Book of Bone and Ebony

EXALTED • THE BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY
The clerics oversee many aspects of Stygia’s bureaucracies,
and the color of a cleric’s jade mask indicates his
responsibilities. Those with red-jade masks govern the
Cult of the Dual Monarchy, serving as its priests. The
Scarlet-Masked Clerics of lesser rank oversee worship
ceremonies and preach to the dead, while those of greater
rank govern the workings of the cult itself, such as where
its abundant resources are allocated or dictating aspects of
the cult’s theology. The bearers of the green-jade masks
serve as diplomats and representatives of Stygia and the
Dual Monarchy to the nations of the Underworld. Present
in nearly every kingdom of the land of the dead, the
Emerald-Masked Clerics serve the roles of the other four
departments in their absence and are accustomed to a great
deal of autonomy. Those who wear the blue-jade masks are
often seen as the least exciting of the clerics, for they serve
as bank tellers and money counters. Still, the task of the
Azure-Masked Clerics is an important one, and their
financial acumen is impressive indeed. The black-masked
clerics are the auditors and the inquisitors of Stygia.
Whenever a deal defaults or a heretic against the Cult of
the Dual Monarchy arises, an Ebon-Masked Cleric is
dispatched to investigate and, if necessary, punish. These
clerics are also tasked with the investigation of their
colleagues, for while the clerics are bound by a strict code
of conduct, corruption certainly exists in their ranks.
Finally, those whose masks are crafted of white jade govern
the clerics themselves. The Ivory-Masked Clerics are the
commanding officers of the Stygian bureaucracies, ensuring
that the other four departments remain carefully on
task and never falter in their duties to the Dual Monarchy.
Any ghost who presents himself to the Offices of the
Ivory Mask and proves his bureaucratic acumen and his
loyalty to the Dual Monarchy can become a cleric. This
requires a minimum Bureaucracy and Lore of ••, and
while Socialize and Occult are highly valued, they are not
prerequisites. Further, the ghost must know at least Aura-
Reading Technique. Assuming he meets these
requirements, the ghost can become an initiate cleric with
Backing(Stygian Cleric) •, and one of the five departments
recruits him based on the scores of his test. Should
he learn Blending the Streams of Essence or Earnest
Creditor Technique, he may be promoted to adept cleric
(with Backing ••). Clerics also consider Filling the Precious
Vial and Careful Debtor Stance to be exceptionally
useful Arcanoi, and the Ebon-Masked Clerics often make
use of Feeding the Lamprey’s Appetite. Beyond the rank of
adept, promotion becomes competitive, and a ghost who
wishes to gain in rank must both wait for one in a higher
rank to gain a promotion or pass into Lethe and then prove
himself a better candidate than his colleagues. A cleric’s
Backing (and, by extension, his rank) may never exceed
his Bureaucracy or his Lore. The number of bars upon a
cleric’s sash denotes his rank, with one bar indicating an
14
initiate, two indicating an adept, etc. The fifth and final
rank is reserved for a single ghost per department, and they
are referred to as secretaries. The Ivory-Masked Secretary
is the master of all clerics, and he is properly titled the
Grand Secretary of the Gathered Masks.
GEOGRAPHY
Flatlands of dark, rich loam encircle the Grand
Necropolis. Fed by the unpleasant and strange waters of
the River Styx, this land is unusually fertile and home to
many farms. A rustic shanty town surrounds the Dark
Jewel of the Underworld, filled with both the dead content
to work the land and provide some food for the city and
those ghosts who, for whatever reason, cannot make a
living within Stygia itself. While vulnerable to attack or to
the sudden marauding of monsters, the effigies of the Dual
Monarchy stand in silent vigil, providing comfort and
security to the quiet community. Though it lacks the
reverent aura of Stygia itself, the local farms are close
enough to feed off the castoff prayers of the necropolis, and
long-time residents gain an additional mote per hour, as
though they benefited from a Underworld Cult rating of •.
Stygia and its surrounding flatlands are nestled into the
valleys of seven hills. Some say the tossing of a fitfully
slumbering Malfean formed the hills, but what matters
most to Stygians is the wealth their mines and quarries
provide. These slopes are rich in ores and stone (primarily
basalt, granite and marble) and provide much of the
material for construction projects and industries. The
centuries of mining and quarrying have cut grooves out of
some of the slopes — tiers that some sections of the city
currently reside on — and have riddled others with longforgotten
shafts and nephwrack-haunted tunnels that lead
into the Labyrinth.
Beyond the hills of Stygia, vast and overgrown wilds
surround the Dark Jewel of the Underworld. Thorny and
impassable undergrowth fills tangled forests of twisted,
leafless trees, which creak hungrily in the presence of the
dead. Towering, broken crags rise up from the land like
monstrous, black teeth, impassable to all but the most
skilled ghosts. Marshes filled with moist, hungry earth
eagerly await the chance to swallow up unwary travelers.
Monsters from the Labyrinth roam these lands freely, and
their thundering roars or eerie, humanesque screams shatter
the silence of these unpleasant lands.
Once, long ago, the island teemed with ghosts, echoing
the majesty of the Old Realm. In this current Age,
however, the lack of worship and the absence of
shadowlands forced the dead of the Isle of Shadows to
move on to more profitable locations, and those with the
means fled to Stygia. Those that remained behind withered
as their cities were reclaimed by the wilds. Now, all
that is left of these ancient necropoli are crumbled ruins
and a few haggard, barbaric ghosts who have grown used to