Exalted – The Soul of Chaos

Every soul contains a spark of chaos – a wellspring of creativity, of imagination, and of essence. In Exalted the human soul is especially-designed to take a portion of that upwelling power – the purest, most easily shaped, and ethereal portion – and transform it into prayer – and it’s concentrated forms, quintessence and ambrosia.

Thus humans have no native charms. The readily-shapeable part of their essence pools is being sent on elsewhere, for the delectation of the Primordials and the Gods. What is left is difficult to tap, and – even once it is awakened – can only be shaped laboriously, with the long disciplines of thaumaturgy and the martial arts.

It is possible to burn out that transmuting filter, fanning that spark of chaos into a flame. Raising a humans essence above three will do it, burning away a portion of the mortal soul and causing said human to “Transcend” into a being of pure spirit.

The souls of the Exalted are still human – but they are buttressed and fortified by the artifice of Autochthon and Gaia. They can withstand the terrible pressures of essence 4+. From that fountain of possibilities they can draw new charms, spells, artifacts – and even realms…

Gate of Dreams (Solar)

• Cost: —; Minimum Lore 4, Essence 3, Type: Permanent.
• Duration: Permanent.
• Keywords: None.
• Prerequisite Charms: Chaos Repelling Pattern, Dreaming Narrative Conquest.

The user transforms a bit of his soul into a Chancel of rating (Essence + 1); if this takes it above five, simply square the rating to determine the number of waypoints it contains. Of those, one is always pure chaos, surrounded by six deep wyld waypoints, with the rest being middlemarches. The Chancel has no attunement cost.

The Chancel has no “main entrance” normally, although the user can spend three motes to open one wherever he is, and even enter it – although the main portal is always stationary while it exists. Destroying the main gate does not destroy the Chancel; instead it inflicts two levels of aggravated damage on the user.

The user may purchase this charm again to expand his or her internal world at a cost of 4 XP up to (Conviction) times; each time will also provide him or her with one bonus charm for which he or she is otherwise qualified that will only operate within the Chancel. These are fixed once chosen unless the user actually learns one, in which case a new bonus charm may be chosen.

The user may also wish to invest in some internal guardians; after all, other people can get inside his or her little world by sneaking through the secondary entrances as they could any other Chancel. It can be really embarrassing to open the gate to your secret castle only to find a swarm of assassins there waiting for you.

Warden of the Marches (Solar)

• Cost: —; Minimum Lore 4, Essence 4, Type: Permanent.
• Duration: Permanent.
• Keywords: None
• Prerequisite Charms: Chaos Repelling Pattern, Dreaming Narrative Conquest, Gate of Dreams.

Once the user has established a personal world and forged his or her imagination into reality, it has become a real place – and one that it can be quite annoying to have trespassers in. Fortunately, a landlord with this charm finds his or her internal world far easier to survey. Once this charm is purchased, the users senses are all considered to extend throughout the internal world normally. While stealth, evasion, and other distractions may help, those inside will never quite know when the user will become aware of their presence and activities.

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