EXALTED
Swar has the following goals with the Exalted: It will attempt to herd them through the Barrios as a test. If they can navigate their way through the Barrios while with- standing attack, they will be driven into the Heights by Him Who Throws Axes and the Fox Cataphract, where hordes of glittervanes will attempt to drive the characters underground to the lair of the Prince Malevolent. There, the Prince will attempt to ravish them. (See the Prince’s write-up on pages 136-137.)
This is how Swar will react. Keep in mind that Swar’s component beings do not share some sort of psychic link, and most of them are almost incapable of communication, even with Swar’s central mentality. Swar has shaped this strategy into itself through centuries of meditation and self- exploration. When things actually unfold, the subsidiary personalities do not communicate well. They have certain tendencies and habits that interlock to form defensive strategies. Characters who slip through Swar’s initial scourg- ing will find it much easier to evade the city’s defenses.
After the characters are ravished, the Prince Malevo- lent will act as a conduit for the voice of Swar itself to speak — a dramatic act that costs Swar a significant amount of power — or abandon the characters if they still seem hostile. They will be allowed to retreat from the city by the most direct route, and if they seem reasonable, some poppet will come and explain matters to them to aid them in their quest. Those who remain aggressive will be allowed to strangle on their ravishment until they discern an answer or come crawling humbly back, begging for instruction.
Swar does not know that some Exalted can negate ravishment (see Exalted: The Fair Folk, page 141), and so, it will assume that any Creation-born being it maims and sends out beyond its bounds are its slaves. Swar is very intent on this peculiarly raksha point of view, and will be rather astonished if those that it enslaves comes back trailing vengeance. Swar accepts victory and defeat in the shaping contests on a fundamental level, and has very little to lose. From what Swar has wrung from its handful of victims, Swar reckons itself the equal of any Exalt who will come to stand against it in this Age. Of course, Swar also has no idea that the Sidereal Exalted exist, nor does it have
any meaningful appreciation of the Deathlords and little understanding of the might the gods themselves wield — so Swar is prone to biting off more than it can chew.
Included below are some of the more likely themes that interactions may take with various types of Exalted. Obviously, every game is different, but these themes present the stereotypical thrusts of the Exalt types and show how they are likely to come in contact with Swar — and how Swar is likely to respond.
D
YNASTICD
RAGON-B
LOODEDSwar knows the Dragon-Blooded well from its studies of Creation prior to the fruition of the Balorian Crusade. Swar has been hoping it would encounter them first and feels they are most suited to its needs. If a mixed group of Celestial and Terrestrial Exalted comes into contact with Swar, it will probably attempt to discard or destroy the Terrestrials, though quick thinking or hard bargaining might save them.
This is also an excellent setup for ill-fated Storyteller characters in games where the players must wait until after the winter to go exploring, as Terrestrials who came into contact with Swar crisscross Creation in search of infor- mation on the War Manses as secondary opposition to a more experienced party.
O
UTCASTEOutcastes sent to Swar are, if possible, in a worse situation than Dynasts. The difference is that the average Dynast can count on a family, the military of the Realm and his own superior training. Outcaste mercenaries or freebooters have only their own necessarily lesser re- sources with which to pursue their ends and protect their selves. Yet, they are still as exposed to shaping combat damage as any other Terrestrial. The problem for them is not so much that they will come to some worse fate than a Dynastic Terrestrial — outcastes too will be sent to destroy the War Manses — they are just going to be far less well-equipped and more likely to die in the process than a Dynastic Terrestrial. Of course, it doesn’t matter too very much because whoever destroyed the Manses is probably going to be killed in the process by their defenses or shortly thereafter by their owners.
S
OLARSAfter Terrestrials, Solars are the Exalted most in danger from contact with Swar. Unlike the Dragon- Blooded, they are unlikely to immediately turn tail when they realize the scope of the threat. Unlike Lunars, Solars are not immune to the Wyld. And unlike the Sidereals, Solars cannot call for a huraka assault force. If bent to Swar’s will, Solars will form the most excellent pawns. Swar knows of the Solars — it remembers their hateful, golden glory, and it remembers that some could resist it and some not.
Swar will attempt to enslave each Solar at most once, but if the Solars are showing signs of being very powerful or having immunity to Wyld influence, the city will simply seek to destroy them with environmental hazards and manikin attacks. However, it hopes to attempt to twist them to its own ends.
Note that those Solars who know Wyld-Shaping Technique can slay Swar quite readily, although it will take a fairly long time, and each can shelter safely behind Integrity-Protecting Prana or Chaos-Repelling Pattern while they do it.
might well be seen as some rare subcaste of the Chosen of the Sun. This may prove useful to Storytellers who want to run a game that plays up the mysteries of the Abyssals, especially an Abyssal game that focuses on those questions. However, Storytellers should keep in mind that Abyssals are not actually Solars — Chaos-Searing Treatment and Wyld- Slaying Burst are nowhere near as powerful as Wyld-Shaping Technique, and Wyld Shield Meditation is not nearly as effective as the Chaos-Repelling Pattern.
S
IDEREALSSwar does not know of the Sidereal Exalted. Even before the end of the First Age, the Sidereals did not advertise themselves on the front lines of the battle for Creation. The Sidereals are an unknown to the City of Formlessness Con- strained, and it will probably treat them like Solars — roughly but warily, seeking to overmaster, not destroy.
THE CITY’S RESPONSE
TO
RAKSHA
For all Swar’s disregard of mortal vengeance, the city wants nothing to do with the Fair Folk. In Swar’s time, the shaped Fair Folk were few in number, but Swar is vastly discerning in the ways of its milieu. Swar knows that, since the world has not ended, the Balorian Crusade has fallen and the shaped will have multiplied and infiltrated the edges of Creation. Swar knows that, because no major efforts to resecure its location have taken place, Creation is probably in disarray as well. As a leader in the Balorian Crusade, Swar is intimately familiar with Creation’s permanent border and how perilously close it hides lies to the edge of the Real. Swar can only conclude it has, by the greatest of fortune, evaded the notice of its raksha brothers and sisters to date.
Swar knows this will end, sooner or later. Swar’s strategy when dealing with raksha is very simple — dead men tell no tales. The unshaped is powerful enough to offer its own context to those who come to walk its byways. It is isolated from the Wyld, and questing against it will not help it raise its Essence, but will, instead, strip it of its self and Essence. If Swar is spotted and news is released of its location, then it will quickly be mined out and destroyed by the ambitions of the shaped. This, Swar knows.
As a result, any Fair Folk who enter its precincts live on blessedly borrowed time, for no self of Swar is friendly to them in the least. Of course, it is notable that Swar has no idea that the Fair Folk may have the kind of extensive commerce with the beings of Creation that sometimes takes place in the Second Age. Swar knows nothing of Ravagers. It knows nothing of the Guild’s trade in slaves. In short, Swar knows nothing of a world where releasing a handful of obviously spellbound Exalts to do Swar’s world- spanning bidding might reach the ears of the raksha princes and engender an investigation. Swar has no con- cept of the cat’s-paw in this matter and will obligingly attack those sent to provoke it with its full fury.
L
UNARSSwar knows the Lunar Exalted as powerful fighters, magnificent in all things, but slightly less powerful than the Solars and without the occasional gesture-level fiat over reality. What Swar explicitly does not know is the changes that have taken place in the Lunar Exalted, particularly the emergence of Wyld tattooing. Swar sees the Lunars instead as powerful but not as dangerous as the Solar Exalted; whereas, in fact, a Lunar is far more deadly to the city than any Solar could ever be. Swar will try to use shaping at least once on each Lunar until they indicate to it the shaping doesn’t work or it becomes clear through elimination that no Lunars are shapeable.
A
BYSSALSSwar has never seen an Abyssal before, but it won’t have to think long to decide that the terrible robed figure with the howling sword and the black aura of death is, in fact, a terrible apparition of doom. This is especially true given the deathknights’ very evident resemblance to Solars. Indeed, Swar may not even know they are not Solars of some sort. Since they are so closely analogous to Solars, Abyssals
W
YLD-S
HAPINGT
ECHNIQUEWyld-Shaping Technique can reshape one waypoint per invocation. It is difficulty 1 to reshape the Barrios, difficulty 2 to affect the Heights, diffi- culty 3 to affect the Undercity or the Spire and difficulty 4 to affect the bonefire, Stronghold, Glory, Fountainhead or Throne Room.
Apply the higher of the base difficulty of the target area and the difficulty determined by the desired result and described in Wyld-Shaping Tech- nique on page 187 of Exalted. The character must be in a waypoint to transform it.
Swar cannot erode the reality in Wyld-Shaping Technique under the current circumstances in any story-relevant length of time, and the characters can gradually stamp it out one waypoint at a time, and end up left with an area with the contents of their choice and some very, very strange geometry.
S
PECIFICR
ESPONSESSwar knows that there is no chance at hiding its nature from its fellow raksha, and, as a result, Swar is not particularly canny when dealing with the Fair Folk. To the City of Formlessness Constrained’s perception, the raksha present a much more dire threat. The city sees itself as superior to mortals, as a destructive whirlwind. The dire threat of Creation’s War Manses is frightening but an abstraction brushed against once, not like Swar’s endless centuries of existence in the raksha milieu. So, the city’s perception is that the forces of Creation gathered together seem like a reasonable foe, while even a single hobgoblin is a terrible threat to its existence. Normally, Swar will concentrate the full weight of its Freehold’s power against raksha intruders. The Freehold has a Stronghold, a Glory, a Fountainhead and a Throne Room. This is a matter that will communicate itself quickly, as the nature of the response and the aura of the shaped conspire to give the matter a distinctive feel.
Though the Glory is constrained by the nature of the Prince Malevolent, all of the other special areas of the Freehold will be powered by the appropriate Virtues’ subselves of Swar. Each will strike at intruding Fair Folk in shaping combat, seeking to prevent their targets from fleeing Swar.
THE FACESOF SWAR
Swar itself has several subsidiary selves it uses to defend its self and to police its city. Most are closely attached to different regions in the city, but each can and does move about to different extents. Of these, Swar itself and the Prince Malevolent move least, never leaving their particular areas, while the Fox Cataphract and the Danc- ing Mask move freely about the city.
Storytellers should keep in mind that, with the excep- tion of the Fox Cataphract, Swar’s selves are unshaped and lack bodies. Even the Keeper of the Tower’s self is merely an illusion given to the place.
In some cases, Swar’s selves are noted as having shaping weapons. In each case, these are merely Essence organs that accomplish similar tasks. They can be made ready and unready as normal shaping weapons, but if the subsidiary selves are slain, these weapons are lost.
H
IMW
HOH
URLSA
XES— S
WORDDescription: Him Who Hurls Axes is the strong right
arm of Swar. It is he who is the cutting edge of Swar’s wrath, and it is he who seizes the possessions of those who do battle against Swar and renders them as tribute to the unshaped’s Heart. Him Who Hurls Axes is brutal, direct and effective. He was long the public focus of Swar, and he remains the most glorious of the unshaped’s selves.
Him Who Hurls Axes dwells in his fortified bunker Stronghold (see page 128). Among the offshoots of Swar, he
E
SSENCE, Q
UESTINGANDTHEU
NSHAPEDThe unshaped normally permit the shaped Fair Folk to undertake quests within them for reasons of personal benefit. As beings so vast and poorly orga- nized, the commerce of ideas between their various waypoints is tenuous at best. Questing shaped raksha are one method by which change can be affected across an unshaped raksha’s space.
Normally, the unshaped must endure quests to increase Traits the way that the Exalted must spend time training. This text will not detail the specifics — playing the unshaped is far outside of Exalted’s mechanical purview — but the proportions are like unto those of mortals for training similar Traits. Each time a subsidiary self takes part in a shaping contest, the self experiences the equivalent of seven days of training, win or lose, which can later be applied to increasing Traits. Each time the primary self takes part, it gains three weeks of training that can be applied to itself or any subsidiary selves.
Normally, losing a questing contest is not terri- bly hard on the unshaped. It temporarily decreases the Essence of any defeated selves by 1 for a story, but the influence of the Wyld and the growth enabled by the questing interaction replenish this. However, one of the unshaped trapped in Creation (an event which has happened to Swar and possibly to a few unfortunate unshaped seized by the Solar Delibera- tive for experimentation) does not experience this renewal from natural Essence flows and so suffering questing is a death sentence, as it will consume and deplete the raksha’s Essence by 1 point per self per time it is defeated in questing combat.
Characters only gain rewards per the various effects of damage on the unshaped if the victim of their shaping is of an Essence higher than their own. is the one that it closest to the material, as is to be expected from a creature so intently focused on battle. His presence is marked by a whirling cyclone of razor-edged projectiles. He does not bring these with him, but gathers them as he finds them, and so his attacks sometimes have a whimsical character as he hurls showers of unlikely objects such as plates and glass fragments. He is restrained from constant rampage by the action of the Keeper of the Tower and little else. Were it not for the Keeper’s constant citations and injunctions, there would be naught left of Swar save axe- scarred ruins, and to trouble Swar is to awaken Him Who Hurls Axes for War for a terrible rampage.
Shaping Combat: Him Who Hurls Axes attacks
enemies with cascades of slicing attacks, using Dexterity + Presence, Dexterity + Archery and Dexterity + Athletics
Attributes: Strength 8, Dexterity 6, Stamina 8, Charisma
6, Manipulation 4, Appearance 4, Perception 6, Intelli- gence 4, Wits 6
Virtues: Compassion 4, Conviction 5, Temperance 4,
Valor 6
Abilities: Archery 6, Athletics 7, Awareness 6, Bureaucracy
2, Craft (Glamour) 5, Dodge 6, Endurance 4, Investigation 4, Larceny 3, Lore 2, Occult 4, Performance 5, Presence 6, Resistance 5, Socialize 2, Stealth 6, Survival 2
Charms: Assertion of a Greater Vision, God-Humbling
Victory Sword, Ill-Approving Eyes, Radiance of the In- vincible Warrior, Sapphire Emptiness Kata, Scattering the Foe, Unparalleled Terror Technique
Shaping Base Initiative: 11 Cup (Conviction): 5
Cup Soak: 14 Cup Health Levels: 9 Cup Attack (Stealth): 6
Entanglement: Speed 5 Accuracy 11 Damage 6 Defense 11 Rate 1
Milieu: Speed 11 Accuracy 12 Damage 6 Defense 13 Rate 5 Prodigies: Speed 8 Accuracy 12 Damage 9 Defense 8 Rate 3
Ring (Intelligence): 4
Ring Soak: 16 Ring Health Levels: 8 Ring Attack (Craft [Glamour]): 5
Gossamer: Speed 11 Accuracy 10 Damage 12 (Rate 2, Range 0)
Raw Will: Speed 11 Accuracy 9 Damage 6 (Rate 2, Range 0)
M
ORTALSK
ILLINGS
WARJust because an unshaped Fair Folk’s selves have not used Assumption Charms to join the physical world does not mean they do not have a presence in a waypoint and a selfness that can be assailed. They have the same Virtues and Feeding Maws as any other raksha. These things are simply hard to perceive and easy to defend. Normally, they are immaterial and invulnerable to mortal damage and intent on shaping combat with invading raksha. However, characters with Ghost-Eating Tech- nique and other spirit-slaying Charms and the ability to perceive dematerialized spirits have a very good chance of killing some of Swar’s selves. (For me- chanical details on this, see the “I Got Disintegrated!” sidebar on page 135 of Exalted: The Fair Folk.) Swar will cheerfully hide the Virtues of the selves at range and behind obstacles, but only after it realizes that mortals can prove a real danger to it. Its expe- rience with mortal weapons designed to slay the Fair Folk is with First Age and Shogunate weapons of war — great mechanical devices that project Es- sence-destroying rays or release iron thistledown.
Swar has no personal experience with Exalted who can slay the unshaped with their personal weap- ons. Only after some Exalt strikes one of its lesser selves with a telling blow will it realize
that mortals are potentially quite dan- gerous. At that point, it will begin to play an ultra-conservative game, hail- ing Ring-shaping attacks down on intruders with the Dancing Mask’s cos-