The Exalted are the champions, heroes, and the things of legend. Exalted are different from other entities. Superior, powerful, capable of casting magics both great and terrible. An Exalted gains the ability to tap into the forces of magic themselves to levels far beyond the capabilities of their race, manipulating it in an innumerable number of ways by their own essence and will. Mages, sorcerers, wizards, these are just the common known titles of such beings, but the martial arts master , the legendary swordsman, the King of Thieves, all of these tap into magic, whether to burn the foe, or raise their strength to god like might. Magic comes in all kinds and forms and it molds to its user just as much as the user is molded by it.

Exalted defy the machinations of the gods whether willingly or not, and the masters of creation take notice. Only 1 in every million sentient souls becomes an Exalted. Sometimes these beings are already excellent, rising above the rabble to stand out. Sometimes they are in their greatest need and the power is given to save themselves or what they love. Sometimes, it could be as subtle as dream never dreamed, as grand as a battle, the master stroke to a piece of art never seen, an equation solved, or times when one use their words to do the impossible. Exalted become noticed, they become watched by beings so massive they exist beyond comprehension and thus power awaits them. Sometimes they are guided, sometimes they are left with only questions. Research, training, conflict, and strife become the means by which they unlock ever greater powers. No Exalted can escape this tragedy of their new existence, as the universe seems to conspire to bring them worthy challenges and great feats they must surmount with many of them breaking upon the waves of strife. Those that continue to survive become legends. The greatest of heroes, the loftiest of Emperors, or the most vile of villains survive to see their power grow to match the gods.

To become Exalted is to become a champion for masters that do not speak, or know nothing of mercy, of pity or the motivations of the mortals they rule over. Elysia is a dangerous place, and it’s the Exalted that change it for good or ill. Sometimes they are all that stand between the Demon and the Devil. All that matters is that their champions grow stronger, and many whom learn of this fate wonder endlessly why this is so.

For some becoming an exalted is a blessing in all ways. They are pursued by empires to be recruited, knowing full well what these heroes can do. They are given lofty positions, or they take their own. Many of the Stellar Empires of Elysia have an Exalted that sits upon the throne. But for each facing a life of rewards and splendor, others do not. They are coerced by other forces, turned into feared sky pirates, or hunted down by those whom fear that their power would bring about their ruin. Even exalts become bitter and paranoids, and will not see any upstart steal their own glory.

is when disenfranchised and unaffiliated Exalted come together for safety and protection. These rogue agents are seen as potential rivals to the established empires as any wise empire knows that while one Exalted is stronger than an army, a group of them, can found an empire. Their words can sway nations, their swords severing world spanning monsters, their intellect grasping the secrets of magic in ways unknown and terrible.

They can even challenge the gods.

There has been six such Exalted Empires in history. All of them grew too big and too greedily. All of them fell, sometimes with billions killed in the process. They defied the gods and the gods banded to smote them down to reestablish the proper balance and way of things. No established ruler wants to see this happen.

But there are those who always wonder. The outcast, the disenfranchised, the enslaved, those saved by these heroes, if the next empire will unite all of Elysia. The next one will do it right.




Rico Fenix, The Ghost of the Scarlet Currents
A sky pirate in his youth, Rico's father was an Exalted of terrible power, a thief who could steal anything. Memories, even one's title and all that came with it. He thought himself untouchable, until Rico stole that power from him, Exalting in that very instant. He is considered a scourge on the Lunar Confederation trading lanes, but he is nowhere near as bad as his father was and thus hires out his services. For one, he detests the slave trade, and always loves putting them out of buisness. Sporting the abilities of simply choosing to be seen, being accepted in any crowd regardless of prior knowledge and hands that can swipe practically anything from the physical to the esoteric, turning enemies strengths into his own.



KI75, Spokeswomen of Merico Industries
The Ku were once two foot tall rodent like creatures that were always good with their hands. Speaking to the other taller denizens of Elysia, the development of pilotable robot suits became something of a fashion for the Ku. This only got worse until, under the Mega Corporation that is Merico Industries, the Ku Homeworld's main governmental body, the entire species removed their brains and placed them into android bodies. Merico Industries designs all the models as well as accessories, and adapts those techniques to sell to other empires as weapons and ships. KI75 was designed to be a top of the line model, and almost as if planned, she Exalted on her first field test. Even her synthetic body was effected by the Exaltation, making it hardier, faster, and allowing for the merging of magitech artifacts. KI75 can change her arsenal on the fly to fit any situation, giving her a stash of magical items on call that can be swapped out no matter where she is. Additionally, she is capable of turning into a fighter class airship herself, something that Merico Industries is still attempting to copy. She uses these abilities to commit raids on beastial pest species, which is televised throughout the stars for entertainment.

"In Elysia, magic exists, and it only exists in Elysia."

"Magic is what happens when Essence is focused into creating a specific effect."

Essence is a type of matter theorized to be composed of belief. It's a dynamic force that is theorized to maintain the physical and chemical impossibilities that keeps Elysia functioning. Even the gods themselves have been proven to just be specific patterns of interwoven essence that can take physical form. Indeed over the millenia, there is very little that Essence properly harnessed, refined, and utilized cannot do.

Essence is quantified as a number of motes which by themselves resemble balls of light that are colored to whatever element they are closely aspected to. Motes left in their raw state quickly dissipate into Elysia's currents. Through use of methods, partially magical in and of themselves, these motes can be harnessed, collected and stored.

Essence is the driving power of magic. Sorcerers study and memorize a thousand rituals, special technologies, make deals with the spirits, and subject themselves to occult methods to gather the motes they need to fuel their spells. Warriors study and train for years to perform the proper katas and forms needed for their devastating techniques. Artificers forge artifacts made of special metals and materials of occult power and infuse them with essence during the creation. Massive cities float with a combination of Essence Accumulators and Engines, making them essentially lighter than air. One knows a spell of speed, they cast it and move with unnatural swiftness, and while normally such speeds would cause damage to their surroundings, the magic focuses only on the desired result, ignoring mortal laws like physics. Magic is refined in magitech rifles that cast blasts of concussive force, or bolts of lightening, or blasts of freezing air, so long as its battery has the motes, the rifle has ammo. Magic fills in the gaps and limitations that technology falls short of and wise Empires use Essence to whatever effect they can, sometimes at great cost, and other times at great tragedy. For every spell or artifact blue print created, 10 times did it fail, and 100 lives were lost.

Magic is the purview of the gods and it must be respected.

This is where the Exalted differ the greatest from the rabble of Elysia. As part of their gifted power, they awaken the Essence that lies within themselves. Their own body acts as a vessel of stored essence that replenishes itself. It becomes an extension of their body, their will, and with time and training, manipulating it becomes as natural as breathing.

While others need to prepare, or carry a focus to direct their magic, the Exalted walk with essence at their finger tips, already amassed to wield awesome power.

"1000 Worlds, 1000 Kingdoms, and not enough to go around."
Elysian Empires

Mortals have evolved in Elysia. Meeting new races and dealing with ideologies and cultures is something that every new planet that arrives in Elysia, regardless of means, has to contend with. This leads to a number of different results. If the race survives first contact, and every contact there after, they can adjust themselves, learn, and adapt to the new universe they find themselves in. They can claim planetary bodies and grow their territory. They could be passive isolationists. All kinds of cultures, governments, and ruling bodies have found a way to live in Elysia. Some empires are a mishmash of other receptive races, others are puritans, suffering not the alien.

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Below are an example of some of the more prominent mortal Entities in Elysia


An Example of Tiger Dominion technology and theme, James NG Art
Primary Race: Human
The Tiger Dominion survived the calamity a thousand years ago, and survivors clinging to what remains of South East Asia. The landmass would not have been able to support life were it not for the quick actions of the god Father and his pantheon of spirits. The humans here became dependent on the spirits to keep them alive, and thus the populations broke apart into dozens of tiny cults, each praying to their own god. These were the ancestors that eventually formed the Noble Houses, the ruling body of the Tiger Dominion.

The Tiger Dominion is an Ogliarchy, with the heads of the Noble Houses all having a say in how the Dominion conducts itself. The Emperor acts as mediator when the Noble Houses cannot agree on matters of policy. Outside of these acts of governments, the Noble Houses have set up a system where they obtain a monopoly on all aspects of life for its citizens. One cannot get two separate things without negotiating with the merchants and suppliers of two houses. The actual Nobles are almost above the laws, and will flaunt their wealth often by creating custom robots, altering their bodies with cybernetic enhancements or getting mutations that show aspects of Earth's old animals. Those that are not sponsored or adopted into the Noble Houses are barely considered citizens with very little of their own rights. The create a culture of competition and efficiency so that those that are talented rise above those that are meant to wallow in the dirt. Aliens are also considered outsiders until they can prove their usefulness.

The Tiger Dominion are opportunist and expansionist. The recent power vacuum of Elysia has put the Dominion on a path of conquest. Anything to benefit the Houses.

The Tiger Dominion stance on Exalted are one of two ways, they will be bribed into loyalty and be adopted by a Noble Family, or they will be hunted and killed, to keep them from becoming a threat in the future. Even when a noble house manages to secure an Exalt into its ranks, the House's rivals would rather see that Exalt dead. Assassination is a properly accepted tool in Dominion diplomacy.

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An Example of a Confederation City (Inspiration is Very similar to Mass Effect)
Primary Race: N/A
Earth's Moon actually survived the calamity, being taken by Father moments after the Demon weapons devastated the Earth. The Moon was set adrift, it's hab blocks and hub cities actually supporting the population as it floated on the currents of Elysia before it was set to orbit over a gas giant. Materials for survival were mined from nearby asteroids and bartered for by sympathetic spirits. Religion was never as important as industry and survival since resources to maintain the old systems were always in critical supply. And then the refugees of the Castian Seven Currents War reached their door step.

Their first contact with xenos came in the form of Frigates filled with refugees, fleeing the conquering armada of the Castian, a militaristic race seeking to become an empire. After some time to learn how to speak to the other, the Lunar Humans learned of the coming problem. They were instrumental in the counter attack and defeat of the Castians as it was their leader (possibly one of the first human Exalted) that managed to gather and create an alliance with six other smaller empires and coordinate them to become a fighting force. Since that day, the Lunar Confederation was born, and the fates between the Lunar Humans and those aliens have been entwined ever since.

Lunar Confederation Space is a combination of a number of different species and acts as a council Democracy, with each representative acting in the 'best' interest of their species or planet. There stations and cities are crowded and homogeneous as different needs require different facilities. Bureaucracy's are in place to establish order and regulation, but it takes a long time and things do get lost. Its an inefficient system, but all are welcome in their space.

The Lunar Confederation view Exalted as more trouble than they are worth, as danger tends to follow them. Still there are politicians, species leaders, the military, and the industrial organizations would be happy to hire such a potent assets. Exalts are generally quite publicly known in Confederate territories, for good or ill.

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A moderately intact Fae'Rin Observation Post
Primary Race: Fae'Rin
The Fae'Rin are one of the first races to have inhabited Elysia. They have been involved in every major conflict, and were the favorited species of a particular potent god. They had a culture of rigid order and discipline, with portions of the population born into specific tasks and purposes and meant to fulfill that purpose. Their technology was incredible, almost to the point that it can not be replicated. Their magitech can almost be considered alive, buildings and skyships almost grown rather than made. Their legions of intricate golems and awakened intelligence automatons fulfilled all the purposes of labor, meaning that the Fae'Rin could focus on artistic pursuits. There is very little in Elysia that has not been touched by these curious and enigmatic peoples.

Then Oblivion happened, the largest Demon Elysia had ever seen that hunted the Fae'Rin wherever they tread. It took every major empire and a scores of the most powerful gods to halt Oblivion's advance. In the After math, all of the gods of Fae'Rin's pantheon were killed, and the civilization was brought to near extinction leaving only their cities and tech behind.

Empires pick through their achievements like vultures on a corpse while the survivors struggle to cope with their loss and keep their shattered culture together. The cities and stations however are not entirely uninhabited. Fae'Rin Automaton still patrol and defend these places of wonders untold- and where Oblivion had touched, it left its taint behind in the form of terrifying Void Walkers. Tomb Raiders beware.

Everything in Elysia has its own spirit. Everything. Whether it be the Greatest Dreadnaught to the lowliest spec of sand. The term god and spirit are used interchangeably by the uneducated. Even concepts have gods that claim them. Anything you can think of, there is a spirit for it. Sometimes, multiple spirits. They are immortal and composed entirely as patterns of essence, making all of them inherently magical. All of them have powers that are related to the purview. A god of pain can cause agony with a flick of its bloody wrist. The god of a ship, can be bargained with to help the crew in their journey.

Most of the time a spirit is dormant, coaxed to life only by prayer, sacrifice, magic, or its own duties and ambitions. Most mortals at least mouth a prayer to a deity as part of their occupation, but there are entire cultures formed around being ruled by or worshipping a god or gods, sometimes out of love or fear. They can be powerful allies, or dangerous foes. Some do not need worship at all, as it is their nature to prey on mortals. Indeed gods do not have the same fears or requirements as mortals do, and each are subject to their natures, purview, and the belief of those that pray to them.

Only experts can tell the difference, but spirits exist in a hierarchy called a pantheon, with spirits answering to or working for a more powerful god. There are three types of spirits that the educated know about, but sometimes its difficult to determine by sight alone. Not only can spirits be intangible at will, but they commonly change forms. The beautiful innocent maiden one moment reveals her divine nature and becomes a multi headed hydra. Their forms vary as wildly as the mortals they lord over.

Gods Gods can lay claim over a planet, a moon, a satalite city, a nation, or even a small empire. They are what mortals pray to when they ask for generic common things like good fortune, safe journey, or love. Their prayers whisper in the ears of they massively powerful beings, and they gain motes of essence from it, all the better to power their awesome effects. To ignore or anger a god is quite unwise, even for the Exalted.

Angels They act as agents for the Gods, or are given minor functions. Commonly Angels are city mothers and fathers, or the god of powerful vessels or the Avatar of legions. They all have names, and commonly have magical artifacts to better protect themselves and serve their functions.

Spirits Are varied and numerous, some of them mindless or having no names of their own. They are the most likely spirit a mortal will interact with if they ever do, and a lot of common occupations have minor rituals to propigate these spirits. They are the workforce that keeps the fabric of creation running smoothly.

Sample Angel:


Joul'Shani, Goddess of Leaves and Transitions, is a wood spirit located on the Garden World of Isleen. She claims all the trees and plants of Isleen as her domain and is commonly busied with the intricate process of changing seasons. She is prayed to for good harvest, short winters, and long springs. Especially devoted worshipers may be taken as lovers as she can change her form. She births demi-god beasts and monsters that sometimes wreck havoc on Isleen's farming villages.

Sample Spirit:

Copper Spiders are a type of machine spirit employed by spirits of technology, discovery, knowledge, and greed to salvage and scrap ruins and crashes. While they ignore mortals while they work, shearing sheets of metal for eventual retrieval, they will attack any that takes their claim with lasers of burning essence. They can be summoned and employed by mortal sorcerers to seek out useful scrap, which these industrious spirits have a nose for.

"There be monsters... Anywhere... Watching... Waiting..."
Demons

Nothing brings empires and races together quite like the rumor of a demon and demons are why every empire that wishes to exist through its infancy must find a way to protect itself. Demons are from beyond the Veil, the borders of Elysia. An impenetrable wall of rolling void and chaos. While it is known that there is no escaping Elysia, and a terrible death for all that tries. The prison is no infallible from the outside coming in. Things emerge, appearing anywhere within creation. These are called Demons. They are unnatural, unholy, they shouldn't exist. They bring with them magics and technology that are vile and profane. These are the only beings that have no Essence within them but in their wickedness, they've found out ways to gather and pervert it to their own wicked ends. They come in many forms, from undead monstrosities, machines of terrible manufacture, and monsters with forms that defy biology. There are currently no known demon worlds, but such a den of wickedness would surely cause Elysia to quake into action to purge the unclean with demon and witch hunts in the surrounding worlds for decades to come. Still, the demon is insidious and can strike from anywhere at any time.

Demons with their lack of internal essence can be detected and harmed via 'holy' or strictly divine effects. Additionally particularly strong rituals and spells can inflict effects upon them, as the power of belief and essence force themselves upon their unholy forms. Likewise, they are impossible to predict as even time and destiny spells cannot see the influence a demon would cause. They also bring weapons and powers to bare that sometimes defy understanding, even to demon experts.

Sample Demon:

Lashstalkers are solitary hunters and ambush predators. They seem to have an instinctual sense of targeting those individuals that would cause the most chaos in a particular group, prioritizing healers and leaders. They know guerilla tactics, set traps, and will injure over kill, knowing it would slow a group down. They are also completely silent, save for the sound of leather rubbing against the ground as they move from space to space. Their size would suggest they'd be unable to fit into some places, but yet, cobbards, under beds, closets, even containers can hold a 10 foot tall monsters, bursting forth to lash with whip like fingers, twisting and breaking their victims.

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"Come to my bed said the spider to the fly."
Devils

Beautiful and Terrible. Parents in the center of Elysia will tell their children to behave or they'll call the Devils on them. As one nears the Veil of Elysia, one keeps their weapons, prays a little harder, double checks to lock their doors, and keeps an eye on that scanner a little more closely, lest the devils get them. Devils are of Elysia and like spirits are composed of Essence, but are invariably hostile to mortals. Devils are beings of chaos, beguilement, corruption, and dreams, each unpredictable, alien, without cause or reason. They can appear as beautiful as the most seductive dream, approaching in robes of gossamer wearing the face of a victim's first love but so lovely they make the eyes bleed. They can also appear as impossible shapes, riding beasts from a child's nightmare, an amalgamation of monsters that would be impossible to exist if reality had any say in the matter. A horde of Devils and their spawn have been known to slaughter one planet, change the colors of another with their chaotic touch, and ignore another, merely because their whims and desires change with but the slightest flicker of inspiration. Their powers cause madness, twist reality, and enwrap those in layers of lies and illusion. Devils most commonly ride into Elysia on raids, stealing mortals and slaughtering with glee. Those they take are ravished of all ambition, willpower, and purpose. These Dream Eaten are perfect slaves, as they will not even eat or drink without being told to do so. Unscrupulous merchants have found ways to trade with these beings, receiving Chaos Artifacts that defy logic, creatures that never even existed, and the Dream Eaten. Often the Devils Price is a fresh new herd of frightened mortals for them to torment and eat.

Like demons, holy magic seems to effect these creatures quite well, and there are rituals and items that can ward them off. Pure Cold Iron effects them as if the metal was red hot to the touch, and can be used as a strong deterrant. Additionally, a Devil is bound by his word, and deals can be struck with them as it has a strange permanent effect on his patterns. Be warned though, these creatures are ageless, and their snake tongues and twisted minds can turn negotiations into a battle of wits even an Exalted would have trouble with. They love to twist deals into their favor, receiving the dealer's life, age, dreams, desires, or sanity as payment.

Sample Devil:

The Piper is a terror on the quiet villages, lonely alleys, and old residential sections of space stations throughout Elysia. Anywhere that children are raised in peace with loving parents who want to protect them from the evils of creation may become targeted by a Piper. The music these devils utter is sweet, melodical, and hypnotic. Children will follow the song which cannot be heard by those past a certain age. The children will disappear while the adults sleep. In the coming days, those that look for them will hear the children, laughing, dancing, playing, but will never actually see or touch them. The laughing will end only when the children are found, their entrails and bodies strung up on trees or in some unused room in some hideous parody of an artist's gallery. As a final insult and stab to the psyche, parents looking at their child's remains will find the display breath-takingly beautiful, even as they wail at their loss.

Character Creation
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Name: Your characters full name and nickname or title
Age: Age doesn't really matter, Mankind has existed in Elysia for over a 1000 years and some races were here much earlier.
Gender Self explanatory. Some races have no genders, or three... yay genetic variability.
Race: Any you can think of. If you want to use a canon race, it will be part of Empires Tab (Coming soon)
Culture: If you are none human race, give a short description of their culture, helps with world building. For clarity, some races actually were born in Elysia, its been around for a long time. Some races didn't have any calamity or even knew about the gods until suddenly there were more planets in the sky than before, which I could imagine is still quite a shock.
Racial Features: List a few things that are unique about your particular race.
Appearance Picture or Description
Occupation/Concept How would your character describe themselves? Is he a fighter pilot, a prophet, a priest, a captain, a mercenary, a monster catcher, a demon hunter. Skies the limit here.
Training: List and describe atleast 3 particular skill sets your character is proficient at. They dont have to be just weapons.

Powers: As an Exalted you get divine gifts with your status. You are considered physically superior to others of your race, and your mental faculties and your sway over a crowd are now without biological limits, but your power manifests in other more spectacular ways. List 5 ways you manipulate essence as specific powers. These can be particular spells you can cast or magical effects you can use. Try to be creative. You could go for a particular theme and be a master of one element or you can grab bag of alot of different effects. As an Exalted, any power or magic is capable of being acquired through study or training. Listed examples will be in the Exalted and Magic Tabs. Coming soon.

Equipment: At the very least, unless they are from some backwater feral world your character has a universal translator implant (for understanding languages of others) and a PDA of some variety. Your PDA is essentially a smart phone. You can save info on it, contact people, play games, and if you are near a planet that has a network, you have access to the internet (Which may or may not be restricted) Sometimes ships will also have their own network, but only whats saved in the ships database is able to be accessed, sometimes with security restrictions.
Anything else, is good to go. Weapons, Armor, Gadgets, Implants, Magical Artifacts, Magitech, Cybernetics, Special clothes, all that gets listed here.

Airship: It's perfectly fine to not have an airship, trust me there will be plenty. Look to the Airships tab for examples. Coming soon. Again picture or description
Motivation: What drives your character in life and what is their personal goal in this world?
Personality: How your character acts. Be as broad or specific as you like.
Flaws: All great heroes have tragic flaws. Substance abuse, PTSD, you cant fly a ship to save your life, or you just don't get along with people due to trust issues. If your race has a particular weakness.

Bio: Your character's personal history and major points in their life, maybe when and how you were chosen to be exalted. There will be very little I wont allow for someones backstory. Feel free to use worlds, races, empires, and events, again world building.
Extra Info: Anything more, maybe a pet, a personality quirk, an asset you can utilize?