Book of Bone and Ebony

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(as opposed to civil suits), Master Amenti always provides a prosecuting barrister with a Bureaucracy of at least ••• and a Manipulation + Performance dice pool of (the severity of the offense + 4). Defendants are not guaranteed a barrister in Stygian law, and those too poor to afford a barrister must defend themselves. Should a defendant’s player botch his legal roll, the punishment leveled against the defendant by the courts is either slavery (if he’s useful) or exile (if he’s not) to the wilds that surround Stygia. Should his player merely lose the contest, the defendant suffers a fine equal to the severity of his crime, or his Resources, which ever is lower. This is the most common result of a trial, and these fines serve as the grease for the wheels of Master Amenti’s bureaucracy. The poor suffer at the hands of the Stygian legal system, and any ghost who has Resources • or less that is convicted of a level-two or higher offense suffers as though he botched his roll. Success indicates vindication and innocence, and the defendant need merely pay legal fees that are, inevitably, out-of-pocket expenses (one less than the ghost’s Resources). Truly spectacular displays during the trial may impress the Stygian elite that frequent the trials. At the Storyteller’s discretion, extraordinarily high rolls may result in a dot of Contacts within Stygian high society. The worst penalties of the Stygian legal system are seldom meted out. Soulforging occurs rarely, THE TRUE POWER BEHIND THE DUAL MONARCHY While the Dual Monarchy outwardly appears to rule Stygia, any deep examination of the true political situation will reveal the Monarchs to be powerless figureheads. The legal system is out of their hands. Decisions are made by the Deathlords and imposed upon a powerless Stygia. Real politics occur in the City Council not in the Court of the Dual Monarchy. In reality, the Monarchy exists only as a ritual tool: Essence batteries that constantly recharge the economy of the Underworld. Yet, the Dual Monarchs are incredibly mighty ghosts. They predate the Deathlords by millennia and have access to nearly limitless stores of Essence. They know Stygia better than anyone, for they were at its founding. They have access to an enormous amount of knowledge, whether it takes the form the secrets of the newly dead, mastery of the Calendar or the voice of the Abyss. Only the Deathlords exceed their occult might, and none surpass their wisdom. In truth the most powerful of the dead, the Dual Monarchs are far from the least politically potent. As a matter of deception, they have reached out with bejeweled hands and intentionally tangled the bureaucracies and courts that surround them with red tape and pointless intrigue. They have receded into their ritual, allowing others to believe they are governed by their constant ritual propitiations. While so hidden, they advance their agenda through both overt allies, such as Master Amenti and the clerics, and more concealed friends, such as the Hollow King. They also make use of the less obvious methods of courtly gossip and well-placed arrests. Their ultimate objective is to continue the rivalry between the Deathlords and prevent any kind of unity between them. In so doing, they hope to ensure the continuing safety of Stygia and, perhaps one day, freedom from the Deathlords’ grasp. However, should their conspiracy ever be discovered, the Dual Monarchs know that they will cease to function as free-thinking rulers, assuming the Deathlords even allow them to continue to exist. So, they remain quiet, playing a deadly and secretive game of cat and mouse with Deathlords who are too busy with their own machinations to notice. 19 CHAPTER ONE • STYGIA but for the worst offenses and the most dangerous ghosts, it is a possibility. In the most truly heinous cases, the criminal is cast into the Mouth of the Void. Discounting the ravages of the First and Forsaken Lion, this punishment has been issued only thrice in the history of Stygia, and each instance was a somber and dreadful affair. THE COUNCIL OF STYGIA In contrast to the Dual Monarchy’s palace, the housing of the City Council is unattractive, built with gray stone and buttressed with square, efficient pillars. Within the ugly, scarred exterior, a maze of handsomely decorated rooms and hallways spiral around a grand central room, where the squabbling and powerful legislature sits. The City Council of Stygia serves to counterbalance the pomp and opulence of the Dual Monarchy with practical, if argumentative, politics. Those who seek real power find it in the whispered conspiracies of the Council’s back rooms as well as in the melodramatic speeches given on the floor of its congress. Due to the machinations and assassinations of Stygia’s politics, the membership of the Council changes from year to year. A perfect and current list would be impractical, and so, only five of the current thirteen are presented below. For further details on the districts each Council member leads, see pages 21-33.
EXALTED • THE BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY THE MISTRESS WITH THE WHITE HANDS None who witness the Mistress’ beauty can easily forget her. The ghostly whore’s features are as white as porcelain and just as delicate. She clothes her small and shapely body with simple robes of a thin fabric that subtly emphasize her curves. Upon her hands she wears white gloves, which she only removes when she wishes to kill. Her long hair is dark and silken, always moving on an unfelt wind, and its touch is soothingly cool. Her eyes glimmer like dark pools of passion, utterly unlike the black pits that fill the eyes of nephwracks and Deathlords. She seldom voices her thoughts, preferring instead to kneel and quietly listen as she drinks her tea. When she does speak, her words are quiet and brief but surprisingly logical and astute. Those who know her describe her as loving and wise but haunted by the secrets of her own, unpleasant past. Many see her as a soft-spoken voice of wisdom upon the Council, and her district adores her. Though the Mistress began her career as a sexual plaything, she no longer offers her favors to another unless it gains her an advantage or suits her whims. Instead, her power springs from her many holdings within the District of the Bone Lanterns, as well as the influence and information her courtesans bring her. A master of the Shifting Ghost-Clay Path, her normal appearance has the effect of the Entrancement Visage, and she can don an even more beautiful appearance, if she wishes it, to tempt even the 20 most temperate of beings (+2 difficulty to resist). Though unskilled in the ways of battle, she is capable of very subtle plots, and the other Council members are wary, though respectful, of her. Despite her humble origins, few question her power now. Recently, the Mistress with the White Hands has grown withdrawn and attends the Council less often. Because of an unusual astrological reading, she has come to believe that her mortal lover, with whom she committed suicide centuries ago, has returned from Lethe and walks once more upon Creation. She is lost in indecision, yearning to seek him and terrified of what these new events might mean. Her heart slowly breaks as she hesitates. Her courtesans scour Creation and the Underworld for any sign of him, and some fear she may succumb to her grief and enter Lethe. Darker elements within the Council have taken advantage of her absences, and if she does not recover from her melancholia soon, some fear that the Council may lose a powerful and positive voice. LORD STALWART The master of the Street of Swords is a rich and intelligent businessman. He dresses impeccably, often wearing a dark coat and a vest held closed with silver buttons and a thin chain running from one pocket to the other. He wears his collar high about his neck and folded over in an archaic fashion. His hair is iron gray and cut
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