Exaltations, Plot and Crossovers

Huh, I could totally see Homura exalting as a Lunar due to perserving in the face of so many near death experiences and suffering etc.. though I am not sure how Madoka fits in. Solars supposedly get chosen because they try something near impossible, then pull it off anyway. Early Madoka probably doesn't fit the bill as she is kind of just a normal girl.. and lategame she just got so much dakka that pretty much nothing counts as "impossible". The only real thing she truly acchieves on her own without the advantage of ridiculous raw power that gets dropped into her lap is coming up with a wish that breaks the current system over its knee.

 

I would argue that exalting as Solar is not about trying to do the impossible. Its more about potential to do the impossible even if that potential couldn't ever manifest itself untill moment of exaltation. Madoka wants to be able to stand on her own and not be a burden to others. Any moment that she would made a wish could be turned into one were Sol gives his seal of approval.

For example her first wish when she wanted to save a cat. Such selflles act could bring attention of Unconquered Sun. Because Sun perfection is not just about being badass warriors, diplomat etc but also embodiment of compassion and selflessness. He gave himself in to be held hostage by Yozi in exchange to save one completly normal human being. Sol could exalt Madoka so her compassion could serve greater purpose and bring hope to the world trapped by despair to brake this cycle.

 

Heaven Canceler I'm just thinking but why not ask mods to move this tread to Creative Writing section? We don't have any Exalted Ideas thread there? Or should we just make new one?

 

Not even the Gloriously Smart Solars could accomplish that, so a vanilla mortal doing so would be breaking my Suspension of Disbelief.

Pretty accurate. They go to people with great heroic destinies that would lack the power to reach them/survive long enough to accomplish it. That doesn't mean they were not awesome in the first place (if their destinies are great enough, it could be reshaping reality to aid them [similar to Domino from X-Men]), but being awesome wasn't enough for Taylor to solo Zion
Dawns can also be Godlike Martial Artists, even being able to learn Sideral Marital Arts, that apply Martial concepts to reality aka "shifting realities weight (like a judo throw)" to inverse gravity. Alexander used a Night Caste as a minor protag in his CG x Exalted fic. In another xover of his Lelouch was an Eclipse (most likely. He ended it early before starting his GSP Lelouch fic who was the Infernal Eclipse Caste, a Fiend). Each of these Caste's also have an inherent Anima power, and each Exalt also has Five Favored abilities, outside of the Five Caste ones they get (these you hinted at, and they are different between Edition 1-2.5 and Edition 3). At most, (assuming the xover is done in the Second Age or later for Exalted), only 150 can be Solars at most (depending on the author since it is canon that the Deathlords can forcibly transform Solar Exaltations into Abyssal Ones).

Agreed on your take on who cannot be Solars.

I have seen a Lunar Taylor (and Alexander's CG fic had Exalts of all kinds, except Alchemical). In the Second Age, they have generally been creating new races and societies (they have the inherent ability [regardless of Caste] to sire/conceive a unique form of Godblood known as Beastmen, by reproducing with animals [yes, it is possible the ones responsible for Lunars were founders for QQ ). They can also be chosen by making it a key part of their life, protecting something or someone.

Infernals are split between two types, Green Sun Princes and Akuma (I have yet to see an Akuma xover though). Like you said, the Green Sun Princes are people who failed...specifically due to the fact they didn't receive an Exaltation. If the Demon had delivered the Exaltation, they wouldn't have failed. If their were still 300 Solar Exaltations, they likely would have Exalted and come out victorious. The Demons are told to hold it back after finding a suitable heroic mortal, so they fail their hurtle, thus they know, at least in a small way, how the Yozi have felt for 5000 years. Its psychological conditioning and manipulation. Easier to get people to agree to the deal (although they might die from said hurtle, meaning the Demon needs to find another possibility, all the while, the Exaltation is incinerating them from the inside out. If the Demon fails, it will die a permanent death, and even if they succeed, the GSPs have a finite lifespan programmed into the Exalation, and they will die with them; sucks to be a Demon Serf). Getting out of the Reclamation is dangerous, but not as directly hazardous as it is for Abyssals betraying the Neverborn. The only way to truly escape is to become a Primordial (something that, canonically, only Green Sun Princes can accomplish, but is time consuming and during that time, Hell will be hunting you down, while possibly even making deals with the Raksha or Neverborn to hunt you as well, while Heaven is also still trying to kill you [with the burden of the Urge and Torment always remaining {but with an easy Storyteller/GM that is mitigated with Acts of Villainy, although sticking with the spirit of it makes those out of reach, since Acts of Villainy require you to to perform them with the same mindset of their Yozi, meaning that the more you do so, the more you are conditioned to think like the Yozi in question...although in the case of the Acts of Villainy of the Ebon Dragon, that is likely only going to reinforce the betrayal lol}]).

Akuma are humans who effectively "sell their soul" to the Yozi for power. Their bodies, minds, and souls are reforged to make them a kind of artificial Subsouls for the Yozi. They only have a few inherent benefits over GSPs (two I can think of, their Traits can go beyond their normal maximum, and they get a lot of Loaned Experience, with the possibility of trading Negative Mutations for even more experience [without it being loaned]), but Exalted Akuma (those who were Exalted before the deal), can match and even surpass GSPs in several fashions, especially if they were Solars or Abyssals beforehand...no canon Abyssal Akuma to my knowledge though
(Edit: officially, they cannot exist since you can't stack Primordial Essence on Primordial Essence...which makes no sense for two reasons; the GSP are Primordial Essence stacked on Primordial Essence, so said explanation is inherently flawed and two and more directly relevant, the Abyssals are not using Primordial Essence, but necrotic Essence which if anything is inversed Earth Essence...and Dragonbloods/Solars can be made Akuma, so again, already existing canon contradicts said 'explanation' and wasn't retconned to allow said explanation to make sence)

Baby-Making lady? Mara? Link please

Abyssals also make themselves better at things, just they do so to get better at killing and/or destroying reality, while Solars do it to build, create, and maintain things/reality. Making others worse is more the Ebon Dragon's stick (although Solars and Abyssals can do so in certain circumstances/with certain magic).

The Redemption will refund them all Experience spent on Charms that can be immediately reinvested into Charms. They are suppose to do so along the same route they took as an Abyssal. This route also comes with the benefit of them being free of the Great Curse all Solars suffer, and the Dark Fate Abyssals suffer. Meaning that they get the chance for long term happiness and unrestricted/uncorrupted Glorious Solar Bullshit.

Good Abyssals can exist for a variety of reasons. As you said, they are offered it while they are on the brink of death, by the Ancient Ghosts of former Solar Godkings, who could probably convince Bill Gates to sell all of his property for a glass of water, while he was already holding a bottle of the best water on Earth lol. Simply put, them taking the deal does not mean they were inherently evil, that usually comes with the social reconditioning (read brainwashing) done when they come to the Underworld.

Deathknights need to nigh constantly do evil shit, to keep bad things from happening to themselves. With certain magic, they can kill to reduce their Resonance (and thus escape the consequences of the Dark Fate), otherwise they need to make an extended prayer to the Neverborn to lower it...and if it fails, or if they have a positive intimacy, it will backfire instead.

The other problem is that you HAVE to be descended from at least one of the Elemental Dragons to Exalt as a Terrestrial (why they are called the Dragonblooded). No Dragonblood, no chance to Exalt as one. As you said, it can be done, but it likely will be extremely cliched from chapter one (or an exposition dump of legendary proportions ).

According to some examples of magical powers in Exalted, it would be possible, but would have a Willpower surcharge that would be applied on each action. Based on the Spectral Keyword for some Abyssal Charms, and a Ghost Charm whose name escapes me (its in Rolls of Glorious Divinity 2). It would be pricy, at least until a Loom of Fate could be constructed for the reality (likely requiring Solar and/or Primordial [and thus Infernals would be a possibility as well] shenanigans)

The only other kind in Editions 1-2.5 is the Alchemical Exalted. Humans reincarnated into Glorious Bullshit Androids. They like the Sidereal, are chosen through Destiny (although for them it is the Design of Autochthon [aka Loom of Fate 2.0]). They are the Chosen of the Primordial Autochthon (whose name I might be misspelling). Alchemical Solutions is a great worm xover fic of this one.

Interesting thread.

PS: While I have now read a lot of core books for 2E, I am far from flawless in my knowledge, especially with Solars and Alchemicals (need to reread the books on the Lunars and Sidereals though), so my comments may be incomplete, however, I believe what I wrote is not incorrect.

 

That's because Akumas in exalted are basically useless from the standpoint of writing them as protagonists. Better used as antagonists or weird allies tho.

 

I can see that. I can also see them being the primary protagonist, but it would take a good author to pull it off I believe. They retain their sentience, but have their mindset made alien (aka they become sociopaths by normal standards), so it would be possible. Really getting the essence of their need to complete their Urge would be tough though. Not many people are that driven for their careers/goals.

 

To be fair, they had centuries of time to build up their arrogance and always being right at everything to my knowledge. Any normal best friend mortal would also be long dead by that time anyway.

It has been a loooong time since I originally made this thread. Sorry, no idea what that thread was...

Hmmm... would a blood donation count?

 

I'm giving a little thought why certain Castes or exalt are not as popular to be used in fiction and I start with Solar Eclipse Caste.

In my opinion problem is that people can't figure out how they solve world problems in comparison to others. Dawn kill problems, Zenith inspire and lead, Twilight invent and build, Night unroots corruption and keep watching the shadows. Eclipse Caste way of changing and fixing is a little indirect. They don't create kingdom but create bonds between groups, organizations, nation and individuals. They IMHO are supposed to be the least egocentric of all Castes, prefering to create world to balance and harmony for all parties, and try to show that is the best way of living. They don't erase conflict by extrermination of one side, but find a way to make sure both sides can coexist and benefit from such arrangements.

Zenith would create Empire and be Head of the Stare, Eclipse actions would create a United Nations that actually do accomplish anything they supposed to do under his/her supervison.

Hmmm. How about this. Sometimes Gaia goes much farther from Creation and past the Wyld that usual before Luna finds her and brings her back. Gaia passes next to some planet spare short glace( that for mere mortals can be time counted in decades) and to amuse herself she creates some Terrestrials to see what happens.

In history of such planet such event can be recorded as some catastrophe or other unusual phenomenon that ended with some native people ganing elemental magic powers. Number of DB can be anywhere between few people to whole nation.

 

So basically they tend to fall into the role of like Merlins and stuff? Not magic wise, but more like in his role of a mentor and teacher who helped create a Grand Kingdom etc...

 

During the First Age, the Solars started cloning their favored vassals/friends with downloaded memories of the original. The process was continuously improved, and it is implied that they got very close to outright breaking one of the Two Major Laws set into the universe by the Primordials, no True Resurrection. Their clones, while humans did not have the same soul as their dead friend (I believe that was the only thing lacking in the refined version of the biocrafting technique), something which Autochthon thaumaturgists can do and do regularly.

While the arrogance put a damper on it, the inherent quality of a Solar is to make themselves better at anything (why the Abyssals can Redeem themselves in the first place, breaking free of their Dark Fate), thus it is possible for any Solar to fix themselves if they strive for it. Getting them to recognize they have a problem would be the hard part.

lol a blood donation doesn't change your DNA (or Essence in the case of the Exalted universe), so no. Nice try though

One xover I would love to see is Infernal!Tanya (Youjo Senki). I think it would work wonderfully, but not much love for Youjo Senki

Edit: I learned of the Two ':aws' from an Alexander fic, but as revealed by the Compass of Celestial Directions Malfeas: it was the gods who put said laws in place, not the Primordials (as a way to keep the Yozi from undoing the results of the War. Said Yozi can still do both within their own domains, but have a restriction of the dead having to be recent [within five days])

 

Cool to know, but wouldn't a Solar that can casually clone people and upload memories like that they have already been surrounded by Yes Men for centuries so that nothing could make change them. I know that Solars can get pretty insanely strong and flexible in application of their powers, but at least from what I remember it takes quite a long time to get there...? With tons of meditation in mountains and shit to break into the higher ranks of Essence etc...

Unless like, every Solar can do that after a decade or two?

 

Well. There was a Solar who just 5 years after exaltation was strong enough to manage to wrestle Primordial into submission.

 

That was solely because they had invented the "treat anyone/anything as a single individual in regards to my grappling capabilities" Charm, and because it functions perfectly fine on living mountain ranges.
edit:

 

Doesn't change my point. Why waste centuries or millennia to get strong enough to fight against Eldrich conceptual being size of a landmass like some xiaxia novel protagonist , when you can just find a way to do it NOW?

 

Do you know which book says that?

For some of them, it did indeed become Yes Men, but for their friends made during the first century (and thus while the Great Curse had only effected them for decades compared to the millennia of Ancient Solars), it is possible they wouldn't have been...but Social Combat would likely quickly render them Yes Men, which would also be the problem of any mortal friends from a xover...I do not think anyone would be naturally immune to that, since even without magic, it is simply obscenely good charisma and manipulation. History has shown the effects this can have on people for both good and bad.

It takes a century of life for them to even start trying for Transcendent Essence (6+), and progressively more time to go further up that scale (10 being the pinnacle and maximum). With Excellencies, it is possible for even a newly Exalted Solar to reach the height of transcendent competency for a short time and quite a bit of Essence (20 motes), so there are ways to cheat the system (and likewise, once they reach those levels naturally, they can still use those same Excellencies to just go to insane levels of abilities (costing 40 motes), beyond any other beings natural maximums [but many of those same beings can also us some form of Excellency, thus I do not believe it is possible for a single Solar to surpass the Unconquered Sun for this reason {to give an example}]).

 

I have a question. How old was youngest celestial exalted? Was it ever mentioned? I think there was a 14 year old Lunar. But I'm curious about youngest Solar.

On slightly different note. If I would make similar thread in NSFW Creative Writing what would be best title?

Right now I think "ExXxalted Scriptures of Bliss - Exalted thread for naughty plot and lore ideas."

 

Now for some reason I am imagining Kevin from Kevin alone at Home exalting after pulling off all his insane trap plots...

*Tilts Head* Wasn't there a canon Sidereal Martial Arts that is basically erotic combat or something? Something about... *googles* "Sapphire Veil Of Passion Style"?

 

The closest is probably Shoat of the Mire, Abyssal Fate Testarossa, who's exact age varies depending on the current Shoat, but is 8-10, IIRC.

Yes, in Glories Maidens. It also holds the distinction of being the only non-broken Sidereal Martial Art.

 

There is also a canon-ish Porn/Hentai Style, IIRC "Swallowing Darkness".

 

That is one of the few books I do not have on me that is a major book for 2E *sigh* I had a hard copy, but it has gotten lost in all of the moves I have had to go through in the last decade, so I am unsure of what state or region of the country (USA) it is in -_-

 

All hail Biigoh, Bringer of Quotes!

Thank you very much. Black and White Treatises is the second of the Books of Sorcery series right? Out of that set, it is the only one I do not have (I believe). I have Wonders of the Lost Age, Oadenol's Codex and Roll of Glorious Divinity I and II.

I have no 1st Edition books though. I expected (since I believe they are overly similar, but with some Balance issues improved) that there would be a proper quote written within them. I only learned about the Two Laws from fanfics and quests with some Exalted buffs confirming them.

Thanks again for giving me leads!

Edit: another xover I would like to see is Infernal!Negi from Negima, the destruction of his village (with his dad being a few minutes late) would be another possibility, especially if the Demon saves him and his sister (after she is injured) from the summoned demons (might need to rename the Demons of Exalted Asura or something though).

 

I recall that Downager have this magical Well that is a hole leading to other worlds and dimensions. So It's not impossible to have a crossover were Shoat runs away from her "Mommy" thought that well and lands anywere you think that having a sociopathic undead demigod loli might make for a good story.

I like to think she looks( and behaves) very alike to Jack the Ripper from Fate.

 

Yeahhh I am pretty sure while someone sufficiently bullshit could force resurrection or time travel if they just put enough effort into it, it wouldn't necessarily be a good idea yeah....

Of course you could probably avoid negative consequences if you went so far as to take apart Creation as a whole and put it back in a way that allows it... but I guess that may count as its own negative.

That said, do these "laws" only count for Creation or is time also a thing outside? Like, if someone dies in the land beyond and does not end in the proper Exalted afterlife, could you grab his soul and stuff it back into its body?