BY M ICHAEL K ESSLER, DUSTIN S HAMPEL, JOHN S NEAD, CHRISTINA S TILES, SCOTT T AYLOR AND A NDREW W ATT 1 CREDITS Authors: Michael Kessler, Dustin Shampel, John Snead, COMING N EXT: Christina Stiles, Scott Taylor and Andrew Watt Comic Scripter: Carl Bowen Developer: John Chambers Editors: Carl Bowen and Josh Hein Creative Director: Rich Thomas Production Manager: matt milberger Art Direction and Layout: Brian Glass Cover Art: Andrew Hepworth Artists: Marian Churchland, John Floyd, Jeff Holt, Imaginary Friends Studio (with Reza Ilyasa), Kim Feigenbaum, Josh Spinell and UDON (with Steven Cummings, Leo Lingas and Joe Vriens) COMING N EXT I N T HIS S ERIES: SCROLL OF H EROES This fourth of the Scrolls of Esoteric Wisdom focuses on the heroic mortals of Creation. The power of the Exalted is without peer, but their numbers are limited, and they can’t be everywhere. Thus, it often comes down to mortals to either support the Chosen of the gods or to step up and THE C OMPASS OF T ERRESTRIAL D IRECTIONS, handle their own problems. Those mortals who chose to OL HE OUTH stand against Creation’s many threats are called heroes. V . IV — T S The edges they need to survive are within. Creation’s South is a land of startling juxtapositions. Fertile farmland abuts harsh desert. Bastions of First Age civilized glory are inhabited by barbarian nomads. Gems and precious metals are plentiful, while water is nowhere to be found. These stark contrasts have shaped the region and its inhabitants, from the proud but subjugated Harborheadites to the bloodthirsty Dune People and from the flamboyant Delzahn to the servile folk of An- Teng. Dare you face the South’s many dangers to claim its endless riches? © 2008 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews, and for blank character sheets, which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf and Exalted are registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Scroll of Fallen Races, Scroll of Kings, Graceful Wicked Masques the Fair Folk, the Manual of Exalted Power the Dragon-Blooded, the Manual of Exalted Power the Lunars, the Manual of Exalted Power the Sidereals, the Manual of Exalted Power the Abyssals, the Compass of Celestial Directions the Wyld, the Compass of Celestial Directions Yu-Shan, the Compass of Celestial Directions the Underworld, the Compass of Terrestrial Directions the East, the Books of Sorcery, Wonders of the Lost Age, the White and Black Treatises, Oadenol’s Codex, the Roll of Glorious Divinity I, Dreams of the First Age and the Second Age of Man are trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by CCP hf. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and super- natural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised. Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com/ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 TABLE OF C ONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 CHAPTER O NE: THE M OUNTAIN F OLK 7 CHAPTER T WO: CHARACTER C REATION AND T RAITS 28 CHAPTER T HREE: PATTERNS 46 CHAPTER F OUR: STORYTELLING 73 3 4 INTRODUCTION We want… to plunge into the depths of the abyss, Hell or Heaven, what does it matter? into the depths of the Unknown to find something new! —Charles Baudelaire, “The Voyage” Banished to the depths by the machinations of the Solar Chapter One: The Mountain Folk Deliberative, the Mountain Folk have still managed to carve This chapter details the history and the society of an empire more advanced than any on the face of Creation the Mountain Folk, as well as providing an overview of into the lightless caverns beneath the world. With the return important city-states and examples of advanced Jadeborn of the Lawgivers and the growing number of Enlightened magitechnology. Jadeborn, is the Great Geas perhaps soon to be released, Chapter Two: Character Creation and Traits allowing the Exalted and the Mountain Folk to regain the This chapter supplies the rules you need to create a brotherhood they once shared during the Primordial War? Mountain Folk character. Also in this chapter, you can find Or will old prejudices and mistrust further weaken, or finally traits unique to Jadeborn characters, as well as information undo, this proud people? on how to adjust existing traits for the Mountain Folk. Chapter Three: Patterns HOW TO U SE T HIS B OOK This chapter focuses on the Charms of the Mountain Scroll of Fallen Races—The Mountain Folk provides Folk, organized in Patterns by caste and Enlightenment. the rules and background to run a game that focuses upon Chapter Four: Storytelling Jadeborn characters or to design such characters as allies or The book’s final chapter describes the special factors antagonists for other Exalted games. The book’s contents one must consider when storytelling a game about the are as follows: Mountain Folk. INTRODUCTION 5 and vivisected by the other Primordials, who modeled a new LEXICON race—humanity—from his form. Seemingly immortal, he The majority of terms used in the core Exalted core survived this treatment to become the twisted creature now book also apply to the Mountain Folk. The following terms, known as the Clay Man and never returned to his people. however, refer particularly to Jadeborn characters and their Great Geas, the: A magical compulsion placed on subterranean milieu. the Mountain Folk by Autochthon at the behest of the Un- Artisan: Those Jadeborn who still resemble the Moun- conquered Sun so the Jadeborn could never threaten the tain Folk from prior to the imposition of the Great Geas Mandate of Heaven. by Autochthon. This Enlightened caste rules the whole of Great Maker, the: A title the Mountain Folk use to their society. describe Autochthon, as both the creator of the Jadeborn and Autochthon: The powerful Primordial who shaped the the greatest crafter among the Primordials. Mountain Folk, earning him the title the Great Maker. Jadeborn: A term used to refer to the Mountain Folk Conclave: A council of Artisans who govern each Moun- given that they are literally freed from nodules of jade upon tain Folk city-state. The Great Conclave, in the capital city their birth. of Urvar, directs the Jadeborn empire as a whole. Mountain Folk: A race of beings shaped by the Primor- Darkbrood: Any race engineered by the Primordials that dial Autochthon from the Essences of Fair Folk trapped in the was either rejected and driven underground by its creators very substance of Creation upon its formation. or was forced to retreat there after the Exalted victory in Nameless Hordes, the: Any of the violent subterra- the Primordial War. nean creatures that live underground and make war on the Endless War, the: A war fought since the High First Mountain Folk. Age between the Mountain Folk and the Nameless Hordes of undercaste: Either the Warrior or Worker caste of the twisted creatures that share their underground world. Mountain Folk or a member of either caste. Enlightened: Mountain Folk touched by the genius and Unenlightened: Mountain Folk rendered compliant and inspiration of the Great Maker. Historically only Artisans com- less intelligent by the Great Geas. posed this group, but the number of Enlightened undercastes Warrior: Undercaste Jadeborn born to fight in the Endless is on the rise, threatening to upset Jadeborn society. War to defend Mountain Folk civilization. First, the: The original Jadeborn birthed by Autochthon Worker: Undercaste Jadeborn born to toil in all aspects of who was the first ruler of his people. After having sought out Jadeborn industry to provide for Mountain Folk civilization. the Great Maker to give his people a purpose, he was caught 6 CHAPTER ONE • THE MOUNTAIN FOLK 7 CHAPTER ONE THE MOUNTAIN FOLK Beneath the Imperial Mountain and deep below half a dozen sites in the Threshold, the mysterious and powerful HISTORY Mountain Folk live and labor in their subterranean city- In the timeless era before the Primordials first built states. They also engage in both endless warfare and political Creation, imposing both fixed substance and linear time, machinations against the monstrous creatures that share the only intelligences in the primal chaos of existence were their underground world. The numbers and activities of the the formless Fair Folk. Eventually, something different and Mountain Folk are largely unknown to the residents of the unimaginably powerful rose among these beings—complex surface world. They regularly trade some of their advanced composite entities known as the Primordials—though their goods to surface dwellers across Creation, and Mountain origins are shrouded in mystery. Two of these mighty entities Folk mercenaries companies are occasionally employed in forever changed the nature of existence and inadvertently the Threshold by Dragon-Blooded generals. In the Realm, birthed the Mountain Folk. the Mountain Folk construct manses, oversee magitech These Primordials, Gaia and Cytherea, focused their workshops and serve in the Imperial Army. Yet even the unimaginable wills to forge chaos into order and almost Dynasts know little of their ways or the subterranean realms instantly manifested the entirety of Creation. This order in which they dwell. Their origins are even more mysteri- and stability was completely antithetical to the nature of ous, with many scholars believing them to be some enduring the Fair Folk, who fled from it in terror in the brief mo- crossbreed between mortals and earth elementals.