Soon now, the Green Sun Princes will put right what time and treachery have allowed to go so wrong ...

Overview

Name: MardenTitle: Forsaken Weapon Rebuking the HeavensAge: 28Birthplace: Grenath, Hundred CitiesRace: Human (Infernal Exalt)Caste: SlayerUrge: AdorjaniPatron Yozi: MalfeasFavored Yozi: AdorjanEssence level: 5The Forsaken Weapon is, at best, a gloomy figure. Clad in his Hell-forged equipment, he has wandered Creation like a man possessed, driven by some singular purpose that aligns with whatever his masters have deemed prudent in that moment. His face rarely bears anything resembling emotion, save perhaps a bone-deep ennui, and he is often absorbed in reading. He carries with him a singular tome written in an ancient script, the Broken-Winged Crane of legend which foretells the victory of the Demon Princes and the corruption of the world, infamous for its ever-shifting contents as it attempts to divine the fate of Creation with increasing accuracy; that he scans it with bored eyes is disturbing even to the Yozi cultists who often serve under him in his missions. His patron, Malfeas, has been consumed by hatred ever since their defeat in the Primordial War, and their cruelty has ensured that the hatred between them and their Slayer champions is mutual. But for all his disdain, Marden has followed every order without complaint, and the danger they have placed him in have transformed the Green Sun Prince into one of the most dangerous beings in the physical realm. What a shame it must be then for the fallen Primordials, that one of their precious Swords of Hell seeks to gather the shards of his broken self and become more than a weapon once again.

Lexicon

Charm: A form of Essence manipulation that focuses Essence through a character’s Abilities. Charms allow Exalts to perform superhuman feats and are the most basic form of magic the Exalted wield.Chrysalis Grotesque: An indestructible shell of demon flesh that encompasses a candidate for Infernal Exaltation after they agree to become a Green Sun Prince and serves to keep them safe from harm while they undergo their dark metamorphosis.Creation: The world of Exalted and everything in it. Beyond its borders lies only the formless Wyld.Essence: The most basic building block of Creation, Essence is the energy that unites all things and from which all magic springs. To channel Essence is to work miracles, and the might of the Exalted comes from their ability to do so.Exalted: (Also called the Chosen.) The champions of the gods, who were given power to stand up to the Primordials at the beginning of time. The victorious Exalted were given custody of Creation at the end of the Primordial War.Hundred Cities: The Hundred Kingdoms consist of a collection of small principalities, autocracies, republics, dictatorships and petty kingdoms. They lie from the confluence of the Maruto and Yellow rivers eastward to the edge of the Eastern Forest. Many are no larger than a fortified town and a handful of villages. Though they are a fractious lot, the Hundred Kingdoms are the breadbasket of the Scavenger Lands, providing much of the grain eaten in the Confederation of Rivers. These kingdoms have existed in a barely controlled state of enmity for centuries, constantly exploding into petty wars and raids—each one generally hostile to most of its neighbors. Occasionally, some would-be ruler or coalition attempts to seize control, but so far, none has succeeded.Malfeas: Malfeas is the demon realm in which the Yozis are imprisoned. This realm is constructed from the body of the mightiest Demon Prince, Malfeas himself.Primordial: This is the term applied to those who came before the gods and first wrenched Creation from the chaotic stuff of the Wyld. Only two Primordials survive intact, Gaia and the Great Maker Autochthon. The rest were either slain, becoming the Neverborn, or imprisoned, becoming the Yozis.Reclamation: The great plan to retake Creation and free the Yozis from their long imprisonment.Urge: A goal implanted in each Infernal Exalt by their Yozi patron.Yozis: Cousins to the Neverborn, the Yozis are forever imprisoned outside Creation in their twisted kingdom of iron and black marble beneath a mad green sun. The Yozis constantly plot to escape the demon realm Malfeas and to overthrow the gods.

Birth

The Forsaken Weapon was once known as Marden, a mortal born in Grenath, one of the historically unimportant city-states making up the Hundred Cities. His upbringing was unremarkable; his mother was loving and dutiful, his father stern but ultimately caring. Like countless other mortals in Creation, his early life was spent performing mundane tasks and manual labour for his betters, specifically the nobles who claimed the city as their own. Though he knew all of the great tales of his world, the ancient histories (at least the versions commoners shared with one another) and the feats of the Exalted, not once was he exposed to any of the marvels contained within such stories; he was, after all, a mere pawn as far as the forces of destiny were concerned.At the age of nineteen, his toil took on another form. Jealous of the city's growing wealth, two of its neighbours had forged an alliance and declared war on Grenath, hoping to claim its riches and divide it between themselves. As an able-bodied man, Marden was conscripted into the city's army, and fought in the first of the war's many battles. He took his first life when an enemy soldier, distracted by the firing of an arrow, momentarily raised his shield and left himself open - charging in, he forced his blade into the man's stomach, and the blood that rushed from their body was fed to the soil in tandem with the last remains of Marden's innocence.The war had been estimated to be a quick one. As least as far as Grenath's commanders were concerned, their enemies lacked the resources to drag out the conflict, and peace would come soon; at most a handful of months, perhaps. Instead, the war lasted for over six years. Various factions arose and were destroyed, interlopers became involved and were subsequently forced out by alliances of convenience and twists of fate none could have foreseen, but each victory took a toll on the souls of the victors. Marden fought and killed, and he always survived, but even when no weapon pierced his flesh he was inflicted with wounds that no ordinary means could heal.In spite of their successes, it became clear that Grenath would not win the war. What started as a bid for the city's riches became a conflict mired in an all-consuming hatred between the two sides, one that would see no end until the victor had utterly destroyed the vanquished, and Grenath had been outnumbered from the very beginning. Its villages now burned, and a last-ditch effort to destroy the enemy army before it could besiege the city itself failed when multiple commanders fell to enemy assassins. Marden, now a scarred veteran twenty-five years of age, was one of the soldiers unlucky enough to man the walls as the siege progressed - powerless the stop the enemy, but forced to keep them in his sight at all times.The siege was long and brutal. Starved and without hope, the city's garrison stood no chance when the enemy launched an assault on the walls. There was no heroism, no miracles, and no divine intervention, simply the ring of steel on steel and the gasps of the dying. Marden did not slay a hundred men before going down; his blow faltered against the first opponent who closed in, and his weapon was thrown aside, a mace shattering his skull moments after.The bodies of his comrades were strewn across the battlements, and he among them. He could feel his life spilling from the wound in his head, a gaping hole that none could survive. He did not know that someone had been watching him.

Death

Marden was only dimly aware of the world around him as he lay dying, the city lost to the scant mercy of the conquerors. Grenath was razed as he flickered in and out of consciousness, preparing for his descent into the Underworld... But there was a force in this world which would not permit such a thing. He had never once seen it, but there were rumours in the later years of the war - sightings of some red beast, a monster not native to Creation.Occasionally, patrols went missing, and small settlements were attacked by an unknown assailant in the night. Unbeknownst to any, this monster was a demon of the First Circle, a Blood Ape sent by the Demon Prince Malfeas as a vessel of Infernal Exaltation. It had stalked the battlefields of Grenath's war for a very long time now, enslaved to the pull of the Exaltation, which would inevitably guide it to a suitable host. Not one who rose to heroism, as an untainted Solar Exaltation would seek in a host, but a mortal who failed. One susceptible to the manipulations of the Yozi.For all of the Blood Ape's latent aggression, it stood still as it hovered above Marden's dying body, a red blur on the edge of his vision. It whispered in to his mind, and told him many things: how in the beginning, the Primordials had forged the world, the gods, and mortals. How they were betrayed by the gods and their creations, the Exalted. How the Primordials, not called the Yozi, had endured millennia of unrighteous punishment in Malfeas, and how they now sought agents to reclaim what was rightfully theirs.More importantly, however, it spoke of power. Power that could belong only to legendary figures from ages long past, which could crush armies and subdue nations... Overthrow gods. The demon told him that if he simply accepted, he could gain such power for himself, avenge all of the wrongs forced upon him by the world, and destroy anyone who would dare stand in his way. The enemies of Grenath would be destroyed, their cities turned to ash. The foolish commanders who had led Marden's comrades to their deaths time and time again, at least those who still lived, would be torn apart for their bloodthirsty incompetence, serving as an example to any who presumed to command him. From there, anything was possible - he would become a lord, a king, a god walking among men. All of this and more, in return for swearing loyalty to the Yozis, the true masters of Creation, and helping them take back what is rightfully theirs.With his last breath, he accepted.

Rebirth

The moment the accepted the demon’s offer of power, there was no turning back. It seized him in an inescapable grip, and its body came undone, enveloping him whole. As its flesh swelled and flowed around him, he was plunged into utter darkness, the tainted Infernal Exaltation worming its way into his soul. For five days he remained in the darkness of the seamless, impenetrable chrysalis, his body and mind reconfigured into something beyond mortal existence. The nightmares of Malfeas reshaped his mind, the initial abyss of blackness fading and giving way to a nightmarish hellscape, deluged by a torrent of alien memories of loss and tragedy and frustrated rage. Fragments of memory memory going back to the Primordial War blasted through Marden's mind, and the shinmaic design schema on which Creation itself was based danced in tantalizing swirls just at the edge of comprehension. All that he can recall of the nightmares when the cocoon finally splits open is that they were ecstatic, sublime, agonizing and heartbreaking in equal measure.The chrysalis exploded into fine stinging dust, and he who was once a mortal emerged radiating the awful green brilliance of the heart of Malfeas, the mark of his corrupted Caste shining on his forehead. His wounds healed, his scars miraculously banished, and even the modest asymmetry and other subtler imperfections in his appearance eradicated by the power of the Infernal Exaltation. The simple soul of the demon who carried his Exaltation to him was wholly absorbed, its essence seeping into his every component particle, making him mightier even when not accounting for the immense power now resting in his own soul.His Caste was that of the Slayers, the generals and warriors of Hell, embodying the hatred of Malfeas, former king of the Primordials. Already he could tell that his mastery of arms would be beyond peer in all Creation, a champion to slay all who opposed the will of the Yozi. But his new masters were not so careless as to let him roam free in full - the demonic soul he had absorbed remained within his mind to some extent, an unwoven coadjutor whispering into his mind. Furthermore, the Exaltation had implanted an Urge in his soul, an instinctual directive that caused all Infernals to make the human world more like the hellish demon realm where their masters reside, ultimately enabling them to cross over from Hell into Creation and reclaim it.Upon his awakening, he could feel his Urge pressing into his mind, a new facet of his existence that the demon now sharing his subconscious was all too eager to explain and support. His was the Urge of the Yozi Adorjan, the Urge of Obsession, and one of the forms it took was an overwhelming desire for silence... No matter how many lives had to be ended in the process. He pondered it, and found it fitting - after all, in the years he had spent fighting to the death with his fellow man, he'd rarely dreamed of glory or riches. Neither was he particularly patriotic. All he wished was for the war to end, for peace and silence to take the place of war's cacophony. The demon reminded him that the power to end any war now rested within him, and as an agent of Creation's architects, it was his right to carry out his will on the world.The Chrysalis Grotesque had been moved to a restricted area of the palace by Grenath's occupiers, to be guarded until it could be taken away and studied by minds more familiar with dark workings, and hopefully destroyed. His pain, and the Urge, driving him, Marden tore through the soldiers guarding the room where his Chrysalis had been stored. Once formidable foes, they were now mere mortals easily dealt with by a Green Sun Prince, even a newborn one like himself. The demon directed his Urge towards a concrete goal, as was its duty; before anything else, the occupying garrison was to be annihilated. And with ease, the Slayer accomplished that task. With his bare hands, he tore through the soldiers, who were either still drunk on their victory or nursing their wounds, and he painted the walls of the city with their blood. Striking, hacking, tearing, ripping... He had never imagined that the human body could be torn through like cloth.Standing among the remains of countless slaughtered foes, those citizens of Grenath who still remained regarding him with the utmost fear and cowed into silence by the abrupt massacre, he felt relief.

Hell

In the days following his rebirth, the demon that had taken up residence in his subconscious continued to push him towards ever greater acts of violence. Intoxicated by his own supernatural abilities and eager to cast the weakness of his old life aside, he revelled in the seeming omnipotence that the Exaltation had bestowed upon him. Mortals were now akin to prey, powerless before his might, any regret he may have felt slicing them to ribbons smothered by the demon as it reminded him that they were the ones who had killed his people and destroyed his city. His family, his comrades, he had lost them because of this scum. And so, he was assured, there was no longer any line to cross when it came to making them pay for their crimes.He fell upon their villages like a storm of death. He killed those who fought back. He killed those who surrendered. He killed all whom they loved and destroyed all they held dear. He ceased his orgy of violence only to interrogate the cowards among them - where next would his sword fall? Who else was there that needed to be punished? He bathed in their blood and ignored their cries for mercy. None were left alive.The demon commended him for his righteousness; he was told that his power afforded him the authority to murder as he pleased. But then, just as he was about to set out for one of the cities that had warred against Grenath, his demonic coadjutor informed him that such business would need to be finished later. It was time. They had remained in Creation for too long now, and the champions of the gods would soon come to investigate; he would need to travel to Malfeas, the domain of the Yozi, before he could face the Exalted.Although he resisted, wholly consumed by his bloodlust as he was, even the soul of the violent Blood Ape occupying his mind urged him to reconsider. Eventually he relented, lured by the promise of greater power that the Architects of Creation could only bestow upon him in person. The demon led him deep into the wilderness, to an unholy place where the barriers between the physical world and Hell were thin. Using this instability, he passed into the domain of the Yozi...Thinking back, he would have considered death at the hands of an Exalt preferable to the unspeakable torments he suffered there.He entered Malfeas, the Demon City forged from the body of the Primordial King himself, expecting to be welcomed as a lord among the fallen. He believed that his meager abilities, enough to overwhelm mortals, would be sufficient for him to be treated as an unassailable champion of demonkind. But upon his arrival, he was not greeted by throngs of lesser demons or tormented slaves; instead it was the patron of his Caste, an avatar of the Demon Prince Malfeas, who welcomed him.While Marden would be treated as a champion in time, Malfeas was not a forgiving host. Especially as far as the arrogance of his servants was concerned. Immediately he was seized, and the work to break him utterly began. The avatar of Malfeas and the demons of the Third Circle that had fragmented from the fallen Primordial's soul, as well as the avatar of the Yozi to whom the newborn Inferal's Urge belonged, Adorjan, took to Marden's body and soul like starving dogs to a carcass. Days that felt like eternities passed. Agony gained new meaning. The violation was all-consuming.This was the moment that he truly died and the Forsaken Weapon was born. Eventually there came the parades, the tithe of Essence and slaves, the conferring with his fellow Green Sun Princes, but it was hollow. All of his pride and what little remained of his humanity had been stripped away by the unholy cruelty of his overlords.

Limbo

In one sense, the duties of all the Green Sun Princes can be summed up simply: They are to carry the will of their diabolical masters forth into Creation and recapture that stolen and misappropriated possession. In them is invested the responsibility for making the world into a new Hell, a realm that no longer abhors the presence of its broken creators. The Infernal Exalted are to weaken the defenses of those who protect Creation, to preach the glories of the Yozis, to undermine social structures that displease demonkind and to scour away that which has been created in defiance of the Primordials’ Grand Design. All this and more do the Urges of their imprisoned lords encourage them to accomplish.All glory that such a task may have inspired in a mortal soul was torn from him in the fires of his second rebirth. He carried out his orders without passion, never defying his Urge. His personal ambitions had been wholly abandoned, and the time since he had last seen his homeland grew distant. He was a hero and general of Hell, and to that end he acted as the tip of the spear, defeating armies and conquering lands in the name of the Yozi. His fellow Princes were of little interest to him, and he saw them as momentary allies at best. His relationship with them was wholly transactional, and the memories of the harm he inflicted on them when they attempted to drag him into their rivalries were quickly discarded by his broken mind.Above all, he desired peace. But such a thing could not be achieved by releasing the Yozis from their prison; what good would it do to have their madness terrorize the mortal world? It was a truth he had known from the very beginning, but never dared to acknowledge. After all, he had served his masters for years, unthinking and unfeeling, an engine of blood of and madness. Shattered into a thousand pieces, the remnants of his soul were stirred by one thing only: the sight of a child who had suffered more than him.Following a successful mission, the blood of his foes still clinging to his armor, he visited the one whom the Infernal Exalted referred to as mother, sister, and many other titles. Some pitied her, others sneered at her, and many ignored her existence altogether. Her body was used as the vessel for the Exaltations corrupted by the Yozis, their phylactery-womb; whenever a Green Sun Prince died, they returned to her body, and whenever a new Exaltation had to be sent out into Creation, a demon of the First Circle merged grotesquely with her flesh to pry out the spark of power. Her name was Lillun, and before the Yozi dragged her down to Hell, she was a young girl like any other.Marden showed no emotion as he regarded the bloated body of Lillun, mutilated and deformed in countless terrible ways to the point that it could no longer be recognized as human. The pain had broken her completely, and at that moment, she seemingly failed to acknowledge his presence at all. He had seen her before, of course; she was a frequent sight in the Demon City. But preoccupied with his own emptiness as he had been, he never considered that she was nothing like him, and nothing like his fellow Green Sun Princes. She had accepted no pact, committed no sins. His masters had consigned her to neverending torture and humilation for their own convenience, and he tolerated this without a second thought. In his mind, there bloomed a conclusion of an unclear origin. There was no true reasoning, no logical line of thought, but there came a realization.There is another way. There must be another way.

Arsenal

The one once known as Marden is no longer a mortal man. The power of the Infernal Exaltation reforged him into something better fit to serve the masters of Hell. The more powerful he grows, the more he begins to resemble the beings he serves ...

Excellencies

FIRST MALFEAS EXCELLENCY—ESSENCE OVERWHELMING: Infernals can channel Essence to make themselves more competent at tasks. Befitting their nature, however, the Yozis do not think in terms of innate talent or learned skill, but rather according to the concepts they embody. Thus, Malfeas is mightiest when he takes a direct approach; the fallen King of the Primordials is arrogant, cruel and given to excessive displays of obvious force for the chance to show off and the sadistic joy he feels when enemies and allies look upon him in awe and terror. He is vast and full of hate toward those who betrayed and imprisoned him, seeking vengeance with indiscriminate callousness to the collateral damage he inflicts on the innocent. The Infernal may apply this Charm to any actions in which he chooses the ostentatious or overkill approach over merely adequate solutions.SECOND MALFEAS EXCELLENCY—ESSENCE TRIUMPHANT: This Charm expands an Infernal’s capacity to wield the First Excellency, increasing his likelihood of succeeding at the given task.MALFEAS MYTHOS EXULTANT: Yozis revel in the exercise of their purview, drawing power from the very strategies they use to spread that power through Creation. Exercising unrestrained force stokes the flames at the heart of the Demon City, restoring Essence through the act of performing mythical feats.MALFEAS INEVITABILITY TECHNIQUE: The Yozis exist beyond fate, warping the flow of causality merely through the lightest touch of their cosmic infinitude. When combined with First Malfeas Excellency, the Infernal warps reality as a whole to make the task objectively easier to accomplish.EFFORTLESS MALFEAS DOMINANCE: The more a Yozi uses its power to affect an encounter, the more its Essence begins to saturate the area and harmonize it with the fallen titan’s efforts. This reduces the Essence cost required to achieve the desired outcome.

Malfeas Charms

HARDENED DEVIL BODY: Though the Yozis are beyond awareness of most damage, let alone threatened by it, their servants can only manage to embody a fraction of this durability. This charm is permanent and greatly enhances the Infernal's ability to resist damage.BY PAIN REFORGED: Pain puts life in perspective, pushing aside all other distractions. This is the simplest truth Malfeas has learned from his imprisonment within himself. The Infernal ignores the effects of his wounds, neither slowing him down nor causing him to fall unconscious regardless of the damage inflicted on him.PURITY OF MADNESS DEFENSE: The Demon City is his own architect and does not abide the designs of other artists marring the blueprints of his will. Whenever the Infernal would be altered against his will, mystically or otherwise, he can choose to reject the change. Resistance perfectly negates the changes in exchange for the strain of asserting inviolability.SCAR-WRIT SAGA SHIELD: Malfeas does not quietly accept his tortured inversion, but builds up calloused layers and folds them in a vain attempt to seal his wounds and inoculate against future injury. Such efforts cannot achieve their goal, but incidentally toughen the Demon City further. This charm is permanent and greatly enhances the Infernal's natural durability.VIRIDIAN LEGEND EXOSKELETON: A fine patina of blue-green tarnish rapidly spreads like mold over the Infernal’s body, flaking away to reveal a more durable layer of shining brass etched with maddening spiral patterns and Old Realm characters that tell the stories of Malfeas and foretell the punishments he would inflict upon his enemies. Viridian Legend Exoskeleton is not studied for its lu- minous history lessons, however. The exoskeleton of living brass provides powerful armor with no mobility or fatigue penalty.PATHETIC DISTRACTION REBUKE: Having been humbled once, Malfeas is not keen to repeat the experience. This Charm enhances any attempt to parry an incoming attack.INVULNERABLE WOUNDING FUTILITY: The foolish and the mad sometimes beat their fists against the impregnable walls of the Demon City as though they might crack anything but their own hands. The mean- ingless rhythms of their blows soothe the Yozi’s raging heart to laughter. Invulnerable Wounding Futility momentarily hardens the Infernal’s body into a passive weapon upon which attackers crash and break. This attack destroys nonmagical projectiles but is far more effective against close-combat attacks, where the rebounding force of the blow can actually inflict injuries.ABLATION OF BRASS AND FIRE: In his torment, Malfeas sheds constant layers in a vain effort to expand past his oaths. The wholesale destruction of a single layer and its inhabitants to push out unwanted injury is as inconsequential as the natural shedding of dead skin. By use of this Charm, an Infernal confidently steps into the path of an attack and chooses for it to hit him full on. The deliberateness of his interposed self perfectly parries the attack regardless of whether it is normally blockable. This Charm can also defend against any environmental hazards (including falling), though it must be activated at each interval at which the hazard inflicts damage. This Charm is a form of parry, so the attack doesn’t count as having hit when it uselessly impacts the Infernal’s body with a spray of sparks and brass shavings. Because it is subject to the Imperfection of the Demon City, it only functions while within an area that has been deliberately developed for habitation or use.BY AGONY EMPOWERED: This Charm permanently improves By Pain Reforged, allowing that Charm to ignore deleterious effects from lethal damage. Only when his body is utterly ruined would it be willing to give up.IMPERVIOUS PRIMACY MANTLE: It is inconceivable that another could hold authority over Malfeas, no matter what oaths spilled from his mouth in momentary forgetfulness of his omnipotence. Accordingly, he treats any mental influence framed as a command as an unacceptable order. Social attacks framed as supplication or humble suggestions bypass this defense, though any insincere displays necessitate the attacker use their ability to manipulate rather than raw charisma.INSIGNIFICANT EMBERS INTUITION: The heart of Malfeas burns jealously, invisible tongues grasping like talons at the lesser flames smoldering in other souls. This Charm enhances his ability to notice sensory details about a targeted being. In addition to whatever other information the Infernal gleans, he also discerns the strength and aspect of the target’s Essence relative to his own.DIM IRRELEVANCIES UNVEILED: Some subordinates may accomplish acts worthy of notice from time to time. Whenever anyone uses any Essence-fueled (or equivalent) supernatural power in the Infernal's vicinity, he senses where the power was activated relative to himself and the effect’s minimum Essence.SKYFIRE-SEIZING REPAST: The Green Sun beats hot on the continental districts and world-impaling skyscraper manses of the Demon City, yet it does not scorch the mirrored brass and garish verdigris entwining every wall and roof. Infernals with this Charm may similarly absorb and dissipate the damage inflicted by purely energy-based attacks. The attack is completely absorbed into the Infernal’s anima and flares the banner brighter than it was before, leaving him untouched.GREEN SUN NIMBUS FLARE: The Infernal’s blows spark and seethe with the acid-green radiance of Malfeas’s heart, burning opponents. Green Sun Nimbus Flare enhances successful physical attacks, fiery tongues of Primordial Essence erupting from the wound.GODSCORCH INVECTIVE: The gods have much to answer for. This Charm permanently improves Green Sun Nimbus Flare, allowing any attack enhanced by it to affect incorporeal beings as if they were solid. Spirits who suffer any levels of damage from the attack’s secondary burn manifest and remain perceptible to normal senses as translucent apparitions, though they continue to lack solidity unless they actually materialize.IMMOLATING TERROR TECHNIQUE: Those struck down by Malfeas suffer deeper injuries than physical scars. If the flare inflicts any levels of damage against a target, it also erodes their will to fight. Victims who lose their will to fight this way instantly form a sensation of terrified awe toward the Infernal that can’t be weakened until the victim has not directly perceived the Exalt for one full day.MAGNANIMOUS WARNING GLYPH: Although Malfeas is seldom subtle, he is a universal overlord and therefore infinitely capable of long-term strategies. This Charm permanently enhances Green Sun Nimbus Flare. Whenever an attack inflicts damage and would trigger secondary burns, the Infernal may suspend the eruption of Essence instead. The destructive energy remains invisibly embedded in the wound, though any form of Essence sight sees the Old Realm characters for “Mandate of Heaven” writ in bubbling green fire like an incandescent scar. So long as it remains, this mark also makes its bearer a native of Malfeas unless his supernatural nature is inherently opposed to it (like a non-Infernal Exalt). Whenever the victim next attacks the Infernal who placed the brand, intentionally or not, the scar bursts with all the deleterious effects that would have taken place originally, and the brand disappears. The victim intuitively understands that they must not oppose the Infernal when he places the brand, though without knowing the consequences.FEALTY-ACKNOWLEDGING AUDIENCE: Malfeas honors his inferiors most when he accepts their adoration personally and feasts upon their awe. Infernals may activate this Charm whenever they directly observe anyone else make a declaration of loyalty or love toward them. The one pledging loyalty need not do so happily, but must do so willingly. Insincere promises still provide a chance to use this Charm, incidentally converting deep-cover spies and moles to loyal followers as they repeat the binding lies of their oaths. Activating this Charm causes all targets to grow a brand exactly like one placed with Magnanimous Warning Glyph, save that the Infernal may decide whether the mark is visible or invisible, as well as where it is placed. The act of burning the mark in place also gives its bearer a sensation of terrified awe toward the Infernal.RADIANT FURY DISSOLUTION: By the authority of the deposed King of the Primordials, the Infernal commands the universe itself to sunder a slain enemy into component motes. This Charm permanently improves Green Sun Nimbus Flare. Whenever a flare’s damage is enough to kill a non-Yozi target, the surge of Essence spreads out from the wound like a bonfire doused with oil, growing exponentially brighter and hotter until nothing remains of the victim but glittering ash, a rising cloud of smoke in the shape of a fungal bloom and the victim’s silhouette burned into the ground. Spirits can’t reform from this demise. However, not even Malfeas can sunder a Celestial Exaltation or permanently slay beings with Yozi-level immortality, such as Deathlords. Anyone who sleeps in the vicinity of a victim’s shadow experiences horrific visions of the victim. This radius contracts per century that passes until the being’s Essence has been scattered to the reaches of eternity. That Malfeas only sentences hated enemies to 10,000 years of suffering shows the upper limits of his magnanimity.KISSED BY HELLISH NOON: Only the mightiest adversaries deserve face-to-face confrontation with the Demon City. This Charm removes the range limit of its prerequisite, allowing Green Sun Nimbus Flare to augment physical attacks with bows and other distance weapons past point-blank range.TARNISH FLASH TECHNIQUE: The Infernal presents his palm or caste mark toward an opponent and emits a blinding discharge of Essence from that point. He blinds the target, searing the image of his iconic anima into their mind’s eye. Until the victim takes the time to rub their eyes and blink fresh tears over the flashburn, they are as blind as if both their eyes had been removed.KNEEL OR BE KNELT: The onetime King of the Primordials will not tolerate those who would stride past without stopping to show respect for his majesty, forcing them to kiss the ground if they will not do so of their own accord. This Charm may be activated whenever another seeks to pass by the Infernal, lashing out with a sudden lightning-fast attack in response; a favored method among Slayers is to slam an iron-hard arm into a target’s throat.THE KING STILL STANDS: Malfeas is invincible, immortal, and incomparable. Those who would dare offer evidence to the contrary will be ground to a paste between his layers as a lesson to others. Instead of growing weaker as wounds accumulate on his body, the Infernal's pool of Essence expands, empowering him further the more he defies the pull of the Underworld.DRIVEN BEYOND DEATH: Though it is true that, at one time, a being known as the Empyreal Chaos was forced to admit defeat, none can say the same of the Yozi called Malfeas. It seems unthinkable that one should ever vanquish the Demon City… yet the same was said of King of All Kings in the Time of Glory. Should the Infernal fall in battle with any Essence left, he falls, almost to a knee, or slouches to one side as if to topple, but stops himself. Suddenly his anima roars to its brightest state as a local earthquake rips through the area for miles. This tremor comes from within the Infernal and sends emerald and crimson-tinged cracks racing across his skin to congregate around his blazing caste mark, while his eyes shine with all the furies there ever were. The legend of the Empyreal Chaos wreathes his chest, biceps and thighs and bounds his forehead like a crown. Then the blaze dies down, and the Infernal’s final horrific onslaught can begin. The Infernal’s Essence is immediately replenished. From that point forward, the Infernal will remain active, attacking, and unable to retreat until his Essence reaches zero. During this time, the Infernal may not benefit from any magic which heals damage. Attacks which strike him during this time but lack the power to grievously harm him fail to even register—he suffers no damage from them. Only attacks which cripple or dismember the outraged Slayer have a prayer of slowing him down. When the frenzy ends, he must channel all his will or risk collapsing from the strain.

Adorjan Charms

WIND-BORN STRIDE: Where the winds of Adorjan blow, few can run fast or far enough to escape her touch. The Infernal's speed is greatly enhanced, and he crosses treacherous without issue. Even wounds cannot slow him.WHO STRIKES THE WIND?: The Silent Wind blows around and through all opposition and adversity, untouched though the sky blackens with arrows meant for her. This Charm is a perfect dodge against any physical attack that is not unexpected, even if that attack can’t be dodged. Because it is subject to the Imperfection of the Silent Wind, it can only be used while moving at full speed.KALMANKA’S GRACE: The Infernal waltzes and pirouettes through sky- darkening tempests of arrows, untouched and seemingly oblivious to their passage. This Charm reduces the cost to use its prerequisite, provided the Exalt is moving toward the attacker. As a final effect of this Charm, the Infernal understands that speed is relative. His speed is considered no less than that of an attacker who is moving toward him for the purposes of applying the Imperfection of the Silent Wind to any Charms.LAUGHING GUST DENIAL: In the moment that Adorjan chooses not to be struck, she is not. By channeling a greater amount of Essence, the Infernal can perfectly dodge all attacks against them within a short span of time rather than separately activating the Charm against each individual attack. The Imperfection of the Silent Wind still applies, so the Infernal must still move at sufficient speed.JOY IN VIOLENCE APPROACH: Nothing fills Adorjan’s heart with childlike glee like the prospect of a massacre. This Charm enhances the Exalt's first strike when attacking an enemy, empowering the first strike, and also bolsters their willpower from elation; this secondary effect does not apply if another initiates hostilities against the Exalt or he interjects himself into an ongoing battle. He must start the fight.SELF AS CYCLONE STANCE: There is stillness. And then storm. The infernal throws out a magical flurry of attacks made up hundreds of lightning-fast strikes whose cumulative effect is equivalent to fewer, better-defined blows.THREAT-MONITORING EXCITEMENT: Danger is fun, and fun should be savored. So it is that Adorjan’s perception of time slows to a crawl when she detects immanent threats. This Charm may be activated in response to any potential threat within range of the Infernal’s senses, ensuring perfect detection of that threat. Against an unexpected attack, this Charm also reveals it to his senses, allowing the Exalt to defend normally.OPENED EYE OF THE HURRICANE: Many oppose Adorjan. Their opposition is prayer to her, so her miracles answer their thoughtful worship. While this Charm is active, the logic of advantage is numbers is twisted, causing a greater amount of opponents to empower the Infernal instead. The protection applies for as long as the Exalt remains in motion.THOUSANDFOLD TYPHOON HAND: The enemies of Adorjan must concentrate if they hope to see her blindingly fast strikes in time to defend against them. This Charm may enhances a single attack, causing it to become invisible to the opponent's senses. It becomes completely unexpected unless the target channels their willpower to concentrate on defense at the critical moment.RACING VITARIS: Adorjan’s daughter, the Brilliant Wind, sometimes imagines she can outpace her mother. In the end, she merely outpaces her mother’s madness. As Racing Vitaris activates, the Exalt launches forward at superhuman acceleration, trailing strobe-flicker afterimages tinted in the colors of the Exalt’s anima. Everyone without supernatural balance standing within the vicinity of the Infernal’s initial position is immediately thrown aside, also releasing a flash of light in addition to a burst of force. Mortals with a clear line of sight to the acceleration are automatically blinded, and the light even possesses the power to temporarily blind magical beings as thought they were mortals. This Charm triples the Exalt’s speed for its duration. However, the character must maintain maximum dashing speed or the Charm terminates. It may be reactivated at any time to release another shockwave and flash.RUNNING TO FOREVER: Lesser beings may run for a time and falter. They do not internalize the motion until it uplifts and rejuvenates them. Infernals with this Charm experience no fatigue while dashing. In fact, the act of continuously dashing (or any form of continuous and normally fatiguing exertion) counts as sleep for all recuperative purposes and meditation for the purpose of Essence recovery. The Infernal even dreams while dashing, though this reflexively occurs on a separate level of consciousness and does not impair conscious actions. He loses all recuperative benefits from actual sleep.MURDER IS MEAT: Adorjan does not kill because she enjoys the pain of others, but because it is natural for her to do so. Whenever an Infernal with this Charm takes a single action that kills one or more natural animals no smaller than himself or thinking beings of any size, he reflexively respires Essence. The murderous act also physically nourishes him for one day. He never becomes too full regardless of how many meals of violence he savors, though he only receives these rewards after he turns his back on the remains.UNIMPEDED PERFECTION OF EXERTION: Does the wind stumble? While the Infernal dashes, he automatically maintains balance and exerts no weight on solid objects, allowing him to skip from one blade of grass to another or waltz across the snow without leaving footprints.FOAM-DANCING HASTE: Adorjan darts over rivers of blood without sinking into them. She is above wallowing in gore, so this Charm further enhances the functional weightlessness afforded by its prerequisite to cover liquid surfaces. If the Infernal begins a dash while swimming on the surface, he may continue to swim or nimbly climb atop the liquid and run on it. If he continues to swim, he dashes at the same speed as if running. Additionally, the Exalt suffers no environmental harm associated with any dangerous conditions he traverses; he is immune to all environmental hazards and penalties while dashing, even those unrelated to the medium of his journey.GRAVITY-REBUKING GRACE: Does the wind fall? This Charm expands the scope of its prerequisite. While dashing, the Infernal may move across vertical and even inverted surfaces as though they were the ground. If the Exalt slows below a dash while impossibly aligned on a surface, he falls normally.FASTER THAN SIGHT: The wind is felt, not seen. So long as he maintains maximum dashing speed, the Infernal is invisible and as inaudible as desired. Efforts to track him automatically fail.SACRED KAMILLA’S INHALATION: The ragged gasps of the Silent Wind inhale promises, endings and sometimes worlds. This Charm may be activated only while the Infernal moves away from a target corpse. It dissolves into the wind like stone eroded by the gales of uncounted eons. Even as its mass ceases to be, the universe maintains harmonious equilibrium by the spontaneous generation and inhalation of Essence-infused breath within the body of the Infernal. Drawing this breath assures the character can breathe safely in all climates and conditions for a number of days equal to the corpses inhaled. If the Infernal inhales a corpse he personally killed, he gains mystical ownership of all objects on the victim’s person left behind when the cadaver ceased to exist.BROKEN SILENCE LAUGHTER DEFENSE: Adorjan pities her siblings. They plot vengeance against the gods and their Chosen so seriously that they fail to see the absurd humor in hairless monkey creatures rising up and conquering the creators of the universe. What could be funnier than that? This Charm may be activated in response to any sort of mental influence, causing that influence to become obvious to the Infernal’s senses. He then perfectly parries it with inappropriate or unnerving laughter, even if it is an otherwise unblockable mental influence.FIREFLY ARROWHEAD GRIP: When one is fast enough to sidestep arrows, catching them is as easy as plucking insects from the air. Whenever an Infernal with this Charm uses Who Strikes The Wind? to defend against a ranged attack, he may either dodge it as normal or apply a perfect parry by swatting the projectile aside with his hand or a close combat weapon. If the character uses an empty hand to block a solid projectile, he catches it and arms herself with it to the best degree possible.SKY-VAULTING SURGE: In her madness, the Silent Wind sometimes forgets the idea of down. This Charm may only be activated while moving at full dashing speed, which is built up until it explodes into a great leap. The Exalt suffers no falling damage from landing at the end of the jump, even if leaping from a very high perch where most of the descent is actual falling rather than controlled jumping.