensation in the thaumaturge’s thumbs.
  Once placed, this ward endures for one day. Magi-
  cal methods of avoiding detection, including Charms, 
  must exceed the ward’s threshold, although sorcery 
  and necromancy that prevent detection automatically 
  succeed. The ward protects an area at most (character’s 
  Degree in Warding x 20) feet in any direction.
  Deathsight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes): See this 
  rite’s entry under the Art of the Dead, page 134.
  Demonsight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes): See 
  this rite’s entry under the Art of Demon Summoning, 
  in Exalted, page 138.
  Elemental Sight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes):
  See this ritual’s entry under the Art of Elemental Sum-
  moning, page 136.
  Lesser Ward Against (Creature) (1, Manipulation, 1, 
  one hour): Employing components antithetical to the 
  particular type of creature, the thaumaturge evokes an 
  invisible magical barrier that discourages its approach. 
  A Lesser Ward acts as a deterrent rather than a physical 
  barrier. A creature needs Dodge MDV at least equal to 
  the number of successes achieved on the thaumaturgy 
  roll in order to ignore its unnatural mental inﬂ uence. 
  A creature affected by the ward may spend 1 Willpower 
  per scene to ignore its effects, though doing so may incur 
  Limit when applicable. Once cast, the ward lasts for 
  one day. The ward protects an area at most (character’s 
  Degree in Warding x 20) feet in any direction.
  If the thaumaturge limits the ward to blocking only 
  a speciﬁ c subtype of a particular class, such as hungry 
  ghosts or Solar Exalted, then he gains an extra die to 
  roll for each Degree he possesses in the Art of Warding. 
  Procedures taken for this ritual are always limited to a 
  speciﬁ c subtype and do not gain this bonus.
  Spirit Sight (1, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve minutes): See this 
  rite’s entry under the Art of Spirit Beckoning, page 140.
  Alarm Ward Maintenance (2, Perception, 3, ﬁ ve 
  minutes): The more effort put into a ward, the greater 
  its effect. A careful sprinkling of salt might last for only a 
  day, while stone grooves carved and ﬁ lled with hardened 
  cakes of salt might last indeﬁ nitely (if they are kept dry 
  and nobody steals the salt). Likewise, glyphs carved in 
  a wooden plaque last longer than symbols scratched in 
  the dirt. If a thaumaturge succeeds with this ritual, she 
  enables a ward to last longer: another day with a single 
  success; two successes adds a week, three adds a month, 
  four adds a season, ﬁ ve adds a year, and every additional 
  
  142
  success adds another year. Wards that truly last indeﬁ -
  nitely require binding the ward to some sort of talisman 
  using the Art of Enchantment: the talisman requires the 
  same Degree of mastery in the Art of Enchantment as 
  the basic barrier does in the Art of Warding.
  Dishonest (Creature)’s Rebuke (2, Intelligence, 
  Difﬁ culty, 10 hours + miscellaneous action): The four 
  versions of this ritual deal with gods, demons, elementals 
  and ghosts, respectively (with individual Procedures 
  covering speciﬁ c subtypes). In the ﬁ rst part of the ritual, 
  the thaumaturge spends 10 hours inscribing special 
  prayer strips. In the second part, the thaumaturge 
  casts the strips into the air and mutters a quick prayer 
  while expending the Willpower needed for the ritual. 
  The caster may then perform a single attack against a 
  dematerialized spirit using a weapon or barehanded. For 
  the rest of the scene, he may attempt additional attacks 
  at the cost of another Willpower point for each attack. 
  This rite doesn’t grant the ability to detect the spirit. 
  That must be gained in some other fashion.
  Expulsion (2, Manipulation, spirit’s lowest Virtue, 
  10 minutes): Some spirits and ghosts can enter mortal 
  creatures and take control of their bodies. A skilled thau-
  maturge can drive out an entity that has used a Charm 
  or Arcanos to possess another being. The effort to do so 
  is an extended roll, with a difﬁ culty equal to the spirit’s 
  lowest Virtue, requiring an accumulation of successes equal 
  to twice the spirit’s highest Virtue. Each roll requires 10 
  minutes and costs the thaumaturge 1 Willpower.
  Note that this ritual can expel any possessing entity 
  only if a character learns it as part of a Degree in the Art 
  of Warding and Exorcism. The versions learned in the 
  Arts of the Dead, Demon Summoning, Elemental Sum-
  moning and Spirit Beckoning only affect the single class 
  of entities that form the special concerns of those Arts. 
  The same goes for learning Expulsion as a Procedure.
  Lesser Ward Maintenance (2, Perception, 3, one 
  day): As Alarm Ward Maintenance, but extending the 
  duration of any Lesser Ward.
  Ward Against (Creature) (2, Intelligence, 1, one hour): 
  This ritual works like a Lesser Ward, except that it creates 
  a physical barrier against the warded creatures rather than 
  a mental deterrent. The strength of the ward equals the 
  number of successes the thaumaturge’s player gains dur-
  ing its creation. A warded creature cannot pass through 
  the barrier unless its Essence exceeds the strength of the 
  ward, in which case it may tear a hole in the ward through 
  which other creatures may pass. A creature that is blocked 
  may also spend 1 Willpower to assault the ward, rolling 
  its Essence in dice, with each success reducing the ward’s 
  strength by one. The assaulting creature suffers a number 
  of dice of bashing damage equal to the current strength of 
  the ward, soakable only by Stamina and other natural soak. 
  If the ward remains strong enough to block the creature, it 
  may choose to attack it again for another Willpower point. 
  The ward protects an area at most (character’s Degree in 
  Warding x 20) feet in any direction.
  Warding of Undue Inﬂ uence (2, Wits, 3, miscella-
  neous action): The thaumaturge tries to protect those 
  around him from supernatural deceptions. This rite 
  costs 3 Willpower. While invoked, all beings within 
  (caster’s Essence x 5) feet are treated as being two 
  points higher in Essence for the purposes of resisting 
  Fair Folk glamours, Charms that deal with manipulat-
  ing emotions or perceptions, and supernatural effects 
  with similar effects. Charms that are rolled against a 
  ﬁ xed difﬁ culty to affect emotions or perceptions have 
  their difﬁ culty raised by 1. This ritual’s effects last for 
  10 minutes and move with the caster.
  Banish (Creature) (3, Manipulation, special, one 
  minute per roll): A thaumaturge forces a spirit to va-
  cate her presence, at least for a time. Each version of 
  this ritual works similarly against a god, demon, ghost 
  or elemental.
  The players of the exorcist and her target engage 
  in a contested roll, the thaumaturge’s (Manipulation + 
  Occult + Degree) against the spirit’s (Willpower + Es-
  sence), with each roll costing the exorcist 1 Willpower 
  and a minute of work. The target must reﬂ exively expend 
  3 motes of Essence for each roll or forfeit the contest. 
  If the exorcist achieves a number of net successes equal 
  to (the spirit’s Essence + highest Virtue), then the spirit 
  must leave the area immediately and stay away for a time. 
  Gods are banished for an hour, demons for a night and 
  a day, and elementals for a week. Extra successes double 
  the banishment period (one hour, two hours, four hours, 
  etc.). Ghosts must return to the Underworld, but if the 
  exorcist gains twice the number of requisite successes, 
  then the ghost is usually laid to rest permanently.
  Unfortunately for the thaumaturge, the target entity 
  may perform whatever actions it might normally—albeit 
  as part of a ﬂ urry, with resisting the exorcist as its ﬁ rst 
  action—while she must devote her entire concentration 
  to the ritual. Wise exorcists perform this rite behind 
  powerful wards or a screen of defenders. Celestial In-
  carnae, powerful elementals (such as lesser elemental 
  dragons or better), demons of the Second and Third 
  circles, and Deathlords may only be banished by a 
  thaumaturge who has a permanent Essence at least 
  equal to their own, with the banishment lasting for 
  only one scene, and the prospect of success in these 
  situations is dim indeed.
  
  CHAPTER THREE • THAUMATURGY
  143
  Breaking the Ward (3, Perception, 3, one hour): 
  This ritual lets the caster weaken or even destroy an 
  existing ward. Every success removes one success from 
  the ward it is used against, beginning with duration-
  granting successes created by ward maintenance rituals, 
  and only proceeding to reduce the base ward once the 
  maintenance successes are gone. If the character is 
  subject to the targeted ward, any failed attempt with 
  this ritual subjects the thaumaturge to any negative 
  effects or backlash from the ward (such as the bashing 
  damage from attacking a Lesser Ward).
  Greater Ward Against (Creature) (3, Intelligence, 
  1, two hours): This ritual works like a Lesser Ward, 
  except that it creates a mystic shield rather than a 
  mental deterrent. The strength of the ward equals the 
  number of successes the thaumaturge’s player gains 
  during its creation. A warded creatures cannot enter 
  the warded area, launch physical attacks of any type 
  into it, or make any type of magical attack (including 
  mind inﬂ uencing Charms and spells) into it, unless 
  its Essence exceeds the strength of the ward, in which 
  case it may tear a hole in the ward through which 
  other attacks may pass. A creature that is blocked may 
  spend 1 Willpower to assault the ward, as per Ward 
  Against (Creature) rituals. By itself, a Greater Ward 
  is not damaging, but if it is cast in conjunction with a 
  Ward Against (Creature), then the damage caused by 
  that ward becomes lethal and equals the strength of 
  both wards added together. An assault against a target 
  protected by both wards damages both wards equally 
  and only requires 1 Willpower point.
  Keyed Ward (3, Wits, ward difﬁ culty +2, one hour): 
  Sometimes, it is inconvenient to have a ward affect every 
  member of the group it is designed to restrict. This ritual 
  is always cast in conjunction with another warding ritual 
  and limits the scope of the other rite. The casting time 
  adds to that of the other ritual, and the thaumaturge 
  must succeed in a roll at (the other ritual’s difﬁ culty + 
  2). With success, the thaumaturge speciﬁ es a condition 
  where the other ward lets creatures through.
  The condition described must be something objec-
  tively deﬁ nable that could be deduced through mundane 
  means. “Those who have my sigil tattooed on their 
  back,” “my honored ancestor ghosts,” “those who say 
  the word ‘hallelujah’ while passing through the door,” 
  or “the Dragon-Blood named Sesus Nagezzer” are all 
  valid conditions. “The person who is telling the truth” 
  or “followers of the Bull of the North” are not—the 
  ward cannot read minds or otherwise probe a creature 
  to determine truthfulness or loyalty.
  
  144
  Failure on the Keyed Ward ritual roll means the 
  other ward operates in its normal fashion, while a botch 
  engenders some unexpected condition instead. 
  Ward Maintenance (3, Perception, 3, one day): 
  Works as Lesser Ward Maintenance except it applies 
  to an Adept-level ward. Alternately, the thaumaturge 
  can use this ritual to restore a damaged Adept-level 
  ward to full strength.
  THE ART OF WEATHER WORKING
  The Council of Winds is a powerful elemental court 
  that inﬂ uences virtually all of the weather in Creation. 
  Most often, they obey the plans of the Bureau of Seasons, 
  but clever magicians can beseech them to arrange for 
  particular conditions in a region. Effects might be as 
  small as a simple breeze to snuff out a candle or as large 
  as a powerful storm, depending upon the thaumaturge’s 
  skill and the plans of the elementals involved.
  Whenever a thaumaturge makes more than one 
  request during the same two day period, she must 
  spend twice as long enacting these rituals, and her 
  player suffers a +1 difﬁ culty per subsequent request 
  made before leaving the Council alone for at least 
  a week. Most elementals capable of directing large 
  weather patterns have servants to answer for them 
  and are thus generally immune to summons. Botches 
  or particularly egregious uses of this Art can lead to 
  dangerous retribution on the part of the Council of 
  Winds or the Bureau of Seasons.
  Different cultures may use different tools for weather 
  working. Some brew strange potions in cauldrons; oth-
  ers tie elaborate knots in cords. Every ritual, however, 
  includes some form of offering to the elementals.
  Foretell Weather (0, Perception, 2, one minute): 
  Whispering to the winds, offering incense and listening 
  for its answers, a thaumaturge uses this ritual to predict 
  the weather, with each success representing one day in the 
  future. Subsequent events of which the Council of Winds 
  was unaware at the time of the ritual may change the 
  Council’s course and render this rite’s results irrelevant.
  Minor Changes (1, Charisma, 3, 10 minutes): The 
  thaumaturge may convince local elementals to enact 
  minor alterations to the weather. Each speciﬁ c ritual 
  evokes one minor change, such as raising a fog or a 
  breeze, reducing rainfall or snowfall, changing the direc-
  tion of an existing wind, or the like. No change is itself 
  improbable; it merely happens when the thaumaturge 
  would like it to. Changes never extend over more than 
  a square mile or last more than an hour.
  Transform Weather (2, Charisma, 4, one hour):
  True manipulation of weather becomes possible. Each 
  ritual seeks to persuade the Court to change a storm to 
  a gentle rain, a blinding heat to a pleasant summer day, 
  and other signiﬁ cant, distinctly improbable alterations. 
  Changes never extend over more than two miles’ radius 
  and last four hours.
  Major Changes (3, Charisma, 5, one day): The 
  thaumaturge can convince the Court to make huge 
  changes such as summoning up gales or giving rain 
  during a drought. Each ritual can affect an area up to 
  ﬁ ve miles’ radius for an entire day.
  INVENTING NEW RITUALS
  The rituals in this chapter are only a sample of 
  the thaumaturgical rites practiced in Creation, and 
  thaumaturges invent more as time goes by. A character 
  who wants to invent a brand new ritual needs at least 
  10 dots divided among Lore, Occult and one other 
  Ability that is relevant to the ritual’s intended purpose. 
  For instance, a ritual to confer some special property 
  on weapons would call for Craft (Fire), while a new 
  alchemical drug or poison would require Medicine. At 
  least one Ability must be rated two dots higher than 
  the Degree of the new ritual.
  The character spends months in a suitable 
  research facility, trying out different ingredients 
  and ceremonial processes. Of course, the “research 
  facility” depends on the Art: an alchemist works 
  in a laboratory, while a spirit beckoner works with 
  offerings, altars, hymns, dances and other religious 
  paraphernalia.
  Each month of research is a Resources (ritual’s 
  Degree + 1) expenditure. For each month, the 
  thaumaturge’s player rolls (Intelligence + Lore), at 
  a difficulty of (ritual’s Degree + 1). The thaumaturge 
  succeeds when the accumulated successes equal (5 
  + [ritual’s Degree x 5]). Any botch in this extended 
  roll, however, indicates a fundamental flaw in the 
  research program. The character cannot try again 
  until at least one of her relevant Abilities has risen 
  by one dot.
  Just because a thaumaturge has the relevant Abili-
  ties and can deﬁ ne a feat, however, does not mean that a 
  suitable ritual can be invented, though. Some feats just 
  aren’t possible. For instance, alchemists have devised 
  dozens of recipes for yellow jade… and every one of 
  them has failed when they tried to demonstrate it to 
  someone else.
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  145
  
  146
  This chapter describes the various naturally 
  occurring magical plants, animals, minerals and en-
  vironmental oddities of Creation and the products 
  made from them. None of these natural wonders were 
  intentionally created (although the Exalted sometimes 
  duplicate them). Instead, they are the result of exposure 
  to the Wyld or demesnes, natural evolution, curses, 
  magical mutation, lab accidents, and other similarly 
  unique and unusual events. The inhabitants of Creation 
  have learned to make use of some of these wonders and 
  to fear and avoid others.
  PARASITIC POSSESSORS
  Two threats to humanity move out from the Eastern 
  Wyld. They already afﬂ ict the Eastern states and parts 
  of the Scavenger Lands and actively seek to spread 
  to other parts of Creation. Each menace uses human 
  victims to propagate itself.
  CHAKRA ORCHID
  This animate and deadly plant comes from the 
  deepest forests of the Far East. Chakra orchids are 
  parasitic plants that require living creatures to gestate 
  to an adult state. As the plants grow in their victims’ 
  ﬂ esh, they inﬁ ltrate a victim’s brain and take control of 
  his body. Any reptile, mammal or human can become a 
  host for the chakra orchids’ insidious seeds. Only birds 
  and water creatures are immune, and so, chakra orchids 
  attempt to slay or drive off such creatures.
  Some savants speculate that the ﬁ ve types of chakra 
  orchid are ﬁ ve life stages of the plant. Each type bears 
  ﬂ owers of a different color, but each color is merely a 
  specialized variety of a diverse species.
  The best thing one can say about chakra orchids is 
  that they attack shadowlands: The sickly mortals who 
  dwell in shadowlands make easy prey for the deadly 
  ﬂ owers, and the ﬂ owers infest zombies as easily as they 
  CHAPTER FOUR
  CHAPTER FOUR
  MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA 
  MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA 
  AND PHENOMENA
  AND PHENOMENA
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  147
  do mortals. Shadowland territory covered by the rul-
  ing golden blossoms returns to Creation. The chakra 
  orchids have reclaimed several villages and a few small 
  shadowlands for Creation, though no humans were left 
  to appreciate the change.
  CHAKRA ORCHID SEED INFESTATION
  Two types of chakra orchid, the scarlet bloom and 
  auric blossom, can infest victims with their seeds. This 
  infestation is treated as a disease (see Exalted, p. 350).
  Virulence: 6 
  Difficulty to Treat: 5
  Morbidity: 7 
  Treated Morbidity: 5
  Symptoms: Victims of these seeds start with a cough, 
  and as the day proceeds, they develop a fever, sore 
  throat, and eventually severe pain throughout the body 
  as the seed roots in the spine. Within several hours, 
  victims are bedridden and incapacitated, delirious and 
  most often screaming incessantly. They turn silent a 
  few hours later, their fever vanishes, and they become 
  drones possessed by one of the various chakra orchid 
  types. The victim seems recovered… but actually, he 
  has died, and the ﬁ rst buds of the orchid’s ﬂ owers emerge 
  from the back of the neck.
  Duration: Infestation manifests almost immediately, 
  and it only takes a day before the victim succumbs to 
  the chakra orchid. A ﬂ ower always blooms within 24 
  hours unless treated.
  Vector: Seeds can be ingested accidentally or on pur-
  pose. Auric blossoms (see below) produce a number of 
  different seeds that can be carried by victims, the wind 
  or deluded cultists. The seeds produced by the scarlet 
  bloom are always tiny and airborne.
  Treatment: There is no known mundane cure for 
  chakra orchid infestation, only treatments that may 
  aid the patient’s struggle against it. However, Charms, 
  sorcery and mortal alchemy can all provide cures. No 
  matter how lucid a victim may seem, however, nothing 
  can be done to save her once a ﬂ ower blossoms on the 
  back of her neck—except to kill her body so she can rest 
  in peace. The ghosts of people who were still walking 
  around have exposed some orchid infestations.
  COBALT BLOOM (WORKER)
  Worker drones produce blue ﬂ owers at the base of 
  their victim’s neck. These infested creatures possess only 
  rudimentary intelligence and cannot communicate. 
  They often spend their time clearing undergrowth or 
  chopping down trees near the central bloom.
  Victims become stronger than in life, but move 
  slowly. Other signs of the infestation include enlarged 
  extremities and a greenish tinge to the sufferer’s veins. 
  Cobalt blooms only live a month or two before the victim 
  finally succumbs 
  to the infection, 
  and then, other 
  blooms gather the 
  corpse and take it 
  to the central stem, 
  where golden ﬂ ow-
  ers soon sprout from 
  the body.
  Cobalt blooms 
  principally infect 
  humans, though 
  any large animal 
  can fall victim. Use the write-ups of Farmers/Towns-
  folk/Citizens/Slaves (see Exalted pp. 278-279), but add 
  2 to both Strength and Stamina, and reduce Dexter-
  ity, Intelligence and Wits all to 1. Cobalt blooms are 
  extras when they ﬁ ght at all. They prefer to attack by 
  mobbing single targets.
  ALABASTER BLOOM (WARRIOR)
  Warriors sprout white ﬂ ow-
  ers. These parasites possess 
  sufficient cunning to follow 
  orders, attack in groups and use 
  tactics. Some infected creatures 
  utter discernable battle cries. 
  Victims of the warrior blooms 
  are agile and covered in a 
  natural bark-like armor. They 
  grow wooden claws and fangs. 
  Alabaster blooms can live up 
  to a year before the body succumbs to infestation. See 
  page 150 for stats.
  ARGENT BLOSSOM 
  (EMISSARY)
  Silver flowers 
  crown the green, 
  half-plant heads 
  of emissaries, and 
  their extremities 
  resemble plant 
  stems. These rare 
  flowers only in-
  fect intelligent 
  prey. Their intel-
  ligence, however, 
  comes solely from 
  the plant within the 
  infested creature: 
  Emissaries retain 
  
  148
  no memories of their previous lives. Unlike the cobalt 
  and alabaster blooms, creatures infected with the argent 
  blossom do not have their Physical Attributes modiﬁ ed. 
  All argent blossoms replace the creatures’ Attributes 
  with their own.
  Emissary blossoms negotiate with human settle-
  ments near orchid habitations. They offer boons to 
  humans who help the chakra orchids, but the chakra 
  orchids keep these promises only until they feel strong 
  enough to mount an attack against the settlement. 
  Nevertheless, the argent emissaries are so insidious that 
  they sometimes organize small cults of orchid worship-
  pers. Cultists give their lives willingly to infestation and 
  fanatically protect the central stems. Argent blossoms 
  do not seem to succumb to the same life cycle as the 
  other chakra orchid infections, though they do die from 
  violence or misfortune. See page 150 for stats.
  Other Notes: Argent blossoms always ﬂ ee when 
  confronted with violence. They emit a high-pitched 
  wail that calls all alabaster or cobalt blooms within half 
  a mile to come to their defense.
  SCARLET BLOOM (INVADER)
  The white blossom warriors 
  usually defend the central blos-
  som while red-ﬂ owering invaders 
  attack nearby human settle-
  ments. The infestation follows 
  a slightly different course than 
  usual. Infested creatures retain 
  most of their memories and in-
  telligence, though the infection 
  drives them increasingly insane. Many villages in the 
  East fall to chakra orchids after a single villager returns, 
  feverish, raving and with no memory of her infection. 
  Eventually such victims turn violent, attacking their 
  friends and families, until they begin to foam at the 
  mouth and gibber. Their bodies bulge in odd places as 
  they have seizures and soon die.
  After death, the body must be burned within an 
  hour, or red ﬂ owers erupt violently from the corpse, bud, 
  bloom and go to seed within the span of a night. Once 
  the seed pods form, they explode, sending tiny spores 
  into the air. These seeds seek the breath of the living, 
  planting themselves within the throat of the orchids’ 
  new victims. Most commonly, victims become cobalt 
  bloom workers or alabaster warriors. Rarely will the 
  budding plant climb up the neck to form the argent 
  wreath of the emissary.
  Other Notes: Scarlet blooms do not augment the 
  infested creature’s traits. The infested (but not yet dead) 
  creature has an inexplicable urge to get to the nearest 
  settlement, however, and often is driven by this compul-
  sion for many miles, well past its fatigue point.
  AURIC BLOSSOM 
  (CENTRAL STEM)
  The vines that produce 
  the ﬁ st-sized, golden-hued 
  auric blossoms grow to cover 
  most of the ground around 
  the initial infestation site 
  and climb up any available 
  structures. Auric blossoms 
  feed on the corpses brought 
  to it by cobalt blooms. The 
  auric blooms have a shared 
  intelligence that grows as 
  the whole plant grows. They 
  communicate their wishes 
  telepathically to all other 
  types of blooms and blossoms. Other chakra orchids 
  can also share their knowledge with the central stem 
  when they are within 20 yards of it.
  Auric blossoms may produce seeds at will, generating 
  the spores necessary to infest a victim with whatever 
  subservient ﬂ ower type that the central stem chooses. 
  Cultists are given a fruit to eat that will infest them 
  more easily and less painfully than unwilling hosts, who 
  have seeds forcibly implanted down their throats. See 
  page 150 for stats.
  Other Notes: The stats on page 150 are for an aver-
  age specimen about the size of a small village. For larger 
  central stems, double the number of -0 health levels.
  Auric blossoms make up to ﬁ ve attacks in a ﬂ urry 
  without splitting their dice pools. Auric blossoms al-
  ways summon aid from all blooms nearby. This usually 
  means 20-30 cobalt blooms and 15-25 alabaster blooms. 
  Ordinary humans and Exalts may notice the telepathic 
  summons if their players succeed at (Perception + 
  Awareness) rolls, difﬁ culty 5.
  If an auric blossom reduces a character in a clinch 
  to incapacitation, it uses its seed infestation attack on 
  that character.
  If the plant itself is incapacitated, it must still have 
  its entire root system dug up and destroyed, or it will 
  grow back in a week. Auric blossoms heal three health 
  levels per day.
  HEART WASPS
  Swarms of heart wasps move through the Eastern 
  woods, leaving destroyed villages in their wake. Like 
  ichneumon hunters, these parasites use humans as 
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  149
  living incubators for their 
  young. However, they also 
  use humans as shelter and 
  food by colonizing a victim’s 
  body and using it as a liv-
  ing puppet. A single wasp 
  cannot dominate an adult 
  human, so the insects in-
  vade the body in droves, 
  forcing their way into any 
  of the Nine Gates of the 
  Flesh—or making new ori-
  ﬁ ces of their own. Multiple 
  round scars and sores signal 
  a heart wasp infestation to the experienced observer, 
  as does the subtle rippling of the skin caused by wasps 
  moving about inside the body.
  Once the heart wasps take control of a human, they 
  send it about its regular business. The bugs are mildly 
  empathic: worker wasps seek out farmers, artisans, 
  and laborers; warrior wasps, the biggest and strongest 
  members of the community; drones, the shiftless and 
  good-for-nothing; and queens seek out the most promi-
  nent females. Queens then transfer larvae to child hosts 
  via hideous parodies of kisses.
  The wasps’ pretense at ordinary rural life is designed 
  to keep visitors at ease long enough to infest them. 
  Urban society is too complex for the wasps’ limited 
  intelligence, so wasp swarms that inﬁ ltrate large towns 
  and cities are usually detected and burned out in short 
  order. If the swarm isn’t caught in time, however, it 
  can completely infest a village within a day. A given 
  community can sustain a swarm for many weeks: Wasp-
  infected humans continue to eat, and sustain the wasps 
  along with themselves.
  The wasps do not care to farm or trade, so eventu-
  ally, they exhaust a village’s resources. The wasps then 
  leave their hosts by chewing an exit out through the 
  chest. This wound over the heart kills the host and 
  gives these hideous beasts their name. Only the queens 
  maintain their host bodies until the bitter end, often 
  making their way afoot to their new community, leaving 
  behind a corpse-littered village.
  Eastern villagers have developed a number of de-
  fenses against heart wasp infestation. Travelers with 
  visible sores are turned (or sometimes beaten) away at 
  a town’s edge. Fire can burn a host clean (this drastic 
  measure requires inﬂ icting at least three lethal levels 
  of burns). Smoke affects heart wasps much as it does 
  regular insects, slowing them down or driving them 
  from a host. These insects also avoid water, and many 
  Easterners survive a swarm attack by seeking refuge in 
  a pond or stream. Certain rare herbs repel heart wasps 
  and are much sought after by villages. Essence users at-
  tacked by heart wasps have successfully warded off wasp 
  attacks through magic of air and cold, and a Terrestrial 
  Exalt’s anima banner destroys any wasp it touches. Also, 
  the Zenith anima ﬂ are burns the wasps out of a host, 
  disintegrating them and leaving the host in relatively 
  good condition, if the infestation is caught early.
  The traits on page 150 are for a warrior-infested 
  human (i.e., the local blacksmith or town bully). 
  Queens, drones, workers and larvae have slightly differ-
  ent abilities and attack forms, often as per the original 
  human host. However, no matter which form of heart 
  wasp infests it, every infested human gains an extra -0 
  and -1 health level.
  Other Notes: Wasps who infest Essence users 
  can use simple abilities such as anima powers and 
  reﬂ exive Charms, but their use of such powers should 
  reﬂ ect the wasps’ rather dim consciousness. Sorcery 
  is beyond their ken.
  HEARTWASP INFESTATION
  Heartwasp infestation is treated as a disease. 
  “Death” from a heart wasp infestation means that a 
  host is completely under the swarm’s control. Her 
  mind has been subsumed by the hive consciousness of 
  the swarm, and nothing short of magical intervention 
  (such as the aforementioned Zenith anima ﬂ are) can 
  restore her to herself.
  Virulence: 5 
  Difficulty of Treatment: 4
  Untreated Morbidity: 5 Treated Morbidity: 4
  Symptoms: An infestation’s symptoms include a 
  humming originating deep within the body, an eerie 
  rippling effect located just beneath the skin and sores 
  or pox marks generally located on or near the cheek 
  bones (wasp hosts use clothing to conceal most other 
  entry wounds).
  Duration: An infestation can last for several months, 
  depending on the host’s health and size. Hosts with the 
  ability to use and channel Essence can sustain an infesta-
  tion of wasps for much longer than ordinary humans.
  Vector: The wasps are their own vector. Unlike normal 
  diseases, however, a group of wasps can choose whether 
  to infect a host (so a dull-witted farmer attacked by war-
  rior-hosts will likely be restrained until a worker-host 
  can be found to infest him).
  Treatment: Mundane treatments include moxibustion 
  (burning particular herbs against the victim’s skin), 
  fumigation and injecting tinctures of wasp-repelling 
  
  150
  herbs under the victim’s skin. Less adept healers simply 
  burn their victims and hope the wasps leave before they 
  kill their patient. Healers treating infested individuals 
  must take precautions to avoid a swarm attack. Heart 
  wasps driven from a host body are often desperate and 
  ready to seek out the nearest available shelter. Eastern 
  physicians dose themselves with wasp-repelling herbs 
  prior to using these same herbs on their patients.
  Zenith Caste Solars may use their animas to cleanse 
  one victim per mote spent (they must touch victims 
  barehanded). Other Exalted may use magic to heal the 
  infestation as if it were a normal illness.
  OTHER CREATURES
  Many other creatures with magical powers dwell 
  in Creation. Some of them are dangerous… but also 
  potentially useful.
  BEE OF ZARLATH
  Although they are now 
  known only to a few savants 
  and scavenger lords, the bees 
  of Zarlath were one of the most 
  exquisite natural wonders of 
  the First Age. The plum-sized 
  bees glow with golden light, 
  and their wings are ephemeral 
  creations of glowing Essence. 
  A few savants of First Age lore 
  also know that those bees take 
  the nectar from roses that only 
  bloom by sunlight and oleanders 
  that only bloom by moonlight and work it into a magical 
  honey with a multitude of useful properties. The bee’s 
  Essence-enhanced beauty is so great that characters 
  who wish to attack or otherwise attempt to harm one 
  must ﬁ rst succeed at a Willpower roll with a difﬁ culty 
  of two. However, very few have the opportunity even 
  to see these rare bees.
  Today, Zarlath lies hidden deep in the Southeastern 
  Middlemarches of the Wyld, protected by the automated 
  defenses of a long-dead Solar’s citadel. Once a year, the 
  bees journey beyond its walls and through the Wyld 
  to stable Creation, gathering nectar from sane ﬂ owers 
  before they return. Following the bees through the 
  Southeastern jungles and Wyld would be extremely 
  difﬁ cult. Few have attempted to ﬁ nd their hives and 
  steal their honey; even fewer have returned. 
  See page 154 for bee stats.
  EARTH-SHATTERING WORM
  These creatures look like earthworms magniﬁ ed to a 
  yard or so long, and made of solid ruby or sapphire. They 
  can burrow through any earth or stone, leaving distinc-
  tive tunnels in the rock. Enough of them can undermine 
  an area to collapse buildings or cause local earthquakes. 
  Earth-shattering worms hate captivity and can dig through 
  any substance other than the magical materials or the ruby 
  and sapphire of which they are made.
  The worms need no food or rest, and do not age. 
  New earth-shattering worm eggs generate deep under-
  ground where the inﬂ uence of the Elemental Pole of 
  Earth is strongest, amid veins of sapphires and rubies, 
  and hatch when they have grown large enough.
  PARASITIC POSSESSORS
  Name 
  Str/Dex/Sta Per/Int/Wit/Will 
  Health Lvls 
  Atk (S/A/D/R) 
  Dodge DV/S
  Alabaster Bloom 
   
  3/4/5/ 
   
  3/2/3/3 
  -0x2/-1x3/ 
  Claw: 5/5/4L/3,  
  4/5L/11B
   
   
   
   
   
  -2x4/-4/I 
  Bite: 6/8/6L/2
  Abilities: Awareness 2, Dodge 4, Presence 2, Martial Arts 4, Resistance 3, Stealth 3, Survival 3, War 4
  Argent Blossom 
   
  2/2/3/ 
   
  3/3/2/7 
  -0x2/-1x3/ 
  Claw: 5/3/3L/3 
  2/2L/5B
   
   
   
   
   
  -2x3/-4/I
  Abilities: Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 3, Dodge 3, Linguistics 2 (Native: Riverspeak; Low Realm, 
  Woodtongue) Martial Arts 1, Performance 2, Presence 3, Resistance 1, Socialize 2, War 1
  Auric Blossom 
   
  3/1/1/ 
   
  5/3/2/9 
  -0x21/I 
  Clinch: 4/6/5B/5 
  0/1L/1B
  Abilities: Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 2, Lore 3, Martial Arts 2 (Grappling +3), Resistance 3, Stealth 5, War 2
  Heart Wasp Victim  
  3/2/3 
   
  2/1/3/6 
  -0x3/-1x3/ 
  Punch: 5/5/3B/3,  
  2/0L/2B
   
   
   
   
   
  -2x2/-4/I 
  Kick: 5/4/6B/2,
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Axe: 4/5/8L/2,
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Knife: 5/5/4L/3
  Abilities: Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Dodge 2, Martial Arts 2, Melee 2, Presence 1, Resistance 1, Socialize 1, 
  Stealth 1, Survival 1, War 2
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  151
  The Mountain Folk 
  of the Realm sometimes 
  persuade the worms to dig 
  in particular areas or direc-
  tions by setting mercury 
  lures. The worms enjoy the 
  taste of quicksilver: a few 
  ounces intoxicates a worm 
  for several hours.
  Earth-shattering worms 
  cannot attack humans or 
  other living beings but are difﬁ cult to destroy. They react 
  to attacks by burrowing away from their attackers.
  One in every thousand earth-shattering worms has 
  unusually high mental capabilities (Intelligence 4, Wits 
  4). Such worms can lead dozens or hundreds of their 
  ordinary kindred in swarms that can topple castles or col-
  lapse mines. These highly intelligent worms often seek 
  human worship and sacriﬁ ces of quicksilver. Since they 
  have no real way of communicating this, they choose 
  a town and start undermining buildings—especially 
  temples—until the humans living there begin offering 
  sacriﬁ ces and prayers to stop the destruction. 
  See page 154 for worm stats.
  ESSENCE SPIDER
  Essence spiders 
  are the offspring of 
  ill-tempered wood 
  spiders (see Ex-
  alted p. 306) and 
  giant burrowing 
  spiders (see Exalted 
  p. 347), creating a 
  new species that 
  breeds true. The 
  magical spiders are 
  both intelligent 
  and capable of speech, but remain inhuman, predatory 
  arachnids the size of tigers. During the First Age, the 
  Solar Exalted enslaved them to produce their beautiful 
  and exceptionally strong silk. The Usurpation liber-
  ated the spiders. Small communities of Essence spiders 
  now live throughout the Far East and on a few isolated 
  islands in the West.
  Essence spider silk can be woven into both steelsilk 
  sails and silken armor, and so, their silk is much in demand. 
  They trade their silk to outsiders, but value their privacy, 
  taking a dim view of those who attempt to cheat them, 
  and resist to the death any attempt to enslave them. 
  More than one ambitious Guildsman has sought to trick 
  Essence spiders into a particularly unadvantageous deal, 
  and instead become their prey. Spider colonies leave the 
  drained, silk-wrapped husks of their enemies outside the 
  groves or caverns where they live.
  See page 154 for spider stats.
  FIRE ANTS
  These rare creatures re-
  semble ants four inches long, 
  glowing the color of a banked ﬁ re. 
  They live in colonies of several 
  hundred and always build their 
  nests in the magma of volca-
  noes. Lava infuses their bodies, 
  and neither heat nor ﬂ ame can 
  harm them.
  Each ﬁ re ant warren has a 
  single queen. These foot-long 
  insects live at the bottom of the 
  nest, where temperatures are 
  highest. The queen commands 
  the workers and directs the hive, but never leaves her 
  chamber unless the entire nest is in danger. All other 
  ﬁ re ants will ﬁ ght to the death to protect the queen.
  Fire ants like to eat meat. The colony sends out 
  hunting parties of 10 to 30 that swarm over their prey, 
  cooking the victim with their heat. The raiders eat 
  their ﬁ ll and carry leftovers back up the volcano to 
  their nest. Fire ants can carry almost 10 times their 
  own body weight. The creatures have a rudimentary 
  hive mind: Individuals aid one another against more 
  dangerous prey, and the entire party retreats together 
  if a target proves too dangerous.
  However, cold makes ﬁ re ants sluggish and clumsy. 
  They steam when hit with water. A cup or more of water 
  thrown on a ﬁ re ant inﬂ icts 1L unsoakable lethal dam-
  age. They also lose their footing on wet surfaces, and 
  become disoriented. The stats below are for an average 
  hunting party of 20 ﬁ re ants. For a larger group, add 
  four additional health levels and increase the Martial 
  Arts rating by 2.
  See page 154 for stats.
  Other Notes: Fire ant shells can be made into 
  clothing or footwear that grants the wearer 3L soak 
  against heat or ﬂ ame. Also, weapons that pierce their 
  skin may melt or burn. Weapons made of the Five 
  Magical Materials and metal weapons of exceptional 
  workmanship are not affected, but roll a die each time 
  a normal metal weapon strikes an ant. Each success 
  subtracts 1 from one of the weapon’s values (attacker’s 
  choice). Wooden weapons of any quality burst into 
  
  152
  ﬂ ame upon contact with a ﬁ re ant, losing one point per 
  strike, and unarmed characters suffer 2L ﬁ re damage 
  per strike against a group of ﬁ re ants.
  These small, tailless monkeys have long, silky, 
  dark-red fur and are barely a foot tall. Although they 
  can live off the fruits of the forest and small prey such 
  as mice, squirrels or snakes, they crave to eat the bones 
  of sorcerers. Swarms of these creatures often haunt 
  ancient ruins or the tombs of long-dead sorcerers, in 
  hopes of ﬁ nding more bones to devour.
  Ink monkeys were created in the First Age at pets. 
  After a surreptitious diet of magic ink, some of them 
  gained a malicious intelligence, a skill for crafting in-
  tangible illusions that look and sound real, and a taste 
  for the bones of sorcerers. Ink monkeys will not attack 
  a person who is clearly more powerful than they are 
  (such as an Exalt displaying an anima banner). They 
  prefer to attack petty magicians, shamans or similarly 
  low-powered wielders of enchantment. The monkeys 
  separate targets from the rest of their group by creating 
  the illusion of an elephant, dragon or some other large 
  and dangerous creature, in order to scatter the party. 
  Alternatively, they may attempt to lure a victim away 
  from the group by acting like innocent but tame crea-
  tures. When the target is alone, they attack.
  These creatures can be tamed if they are separated 
  from their family while only a few days old, but they tend 
  to grow malicious as they age. Their brains, when ground 
  up with certain herbs, can be used to create salves that 
  prevent inﬂ ammation of wounds and halt infection.
  A solitary ink monkey’s illusions cover no more 
  than a three-yard cube, but a group of monkeys can act 
  together ﬂ awlessly to evoke larger illusions. The illusions 
  affect sight and hearing, but no other senses. Charms of 
  Essence perception reveal the illusion; so does a successful 
  (Perception + Awareness) roll at difﬁ culty 3.
  See page 154 for monkey stats.
  NILJAKE
  The Wyld has warped these 
  large, lizard-like creatures so that 
  nature abhors a niljake. These 
  creatures can simply run through 
  a forest while tree trunks, shrubs 
  and other natural obstacles 
  silently bend out of their way. 
  The plants twist themselves back 
  to their original forms when the 
  creatures have passed. The effect 
  doesn’t work on rocks, buildings 
  or other non-plant obstacles, but 
  a niljake can move quickly and soundlessly through the 
  thickest forests and ambush its prey.
  A niljake is about the size of a large dog, with small, 
  clawed forelimbs and extremely powerful and dispropor-
  tionately large back legs that propel it through the woods 
  at tremendous speeds. Niljakes crouch low when they run, 
  allowing them to stay out of sight until they attack.
  Niljakes are difﬁ cult to ﬁ ght in a forest. Putting your 
  back against a tree won’t help much, since a niljake can 
  come at you right through the tree, which completely 
  silently bends out of the way—not a single leaf rustles 
  when this happens. A niljake’s favored tactic is to make 
  a single swift attack, vanish into the forest and return a 
  few minutes later, repeating this process until its victim 
  bleeds to death. The reptiles can also claw or swat with 
  their long, heavy tails.
  Niljakes are very fast. Their Dash and Move are 
  both twice as fast as normal, and they can run as fast 
  as a simple horse relay.
  See page 154 for niljake stats.
  SERPENT OF COLORLESS FIRE (FIRESNAKE)
  Serpents of colorless 
  ﬁ re, or ﬁ resnakes, are well 
  known to the ﬁ redust pros-
  pectors of the Far Southern 
  deserts. These four-to-ﬁ ve-
  feet-long transparent vipers 
  carry ﬁ ery venom that liter-
  ally burns victims to death 
  from the inside.
  Heat and ﬂ ame cannot 
  harm ﬁ resnakes at all, and 
  they feed upon ﬁ redust. Thus, caravans and military 
  caches of the powder attract the ﬁ resnakes. Their feed-
  ing may cause ﬁ ery explosions.
  Certain disreputable merchants in the cities of the 
  South offer a bounty for living ﬁ resnakes, as they breed 
  and sell these deadly creatures to assassins and collec-
  tors of exotic beasts. Others are more interested in the 
  glassy skins the creatures leave behind when they molt. 
  Some of the ﬁ nest and costliest crystal in the South is 
  crafted by melting ﬁ resnake molts; they also ﬁ nd use 
  in artifacts related to ﬂ ame or ﬁ reprooﬁ ng.
  Because of their transparency, attempts to locate a 
  ﬁ resnake by sight are at +3 difﬁ culty. The serpents are 
  never automatically visible: even spotting a ﬁ resnake 
  resting in open sight requires a (Perception + Awareness) 
  check. Anyone attempting to defend against a striking 
  ﬁ resnake also suffers a -2 penalty to her Dodge or Parry 
  DV because the snakes are so difﬁ cult to see.
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  153
  Firesnakes generate enough venom for ﬁ ve suc-
  cessful strikes per day. Although rolled like any other 
  poison, this venom inﬂ icts ﬁ re damage. The damage 
  also ceases once the victim’s player succeeds on three 
  (Stamina + Resistance) rolls, which can include the 
  initial roll to resist the poison. The victim suffers -4 to 
  all actions until this damage ceases.
  Southern assassins sometimes use ﬁ resnake venom. 
  It bursts into ﬂ ame upon exposure to air, so most uses 
  result in only 3L/1L damage, with no further rolls. How-
  ever, skilled assassins use special darts or arrows to keep 
  the poison airtight until it is delivered to their victim’s 
  bloodstream, whereupon it functions normally.
  See page 154 for ﬁ resnake stats.
  SNAKEBUD TREE
  This plant/animal hy-
  brid came from the Wyld 
  but has spread into the 
  Scavenger Lands. From 
  a distance, it looks like 
  an ordinary tree bearing 
  pink and white ﬂ owers. 
  This tree, however, buds 
  serpents, which grow on 
  the branches until they 
  can detach themselves and 
  hunt for nearby prey. When 
  these little, pink and white 
  snakes coil on a branch and 
  stay still, they look like large buds or ﬂ owers. From 20 
  yards or closer, characters can discern the buds’ true 
  nature with a successful (Perception + Awareness) 
  roll at difﬁ culty 2.
  Snakebud trees are intelligent and can control the 
  mindless snakes from up to a mile away. A tree waits for 
  prey to come near and sends the serpents out to slay it. 
  The tree then slowly shifts its roots in the soil, causing 
  the dead bodies to slip into shallow ditches, hiding them 
  from casual observation while they rot and nourish the 
  tree. However, a difﬁ culty 3 (Perception + [Awareness 
  or Survival]) roll reveals the unusual number of bones 
  around the tree.
  A typical tree carries 100 serpents. These frail, 
  six-inch-long serpents have no attack beside their 
  venom, but attack in swarms of 10, and the tree is 
  intelligent enough to hold off attacking if the prey 
  looks ready to lower its guard. The serpents bleed honey 
  that can be used for many ointments and elixirs. The 
  tree itself has no defenses if all its serpents are slain; 
  but it can regrow from its roots unless it is uprooted 
  or destroyed by ﬁ re, salt or magic. The trees detest 
  each other and will not root less than a mile apart. If 
  a tree is slain, the remaining serpents wriggle off in 
  different directions and attempt to root and create new 
  trees. A few wealthy (and foolhardy) people in the 
  Scavenger Lands experiment with training snakebud 
  trees as guards for their property.
  See page 154 for snakebud tree stats.
  Other Notes: The Mental Attributes listed on page 
  154 are for the tree, while the Physical Attributes are for 
  the snakes. The snakes are mindless, and the tree can 
  be cut down like any other tree. The tree can attack up 
  to ﬁ ve targets at once, without splitting dice pools.
  WINTER ROSE
  This hazard of the Far North 
  looks like a normal rosebush per-
  fectly carved out of clear crystal. 
  When someone comes within 50 
  yards, the leaves brush together 
  as though from a gentle breeze, 
  sparkling hypnotically and cre-
  ating a soft chiming noise. If a 
  character can both see and hear 
  the roses, her player must succeed at a Willpower roll to 
  resist the glittering, tinkling display. The roll’s difﬁ culty 
  starts at 1 and increases by 1 (to a maximum of 5) for 
  each 5 ticks of exposure. Those who block their ears 
  with wax or clay need only roll once, at a difﬁ culty of 
  1, and characters who both avoid looking at the roses 
  and cover their ears need not roll at all from then on.
  Failed rolls means the victims are drawn to the 
  roses, and press themselves against the crystal thorns, 
  fondling the razor-edged ﬂ owers in fascination. Each 
  miscellaneous action of this inﬂ icts an automatic 
  level of lethal damage on a victim as the winter rose 
  lacerates her ﬂ esh. Each level of damage suffered by 
  a victim enables the patch of roses to grow a foot in 
  diameter, as the blood feeds the roses. When a victim 
  dies, his body falls to dust, leaving only clothes and 
  weapons behind.
  Smashing the bush may destroy the winter rose. 
  For a year afterward, however, any blood spilled on 
  the shards and dust will regrow the plant over the 
  course of a day. A winter rose patch shrinks a foot 
  in diameter each month that it goes without blood, 
  though never to less than a yard across. The entire 
  patch of roses can move up to 50 yards per day and 
  leaves a large track in the earth behind it. The roses 
  are entirely mindless and travel in random directions. 
  They would be easy to track and destroy, except Wyld 
  
  154
  storms and frozen fog seem attracted to winter roses, 
  and move them about without trace.
  See below for rose stats.
  Other Notes: This creature should be treated as a 
  construct or automaton for the purposes of effects that 
  do or do not affect such creatures.
  CREATURES
  Name 
  Str/Dex/Sta 
  Per/Int/Wit/Will 
  Health Lvls 
  Atk (S/A/D/R) 
  Dodge DV/S
  Bee of Zarlath 
   1/5/2 
   
  3/1/2/4 
  -1/-2/I 
  Sting: 4/7/1L +  
  4/0L/2B
   
    
   
   
   
   
  poison (3L/hour, 
   
    
   
   
   
   
  3, —/—, -2)/1
  Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Dodge 3, Martial Arts 2, Survival 2
  Earth-Shattering
    Worm 
   1/4/4 
   
  3/1/2/5 
  -0x4/-1x4/ 
  None 
  4/8L/14B
   
    
   
   
   
  -2x2/-4/I
  Abilities: Awareness 4, Dodge 3, Endurance 5, Resistance 3, Stealth 3
  Essence Spider 
   4/5/4 
   
  3/2/3/6 
  -0x2/-1x2/ 
  Bite: 4/7/5L +  
  5/5L/7B
   
    
   
   
   
  -2x2/-4/I 
  poison (4L/hour, 
   
    
   
   
   
   
  3, —/—, -4)/1
  Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Craft 5 (Wood), Dodge 4, Integrity 3, Investigation 3, Linguistics 2, 
  Lore 2, Martial Arts 3, Occult 1, Presence 3, Resistance 2, Socialize 2, Stealth 5, Survival 3
  Fire Ants  
   4/4/4 
   
  3/2/2/3 
  -0/-1x2/ 
  Claw: 6/4/2L,  
  4/3L/4B
   
    
   
   
   
  -2x2/-4/I 
  Bite: 5/5/3L/1,
   
    
   
   
   
   
  Touch: 5/6/2L/1
  Abilities: Awareness 2, Dodge 5, Martial Arts 4, Resistance 5, Socialize 3, Survival 4
  Ink Monkey 
   1/5/1/ 
   
  5/2/4/2 
  -1/-2/-4/I 
  Bite: 5/4/1L/3 
  5/1L/2B
  Abilities: Awareness 5, Dodge 5, Larceny 2, Martial Arts 1, Resistance 1, Survival 2, Stealth 4, War 2
  Niljake 
   4/4/3 
   
  2/1/3/4 
  -0x2/-1x4/ 
  Claw: 5/5/5L/2,  
  4/3L/6B
   
    
   
   
   
  -2x2/I 
  Bite: 4/8/8L/1,
   
    
   
   
   
   
  Tail: 4/8/8B/1
  Abilities: Athletics 4, Awareness 2, Dodge 2, Martial Arts 4, Resistance 2, Stealth 3, Survival 3
  Serpent of Colorless
    Fire 
   1/5/2 
   
  3/1/4/6 
  -0/-1/-4/I 
  Bite: 4/11/1L +  
  4/1L/3B
   
    
   
   
   
   
  poison (4L,
   
    
   
   
   
   
  2, —/—, -4)/3
  Abilities: Awareness 1 (Scent Firedust +3), Dodge 3, Intimidation 2, Martial Arts 3 (Bite +3), Stealth 3
  Snakebud Tree 
   1/3/1 
   
  3/2/2/4 
  -0x3/-1/I 
  Bite: 5/6/1L +  
  3/0L/1B
   
    
   
   
   
   
  poison (6L, 
   
    
   
   
   
   
  3, —/—, -5)/5
  Abilities: Awareness 3, Dodge 3, Intimidation 2, Lore 2, Martial Arts 3, Occult 2, Presence 3, Stealth 3
  Winter Rose 
   3/1/4/ 
   
  2/1/2/1 
  -0x3/-1x3/ 
  Petals: 6/5/1L 
  0/5L/7B
   
    
   
   
   
  -2x3/-4/I 
  (automatic, 
   
    
   
   
   
   
  not rolled)/3
  Abilities: Awareness 1, Presence 2, Resistance 3
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  155
  INANIMATE WONDERS
  A number of Creation’s natural wonders are inanimate. Many plants and minerals possess unusual powers: 
  some useful, some frightening, some dangerous—or all three at once. Whole industries may depend on a natural 
  wonder, or perhaps the few people who know of the wonder shun it from fear.
  BRIGHT MORNING
  This purple powder, also known as vision dust, is made from a mixture of various eastern herbs, 
  including the rare skullweed that grows only in shadowlands. It is not alchemical: Given the raw materials 
  and the recipe, any competent apothecary (Medicine rated 2+) can compound the powder.
  Smoking this powder produces mild hallucinations and euphoria. It also grants the user the ability to 
  perceive spirits, ghosts and Essence ﬂ ows. The drug allows an ordinary human to use both the equivalent 
  of the Spirit Detecting Glance and Spirit-Cutting Attack (see Exalted, p. 221) Charms without needing 
  to pay any Essence cost. An Exalted user additionally gains the beneﬁ ts of All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s 
  Sight (see Exalted, p. 222), without the need to spend Essence. The effects of this drug last three full 
  hours. During this time, the minor hallucinations and disorientation produced by this drug increase the 
  difﬁ culty of all the user’s mundane Perception and Wits rolls by 2. However, this penalty does not apply 
  to any magical perceptions.
  The Realm forbids the use of bright morning and severely punishes its possession. The Dynasts do 
  not wish mere mortals to imitate any of their powers. The Guild, however, does a brisk trade in other 
  regions, where the drug is both legal and popular among those who can afford it. Bright morning is also 
  addictive: If a character uses it more often than once a week, her player must succeed at a (Stamina + 
  Resistance) roll for the character to avoid addiction.
  Once addicted, the character loses one dot off of her Perception due to continual low-level hal-
  lucinations. The addict must also take at least two doses a week or suffer chills, bouts of delirium and 
  severe pain: The character loses an additional dot of Perception, two dots of Willpower, and three levels 
  of bashing damage that do not heal until the next dose is taken or the addiction is broken. Kicking this 
  addiction involves going a full month without the drug. Enduring the torments of withdrawal this long 
  when the drug remains available requires a Willpower roll at difﬁ culty 3. When the addiction breaks, 
  however, all lost traits return.
  Cost: Resources ••• (•••• in the Realm).
  BLOOD BERRIES
  Blood berry vines grow in Wood-aspected demesnes throughout the outer edges of the Northeast. 
  Since they root in tree branches high above the ground, however, they are seldom harvested outside the 
  arboreal Haltan Republic. In the last months of Descending Fire, these vines produce clusters of tart, red 
  berries, which people who know of their properties then pick and dry in the sun.
  These berries owe their name to their curative power as well as their oozing, crimson juice. A 
  character who eats a dozen blood berries a day can halve the time required to heal one lethal wound that 
  caused a great deal of blood loss when it was inﬂ icted. (For instance, the berries help heal gashes but not 
  broken bones.) Dried blood berries keep for a year, after which they lose their potency.
  Cost: •• for a basket of 50 berries.
  BLACK ASH
  Black ash trees rarely grow over 25 feet tall. Their bark, leaves and wood are all dark gray or black 
  in color, with a wood darker and harder than the ebony trees of the Southeast (though not as lustrous). 
  Black ash grows in many shadowlands, but nowhere else. These trees are most proliﬁ c in the death-
  touched forest near Sijan.
  Many people regard black ash as unlucky because of where it grows; certainly, few people dare the 
  dangers of a shadowland to cut it. Deathknights, however, can harvest it freely and craft arrows and bow-
  staves from its strong, ﬂ exible branches. Black ash wood resists the necrotic Essence of their Charms and 
  necromancy (but is an otherwise normal hard wood with respect to mundane force, including damaging 
  Charms or sorcery). The wood also decays slowly, if at all, which makes it an excellent wood for cofﬁ ns.
  Cost: Resources ••• (•• in Sijan) for a cofﬁ n’s worth of black ash wood.
  
  156
  DREAMSTONE
  This greenish opal crystallizes at Wyld-charged hot springs. A cut and polished opal records the dreams 
  of anyone who dreams while touching the stone. Acorn-sized stones only record the ﬁ rst dream of the night, 
  while thumb-sized stones record every dream the dreamer has during the night. No stone can hold more 
  than a single night’s worth of dreams. After the stone holds one or more dreams, any waking person who 
  touches the stone to her forehead for a minute will dream these recorded dreams the next time she falls 
  asleep. Dreamstone users experience these recorded dreams as if they were their own.
  If the holder instead sits quietly while touching the stone, she experiences the dream as a vivid 
  daydream. Dreams can be replayed any number of times, but existing dreams must be erased before these 
  stone can record more dreams. Erasing a dreamstone requires the user to clasp the stone lightly and perform 
  a special meditation. Learning the meditation required to erase a dreamstone rarely requires more than an 
  hour, but learning to have dreams worth recording is an art that can take a lifetime.
  Some people become addicted to dreamstones. This is not a physical dependency—merely the lure 
  of escape into wonderful dreams.
  Cost: Resources •• for a one-dream stone, ••• for a larger stone.
  FIREDUST
  Highly combustible and somewhat unstable, brick-red ﬁ redust burns both very hot and rapidly. It 
  is a potent explosive if its combustion is contained and a single spark can set it off. Firedust is also one of 
  the most valuable military commodities in Creation, used in ﬁ rewands, ﬁ re cannon and ﬁ redust grenades. 
  Travelers in the North and West value it as tinder. Firedust also ﬁ nds use as an alchemical ingredient and 
  vital addition to some high-temperature metalwork.
  Southern Wyld storms often leave patches of ﬁ redust behind them. The largest deposits form in the 
  Southern Bordermarches, but ﬁ redust also appears in most Southern tainted lands, where it collects in 
  hollows and the lee side of large dunes. Few ﬁ redust gatherers brave the dangers of the Wyld when they 
  can collect the dust around its fringes.
  Cost: Resources • for a palm-full of ﬁ redust in the South; ••, or occasionally higher, in the rest of 
  Creation.
  FIRE TREES
  Fire trees are medium-sized deciduous trees that bear large numbers of scarlet blossoms around the 
  start of Descending Fire. The blossoms’ scent induces mild euphoria in most people who smell it and 
  lowers inhibitions about as much as a mug or two of strong ale. People have transplanted ﬁ re trees to the 
  Realm and many other countries. However, the natives of the Republic of Chaya, in the Scavenger Lands, 
  respond more strongly to ﬁ re-tree pollen. For the entire month that the ﬁ re trees bloom, the inhabitants 
  lose all inhibitions and become wildly passionate. They erupt in extreme emotional outbursts and crazed 
  ﬁ ts of excitement. The Chayans consider the ﬁ re trees sacred and plant them near every habitation, mak-
  ing the hysteria universal.
  Most people exposed to the scent of ﬁ re tree blossoms lower their Willpower by two points until a 
  half day after this exposure ends. Natives Chayans lose all Willpower for the duration of the ﬂ ower’s season 
  and become wildly emotional and prone to violence. Approximately three weeks after they begin blooming, 
  ﬁ re blossom season ends, and the blossoms’ effects fade within a day or two.
  Cost: Resources ••• to buy a ﬁ re-tree sapling from a well-stocked nursery (• in Chaya).
  IRON BUSH
  These shrubs ﬁ rst grew near the Imperial Mountain. During the First Age, the Exalted planted the 
  shrubs throughout Creation as a biological weapon against the Fair Folk. Today, iron bushes grow in most 
  temperate forests (especially in the Northeast), but do not grow near Wyld areas or demesnes.
  The Fair Folk feel burning pain if they touch the leaves of an iron bush—an environmental effect 
  inﬂ icting 1L/action (Trauma 1). The leaves can also be distilled into a liquid that simply tastes foul to 
  humans, but the Fair Folk ﬁ nd deadly. These environmental effects inﬂ ict 10L (Trauma 5) to any Fair Folk 
  who so much as sips the liquid, or 4L/action (Trauma 3) on skin contact, until the Fair Folk can wipe it off. 
  Only one iron bush grows at a time within a 20 mile area, and once all the leaves have been plucked from 
  a bush, it does not grow new ones for a decade.
  Cost: Resources ••• for three leaves.
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  157
  IRONWOOD
  Ironwood is a dense, extremely tough deciduous wood with a short, straight trunk. It grows only in 
  certain regions of the East. Ironwood burns slowly and with a noxious smoke, but makes excellent charcoal. 
  Its true value, however, lies in its strength. Ironwood works very well for weapon hafts, siege engines and 
  structural beams for houses.
  Certain barbarian artisans can give ironwood almost mystical qualities. A special mixture of herbs and 
  simple thaumaturgical enchantment can give ironwood the resilience and strength of steel. Tribe members 
  sometimes sell these weapons, but the tribal wise men who know how to harden ironwood have revealed 
  this secret only to a few Lunar Exalted.
  Bladed weapons made of normal ironwood subtract a point from both their damage and defense 
  values, and are prone to damage and breakage. Ironwood weapons hardened by the proper ritual treatment 
  are not subject to these penalties.
  Cost: Hardened ironwood weapons cost one Resources dot higher than their normal counterparts, 
  unless you belong to a tribe that crafts them.
  Thaumaturgical Procedure: Strengthen Ironwood (1, Intelligence, 2, 3 hours)
  LUCKY ROCK
  ”Lucky rocks” appear naturally in Wyld-tainted lands around Creation. Their Wyld taint causes them 
  to always wind up back in their owner’s possession within a few hours of being thrown or dropped. Some 
  people buy lucky rocks as curiosities. During the First Age, however, Exalted artisans learned how to imbue 
  this power into thrown weapons. Self-returning javelins or boomerangs, for instance, are worth Resources 
  ••• or are considered Artifact •.
  Cost: Resources •
  MESSAGE SEED
  These ﬂ ying seeds come from giant dandelion-like plants that originally grew around an unusually 
  powerful Air-aligned demesne, but have since spread throughout the Northeast. They are most common 
  in the Haltan Republic, where they often spring up in large clearings or around lakes. The plant produces 
  seeds the size of two ﬁ sts attached to a stalk with a silky “fan” on the top. These seeds ﬂ oat on the wind 
  over the whole of Halta and nearby portions of the East. The message seeds ﬂ oated in a predictable pat-
  tern along the Essence currents of dragon lines. After mapping the path that the message seeds ﬂ ew along, 
  savants found how to use them to send letters and messages between villages.
  Message seeds are not a particularly reliable communication system, since some species of birds eat 
  them, and rainstorms ruin any seeds caught in them. However, they enjoy popularity with secret lovers and 
  others who wish to send messages without needing to trust a courier.
  Cost: None within Halta. From Descending Fire to Descending Air, the seeds are everywhere. They 
  have no value outside Halta and nearby portions of the East, but would cost Resources •• to acquire 
  simply as a curiosity.
  MOTHER’S MOSS
  This rust-colored moss grows on the bark of certain trees in Northern forests, particularly in the 
  Haltan Republic. It is rarely exported because it only retains its special properties while still alive or within 
  a few days of harvest. Mother’s moss is so called because it holds heat. A few minutes near a ﬁ re turn a strip 
  of mossy bark into a soothing hot pack, good for keeping a child warm or easing muscle ache. During the 
  colder months, important visitors to Haltan cities often receive beds with large “sheets” of mother’s moss 
  under a thin blanket to keep them warm at night. Herbalists can use a mixture made from dung, crushed 
  beetles and whiskey to preserve the moss for about a year; this requires a weekly (Intelligence + Lore) roll. 
  Fire-aspected Terrestrials can spend three motes of Essence per day to allow the moss to retain its special 
  properties, but Exalts typically have better things to do than transport moss.
  Cost: •••• for a three-foot-by-three-foot sheet outside of Halta. It only retains its properties for 
  a week at most without the preparation mentioned above. Much of this expense comes from the cost of 
  these preparations and the fact that the delivery is necessarily rushed. A similar sheet would only cost •• 
  in Halta.
  
  158
  WYLD SEED
  Wyld seeds can develop in any tree, bush or root (and even some animals) that grows to maturity 
  too close to the Wyld. Despite their diverse origin, they are easy to recognize—the seeds are swollen and 
  faintly luminescent, and usually brightly colored. The seeds are harmless to handle; their Wyld energy is 
  safely contained within them. If a living thing consumes a seed, though, within a day or two, it develops a 
  Wyld pox or deﬁ ciency (equal chances). Also, if any creature eats the now-tainted animal, it too contracts 
  the taint, receiving the Wyld mutation the ﬁ rst animal had plus another one of a higher level. For instance, 
  a bird that eats a Wyld seed might develop the Large pox and grow from a tiny songbird into a crow-sized 
  beast. If a hunting cat then ate the bird, the cat would develops the same pox—Large—and an afﬂ iction or 
  deﬁ ciency such as ﬂ aps of skin on its side (as the Gliding Wings afﬂ iction). Fortunately for Creation, this 
  chain of contagion continues no further.
  Fair Folk who eat Wyld seeds or warped animals do not suffer mutations, but remove the need to feed 
  on dreams for three days per seed. Planting a Wyld seed yields a plant that exhibits Wyld traits. A tree might 
  sport mouths instead of knotholes, its roots might bleed, it might “bloom” fur or scales instead of blossoms. 
  Unless planted in a Wyld place, however, the seeds these warped plants bear are not Wyld seeds.
  Cost: ••••• for a single seed, but the sale of Wyld seeds is highly illegal in almost all nations.
  NATURAL ARTIFACTS
  Creation’s greatest natural wonders are so powerful they count as artifacts. Such wonders are not usually for 
  sale unless you know the right people, and just as importantly, they know you.
  FRESHWATER PEARL (ARTIFACT •)
  These ﬁ st-sized, snow-white pearls occasionally form in giant oysters that grow in the Western Bor-
  dermarches of the Wyld. If a freshwater pearl is placed in a barrel (or lesser quantity) of seawater or fouled 
  water, it instantly renders the water as clear and fresh as that of a mountain spring. It has no effect on 
  larger quantities of water, though ancient legends tell of Solar Exalted (or in the “corrected” versions, the 
  Immaculate Dragon of Water) collecting the magic pearls for a great rite to purify a salty inland sea.
  Each pearl works up to ﬁ ve times a day. If placed in a barrel of wine or other alcohol, then the pearl 
  turns the liquid back to grape juice or whatever the appropriate source liquid might be. These pearls has 
  no effect on actual poison.
  STEELSILK SAILS (ARTIFACT •)
  A few master artisans in the West know how to weave the silk of Essence spiders (see p. 151) into 
  sails as light as canvas but as strong as steel. Captains who possess such sails guard them highly, sometimes 
  only removing them from a well-locked hold when the ship’s survival depends on them.
  Storms, ﬁ re and weapons that would destroy ordinary sails all fail to damage steelsilk sails. The magi-
  cal sails have 10L/15B soak, take 20 health levels to damage and 40 to destroy. They also suffer only half 
  damage from wind, waves or ﬁ re. Their durability makes a ship ﬁ tted with them easier to handle, adding +1 
  to all Sail rolls to control a ship in a storm or for gaining or losing speed. Steelsilk sails also allow a ship to 
  sail closer to the wind. Steelsilk sails requires Charms or thaumaturgical enchantments to mend: ordinary 
  mortal crafts are not up to this task.
  TRAVELER’S STAFF (ARTIFACT •)
  This gnarled staff is a branch from an ancient apple tree found in a powerful Wood demesne on the 
  Blessed Isle. The Empress claimed this demesne as a crownland until a few decades ago, when she awarded 
  it to House V’neef. Only tools of the magical materials can cut this tree’s wood, and only a master of Lore, 
  Occult and Craft (Wood) can preserve the ageless tree’s magic in a staff.
  A traveler’s staff can be used as a normal quarterstaff in combat, but the staff is more useful as a source 
  of food, ﬁ rewood and shelter. At sunset, the user may plant the staff into the earth and commit 3 motes. 
  The branch then grows into a full-size apple tree that bears enough ripe fruit to feed ﬁ ve people for the 
  evening. If she needs ﬁ rewood, the owner can use the tree’s branches to provide it—wood gathered this way 
  burns readily. Come morning, she can ﬁ nd a large, straight branch that easily snaps off—and it becomes 
  the original staff. The tree then dies and rapidly rots away. By sunset, no sign of its presence remains, and 
  the Essence is released to the Exalt who caused it to grow.
  
  CHAPTER FOUR • MAGICAL FLORA, FAUNA AND PHENOMENA
  159
  HORN OF THE WAYS (ARTIFACT••)
  In the Middlemarches of the Wyld, space can twist and fray strangely, and that power sometimes 
  inheres in Wyld-spawned creatures. A horn of the ways is made from the horn of any large beast born in 
  the Middlemarches, enchanted and bound in moonsilver. The Lunar Exalted use these artifacts to travel 
  quickly across Wyld regions, but they can also be used to penetrate fortress walls, escape imprisonment 
  and outﬂ ank their enemies.
  A horn of the ways makes a mournful howling sound, easily mistaken for the wind or perhaps a strange 
  beast. The magical horn opens paths that did not exist before and vanish shortly after the Exalt follows 
  them. Used in the wilderness, a horn of the ways adds four dice to Survival rolls to travel from location 
  to location or simply escape an area. Further, the horn eliminates all terrain penalties to movement speed 
  (see the Complex Travel factors on p. 266-267 of Exalted; no matter where the traveler goes on land, treat 
  his movement as on a highway). Used to get past an impassable barrier (a fortress wall, for example), it 
  adds four dice to Larceny rolls to open doors or other passages and eliminates all penalties for the lack of 
  appropriate tools. Using the horn on a journey requires the Exalt to commit 5 motes until he gets where 
  he wants to go. A character can bring no more than 10 people (a combat unit of Magnitude 1) along the 
  horn’s secret paths, and if anyone loses sight of the Exalt, they lose the beneﬁ ts from the horn.
  SEED OF THE IMMACULATE BLOOD (ARTIFACT •• OR •••)
  If a seed of the immaculate blood is sown and carefully tended, it grows into a pale fern that produces 
  a dozen seeds twice a year, in spring and in autumn. These seeds are dull green and sterile, but may be 
  compounded to create an ointment that restores ﬁ ve health levels to anyone who uses it. This wondrous 
  cure heals bashing, lethal and aggravated damage equally well and always heals the most serious type of 
  damage ﬁ rst. Each green seed counts as Artifact ••.
  Once a century, on the last day of Calibration, this ageless fern gives a single scarlet seed, which may 
  be replanted to grow another fern with the same properties. This scarlet seed may also be dried and ground 
  up with the seeds of 25 other types of tree or plant: this produces a small ball of dark thick sap, which smells 
  of fresh woodlands. If this ball of sap is planted in fresh earth, a mature forest composed of all the plants 
  that had their seeds mingled together springs up instantly for a half-mile around the spot. The growing 
  plants topple or shatter buildings and throw humans and animals aside. Elementals of Wood also ﬂ ock to 
  any location where this ball of sap is planted. (A red seed counts as Artifact •••.)
  SILKEN ARMOR (ARTIFACT ••)
  This unusual cloth is woven from the silk of Essence spiders (see p. 151) Although the fabric has 
  the weight and texture of silk and can be made into any garment that silk can, it is as strong as steel when 
  struck. Even a light tunic, robe or cloak of the stuff makes effective armor. It is the clothing of choice for 
  those who need its protection but cannot be seen wearing obvious armor.
  Unlike other forms of armor, silken armor stacks with other forms of armor. It cannot be detected as 
  magical without the use of some magic-sensing Charm such as All-Encompassing Sorcerer’s Sight. Silken 
  armor also can be worn while performing Martial Arts styles that normally prohibit the use of armor. Anyone 
  can wear silken armor, but it remains somewhat stiff unless attuned to the wearer’s Essence.
  Soak 
  Hardness 
  Mobility 
  Fatigue 
  Cost 
  Attune 
  Tags
  +5L/3B 
  — 
  -1* 
  0 
  •• 
  2
   
  *Attunement removes this penalty.
  
  160
  BLOOD SEED (ARTIFACT •••)
  These powerfully magical seeds appear naturally in the Deep Wyld of the East and the Northeast, 
  but a few Exalts know how to duplicate them. The lore of their creation is extremely rare, though. Wyld-
  spawned or crafted blood seeds work the same way, to create an immediate but temporary military force 
  for an Exalted user.
  The seed itself is a ﬁ st-sized, hollow acorn with a razor-edged hole on top about an inch across. To use 
  a blood seed, an Essence-user cuts a ﬁ nger over the hole and ﬁ lls the seed with blood. This inﬂ icts one level 
  of lethal damage, which cannot be soaked or reduced. The character then spends 10 motes of Essence, which 
  are committed until the soldiers are killed or the scene ends. Once the seed is full, the character sprinkles 
  the blood on the ground. Every ﬁ ve ticks thereafter for 25 ticks, one armed and armored elite soldier (see 
  Exalted, p. 280) rises from the blood soaked earth. These ﬁ ve soldiers are never treated as extras, but return 
  to the earth at the end of the scene.
  The woody husk of a blood seed is infused with one of the magical materials. A character using such 
  a seed does not harmonize her anima with it—the magical materials involved simply contribute to the 
  effect, rather than forge a supernatural bond with the character. As a result, a character faces no penalties 
  for using a blood seed made with a magical material different than that favored by the Exalt. However, 
  each magical material grants a special beneﬁ t to the summoned soldiers.
  Orichalcum: Blood seeds that reﬂ ect the golden sheen of orichalcum summon stronger soldiers. Add 
  one dot to each Physical Attribute.
  Moonsilver: These silver-shimmering seeds summon soldiers with bestial characteristics. Their ﬁ sts 
  deal one additional point of damage, and that damage it lethal due to the soldiers’ long claws. In addition, 
  the soldiers can follow a scent trail with a successful (Perception + Awareness) roll.
  Jade: Seeds made of jade summon tougher soldiers. Add 3 to their bashing and lethal soak.
  Starmetal: Starmetal seeds summon soldiers with a preternatural sense of their opponents’ tactics. 
  Add two dice to Join Battle and all attack rolls, and 1 to both Parry and Dodge DV (ﬁ nal trait, not the 
  dice pool used to calculate them).
  Soulsteel: These black, metallic seeds summon the spirits of the dead to animate the bodies. These 
  bodies are not vulnerable to pain and care little about wounding. Such soldiers ignore all wound penalties 
  until they are Incapacitated.
  EYE OF THE LIVING EARTH (ARTIFACT•••)
  The Mountain Folk occasionally quarry these large stones from caverns deep inside the Imperial 
  Mountain. Large as a man’s head and clear as the ﬁ nest diamond, they constantly glow and sparkle with a 
  hundred colors, emitting rays of light that bathe a room in shifting hues. The stone loses its power if it is 
  in any way chipped, carved or polished.
  This stone can be used as a potent scrying glass. If an Essence user touches a diamond to the eye, and 
  anoints both the Eye and the diamond with a drop of his blood, he can later use the Eye to scry upon wherever 
  the diamond currently is. He perceives the entire scene as though he were looking down from on high, and 
  can move around the Eye to alter his perspective on events. This works with up to ﬁ ve diamonds at a time: 
  if a sixth diamond is attuned, then the link to one of the others (the owner’s choice which) is broken.
  HONEY OF THE BEES OF ZARLATH (ARTIFACT •••)
  This honey comes from the rare bees of Zarlath (see p. 150) that now live deep in the Wyld. It gives 
  speech to the dumb or surpassing eloquence to those born with speech (+3 to all Social Abilities for one 
  hour). The honey can also temper the ﬁ nest of blades, giving them an edge of great quality (making the 
  creation of a perfect weapon no more difﬁ cult than forging an exceptional weapon), and it can be used in the 
  crafting of strings for lyres and harps that provide a +1 bonus to Performance rolls with the instrument.
  
  ISBN 978-1-58846-695-2  WW80302  $24.99 U.S.
  PRINTED IN CANADA
  www.white-wolf.com/exalted
  Oadenol’s Codex
  Oadenol’s Codex is the 
  guide to the practical 
  application of sorcerous 
  knowledge in the Second 
  Age. From the creation 
  of artifacts to the 
  raising of manses, and 
  from the subtle workings 
  of thaumaturgy to 
  the various naturally 
  occurring miracles of 
  Creation, this third of 
  Exalted
  Exalted’s Books of 
   Books of 
  Sorcery
  Sorcery offers 
  aspiring geomancers, 
  sorcerer-engineers, 
  thaumaturges and 
  preternaturalists the tools 
  they need to ply their 
  arcane trades.
  This book includes:
  •  A plethora of ready-made artifacts, 
  hearthstones, prodigies and manses 
  for characters to own and Storytellers 
  to weave into their series
  • Rules for creating new and unique 
  artifacts and manses
  • Complete rules for thaumaturgy
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Exalted/Exalted 2nd Edition/3 Books of Sorcery (Magic Books)/Exalted 2E - Books of Sorcery Vol. 3 -  Oadenol's Codex [WW80302].pdf