Book of Bone and Ebony

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When engaging in physical attacks, the stillborn are extremely talented users of the martial arts and inflict lethal damage with both hands and feet. During combat, once per turn, the fetus can extend from a stillborn’s body and inflict aggravated damage on an opponent by opening a maw that is so tiny it is only visible due to the glimmering of the sharp set of teeth within. The fetus drain and bite are additional attack that the stillborn may perform for free, and it imposes no dice-pool penalties on martial-art attacks. When the fetus extends from the body, it’s connected to the stillborn through a rotten umbilical cord. Should this be severed (any successful attack aimed at it that does damage will sever the cord, but it must be taken on the initiative tick when the fetus is extended), the shock the stillborn experiences paralyzes it for three turns. Naturally, all the powers that the fetus made use of are forever lost to the stillborn in question. VENGEFUL EXILE Vengeful exiles are ghosts that have lost the capacity to feel and think for themselves. The exiles roam the Labyrinth in search of both the living and the dead to slay, and they are especially hostile to Exalts. Vengeful exiles have a humanoid appearance — in fact, the very same they had when they were normal ghosts. However, their bodies radiate the chilling cold of Oblivion, and none can behold them without knowing they are servants of the Final End. Their aura affects animals in the same way as Dawn Caste animas affect mortal opponents. Whenever one of the vengeful exiles comes within five yards of an Exalt (with the exception of Sidereals and Infernals), its hatred reaches out as a animated anima and attacks the higher soul of the being. Unless the victim’s player succeeds on a Temperance roll, the Exalt’s temper flares, causing the hero to go berserk for a number of turns equal to the number of successes the vengeful exile received on the attack roll. The Exalt’s player must make a successful Willpower roll, or his character attacks the nearest enemy without reserving any actions for defense. The player of a character outside of combat who is affected must fail a Valor roll for his character not to take violent offense at the tiniest slight while under the exile’s effect. A Temperance roll must be made every turn a character is within five yards of a vengeful exile. If an Exalt manages to withstand the creature’s power, each success on the roll adds one Limit or Resonance or other appropriate negative Trait. Ghosts must also try to avoid bursting into a fit of rage when they are in close proximity of the creature, but they also suffer lethal damage at the same time. Whenever a ghost’s player fails her Temperance roll, the ghost must also soak 3L damage as if she was struck with a weapon (i.e., armor soak applies). 163 CHAPTER SIX • CREATURES OF THE UNDERWORLD LESSER PLASMICS Borer: Borers are large molelike creatures with six spade-shaped claws on each arm. They move inside the dry areas of the Labyrinth and are often food to spectres and other plasmics. Although borers may appear harmless, they have an extremely aggressive nature, and their claws inflict aggravated damage Cerement: Cerements are creatures that consist only of muscles and dried veins inside a translucent cover. Cerements drain memories from their victims, eventually leaving confused individuals to roam the Labyrinth. These memories can never be regained and should be considered sacrificed to Oblivion. In order to drain a year’s worth of memories from a victim, a cerement must succeed with a clinch attack during three consecutive turns. It is only possible to protect oneself from their memory absorption by one’s player succeeding on a Conviction roll, difficulty 3, on the fourth turn of the drain. The draining effects do not change the character’s Traits. Characters lose one year’s worth of memories on the fourth turn and on each subsequent turn the clinch is maintained. Whisperer: Regardless of the location inside the Labyrinth, there are whisperers. Some are the remains of nephwracks that have become incorporated into the walls of the Underworld. Others are sessile creatures that imitate the insane blandishments of the nephwracks as a form of hunting lure. Both types appear as translucent masks that are stuck to the wall, ground or ceiling of Labyrinth tunnels. Whisperers emit constant Essence vibrations — perceived as a dim whispering — that confuse those who travel inside the Labyrinth. After rolling a whisperer’s attack, count the successes, and have the Labyrinth guide roll Temperance, difficulty 2. Should the roll fail, deduct as many dice from the next navigation roll as the whisperer had successes on its attack. WINTER’S DAY Long has it been since the Mask of Winters first conceived his plans of conquest, the Green Lady’s words forever echoing in his mind. With the aid of his mighty fortress, Juggernaut, the Deathlord conquered Thorns and established a vast, controlled shadowland in the Threshold. Yet, that was the mere beginning of his grand scheme. Ever since the night he erected his stronghold on the back of the corpse of the creature, the Mask of Winters knew that a day would come when the maggots feeding on the dead behemoth would emerge as powerful monsters that could turn the tide of his plans, for better or worse depending on who gained control over them. He used his sorcery to bind the maggots into his service while his ghosts possessed them to provide defense to the fortress. No matter what happened, the Mask of Winters would
EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY Plasmic Physical Att. Will Health Attack Dodge/ Abilities Str/Dex/Sta Levels Spd/Acc/Dmg Soak Borer 4/2/4 5 -0x3/-2x2/I Claw: 5/6/4A 2/2L/4B Athletics 4, Awareness 2, Brawl 4 Cerement 5/2/4 3 -0x2, -2x2/I Embrace: 5/4/5L 4/2L/4B Brawl 2, Dodge 2, Stealth 2 Contagion Parasite 5/5/2 6 -0x7/I Engulf: 8/10/clinch 5/1L/2B Brawl 5 Ferryman 4/6/8 9 -0x4/-1x3/ Scythe: 9/10/6L 10/4L/8B Awareness 5, Dodge 4, -2x2/-4/I Melee 4, Presence 3 (Intimidation +2), Survival 5 (Labyrinth +2) Kraken 10/4/10 10 -0x18/ Crush: 7/9/10L 9/5L/10B Athletics 5, -1x8/-2x5/I Awareness 5, Brawl 5, Dodge 5, Presence 5 (Intimidation +3), Survival 5 Obsidian Owl 2/3/2 2 -0/-1/I Talon: 5/5/2A 6/1L/2B Athletics 3 (Flight +2), Brawl 2, Dodge 3 Stillborn 3/4/5 5 -0x3/ Fetus Bite: 7/4/2A, 9/12L/16B Brawl 4, Dodge 5, -1x5/-2x4/I Kick: 4/8/5L, (special soak) Martial Arts 5 Punch: 7/9/3L Vengeful Exile 2/3/2 2 -0/-1/-4/I Anima Assault: 5/1L/2B Awareness 2, Dodge 2 6/3/special* Whisperer 0/0/3 3 -0x2/I Whispers: 0/1L/3B Archery 4 3/4/special* * Further information exists in the creature’s write-up. All creatures have Intelligence •, Perception •• and Wits •••, unless the description says otherwise. exert control over the monsters, and they’d serve him in his conquest of both Creation and the Underworld. That was his vision, his dream. The time for action is now! JUGGERNAUT REBORN In this scenario, the Mask of Winters is caught by surprise when his ghost servants are thrown out of the maggots bodies and the behemoth corpse crumbles to dust and rotten flesh in front of his very eyes. All attempts at hindering this process, even through magic, are futile, and when the dust settles, all that remains are the maggots, crawling across the landscape. During the days that follow, the maggots are drawn to the remains of the corpse and devour the last of their former host. The Mask of Winters is enraged, as he can no longer exert control over any of the maggots. When nothing remains of the behemoth, the maggots frenzy and begin to battle and devour each other. Watching his visions crumble to dust before him, the Mask of Winters orders the surviving nemissaries to engage one of the maggots while he binds them inside. Against all 164 WHAT MIGHT BE Exalted has always presented events that Storytellers could easily work into their own series if they desired to do so. The emergence of the Mask of Winter’s maggots doesn’t differ from this. While one of the following four scenarios may eventually be canon for the Exalted line, each Storyteller running a game with this event should chose one version that fits the vision of your game or perhaps even create your own solution. Needless to say, the plasmic, or plasmics, born of the maggots are extremely powerful in each of the presented scenarios — if you just want them to be wiggly extras with 6L bites, then that’s about the end of the matter. This section assumes the result one gets when using monsters that feed upon the remains of a dead beast that posed a threat even to the gods and Solar Exalted of yore is something with which one can drive a story or a series.
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Book of Bone and Ebony

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