Sunday 21 October 2018

Amaryllis "Blazing Shield of the Sun" (Exalted First Age Solar)

As well as the Second Age Exalted game featuring Taji which I'm slowly writing up, Rich has been running a First Age game for Bells (Kito)  and Ash, another of their friends. I was invited in, as Ash is going to join our Aberrant game (which starts next week 😀).

Game Background
Bells and Ash are playing teenagers, brand new Solar Exalts attending Meru High. They've both inherited cities and vast fortunes from their previous incarnations and are learning about what it means to be Exalts. It's an alternate history of the Second Age game, so there's a few familiar names and faces, which is fun. 

As with the Second Age game, various liberties have been taken with the official setting.

Character Background
I've joined as an older Exalt, a Zenith by the name of "Blazing Shield of the Sun" who also still goes by her mortal name of Amaryllis. She Exalted maybe 100 years ago, so is still young in Solar terms. Her Lunar mate (Nevalia or Nevaris, depending if they're in female or male form) is older again (several points in the Ally background). They're close, friends and lovers, currently with an adopted daughter Mara (a few points of the Ward or Dependent flaw, forget the name), though they have raised other children that one or other has birthed (need to double check that about Nevalia, but I assume they've both carried babies). Amaryllis is also the ruler of Ondar-Shambal (inherited from her previous incarnation), and is a devoted follower of the Unconquered Sun. She has a following within Ondar-Shambal (Cult) that she finds embarrassing and does her best to reflect the praise to Ignis Divine.

Personality
Amaryllis's overriding trait, the one that gives her the form of her Great Curse, is Compassion. She can't stand by if she sees innocents suffering ("greater curse" flaw means her trigger track is shorter than normal). This is how Mara came to be in her custody: she arrived too late to stop the destruction of a town caught between two warring factions. The only survivor was a young girl, whom she immediately took in.

At the opposite end, her Temperance is very low, meaning she acts compulsively and, when not actively engaged in praying to the Unconquered Sun, is restless and finds it hard to sit still. Her Deliberative paperwork is vastly out of date, she rarely shows up for non-religious official events she's expected to attend, and she's easily distracted. Fortunately for her health, she overindulges as much in healthy things as unhealthy: she's always eating fruit, trains rigorously in martial arts for the pleasure of movement, enjoys sex and parties, drinks too much, reads romance and adventure (but nothing non-fiction unless she has to)...

She's a loyal friend, fiercely protective and hates letting people down. She worries that her lack of temperance makes her unworthy to lead Ondar-Shambal but trusts Lytek knew what he was doing when he chose her.

Attributes and Abilities
She's quick-witted, sharp-eyed, smart, charismatic, tough and resilient. She loves martial arts and is an effective fighter - though she's rarely been called on to use her skills for real, and even when she has, it's been to defend an innocent (or innocent group) from someone significantly less powerful than herself. Her love of movement extends to high acrobatics. She's got a good stage presence that helps her lead group worship, and prayer is a big focus for her. 

While she never had the patience or commitment to learn sorcery, Nevalia/Nevaris is an accomplished sorceror and some of the knowledge has rubbed off on Amaryllis.

As well as being a religious centre, Ondar-Shambal is an active trading partner and, despite the tedium of it, she has become fairly skilled in bureaucracy as a result

Most of her charms relate to resilience, acrobatics and martial arts. Her hearthstones focus on memory and reading (to help her complete necessary tasks she finds dull as quickly as possible), and healing.

The Game...
May or may not get written up at some point.

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