Resources for Exalted Second Edition
Please note: You must create separate user accounts for Lore 5 and the ECR forums.The Signets of the Celestial Arts
By Jukashi
Submitted on 09 Jun 2008 at 07:35:42 PM EDTLast updated on 09 Jun 2008 at 07:37:34 PM EDT
Level 4 Artifact
Long ago in the First Age, the Twilight Caste Solar and veteran of the primordial war, Thrice-Radiant Misho, found himself confronted with a dilemma. Hating both the spawn of the primordials and the Fair Folk who thronged beyond reality, he refused to conduct the mind-expanding experiments of his peers. With his onetime tutor Autocthon departed, though, this limited his capacity to innovate. However, as he observed his Dawn Caste circlemate and his Sidereal advisers training their magical martial arts, he realised that here, too, was a means by which a person could reach beyond their own essence to find something new. The humility and discipline of martial artists, combined with their presence throughout Creation, had hidden this potential source of knowledge under the very noses of his peers.
Though his talent for swordsmanship did not extend to the martial arts, he did train himself somewhat, and also conducted many experiments whereby he observed the flow and changes in essence that occurred when all manner of beings practiced the spiritual disciplines. This allowed him to advance his own artifice and sorcery in many ways, but one more tangible benefit was the Signets of the Celestial Arts; talismans that were formed, hearthstone-like, from the distilled and concentrated essence of those concepts which each supernatural martial art drew its power from emulating.
Though the means for creating them is lost with the Age that birthed them, the Signets themselves remain in the Age of Sorrows. Ensconced in the hearthstone sockets of various artifacts, they are easily mistaken for such mystical crystals save for the symbols stamped on their surfaces and the fact that they do not provide essence to the one who attunes them.
They provide other things.
(The Artifact Rating above represents a single Signet. Hypothetical “Signets of the Sidereal Arts” would be more powerful, rated at Artifact 5)
The Signets of the Celestial Arts resemble hearthstones and can be placed into hearthstone sockets. This is but a convenience, however, as the Signets do not offer any essence. In fact, they do not require essence; though an essence channeler can attune one by committing 4 motes, a dot of willpower will also suffice, allowing them to be used by mortals.
Each Signet contains and resonates with the essence of a particular Celestial Martial Art; Terrestrial Martial Arts are too base for their essence to be refined into a Signet, while the Sidereals permitted none of their own styles to have their essence concentrated… at least, none as far as the records of the First Age show. All Signets, when attuned by someone practicing the style (and assuming that person can learn it in the first place), reduce the training time for that styles Charms by half. Being attuned to it also reduces the essence cost of all the styles’ Charms by 1 mote, to a minimum of 1. This is but a side-effect, however. The true powers of the Signets are unique to each one.
• The Celestial Monkey Signet is a light, oval stone of light green with white speckles, stamped with a light indentation in the shape of a sitting monkey. While attuned, the user increases his MDV by one against any emotion-based social attack or mental Charm, gains an additional 2 dots of Dexterity (which can raise him above normal limits), and operates as if constantly under the effects of Graceful Crane Stance and Monkey Leap Technique (Exalted, pg.222 and 223).
• The Ebon Shadow Signet is jet black, elongated and curved save for one edge, which encircles it. Only by touch can its indentation be perceived, and there is disagreement on what it is; Celestial Exalted report copy of their own Caste Mark, while Terrestrial reported the shape of a coiled dragon. It is believed that the shape of mark is a “shadow” of the user’s own power. The fact that the lone mortal who had custody of it for a time also felt a dragon’s shape passed unregarded…
By spending a dot of willpower, the person attuned to this stone can split his shadow into five, and each one rises up into a dark figure, similar to the user but with precise features concealed by shade. They do not speak but understand and obey the Signet bearer’s every command, being incapable of understanding anyone else, and their loyalty cannot be swayed. Each uses the stats for a Raider (Exalted, pg.280) save that they have no Craft, Presence, Linguistics or Lore and increase their Larceny, Martial Arts and Stealth by 2 and their Dexterity by 1. They are all extras. At any time, the Signet bearer may look through the eyes of any one of them (the figure’s eyes glow when this occurs) and speak through their mouth, which allows new commands to be given from afar. They may go anywhere the bearer wants them to, but attunement to the Signet cannot be dropped until they return to being the user’s shadow, and they cannot become a shadow again unless they are all together. While the figures are free, the user casts no shadow or reflection. If all of one’s shadow-figures are caught, the captor essentially possesses the user’s shadow, and those with the know-how can use it in many unpleasant ways.
• The Righteous Devil Signet is a golden-red, multifaceted jewel that glows from within, and is marked with intricate Mandala of the Unconquered Sun himself. While attuned, any fire created by the Signet Bearer – whether it be a mere product of flint and tinder, the blast of a flamepiece or the anima of a Fire Aspected Dragon-Blood, is transformed into golden, holy flame, and deals double, Aggravated damage against Creatures of Darkness.
• The Tiger Signet is a long, triangular crystal with sharply faceted edges, bone-white with small bands of orange and black. It is, of course, marked with the symbol of a tiger. By expending a dot of Willpower, the signet bearer can transform themselves into a great tiger, just as if they were a Lunar who had taken its Heart’s Blood. They are in fact an exemplar of tiger-ness, and retain the ability to use any Tiger Style Charms they know while in this form, despite the fact that most Martial Arts are not developed for non-human bodies.
These are but a small sample of the Signets that were created. More exist for other First Age Celestial Martial Arts; if one could rediscover the means of their production, new Signets may be made for modern styles. The Signets of the Immaculate Dragons would be powerful indeed.
In addition to their own powers, the Signets also make very potent exotic ingredients for other Artifacts, containing as they do the focused essence of many concepts and things. Some strange Artifacts built for such a purpose might use them as a power source, though they can’t normally be used in such a way.
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