NamelessCrow - A Meditation on Whirling Stars in their Rising and Falling Aspects

The time disruption indicates that some event was supposed to happen but didn't due to a quantum fluctuation. That's why we had to beat you with tennis rackets. ---Gary Gygax and Nichelle Nichols, Futurama

Nameless Crow (tmack)

Concept: Chosen of Secrets. Manipulator, but the bloodless manipulation of psychohistory or group psychology rather than chatting up people at parties or creating a cult of personality. Astrologer. The stealth-and-espionage kind of ninja. Bureaucrat.

Vaguely Similar Characters: The Prophecy from the Belgariad and Mallorean. Satan from the Book of Job. O'Brien from 1984. Bester from "Babylon 5."

Philosophy: Sidereals are the adult supervision for creation. They are the unseen, anonymous watchers lurking just outside the world to make sure that everything runs smoothly. They are the disinterested planners of societies and the enforcers of fate. If they write a message in the sky (and they wouldn't), it's far less likely to be, In hoc signo vinces than, We apologize for the inconvenience. The gods are incapable of considering matters objectively and are constantly absorbed in petty internecine squabbles, so it falls to Sidereals to make the proper, responsible choices and actions for the optimal benefit of creation. That includes protecting it from both snarls in Fate and more personalized supernatural forces trying to twist it to their own ends. Demons and thamaturgy have no place in creation. Other Exalted, especially Solars, don’t either; fortunately, the Bronze Faction seems to have fixed that problem.

With one exception, Sidereals are above meddling with individual humans’ lives. Sidereals are the law for the universe; the welfare of one person is de minimis. (Some Sidereals are unable to see the forest for the trees, and are overly concerned with some aspects of life on earth. They grow out of it eventually.) Making a significant difference in the world requires large-scale or long-term changes in society as a whole. Individual mortals can, however, rarely acheive great feats that remain significant even after their brief lives. The second role of a Sidereal is to push humans towards these extraordinary actions. Great heroism is obviously preferable to great villainy, but you can't have one without the other. Creation is like a play, and the mortals are its actors. Sidereals are not responsible for ensuring that Hamlet finally takes his revenge or that Romeo and Juliet live happily ever after; their main purpose in creation is to make sure that demons, Solars, and even the mortals themselves don't burn the playhouse down. That's pointless, however, unless the play is worth seeing. Sidereals have to make sure that humans have the opportunities to test their limited skills and try to achieve these great things. They often fail at these tests, but that's what the word "extraordinary" means.

Background: Raised in Heaven since birth by an interchangeable series of babysitters, governesses, and tutors. He spent his formative years being dragged to meetings and libraries and being told to play quietly by himself, and he enjoyed it. When he Exalted in his early teens, he dismissed all his nannies with an affectionate handshake and a sinecure in some obscure division he would be sure of never running into. Since then, he's been a loyal and industrious member of the Division of Secrets.

Intimacies: His responsibilities for the Division of Secrets.

Motivation: Make a large-scale Mage Corps for mortal sorcerers and place it under responsible Sidereal control.

One of the responsibilities of Sidereals is to protect humans from harmful supernatural influences. (The influences of Sidereals are a priori salutary. It's for their own good.) They lack the power to defend themselves against magic, so it falls to us to do it for them. Sorcery involves powers mortals lack the ability to handle safely, so we have to prevent them from learning it for their own protection. The obvious way to do this would be to systematically kill every mortal sorcerer, but that's complicated logistically and would require continually patrolling Creation afterward to make sure that the sorcerers don't respawn. Besides, that's not the way Sidereals handle problems. Instead, the character wants to create the equivalent of a Psi Corps for mortal sorcerers: a tightly-controlled [moreso than in Babylon 5, certainly] organization that does all the work of finding new sorcerers and enforcing harsh restrictions on sorcerers itself. Once all of the sorcery in the world is consolidated into a single organization, it should be easy to stamp it out completely by a series of convenient typos in spellbooks, long periods of inept leadership, factional rivalries, riots from the mundane peasants, and so forth.

Long-Term Goal: Eliminate every supernatural influence in the Terrestrial world that isn't Heavenly (or Sidereal).

Unspent XP: 10 (NamelessCrowExperienceLog)

Attributes

Strength	2	Charisma	4	Perception	3
Dexterity	4	Manipulation	5	Intelligence	4
Stamina	1	Appearance	2	Wits	2

Abilities

Journeys		Serenity		Battles		Secrets		Endings
Resistance	0	Craft [Fate]	2	Archery	0	Investigation	3	Awareness	2
Ride	0	Dodge	1	Athletics	0	Larceny	4	Bureaucracy	3
Sail	0	Linguistics	3	Melee	2	Lore	4	Integrity	0
Survival	0	Performance	4	Presence	4	Occult	2	Martial Arts	2
Thrown	0	Socialize	3	War	0	Stealth	5	Medicine	0

Languages: Old Realm, High Realm, Rivertongue, Seatongue (N.B. The hearthstone grants knowledge of all spoken languages, but not literacy in them.)

Essence, Willpower, and Virtues

Permanent Essence	3
Personal Essence	13
Peripheral Essence	35
Willpower	7

Compassion	1	Temperance	3
Conviction	4	Valor	2

Background

Artifact	3	TheUltimateDocument
Artifact	1	Starmetal Amulet
Backing	3	Division of Secrets
	2	Bronze Faction
	0	Convention on Water
	0	Convention on Natural Disasters
Celestial Manse	3	ThePlaceWhereThereIsNoLight. Hearthstone: Gem of Spoken Languages
Salary	3	Resources 4 in Heaven, 5 in Creation
Sifu	2	Knows @martial_arts_forms. I'm interested in Ebon Shadow Form, but I don't know what kind of prerequisites it has. I'll have to borrow a suitable martial arts book at some point and look through the details.

Colleges

Key	1	1e	Make sleep, food, and water unnecessary when preparing for a Lore or Bureaucracy roll
		1e+1p	Lower the difficulty by 1 of any roll against someone with Temperance < user's Intelligence
		1e+3p	Summon the Calibration Gate at the current location
Quiver	1	1e	Reroll any Presence-based Social Attack
		1e	Immediately make any Intelligence + [Lore\|Occult\|Bureaucracy] roll that would normally require a long period of time
		(1e+)+1p	Summon three arrows per Endurance that cause their targets to fall within Fate
Rising Smoke	1	1e	Add Essence to any Charisma-based roll with a god, judge, or magistrate
		1e	Send a letter to another Sidereal instantly; allow the target to reply similarly
		3e+1p[+2p]	Summon a Yozi to scourge the target; different effects on demons
Sorcerer	1	1e	Reflexively block any attack that lowers permanent Essence or causes his to lose memory or access to spells, Charms, Combos, or Abilities (except for pattern bite or the weakening effect of his Greater Sign)
		1e	+3 dice to all rolls with un-Exalted when playing the role of an Exalt
		1e+	Spend n Endurance to add n bonus effect dice when performing an astrology roll with multiple Sidereals involved
Treasure	3	1e/season	The user is instantly aware of any mortal astrology reading about him and can give it any desired outcome
		1e	Add Essence to a Lore or Bureaucracy roll if the opponent's Lore is at most his own
		1e/month	Add Essence to Presence or Socialize rolls if user's Lore is higher than the opponent's Intelligence.

Selected Inventory

Perfect no tea

Perfect calligraphy brush (+2 to Linguistics [Calligraphy] rolls when used)

Perfect censer (+2 to Performance [Prayer] rolls when used)

Perfect staff

Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Minimums	Cost	Tags
6	+3	+8B	+4	+2	Str 2	2	2, R

Perfect greatsword

Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Minimums	Cost	Tags
6	+2	+9L/2	-1	2	Str 2	4	2, O, R

Perfect reinforced buff jacket

Soak	Mobility	Fatigue	Cost	Tags
+5L/8B	-0	0	4	-

Transforming mundane artifact

Offer for simultaneous crying of news in all cities in Creation

Charms

Charm	Cost	Area	Type	Duration	Effects	Keywords
Avoiding the Truth Technique	3m	Larceny	Supplemental	Instant	If Larceny + (social ability roll) exceeds target's Dodge MDV, then he believes the statement the caster just made to be a lie	Fate, Illusion, Virtue (Conviction)
Efficient Secretary	2m	Investigation	Simple	One misc. action	Provides answers to simple, factual questions	-
Fateful Performance Excellency	1m+[+1wp]	-	Reflexive	Instant	Decrease the target number of a roll by n < 4, or spend 4m + 1wp to make every die an automatic success	-
Force Decision	4m	Presence	Simple	Instant	Perfect social attack adding an Unnatural mental influence to make a particular decision. Reversing it requires failing a Conviction roll or spending a Willpower point if Conviction is above 3. Characters with less attachment to their decisions may reconsider them more easily. The initial Compulsion requires 2 WP to overcome.	Compulsion, Fate
Impeding the Flow	3m	Melee	Reflexive	Instant	Reduces an incoming attack to zero successes	Combo-OK
Methodology of Secrets	5m	Lore	Reflexive	Until sleeping	(assuming we're still using the 1e version) +3 to one ability and +1 to all others when working in a particular environment, circumstance, or condition	-
Soft Presence	2m	Stealth	Supplemental	One action	Each mote of Essence only contributes 1/2 to anima flare	-
Subordinate Inspiration	1m	Stealth	Supplemental	Instant	Target rolls (Perception + Awareness) vs. user's Essence; if the roll fails, target assumes the words are his own thoughts	Social
Third Performance Excellency	3m+	-	Reflexive	Instant	Reroll a Performance action once, or increase a static DV by Performance/2	Combo-OK
Thought-Swiping Distraction	5m+1wp	Larceny	Simple	Instant	Make eye contact with a target and swipe his surface thoughts	Fate
Walking Outside Fate	5m+1wp	Stealth	Simple	Indefinite	Step outside fate; -2 to rolls to be affected	Fate
World-Shaping Artistic Vision (x2)	-	Craft	Permanent	Permanent	Decreases target number on Craft [Fate] and astrology rolls when the condition in a city holds; decreases cost of Fateful Excellency (including the 4m+1wp version) when condition is met	-

Active Astrological Effects

Peaceful Scorpion, an expert on some small area of linguistics that no one else has ever heard of.

College	Duration	Remaining EP
Treasure	one season	1

Current effects:

Name	Effect summary	Duration	Start
Stab the Seer's Eyes	Subvert mortal astrological readings about self	one season	*
Professional Mien	+3 to all Presence and Socialize Rolls if target's Intelligence <= 3	one month	Run 9

*I'm not actually sure when this started; but since it lasts a season and I'm going to create a new RD the next time we get to Heaven, I don't think it matters that much. Feel free to ignore it if you think it's expired.

A nameless Mage Corps officer.

College	Duration	Remaining EP
Treasure	one season	3

Current effects:

Name	Effect summary	Duration	Start
Stab the Seer's Eyes	Subvert mortal astrological readings about self	one season
Professional Mien	+3 to all Presence and Socialize Rolls if target's Intelligence <= 3	one month	Run 9

Other effects:

Blissful Idiot Blessing applying to "keeping the world safe" (-1 to the difficulty of a roll; +1 success on an opposed roll; +1 Defense Value on unrolled defenses)

Scope	Duration	Frequency
Me, one mortal (5)	one season (2)	once per scene or 20 minutes of downtime (3)

Paradox: 3

Titles and Awards

Splendid

Future Plans

NamelessCrowWishList

NamelessCrowEnemiesList

Current as of the end of the 16 January run