Half-Caste

 

When the gods created their Exalted champions according the designs of the Primordial Autochthon, they considered their own planned betrayal against their creators. Thus, it was decided that the power of Exaltation would not flow through blood, but would incarnate anew to those with destiny and greatness enough to attract the Essence. This system served a twofold purpose: First, it ensured that only the most worthy and able candidates received induction into the ranks of the Chosen. But more importantly, the Exalted inability to foster dynasties of power would keep them divided and fractious — and, therefore less likely or able to plot a coup against the gods. Only the Terrestrial Exalted were exempt from this limitation, for they were no threat to the power of the Celestines and swelling numbers would serve them well as foot soldiers against the Primordials. But the Exalted were made too well, or perhaps, Autochthon had other plans for his creations. For even though the Celestial Essences did not travel by bloodline, some of their power bled through seed and womb to gift mortal children with a taste of glory. Such Half-Caste, as they came to be known, were a surprise to the Celestines and Exalted alike, but their power was even less significant than the Dragon-Blooded and, so, merited little concern.

During and after the Primordial War, the Grandchildren of the Gods served their Exalted parents as squires and seneschals. As the decadence and arrogance of the Chosen grew, so too did the numbers of Half-Caste. Voracious Solars gathered concubines under pretext of divine right, seizing mortals who appealed to them and spiriting them away to lavish brothels and harems beneath their gilded Manses. The legions of Golden Children that sprung from these unions served as living monuments to their parents’ glory, sometimes displacing the Terrestrial Exalted as the closest servants and bodyguards of their sires. This insult no doubt furthered the seeds of Usurpation and gave idle Dragon-Blooded more opportunities to gather and plot.

Lunar Exalted bore few offspring in their own likeness, though they dutifully gave birth to many of the greatest Golden Children. In contrast, the Chosen of the Maidens mated rarely and kept their Star-Blessed progeny hidden from the inauspicious lusts and appetites of the Solars. As for the Terrestrials, their Half-Caste were seen as deficient or precocious depending on whether they ultimately Exalted.

The Usurpation changed everything. The nurseries of the infant Golden Children ran red with blood and screams, as they died to the last like their Solar progenitors. Other Half-Caste perished in defense of their parents or suffered righteous execution by the Terrestrials they had cruelly commanded in their parents’ names. The Sidereals went into hiding, taking their children with them. In time, their involvement in the nascent Immaculate Order and other celibate religions allowed the Star-Blessed to dwindle until they were but a half-forgotten memory. The Lunar Exalted retreated to the far corners of the world and the Wyld places and bred hordes of beastmen to attend them in their loneliness. The Contagion merely accentuated this change, erasing the last memories of the Sidereal and Solar Half-Caste.

In the modern Age, little has changed from the days of the Shogunate. But this is not bound to last. The Solar have returned to the world, and they are not alone. The Abyssal Exalted have also emerged, tainted by the malice of the Underworld. These deathknights sire children stained with their own dark power in defiance of their stillborn destiny, yet these inauspicious births can only lead to more death when their progeny learn to kill and hate life. All the while, the Solars unwittingly cast seed into the world, not knowing the harvest they will reap or the significance of the first Golden Children to tread Creation since the Usurpation.

Heritage Power: Half-Caste receive additional dots of Attributes during character creation, as noted previously, but otherwise exhibit no mystical birthright of their heritage.

Associations: Half-Caste experience a sense of connection with the signs and symbols of their parentage. Solar Half-Caste feel most at ease under sunlight, regarding its warm glow as an affirmation of their very existence. They likewise favor the colors gold and white. Lunar Half-Caste share that preference for white, but they also love the silver and pale blue of moonlight. Sidereal Half-Caste often claim to feel lucky under starlight and instinctively favor the symbols of their parent’s Maiden. Abyssal Half-Caste embrace their state of half-death with a fondness for black, ivory and the crimson hue of blood. They often wallow in the trappings of death, regaled as Ghost-Blooded in funerary garb. The children of Terrestrial Exalted experience the most intense associations of all Half-Caste, resonating with the color, season and direction of their inherited Aspect as well as the actual element thereof.

Sobriquets: Grandchildren of the Gods, Anathema Spawn (Derogatory), Golden Children (Solar), Moon-Born (Lunar), Star-Blessed (Sidereal), Shadewalkers (Abyssal), Dragon-Touched (Terrestrial)

Concepts: Big fish in a small pond, Dynastic scion (Terrestrial), embittered right hand of greatness, gambler’s bane (Sidereal), forgotten bastard, ghost hunter (Solar, Abyssal), hero without a cause, messianic harbinger (Celestial), voice of her sire

 

How did I come by such

information? I’m just lucky,

I guess.