Unformated Shite

ADV E R S A R I E S O F T H E R I G H T E O U S
Peremuz,
Rogue Homunculus
Background: After her retirement from the legions, the
outcaste sorcerer Lofty Raiton retired to the countryside
to pursue her researches. One of her creations was
a tiny homunculus hatched from a geode filled with her
own blood. She named the creature Peremuz, after the
diminutive hero of a century-old romance novel.
Quick-witted and clever, with a sharp tongue, Peremuz
served his creator for several years as a laboratory assistant,
conversationalist, messenger, and spy. But when
Lofty Raiton died, her progeny bickered over ownership
of Peremuz as though he were a pet or a tool rather than
a person. Shouldering a pouch full of coin, he departed
to make his own destiny.
After moving from one city to the next every few years,
Peremuz currently earns his keep in Pangu’s
underworld, where he freelances
for myriad employers. Most
simply know him as a peculiar
local figure, riding about
on his terrier or drinking
wine from thimbles. In fact,
his minuscule size makes
him an ideal spy, thief, or
even assassin.
Image: A grotesque
manikin with
huge batlike ears,
Peremuz stands
just one handspan
tall. He dresses
in clothing custom-
made for the
occasion, whether
that’s peacock finery,
rugged traveling
leathers, or mottled
grays for camouflage.
He seems ageless,
though his gray hair is
receding. The chip on
his shoulder is apparent
in his stance and lofty grimace
when dealing with
larger folk. He usually travels
mounted on his terrier,
Black Wolf. For long trips, his husky Storm carries a pack
or sled.
Intimacies: Defining: “I will take advantage of a world
that overlooks me.”; Major: “Big folk can’t be trusted.”;
“Scruples are for those without the will to survive.”;
Lofty Raiton’s memory (Filial Respect); His handler
in the All-Seeing Eye (Loyalty); Minor: Lofty Raiton’s
children (Bitterness); Mortals (Scorn); the Exalted
(Wariness)
Peremuz
Secrets: Peremuz is a repository of secrets; he’s spied
on crime lords, visiting Guild merchant princes, patrician
matriarchs, and Dynastic grandees. In addition, he’s
secretly an agent of the All-Seeing Eye. Everything he
reports to his other patrons, he also reports to his Eye
handler.
Equipment: Tiny garments, toothpick-sized sword, fishhook-
grapnel on six feet of silken line, backpack full of
lockpicks, doll-sized journal covered in handwriting too
tiny to read
Roleplaying Hints: Peremuz is sarcastic and snarky,
channeling his bitterness toward a world that doesn’t
accommodate his scale. He’s wary of kindness, as many
attempt to manipulate him under the guise of concern
and understanding, but characters can woo him with
equitable treatment. Though loyal to his All-Seeing Eye
handler, he values his skin above the needs of any particular
assignment; he’d rather flee than fight, and freely
sells out most employers if necessary to survive.
If Peremuz dies, the All-Seeing Eye loses its best source
of information on Pangu’s underworld, and the various
bosses resort to less subtle and efficacious methods of
observing and interfering with their rivals’ activities, resulting
in increased bloodshed.
Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3; Charisma
2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 1; Perception
4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Essence: 1
Willpower: 6
Join Battle: 8 dice (9 vs. tiny creatures)
Health Levels: −0/−1/−2/−4/Incap.
Abilities: Athletics (Climbing) 2, Awareness (Tiny
Creatures) 4, Brawl 2, Bureaucracy (Evaluating
Goods) 1, Craft (Alchemy) 1, Dodge (Guard Dogs,
Humans) 4, Integrity 2, Investigation 3, Larceny 2,
Linguistics 2, Lore 2, Melee 3, Occult (Sorcery) 1,
Presence 1, Resistance 3, Socialize (Guile, Spying) 1,
Stealth 4, Survival (Animal Training) 2
Merits: Backing (All-Seeing Eye) 2, Contacts (Pangu
Underworld) 1, Enhanced Sense (Hearing), Familiar
(Black Wolf) 1, Familiar (Storm) 1, Hideous, Influence
1, Language (Native: High Realm; Low Realm,
Old Realm, Riverspeak, Guild Cant) 4, Tiny Creature
(below)
Attack (Tiny sword): 9 dice (Damage 4, or 10
against enemies his size or smaller); Tags: Lethal,
Melee
Attack (Unarmed): 6 dice (Damage 4, or 8 against
enemies his size or smaller; can’t inflict decisive
damage against human-sized or larger opponents);
Tags: Bashing, Brawling, Grappling, Natural
Attack (Grapple): 6 dice (3 to control; can only
grapple enemies his size or smaller)
Combat: Soak 5, Hardness 0 (tiny feathersteel chain
shirt: +2); Parry 4 (Melee); Evasion 4 (6 against
larger foes, or 7 against guard dogs/humans); Rush
6 dice; Disengage 8 dice
Social: Guile 3, Resolve 3
Familiars: For dog traits, see Exalted, p. 562. Both
dogs know the Hold at Bay and Snarling Guardian
Attack special attacks, and have the Loyal Guardian
Merit. Black Wolf also has the Discerning Scent
(human scents) and Wary Watchdog Vigilance
Merits.
Merit: Tiny Creature
Gain +2 Evasion against larger foes, and subtract two
successes from Awareness-based rolls to notice him.

*****

H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
Black Hollow
Most people never see a black hollow — only the effects of its passage. Concealed within a featureless, blacker-thanblack
sphere, it drains color from whatever it touches, stripping it from surfaces and tearing into anything thicker
than paper to get at the hue hidden within. It’s fond of the brilliant carmine red of human blood, and leaves victims a
twisted fractal of gray pulp and fluid after it shreds them alive. No evidence of the black hollow’s true shape remains
when it perishes, only an explosion of color that stains anything nearby with the colors it most recently consumed.
Some savants believe the black hollow doesn’t have a true shape, nothing more than its endless hunger. The light of
the Exalted soul spilling out into the world gives off pure, sublime colors a black hollow cannot resist.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 7 dice
Personal Motes: 20m
Health Levels: −0x5/−4x2/Incap.
Actions: Feats of Destruction: 6 dice
(may attempt Strength 3 feats); Senses:
7 dice (see Color Scent); Stealth: 4
dice (see Pitch Black); Tracking: 10
dice
Resolve 1, Guile 5
COMBAT
Attack (Flense): 9 dice
(Damage 9/3); Tags: Melee
(see Anima-Devouring
Maw)
Attack (Grapple): 8
dice (10 to control) (see
Oubliette)
Combat Movement:
7 dice
Evasion 4, Parry 1
Soak/Hardness:
12/6
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Starved for Hue: With
a successful flense attack
on an Exalt whose anima
banner is visible, the black
hollow steals the character’s
Essence for itself: two motes if the
banner is at the glowing level, four
at burning, or six at bonfire/iconic.
This can increase the black hollow’s pool
beyond its usual maximum, up to
30 total motes; however, unused
motes in excess of 20 vanish at the
end of the scene.
MERITS
Color Scent: Black hollows are
blind, but they can sniff color out,
B l ac k H o l l ow
even beneath skin or behind a wall, and then destroy
those barriers to get at it. They can’t detect things that
are completely black or white, transparent objects like
glass, or each other.
Oubliette: A successful grapple gambit pulls the foe
into the sphere, where the black hollow devours all
light. The victim is blinded until they escape, suffering
a −3 modifier on actions that rely on sight.
Pitch Black: Characters who can’t see in total darkness
increase penalties to find or notice the black
hollow in dim light or darkness by two.
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Fractal Strike (1-5m; Supplemental; Instant; Dual;
Essence 2): The black hollow’s attacks twist around
obstacles in impossible ways. A supplemented withering
attack ignores soak from armor equal to motes
spent, up to five; a decisive attack ignores Hardness
from armor equal to motes spent, up to five.
DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Chaotic Veil (2m, 2i per +1; Reflexive; One scene;
Essence 1): A thin, almost invisible ribbon of warped
prism always surrounds the sphere. This Charm
expands that ribbon to fill more space; all characters
within short range, including the black hollow
itself, gain +1 Evasion per two motes plus two Initiative
spent against any attackers that rely on sight, to
a maximum of +3. The black hollow cannot end this
Charm prematurely.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Anima-Devouring Maw (6m per anima level;
Simple; Instant; Essence 2): The black hollow
consumes one level of an Exalt’s visible anima banner
per six motes spent, absorbing the divine light into
itself and diminishing the target’s anima display accordingly.
This Charm can target anyone within range
of a flense attack. The sphere can hold up to three total
anima levels, whether from the same target or different
ones. For each anima level it has absorbed, its flense
attacks increase their reach by one range band as the
sphere grows in size; thus, with one anima level its
attacks can reach to short range, with two to medium,
and so on. All consumed anima levels vanish at the
end of the scene.
Storyteller Tactics
Black hollows only care about eating color, the brighter
the better, and blood red is their favorite. Though they’re
silent and their matte-black spheres are easy to miss in
darkness, they’re too single-minded to deliberately employ
stealth. A difficulty 3 gambit to distract a black hollow
with a brighter color can pull it away from its current
combat target.
Whenever a black hollow deals damage to an enemy or
breaks an object, it consumes some of the target’s pigment,
turning its colors paler and less saturated. The effect
reverses at the end of the scene unless the target is
destroyed.
A black hollow flees combat when it has taken damage in
its first −4 health level.

*****

H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
Cockatrice
Betimes, a hen lays an egg without a yolk. These “cock’s
eggs,” so named because many believe a cock laid them
rather than a hen, never hatch under normal circumstances
— but sometimes, in places where Creation’s
fabric wears thin and the Wyld seeps through, a cock’s
egg hatches. It’s not a chick that crawls out of the broken
shell, but a winged lizard with a rooster’s head and
a long, serpentine tail. Blessed with deadly sight, its first
victim is usually its mother, followed by the remainder
of her flock. Hunting is never difficult for the cockatrice,
and it has little to fear from predators; even if they slip
by its gaze, they perish at its touch. A cockatrice never
learns fear, not even of humans, who die just as easily
under even a juvenile cockatrice’s gaze. A single cockatrice
can wipe out entire villages, so mortals in the
Threshold smash cock’s eggs when they find them just
in case, to keep disaster at bay.
Essence: 2; Willpower: 5; Join Battle: 6 dice
Health Levels: –0/–1x2/–2x2/–4/Incap.
Actions: Fly: 6 dice; Senses: 8 dice; Stealth: 7 dice
Resolve 2, Guile 1
COMBAT
Attack (Bite): 6 dice (Damage 9)
Attack (Tail lash): 9 dice (Damage 11)
Attack (Toxic breath): 8 dice (Damage 7); short
range (see Vile Fumes)
Attack (Tail grapple): 8 dice (7 to control)
Attack (Paralysis grapple): 10 dice (12 to control)
(see Eyes of Flame)
Combat Movement: 9 dice
Evasion 5, Parry 1
Soak/Hardness: 6/0
C o ckat r i c e
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Eyes of Flame: The cockatrice’s gaze has a hypnotic
effect. It performs a difficulty 3 ranged grapple gambit
at up to medium range. (Wits + Integrity) opposes the
control roll. Success indicates the cockatrice locks eyes
with the victim, paralyzing them; blind characters are
immune. It doesn’t suffer Defense penalties while using
this ability. It may only savage or release a grappled
target; savage attacks burn the victim from the inside
out. Another character can intervene, but the cockatrice
reflexively makes a new control roll as though it
had succeeded on the grapple gambit against the interloper.
Failure transfers the paralysis to that character,
resetting the cockatrice’s rounds of control based on the
new result. The original target is then free to move, as
the cockatrice can only stare a single target to death at
a time. However, it can maintain Eyes of Flame and a
tail grapple simultaneously.
MERITS
Cold Iron Bane: Weapons of iron deal aggravated
damage to cockatrices.
Vile Fumes: The cockatrice’s breath and bite are
toxic, exposing victims to its venom when it succeeds
on these attacks. Its touch is also a vector. The poison
deals 4i/round (lethal in Crash), lasts for three rounds,
and imposes a −3 penalty (see Exalted, p. 232).
Storyteller Tactics
A cockatrice is deadly, and it knows it. This makes it foolhardy,
brazenly confronting humans face-to-face. It likes to
stare down at foes from a high, haughty perch, and engages
those who sneak up behind it by grabbing or lashing them
with its tail while it paralyzes those who face it head-on.
Clever gambits, such as distractions or traps, are the best
way to deal with a cockatrice without falling prey to its
lethal stare and toxic touch. Indirect attacks, such as fire
or volleys of arrows, can work, but don’t always guarantee
a quick death — and a cockatrice can fly away from
threats. Fighting blind protects against its stare but not
its poison, and few can boast the training needed to survive
against such a foe without sight.
The most reliable way to kill a cockatrice is with a mirror:
It locks eyes with itself and thinks its reflection is
an enemy, performing its Eyes of Flame gambit against
its own defenses. Trapping a cockatrice with a mirror is
a difficulty 4 gambit and requires finding a mirror with
sufficient polish and of a size that the cockatrice paralyzes
itself before whoever holds it. Such treasures are rare
in the Threshold.
“I CLOSE MY EYES!”
A character guessing when it’s safe to open her
eyes and attack, and when to close them because
she thinks the cockatrice is about to look at her,
leaves herself vulnerable to Eyes of Flame; no one
can perfectly anticipate those moments. The cockatrice’s
gambit roll represents the constant interplay
of these guessing games and the creature’s own
ability to catch victims off-guard.
From a systems perspective, players must choose
at the beginning of each round between fighting
blind for the entire round or risking the cockatrice’s
success on the staredown gambit. Even
those choosing to fight blind must peek to interpose
themselves effectively between the cockatrice and
a paralyzed ally; doing so always risks the gambit.
See Exalted, p. 188, for blindness penalties.

*****
ADV E R S A R I E S O F T H E R I G H T E O U S
Afondha,
the Lady of the Well
Background: The well’s aquifer runs for miles underground, spanning
rivers and cisterns to bring life to the land. Generations of
farmers coaxed the water above ground, and rice and grains that
grow nowhere else in the East paid for gilded thrones. Three principalities
once waged war over Afondha’s Well, dark blood seeping
through earth to mingle with the water. Now they have reached an
equilibrium through treaties and marriage, so each may prosper.
Afondha is a regional fertility goddess. She has scores of
god-blooded children, begotten with men and women from
all three princedoms, whom she views as extensions of herself.
They fill her retinue as guards, servants, spies, and — for
those born of prestigious mortal lineages — ambassadors.
She has no patience for rebellion or laziness, and swiftly
disowns any children who refuse to play their parts. Any
who actively betray her, or even speak badly about her in
public, can look forward to unfriendly visits from hireling
slavers, assassins, or in some cases their own siblings.
The temple-manse at the heart of Afondha’s Well
draws supplicants bringing offerings. They beg for
fertile lands and wombs, or the more nebulous blessing
of fruitful endeavors. Others worship Afondha at
more distant cisterns, and her coffers fill with riches
and bounties. No gold or cornucopia compares to
the value of life, however, and she resents the three
principalities for reaching a peaceful arrangement.
She would prefer just enough bloodshed to salt the
waters a touch.
Image: Afondha is all luscious curves and dark bronze
skin. She never wears her raven hair the same way
twice. Her cheeks appear flushed, and her eyes are
the blue-grey of deep water. Often pregnant, her belly
shows from the first month. Her clothes and jewelry
are resplendent and ever-changing, taken from the
riches sacrificed to her wells.
Intimacies: Defining: “Life flows from me alone.”;
Major: “Protect my well at all costs.”, My Cult
(Ownership), “Blood sacrifice means more than riches.”;
Minor: Agu Zhano-a Tatosu, daughter by Prince
Agu Zhan (Expectant Pride)
Secrets: Afondha hears everything supplicants whisper
to any well that taps into the aquifer stretching out
from her temple-manse, from spouses and heirs wishing
for rulers’ deaths to farmers asking her to poison
a f h o n d h a , t h e l a dy o f t h e w e l l
their neighbors’ land, and she’s not above holding it over
their heads for leverage. She harbors plans to destabilize
the principalities, acting through discreet saboteurs lest
she offend local war gods. She offers potential agents a
myriad of rewards, including talismans and the hand of
her favorite (and unaware) daughter, Tatosu.
Equipment: Collar of Dawn’s Cleansing Light (Exalted,
p. 601); flowing robes (Silken Armor, Exalted, p. 600);
white jade headdress (Hearthstone Amulet, Exalted, p.
601) bearing three identical opaque green-blue stones,
one of which is a Harvest Gem (Exalted, p. 609)
Roleplaying Hints: Afondha carries herself with
self-aggrandizing confidence, but also with charm and
beauty. She is an excellent hostess to those she deems
worthy of her attention — especially young Exalted she
can call upon once they’ve grown in power — and icy
cold to anyone she deems beneath her. She changes her
attire and manse’s interior design on a whim, to keep
guests entertained and, not coincidentally, off-balance.
She never strikes a deal unless she believes she’ll come
out ahead.
Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4; Charisma
4, Manipulation 5, Appearance 5; Perception
3, Intelligence 4, Wits 2
Essence: 4
Willpower: 7
Join Battle: 6 dice
Personal Motes: 84/90 (6 committed)
Health Levels: −0/−1x4/−2x4/−4/Incap.
Abilities: Awareness 4, Brawl 1, Bureaucracy (Offerings)
4, Dodge 4, Integrity (Persuasion) 5, Linguistics
4, Lore 4, Occult 4, Performance 4, Presence
(Bargaining, Charm) 5, Resistance 2, Socialize (Read
Intentions) 4
Merits: Artifact (Hearthstone Amulet) 2, Artifact
(Collar of Dawn’s Cleansing Light) 2, Artifact (Silken
Armor) 4, Cult 4, Exalted Healing, Followers 2, Language
(Native: Old Realm; High Realm, Riverspeak)
2, Manse 5, Retainers (God-Blooded Bodyguard) 4,
Resources 4, Selective Conception
Attack (Unarmed): 8 dice (Damage 10); Tags:
Bashing, Brawl, Grappling, Natural
Attack (Grapple): 4 dice (4 to control)
Combat: Soak 9, Hardness 4 (Silken Armor: +5);
Parry 2 (Brawl); Evasion 4; Rush 3 dice; Disengage
7 dice
Social: Guile 5, Resolve 4
Escort: Afondha cultivates an entourage of fawning
servants, god-blooded guards, and juggling bears.
The temple-manse’s guards use traits for battle-ready
troops (Exalted, p. 496) and form a Size 2, Might 1
battle group with average Drill. Two elite bodyguards
(Exalted, p. 497) accompany Afondha everywhere,
tongueless and unflinchingly loyal.
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Geyser’s Distant Caress (6m, 1wp; Simple; One
scene; Eclipse; Essence 2): Afondha may perform
gambits against targets at up to medium range using
Manipulation + Brawl with bonus dice equal to her
Cult (10 total dice), as long as she’s within short range
of at least a gallon of open water. Successful grapples
performed with this Charm immediately pull the target
to close range.
DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Still Waters Run Deep (5m, 2i; Reflexive; Instant;
Withering-only; Essence 1): Afondha gains bonus
soak equal to the number of dice that show failures in
the attack roll, or double that amount if she is partially
or fully submerged in her aquifer’s water. Activate this
Charm before the attacker rolls.
MOBILITY CHARMS
Aqueous Rebirth (5m, 1i; Reflexive; Instant;
Essence 1): Afondha briefly dissolves into water. She
may automatically succeed on a disengage attempt.
Alternatively, she may roll Dexterity + Cult (7 dice)
while being grappled to reduce the opponent’s turns
of control by the number of successes she rolls. If this
reduces the turns of control to zero, she gains two Initiative.
SOCIAL CHARMS
Thirst-Quenching Goddess Regalia (8m, 1wp;
Reflexive; Instant; Eclipse; Essence 3): Whenever
Afondha succeeds at a bargain action or chooses not
to apply her Resolve against one, she may activate
this Charm to automatically instill a minor Intimacy for
herself in that character with a positive context chosen
by the opponent’s player, such as awe, respect, or
trust. If the character already has a positive Intimacy
for her, it increases in intensity by one instead. If the
character already has a negative Intimacy for her, it
decreases in intensity by one instead.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Fertile Benediction (15m; Simple; Instant; Eclipse;
Essence 3): Afondha blesses the supplicant with fertility,
ensuring conception with their next informed and
willing partner regardless of whether they could normally
conceive a child with that partner, as long as at
least one of them has a womb.
ADV E R S A R I E S O F T H E R I G H T E O U S
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): Afondha dissolves into water on her next turn, returning
to her manse’s hearthroom.
Materialize (45m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): Afondha solidifies from water.
Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): Afondha can read anyone who willingly asks for
her blessing.
Vine-Ripened Labor (15m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
Essence 3): Afondha grants fruitful progress on one
specific task, such as attracting a suitor’s attention or
winning a negotiation with a rival. The supplicant receives
four banked bonus dice, which they can add
to any one roll pertaining to the task before the lunar
month ends; if that roll succeeds, the supplicant tithes
one Willpower to Afondha.

*****

H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
Giant Constrictor
Legendary terrors of the Eastern jungles and Western
bogs, giant constrictors are any variety of constricting
snakes, such as the anaconda or boa, that can grow to
monstrous sizes in Creation, reaching extremes of fifty
or sixty feet in isolated ecosystems. They use their massive
coils to crush the breath out of prey such as deer,
capybaras, and unfortunate humans, while swallowing
smaller animals like fish or birds whole. Some make
their homes among the treetops, blending in with foliage
before falling onto an unsuspecting victim. Others hunt
in rivers, swimming under the surface of water before
lunging out to claim a hapless animal that stopped for
a drink.
Essence: 1; Willpower: 4; Join Battle: 4 dice
Health Levels: −0/−1x2/−2x3/−4x3/Incap.
Actions: Climb: 6 dice; Feats of Strength: 7 dice
(may attempt Strength 3 feats); Resist Disease/
Poison: 7 dice; Senses: 5 dice (see Thermal Sense);
Stealth: 5 dice
Resolve 2, Guile 2
COMBAT
Attack (Bite): 8 dice (Damage 15)
Attack (Grapple): 10 dice (14 to control)
Combat Movement: 6 dice
Evasion 3, Parry 1
Soak/Hardness: 8/0
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Crushing Coils: A giant constrictor takes no Defense
penalties from grappling, and can drag an enemy on
the same turn it makes a savaging attack against them.
G i a n t C o n s t r i c tor
Uncoiling Serpent Rush: Every turn the constrictor
does not take a movement action, it stocks a single
success, to a maximum of three. Each stocked successes
adds +1 Evasion. It adds all stocked successes
to a rush roll, and to any grapple gambit it initiates on
the same turn in a flurry, resetting stocked successes
to zero. With three stocked successes, it may also reflexively
move one range band closer to the enemy
without counting as its movement action for the turn.
Any other movement actions waste all stocked successes.
MERITS
Camouflage: Double 9s on Stealth rolls while
hidden amid treetops or dense foliage. Aquatic variants
gain camouflage while swimming or slithering
through mud.
Thermal Sense: Giant constrictors sense their
prey’s body heat, doubling 9s on any roll to notice a
warm-blooded character and ignoring penalties for
visual obstacles such as darkness or mist.
Storyteller Tactics
Giant constrictors depend on the element of surprise
when they hunt. Though they’re capable of moving
swiftly to catch their prey, they prefer to wait, hidden,
until a tasty and unsuspecting morsel happens by. The
snakes are also nocturnal creatures, doing the majority
of their hunting at night. Legion soldiers on latenight
watches in the East keep an eye out for constrictors,
lest their sleeping comrades-in-arms end up with
bone-crushing blankets.
Giant constrictors flee when they take damage to their
last −3 health level, unless they are in the middle of
crushing their prey to death; then they flee after the
grapple ends instead.

*****

H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
The Forlorn Manor
On a hill overlooking a city sits a house. The road below
bustles with caravans and wandering monks. Legions
marching to a nearby outpost stir up the dust. On the
horizon, ships fly the flags of Peleps, or Lookshy, or
Cherak. The sprawling house is three grand stories tall.
Large windows reflect the sunset; terraces catch the
cool breeze. But paint has faded and chipped, and the
house sags in the middle. Peering through the windows
reveals once-opulent furniture blanketed in dust, and
once-majestic stairways with missing railings and broken
treads.
Five hundred years ago, this enormous estate was the
multigenerational dwelling of the wealthy Dutan family.
Then, disaster struck. Everyone who entered the
house succumbed to sudden, inexplicable death. Even
the few members of the household away on business
fell to the same doom once they returned. The house
itself declined rapidly, within days appearing decades
abandoned. Now, Dutan Manor is a ghost, still in
mourning for the family that loved it. But in the lonely
years since their deaths, the manor has gone from melancholy
to malevolent.
It traps trespassers within, the rooms ever-shifting,
whether they come seeking lost riches or a simple night’s
shelter. It spurs them to anger and fear, makes the weakwilled
turn against companions, and leads even the most
clear-headed down tortured hallways into impossible
rooms, until they collapse from exhaustion or starvation,
or kill each other.
Essence: 4; Willpower: 8; Join Battle: 11 dice
(heart only)
Personal Motes: 90
Health Levels: −0x10/−1x15/−2x15/−4x10/
Incap. (heart only)
Intimacies: Defining: The Dutan Family (Mourning);
“Everything within these walls is mine, including you.”;
Major: “I will show you what it means to despair.”
F o r l o r n M a n o r
Actions: Bargain: 8 dice; Lore: 5 dice; Persuade:
7 dice; Read Intentions: 7 dice; Senses: 7 dice (see
Something’s Watching); Threaten: 12 dice
Appearance 3, Resolve 5, Guile 3
COMBAT
Soak/Hardness: 10/10 (heart only)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Endless Hallway, Shifting Staircase: Dead
ends replace intersections. Nonsensical stairways
appear and disappear. Doors open onto different
places from one moment to the next. Navigating to
any specific destination inside the house requires
a (Wits + Survival) extended action (or Strength +
Athletics, to smash directly through walls), difficulty
4, with goal number 10 and interval five minutes. If
the manor wins, the character still gets there but the
house anticipates them, gaining double 8s on all
rolls to oppose or influence them when they arrive.
If the character botches a roll, the house traps them
in a room without exits, a never-ending stairwell, or
another impossible area, requiring creative solutions
to escape. Each character must roll individually, as
failure leads the house to separate them.
Something’s Watching: Double 9s on sight- and
hearing-based Perception rolls.
MERITS
Unforgiving Terror House: Any part of the manor
or object that was present when the house became a
ghost rebuilds itself again completely one round after it’s
destroyed, except its heart. The manor itself has no health
levels and can’t engage in combat. In its deepest bowels
pulses its dead heart, within a pitch-dark chamber, protected
by a half-digested mass of rotted sinew and dry
bone. The heart may produce any number of zombies
(Exalted, p. 502) from the mass at a time, as a combat
action, for either five motes or three health levels per
zombie. A character can destroy the heart by attacking
it directly, which also destroys the ghost itself, but it
can’t take decisive damage and doesn’t suffer Initiative
Crash until it has no zombie guardians left; withering
attacks still award the attacker their full Initiative.
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Crushing Despair (8m; Simple; One scene;
Essence 2): The room hides the exit and shrinks the
distance between its walls. This is an environmental
hazard (Exalted, p. 230) with difficulty 5, dealing
two bashing damage per round and granting the
manor Initiative per round equal to the number of characters
who took damage that round, to a maximum of
five Initiative. Characters may resist the hazard with
(Strength + Athletics) to hold the walls at bay; (Perception
+ Awareness) to find the exit; and either a feat of
strength or (Dexterity + Larceny) to open it.
DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Hundred Chambers Maze (8m; Reflexive; One
scene; Eclipse; Essence 3): Change any portal’s destination,
including external windows and doors, to
any other portal’s destination on the manor’s grounds.
Eclipses may use this Charm in any building, but both
target and destination portals must be within medium
range of the Eclipse.
Foundation of Bones (5m; Simple; Instant; Decisive-
only; Essence 3): The manor instantly consumes
one corpse (inanimate or otherwise) anywhere on the
grounds to heal three health levels or regain five Initiative.
SOCIAL CHARMS
Ember-Stoking Delusion (8m, 1wp; Simple;
One scene; Psyche; Essence 4): On a successful
threaten action, the manor convinces a character
within its walls that one of her companions secretly
plots against her and unearths long-buried conflicts.
The target temporarily develops a negative Major Tie
toward her companion and temporarily loses the benefits
of any positive Tie toward him. Interactions with
him prompt her to physically attack unless she spends
one Willpower to hold back for one round, or one
minute outside combat. Exalts end the effect early by
spending four Willpower this way; mortals have no
such recourse.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Materialize (45m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): The forlorn manor can materialize whenever it
senses someone approaching its territory or looking
up at its hill from below. See Exalted, p. 510, for full
materialization rules.
Storyteller Tactics
Because the forlorn manor only occasionally materializes,
locals don’t agree on whether it really exists. No specific
location is given here for the manor, so the Storyteller can
place it wherever she needs to for her game.
The manor lets trespassers get comfortable at first, until
they think the stories were just that, passed down by
the family’s heirs to scare off scavengers. Then it shifts
rooms and increases paranoia until the intruders become
hopelessly lost and turn on each other. It reserves
Crushing Despair for when characters come too close
to finding its heart. It uses items its owners and sundry
trespassers left behind as tools for social influence. A
book falls from a shelf, opening to the exact page that
conveys the manor’s message. Quills scratch out names
and broken sentences on old parchment. Faded dolls
with smiling faces turn up unexpectedly, suggesting approval
or smug triumph.
H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
Characters can bargain with the manor if they take the
time to unlock its secrets and earn its trust. The truth
of why its family met its grisly end and what caused it
is buried deep in the past; solving that mystery would
let the manor rest at last. Although it’s hostile and takes
pleasure in watching victims murder each other, it also
wants to rest, so it subconsciously leaves clues lying
around for savvy investigators to pick up — a charcoal
scribble on a wall reading Where’s Samandra??, or a
drawer that opens at an opportune time containing specific
documents, for instance. Characters can find some
clues inside the house itself, but must investigate in the
city as well or find another way to learn the full story.
The house’s victims may also find hints to how to destroy
it by investigating evidence left behind by previous
unfortunate visitors — messages left half-written,
recent corpses not yet consumed, and so on. Once they
learn about the heart and find it, the house spawns as
many zombies as it can afford to protect itself, balancing
motes, zombies, and health levels to survive as long as
possible. It uses Ember-Stoking Delusion liberally if it
starts to lose, or makes Bargain or Persuade actions to
convince its assailants to help it solve the family’s mystery
instead.

*****

ADV E R S A R I E S O F T H E R I G H T E O U S
Ninegala,
Forge-Goddess of Makelo
Background: Ninegala once labored at the forge of one
of the world’s makers. When the Exalted cast those
ancients down, she exiled herself to Creation, raising
a sanctum on the Western isle of Sinti. Eventually, an
enterprising mortal hero persuaded her to forge him a
weapon in exchange for a year of service; others trickled
in over the centuries. During the Contagion, she opened
her doors to a tribe of survivors. In gratitude, when they
founded the city Makelo (Exalted, p. 105), they took her
as their sovereign god.
Image: Ninegala has charcoal-black skin, ash-gray hair,
and fiery eyes that blaze when her passions are aroused.
She wears little in the forge’s heat, but when traveling
abroad, she arrays herself in arms and armor of her own
devising as she takes up her flying bronze chariot’s reins.
Intimacies: Defining: “I wish only to craft wonders
in peace.”; Major: “I enjoy testing my art’s limits.”;
Makeloans (Affection); Minor: The Fair Folk (Loathing)
Secrets: An ancient goddess, Ninegala holds faded
memories of the Time Before — specifically, the divinity
she served and his workshop in Heaven — though she’s
forgotten more than most living gods recall. She retains
a few relics from that era in her vaults, hidden in plain
sight where none but she might recognize them.
Equipment: forge-mother’s hammer, ur-golem armor,
quiver of boundless javelins, aerial chariot
Roleplaying Hints: Those seeking Ninegala’s impossible
marvels must perform long, weird, and perilous
quests — both to obtain rare crafting materials, and to
discourage future petitioners. Characters might persuade
her to lend her services without such quests if the
desired artifact is sufficiently exotic and intriguing, or to
ward off a potential threat to her or Makelo’s people.
Should the characters destroy her — to loot her armory,
perhaps, or claim Makelo and its forges for themselves —
powerful beings across the West descend on her vaults.
Some assume the characters have already claimed the
cream of Ninegala’s arsenal and track them down. In addition,
Ninegala retains a few connections in the spirit
courts, such as the dragon Fakharu (Exalted, pp. 521-
523); these may aid her in retrieving stolen goods, or
avenge her if she’s destroyed.
Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 5, Stamina 7; Charisma
4, Manipulation 2, Appearance 4; Perception
6, Intelligence 5, Wits 5
Essence: 5
Willpower: 8
Join Battle: 9 dice
Personal Motes: 100
Health Levels: −0/−1x7/−2x7/−4/Incap.
Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 4, Brawl 3, Bureaucracy
3, Craft (Armorsmithing) 7, Craft (Artifacts) 7,
Craft (Weaponsmithing) 7, Dodge 3, Integrity 4, Linguistics
(Old Realm) 3, Lore (Geology, Metallurgy)
4, Melee 5, Medicine (Treating Burns) 2, Occult (Fire
Spirits) 3, Presence 3, Resistance (Heat and Flame) 6,
Ride (Automata) 4, Socialize (Makeloans) 1, Thrown 5
Merits: Artifact (Boundless Javelin Quiver) 3, Artifact
(Flying Bronze Chariot) 4, Artifact (Forge-Mother’s
Hammer) 3, Artifact (Ur-Golem Armor) 3, Cult
4, Five-Thousand-Year Panoply (below), Language
(Native: Old Realm; Seatongue) 1, Legendary Artisan
(below), Scripture of the Forge (below)
Attack (Forge-mother’s hammer): 13 dice
(Damage 19/4); Tags: Bashing. Melee, Smashing
Attack (Javelin): 13 dice at short range (Damage
16); Tags: Lethal, Melee, Piercing, Thrown (Short)
Combat: Soak 18, Hardness 10 (ur-golem armor:
+11/10); Parry 6 (Melee); Evasion 2 (ur-golem
armor −2); Rush 6 dice; Disengage 6 dice
Social: Resolve 5, Guile 2
Guardians: Numerous golems (Exalted, p. 500)
protect Ninegala’s vaults, alongside various other automata
and traps.
NEW MERITS
Five-Thousand-Year Panoply: Ninegala may
find any simple, straightforward two- or three-dot artifact
within her vaults. Once per story, if she requires
an artifact with specific, esoteric powers, roll (Essence)
dice against the artifact’s rating. Success reveals it in
her vaults; failure reveals an artifact of similar function
whose rating only equals her successes on the roll.
Legendary Artisan: Ninegala doesn’t track or
gain crafting experience — if she must pay a crafting
experience cost, she’s always able to meet it. She has
ten major project slots and five superior project slots.
Scripture of the Forge: Students learning Craft
from Ninegala halve training times. They gain +2 soak
and Hardness against fire-based attacks and immunity
to minor burns, extending afterward for a duration
equal to the training time. Students who spend years
training under Ninegala obtain fiery eyes and charcoal-
dark skin, marking them as masters of the forge.
OFFENSIVE CHARMS
Smoldering Metal Offensive (10m, 1wp;
Simple; One scene; Uniform; Essence 3): Superheat a
weapon Ninegala wields, adding +4 to withering
and decisive damage. A mundane weapon burns to
ashes or melts to slag after this Charm ends.
DEFENSIVE CHARMS
Fire Knows the Forger (5m; Reflexive; Instant;
Essence 3): Add (Essence) successes to resist a fireor
heat-based environmental hazard and subtract
that many dice from its damage. Against attacks from
sources such as firewands or fiery dragonbreath, this
Charm instead halves their damage.
Steel Knows the Shaper (5m, 2i; Reflexive; Until
next turn; Essence 3): Gain +1 Defense against weapon-
based attacks. If a character attacks Ninegala and
misses, he’s automatically disarmed — the weapon flies
from his hand lest it strike the forge-goddess. Unarmed
attacks and improvised weapons are unaffected.
MISCELLANEOUS CHARMS
Forge-Mother’s Grace (1m+; Reflexive; Instant;
Essence 4): Using an item she made herself, Ninegala
adds bonus dice as with a Solar Excellency
(Exalted, p. 255). Her maximum is based on the
level of project used to create the item — Basic: +2,
Major: +4, Superior: +6, Legendary: +8.
BOUNDLESS JAVELIN QUIVER
(ARTIFACT •••)
An oblong case of teak and darkened bronze, inlaid
with the First Age word “Plenty” in orichalcum and
moonsilver, contains a dozen iron javelins.
EVOCATIONS OF THE
BOUNDLESS JAVELIN QUIVER
Passive: The attuned quiver never runs out of javelins;
new ones appear to replace the old.
Distant-Striking Dart (1m [+1wp]; Supplemental;
Instant; Uniform; Essence 1): Attack a target at up
to long range, using the same dice pool as shortranged
javelin attacks. Spend one Willpower to attack
at long range without an aim action.
ADV E R S A R I E S O F T H E R I G H T E O U S
Hammer-and-Anvil Genesis (25m, 1wp;
Simple; One project; Stackable; Essence 5): Automatically
succeed on the roll to complete a basic
or major project. Superior and legendary projects
instead double 7s, double extra successes received
at each interval, and add five rolls to the terminus. This
Charm can stack to benefit multiple projects.
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): Ninegala fades away and vanishes on her next
turn, returning to her sanctum.
Materialize (50m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): Ninegala appears in a wreath of flame.
Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence
1): Ninegala can discern the nature of anyone handling
her workmanship.
Spark of Inspiration (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant;
Eclipse; Essence 3): Target receives 10 silver craft
points and 3 gold craft points. A character can only
benefit from this Charm once per story.

*****

H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
Forest Strider
Eastern forests are home to an unusually large breed of
stick bugs that blend in with trees and disappear from
plain sight like their smaller cousins. The abundant food
and fecund Essence near the Pole of Wood allow creatures
to grow to massive sizes. A forest strider’s swift
ground speed, and their ability to quickly climb towering
trees and fly short distances, make them popular
mounts.
While some forest striders look like bare tree trunks,
with six branch-like limbs, others resemble giant leaves.
Some varieties have iridescent wings, almost invisible,
that let them glide from one branch to another.
Essence: 1; Willpower: 4; Join Battle: 6 dice
Health Levels: −0x2/−1x4/−2x4/−4/Incap.
Speed Bonus: +3
Actions: Climb: 7 dice; Glide (winged only): 6 dice;
Read Intentions: 4 dice; Resist Disease/Poison: 5
dice; Senses: 5 dice; Stealth: 7 dice
Resolve 2, Guile 3
COMBAT
Attack (Grapple): 5 dice (7 to control)
Attack (Leg spikes): 5 dice (Damage 7)
Attack (Poison spray): 6 dice (Damage 0); Tags:
Thrown (Short)
Combat Movement: 5 dice
Evasion 4, Parry 2
Soak/Hardness: 4/0
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Ambush Hunter: Gain +3 on all unexpected
attacks.
F o r e s t S t r i d e r
Poison Spray: Forest striders secrete a poison
(Exalted, p. 232), with which they can make poison
spray attacks that expose the enemy upon success.
The poison deals 2i per round (L in Crash), with a duration
of 3 rounds and a −3 penalty.
Spike Swipe (Latent): The forest strider lashes out
with its leg spikes to protect its rider. She does not lose
Initiative when she disengages while astride.
MERITS
Camouflage: The forest strider appears to be part
of a tree, or a stump or leaf on its own. In a forest,
double 9s on Stealth rolls.
Sudden Escape: The forest strider can shed a leg
to get away from an enemy. It may automatically
disengage without a roll, but suffers a cumulative −1
penalty to combat movement rolls. This penalty lasts
until the leg regenerates during molting, which it does
once a week.
Storyteller Tactics
Forest striders’ nimble limbs and aerodynamic shapes
allow them to ascend to high points quickly, giving riders
the high ground and the ability to swoop down upon
their foes. Riders can train forest striders to attack on
command, much like war horses.
In the wild, forest striders keep to the trees and avoid
contact with humans. A character who is patient, moves
softly, and has a good supply of succulent leaves and
berries may lure one from hiding with a Charisma +
Survival roll, opposed by the strider’s Read Intentions
pool. Untamed forest striders are timid; they attempt to
flee after taking any damage.

*****

H U N D R E D D E V I L S N I G H T PARADE
Northern Ursidae
Iceship crews from Tusk tell stories of sleek, white-pelted water bears that prowl
Mela’s Fangs, attacking boats and stealing fishermen’s catches. Their webbed
paws end in wicked claws. Gills in their necks allow them to dive for long periods
to hunt fish that live in caves deep below the water’s surface, or to evade
human hunters’ spears and harpoons.
Down on all fours, these sea bears are four to five feet high
at the shoulder, and weigh between 800 and 2,000
pounds. Standing on their hind legs, they tower
over humans at heights of up to 11 feet. Hunting
parties brave the bears’ ferocious attacks, as
their pelts fetch excellent prices, and
one ursidae’s meat can feed a
family for months. Icewalker
tribes who take its avatar
as their totem
train the animals
to fight
and fit them
with armor
for riding
into battle.
Nort h e rn U r s i da e
Essence: 1; Willpower: 3; Join Battle: 7 dice
Health Levels: −0x5/−1x5/−2x5/−4x3/Incap.
Speed Bonus: +3 (+4 in the water)
Actions: Feats of Strength: 7 dice (may attempt
Strength 5 feats); Intimidate: 7 dice; Senses: 5 dice
(see Keen Nose); Tracking: 5 dice
Resolve 3, Guile 2
COMBAT
Attack (Bite): 8 dice (Damage 15)
Attack (Claw): 12 dice (Damage 11)
Attack (Grapple): 8 dice (9 to control, or 10 in
the water)
Combat Movement: 7 dice (8 in the water)
Evasion 3, Parry 3
Soak/Hardness: 10/0
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Capsize (Latent): The bear grabs lines dangling
from a small boat or other vessel no larger than a
fast courier (Exalted, p. 246) in its powerful jaws,
or embeds its claws deep in the vessel’s underside,
and dives. Treat this as a Strength 5+ feat of strength
with required successes equal to the pilot’s (Strength
+ Sail). Upon success, the boat capsizes, dumping
anyone and anything aboard into the water.
Roaring Charge (Latent): After moving at least one
range band toward a target on the ursidae’s current
turn, roll Intimidate against the target’s Resolve as a
miscellaneous action. If successful, the enemy reflexively
flees one range band in the opposite direction,
and the bear or its rider receives one automatic
success on the next attack roll against anyone who
witnessed the charge.
MERITS
Berserker: Convert wound penalties to bonus dice
on attack rolls.
Keen Nose: Double 9s on all scent-based Senses
rolls.
Storyteller Tactics
Northern ursidae make their dens away from humans, in
caves near the sea, and those who would tame them must
defeat them in combat first. In battle without riders, an
ursidae’s preferred tactics are to grapple an enemy and
drag her underwater in a bear hug until she drowns, or
the clinch crushes her bones, whichever comes first. A
water bear attempts to flee if it takes damage in its first
−2 health level, unless commanded otherwise by a rider.