Exalted – The Music Of Creation

Charles has concluded that simply wyld stunting himself into attunement with the manses of Yu-Shan will not be enough. Not only is the potential danger considerable, but even that will not let him spread his rebuilding and healing charms far enough. Something more will be needed – a way to spread his power over vast areas.

So he’s began to compose the Music Of Creation – five five-dot symphonic artifacts designed to be performed – and to work – together. It is their nature to take other music, whether vocal or instrumental, into themselves and to resonate with those lesser performances – lending them their own perfection and thus swelling into a truly transcendent chorus.

Each of the five movements requires a total of 250 successes on Craft/Air to compose – and must be completed in no more than five rolls. Each movement must then be imbued with power as rank-five artifact. Actually performing (or perhaps unleashing) each movement requires sixty committed motes, a minimum effective essence of six, a skill of 8+ in Occult or Perform (either works to “perform” the movements), and at least a dozen assistants with skill 5+ in Perform.

Each of the first four movements has two basic effects, which normally extends to a radius of approximately one half mile times the primary performers essence rating. The fifth movement completes and unifies the set. With the opening of the fifth movement, each performer who takes up the incredible beauty of the theme and participates will act as a resonator – causing the power of the Music to spread a little further (and effectively forming a Rank N/A Artifact).

Movement The First (Percussion): The Wyld Drums, A Fire Upon The Deep. To be performed by Uthorian, Prince of Chaos and Wyld Thaumaturgy, the Noldor, and the Mardi Gras Raksha – although many will be taking instrumental form for it. Principle themes: The Chaos as the Eternal Source, Heartbeat of Life – Birth in Chaos, March of the Raksha, and the Thousand-Threaded Narrative.

Where the music of the Wyld Drums resounds, possibilities expand as the underlying chaos wells up. Within that area…

1. Small Gods awaken, Wraiths experience the sensations and urges of life once more, Raksha can respire normally in Creation (and need not fear Calcification), and Mortals gain a glimpse of the flow of essence through the world.
2. Characters may roll (Occult + Perception) at the start of each round. Successes may be used to reduce the cost of using charms and other powers during the round at a ratio of one success per mote, two successes per point of glamour, and three successes per point of will. Costs cannot be reduced below one mote point in total if a character uses one or more charms or powers though.

Movement The Second (Brasses): Paen of Glory, Triumph Of The Will. To be performed by Mishinago the Philosophical Storm, Master Of Alchemy, and the Warforged. Principle Themes: Cosmic Principles Unstained, Themes of the Absolute, Before the Fall. Pure Structure Rising. The March of Order, Drawing form and purpose from the infinite.

Where the Paen of Glory peals forth, structure rises from chaos and entropy retreats.

1. Any creature touched by the music will see a vision of it’s potentials, and may spend up to (Ess x 3) + 12 experience points instantly, as a training effect.
2. The essence flows reveal the potentials of physical structures – manses and buildings, books and paintings, rivers and forests – as well, halving the skill and ability requirements for repairing or otherwise modifying them.

Movement The Third (Woodwinds): Ode To Dawn, Serenade Of Nightfall. To be performed by Malinda the Seer, Mistress of Divination, the Elementals of Gaia and Aden, and Songbirds. Principle Themes: The First Awakening. The Break of Dawn over a New Creation. Rain. The Passing of a Storm, the Burgeoning of New Life into Joy. The Fall. Passage into Darkness, the Birth of Stars, Souls scattered across a Myriad Worlds.

Where the music of the third movement whispers, creatures find clarity in their roles and destinies.

1. Anyone currently affected by Unnatural Mental Influence will find it’s influence broken as if sufficient will had been spent. Mindless plants are restored to health and vigor.
2. Wraiths may opt to depart instantly into Lethe. Even those entrapped in Soulsteel are free to depart – leaving the soulsteel purified but unharmed, just as if it had been forged from ambrosia with the proper resonances in the first place. Other spirits see how they fit into creation, and are vital parts of it – and may roll to recover willpower as if awakening.

Movement The Fourth; Symphony of Renewal (Strings and Keyboards). To be performed by Elzeard and the Totems. Principle Themes: First Dawn on a Hundred Newly-Shaped Worlds, the Restoration of the Fallen (includes Descant for Varangian Rodents, Hipparions, and many other restored species), First Shoots Arising from the Ashes, and the Reawakening.

Where the melodies of the fourth movement are heard, those who listen will find strength and renewal.

1. Living and quasi-living creatures are strengthened; any injuries, disabilities, or illnesses that they suffer from are stripped of qualities such as “Crippling”, “Aggravated”, “Autoimmune”, or “Cancerous” and will begin to heal naturally.
2. Living and quasi-living creatures will find themselves as hale and hearty as if they had possessed the “Longevity” pox from their birth or creation.

Movement The Fifth: The Song of Creation (Voice and Geomantic Resonances). To be performed by Charles, various Voices, Geomantic Bass, and the prior movements. Principle themes; Ten Thousand Voices Unified and Touching the wider world.

Where the harmony of the fifth movement draws nature, sound, and spirit into itself, all are invited to rejoice and join in the music. 

As noted, each performer who joins in the music of the Fifth Movement will act as a resonant amplifier – causing the power of the music to spread a little further. Sadly, while the music carries an impression of it’s leader, it certainly doesn’t carry a full explanation. Moreover, this effect does have it’s downside; an ambitious secondary performer can attempt to weave his or her own themes into the music, spreading his or her influence with the help of those singers who find the new theme attractive or are inspired by their impressions of the new singer. Such secondary voices rarely get very far – and have to roll against the primary performer (who gets a bonus) – but even if influencing the overall result of the music is beyond them they can lead to peculiar localized aberrations.

The result is fundamentally very simple; the user’s essence-based powers (and the influence of the first four movements) are carried by the music, and can thus affect everywhere the music extends to. Thus, if you wish to use a medical charm that normally affects individuals to cure a plague across a kingdom, you may do so – as long as enough other performers are willing to join in and help you spread your healing influence across the land. Now if you wished to rain fire across the land and wipe everyone out, you’d probably get a lot less help – if you got any at all – but, by default, benign acts usually get enough support.

While Charles is performing limited tests as he goes along, he may not have time for a full-scale test before committing himself. Such is the nature of urgent problems.