Ayin Rends-Words

Character Page for Ayin Rends-Words in CrazyIvan's "Nothing Certain" Exalted Game

Exalt: Inferal
Caste: Fiend
Anima: More and more of his body fades, to be replaced by animate shadow reminiscent of his bisclavaret parentage; his shadow itself spills across the floor, no longer constrained by his physical form
Concept: Well-Intentioned Magnificent Bastard Chessmaster

Character Details

Bio

First Age Bio: Perhaps the most well-known Eclipse Caste of the Age of Dreams was Desus, whose exploits during the Primordial Waf and after were the stuff of legend even among other Solars, but the other members of his Caste, while less publicly-visible, were no less busy.

Niya Wordweaver was one of them, a girl the Quicksilver Falcons despaired of turning into a confident socialite. She preferred subterfuge to society, paperwork to performance, and spent more time tinkering with gadgets than on her appearance. In short, everyone suspected that at some point her Exaltation must have gotten confused and chosen a Copper Spider instead. When the time came to negotiate a treaty with the raksha permitting Creation's armies access through Wyld waypoints to assail one of Oramus' hidden subsouls, she was sent as part of the delegation largely because the Deliberative was hoping she would get killed off and her Exaltation recycled to a more appropriate bearer.

Surrounded by the opulence of the raksha court, the other Eclipses began their usual process of bullying, exploitation, and use of powerful magics to manoeuvre their way to their objective. Niya just listened. To the disgust of her colleagues, the fae found the reticent young bookworm a thousand times more alluring than the brightly-arrayed Deliberative peacocks, and they plied her with treasures and tales, all of which she accepted with quiet gratitude and grave attentiveness. The Solars began to squabble amongst themselves, refusing to believe that someone as plain as Niya could draw the attention of the Fair Folk away from them. Weren't they interesting? Tragic? Brimming with epic potential for narrative?

As they descended deeper into the pattern laid down by that Freehold's Unshaped, Niya continued to nod and listen.

One day, she strode into the throneroom where the more prominent raksha gathered in some semblance of a court. At the foot of the great dais lay the bodies of a number of Solars, either dead or comatose, ensnared and drained by fae magic, too weakened and blinded by their own internal strife to recognise the trap laid for them. In her hand she held a small ceramic egg. She showed this to the Nobles.

"You have been generous and given me many gifts. Allow me to offer you one in return. In this egg is your Heart. You have hid it amongst these many semblances, but as each came to me with poisoned words I leached the venom from them and spun a true story, one that has wrapped its strands around your very Essence. Everything you are is in this egg. Holding your life in my hand, I give it to you freely."

She laid the egg down carefully on a cushion, and strode away.

Weeks later, the other Quicksilver Falcons returned to Creation, shamefaced and humbled. Each in their hearts held a burning taper of vengeance for the indignity wrought by Niya, but in their keeping they also held a contract, signed and sealed and witnessed by Heaven, pledging the Deliberative the support they had sought.

Nobody mourned Niya when she died. The Dragon-Blooded commandos sent to kill her returned shamefacedly to their commanders, bringing news that her soul and Exaltation had already fled her lifeless form when they came upon her. Shattered on the floor at her feet they had found her last project, which had occupied the last years of her life and which they believed to have been another Solar folly. They poured into Lytek's hands the remnants of what had once been a delicate ceramic egg, its shell thin as paper. What the Right Hand of Power did with those remnants few can attest to, but Niya's shard, fallen into the hands of the architects of the Reclamation, appears to be remarkably stable in its perfect recall of the First Age...

Appearance

A bespectacled young man of pleasing countenance, Ayin often gives people the impression that he's something of an ascetic, with his long lean face and soulful expression. He very quickly sheds that guise when confronted with the prospect of temptation (either his own or that of others), revealing a predatory grin and eyes that glitter with nothing of human sympathy; something of a congenital weakness afflicts his eyes, and he affects a pair of ground glass lenses that correct his vision. They give his gaze something in the way of cool hauteur. He dresses simply more by necessity than anything else, having a terrible head for numbers and a distressing tendency to squander huge sums of money. This never appears to be a problem: for some reason or the other, Ayin is never short of friends willing to spot him some loose change (or their inheritance, or entire estate) in a pinch. His Exaltation has not radically altered his appearance -- the bisclavaret appear mostly human, after all -- except for his hair: upon close examination, his hair is composed entirely of homogeneous shadow, instead of discrete solid strands. The substance is permeable to the touch, although anyone touching it feels a slight resistance, and a pleasant coolness, as if they were running their hands through cool dark water.
Ayin, pondering Oblivion

Motivation

To acquire the Regalia of Peace and Order

Urge

To corrupt and take over death cults

Intimacies

• Mara, who taught him the rudiments of Black Claw Style (love)
• his Lunar mate, who used sex magic on him (lust)

Character Sheet

Attributes

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Stamina 3

Charisma 1
Manipulation 7
Appearance 5

Perception 3
Intelligence 3
Wit 3

Abilities

Caste:
Bureaucracy 3 (dealing with red tape 1)
Linguistics 2 (somethingtongue | Old Realm, High Realm
Ride
Sail
Socialize

Favoured:
Occult 5 (Mind-Hand Manipulation 1)
Integrity 3
Investigation 3 (interrogation 1)
Presence 3 (lying 1)
Craft 5

Others:
Martial Arts 2
Stealth 2
Lore 5

Virtues/Willpower/Essence

Compassion 5 4/5
Conviction 3
Temperance 1
Valor 2

Willpower 6/10

Essence 4
Personal 3/22
Peripheral 33/49 + 10 (Flames Lit Within)+ 0/10 (Feast of Falling Tears)
Committed 10 (usually 16) (Mind-Hand Manipulation, Loom-Snarling Deception is down)

Mutations

40 pt library
Abominations (6 pts)
Wings, Perfect Healing Factor (1 bhl/min, 1 lhl/hour), Spider Legs (climb any surface, +4 STR to jumping, fall x2 vertical jumping distance without harm)
Blights (4 pts)
Lidless Demon Eye (perceive invisible and dematerialised creatures, permanent All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight, glows with green light)
Afflictions (2 pts)
Gazelle's Pace (+4 DEX for movement, +4 STR for jumping, long distance speed as per horse), Beast Speak, Gills
Poxes (1 pt)
Enhanced Sight (+2 Awareness), Enhanced Hearing (+2 Awareness)

Background

Backing (the Ebon Dragon) 1
Those who venerate the Ebon Dragon, or who are descended from him, instinctively recognise that Ayin bears some faint mark of the Yozi's favour

Cult (Yozi) 1
Cultists of the Ebon Dragon venerate Ayin in their prayers.

Influence (over Ophidian subsouls) 1
Setsuhou, the bisclavaret serving as Ayin's coadjutor, was well-known among the subsouls of the Ebon Dragon as a consummate spymaster. While they cannot know for sure how much of Setsuhou's memory and resources are open to Ayin (practically none; the Green Sun Prince's powerful ego has all but obliterated all traces of the demon's original self), the fear that some juicy blackmail material is floating around in the back of Ayin's cranium tends to earn him at the very least wary courtesy.

Lunar Bond 5
Ivan, I'll leave this to you. Surprise me

Past Lives 5
Ayin's memories of the First Age, especially pertaining to the various magics that his former Eclipse-Caste incarnation researched, having a passionate interest in the cataloguing of Charms.

Savant 2
Ayin's training in Malfeas dealt primarily with artifice.

Charms

Ophidian
First Ebon Dragon Excellency x4
Shadow Spite Curse
Ebon Dragon Mythos Exultant
So Speaks the Ebon Dragon
Loom-Snarling Deception
Witness to Darkness
Eldritch Secrets Mastery
Life-Blighting Emptiness Attack
Hollowing Echo Venom
Nemesis Self Imagined Anew
Soul Crack Exploitation
Endless Suspicion Vigilance*
Feast of Falling Tears*
Golden Years Tarnished Black (IM)
Memory Poison Mastery (IM)
Twisted Yesterdays Curse (IM)
Everything Gets Worse (IM)
Unreasoning Prejudice Infliction (IM)
Glories That Never Were (IM)
Want Becomes Need (IM)
A World of Fools (HFE) x2
Resplendent Shadow Heart (HFE) x2

Pyrian
Factual Determination Analysis
Cosmic Transcendence of Conviction
Essence-Dissecting Stare
Counter-Conceptual Interposition
Mind-Hand Manipulation
Principle-Invoking Onslaught
Analytical Modelling Intuition
Counterpoint Inquisition Defence
Force Suppression Barrier
Tool-Transcending Constructs
Experimental Acceleration Mastery
Flames Lit Within (Broken-Winged Crane)

Cecelyne
Transcendent Desert Creature
Stone-Flayer Touch

Malfeas
By Pain Reforged
By Rage Recast

Adorjan
Sacred Kamilla's Inhalation
Broken Silence Laughter Defence

Heretical
Emerald Angel Unfurling

Sorcery
Sorcerous Enlightenment of the Ebon Dragon x1

Spells Emerald Countermagic, Slave-Spawn Summons, Summoning the Heart of Darkness

Martial Arts Black Claw Style: Open Palm Caress
*custom Charm

Endless Suspicion Vigilance
Cost: 1m (or 0m); Mins: Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Witness to Darkness (and Nemesis Self Imagined Anew)
The Ebon Dragon suspects everyone. He knows better than anyone else how good intentions and sweet words scab over treachery only to break open raw to disgorge betrayal at inopportune moments. He would betray anyone, anything, and he expects to be treated no differently. As such, surprise attacks can scarcely take him by surprise. The Infernal pays 1 mote to remove the unexpected quality from any attack (physical or social); if he knows the Charm Nemesis Self Imagined Anew and his target is the one assaulting him, he can forego the mote expenditure, but this Charm still counts as a Charm activation for his turn.

Feast of Falling Tears Cost: -- ; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Overdrive
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Life-Blighting Emptiness Attack, Golden Memories Tainted Black
Heroes battle for any number of reasons. Some fight for a righteous cause, while others are possessed of a fiery fury. Some are reluctant to do battle, moved to fight only by an iron code that demands they sacrifice their pacifism in defence of others, while still more are eager to cross blades with a despicable adversary. But sometimes, they move to battle dully, moving as though leaden, moving by instinct and reflex when their wills have already been crushed by some horrendous revelation that makes their achievements and power feel hollow even to themselves. At such moments, the Ebon Dragon laughs. Purchase of this Charm grants the Infernal an Overdrive pool of ten motes, which is initially empty. The Infernal gains (opponent's Essence) offensive motes if someone who Join Battle against her meet any of the following criteria. If she is attacked by a group, she only gains motes equal to the highest Essence rating possessed by any one member.

- gained Limit for suppressing a Virtue
- believes himself or herself to be fighting someone to whom they have a positive or negative Intimacy (the Ebon Dragon finds succulent both misguided, betrayed love and seething hate)
- believes himself or herself to be violating a taboo in engaging in battle against the Infernal (or who the Infernal claims to be), such as someone attacking kin, or their superior in an organisation. This taboo has to be part of a code that the victim truly believes himself beholden to: a soldier who attacks a superior officer is a valid target for this Charm, but a member of a secret society which encourages murdering one's way to the top as a means of promotion is not. Unless an individual is zealously law-abiding (or is a law-enforcement officer of some sort), laws against murder and assault don't count as taboos. An idiosyncratic taboo (I can't hit a woman; I'm supposed to take care of my little sister; my order is sworn to defend all blue-eyed women wearing pink taffeta) is valid.

If the target believes that he has been unlawfully or unreasonably attacked (eg the Infernal disguised as his mother tries to stab him to death for no reason in the middle of a genial conversation at the dinner table; a soldier is backstabbed by his superior officer for no discernible reason on a battlefield) he is not a valid target for this Charm, and may engage in combat normally. Similarly, if the target is disabused of one of the above perceptions (he thinks he's fighting his sister, but then his real sister walks in the door; he thinks he's fighting a superior officer, but someone else points out that the Infernal's unit insignia is wrong and he must be an imposter) he immediately stops being a valid target for this Charm.

Every time the Infernal's DV refreshes, he gains a number of offensive motes equal to the number of valid opponents who took aggressive actions against him. Valid opponents who engage in purely defensive actions (or attempt to flee, or talk the Infernal down, or attack each other) do not provide the Infernal with motes.

Combo

Invisible Weapons of Spite (gratis)
While Ayin does not enjoy combat, he has found it necessary to develop some capabilities in that arena, and he has done so by ensuring that he never appears to be the aggressor in any conflict. Even if prompted to open hostilities, Ayin always affects an air of injured bewilderment, as if his trust has been betrayed by a sudden and treacherous attack, and his chosen weapons never leave a trace. While in his favourite guise as a Lost Egg Terrestrial, he favours using Principle-Invoking Onslaught to duplicate the effects of an Elemental Bolt Attack.
First ED Excellency + Life-Blighting Emptiness Attack + Principle-Invoking Onslaught + Force-Suppression Barrier + Counter-Conceptual Interposition + Endless Suspicion Vigilance + Open Palm Caress + Broken Silence Laughter Defence + Counterpoint Inquisition Defence

Don't You Remember...
First ED Excellency + Golden Years Tarnished Black + Soul Crack Exploitation + Broken Silence Laughter Defence + Counterpoint Inquisition Defence + Analytical Modelling Intuition

Combat

Weapon

Speed Accuracy Damage Defense Rate

Parry DV:
Dodge DV:

Soak: A/L/B
Hardness: L/B

XP

XP Total: 248
XP Spent: 227
XP Available: 21

XP Expenditures

200 Charms
8 Charm (Unreasoning Prejudice Infliction)
3 Combo enhancement (add Soul Crack Exploitation)
8 By Rage Recast
8 Want Becomes Need