STRENGTH (2) DEXTERITY (5) STAMINA (4)

CHARISMA (2) MANIPULATION (1) APPEARANCE (4)

PERCEPTION (4) INTELLIGENCE (2) WITS (3)

WISDOM
BUREAUCRACY--- 0
INVESTIGATION---- 0
LORE----------- 0
MEDICINE------ 0
OCCULT-------- 0

SPECIALTIES
Showing Off (Martial Arts)
Grapples (Martial Arts)
Threats (Presence)
Acrobatics (Athletics)
When Unarmed (Dodge)

PERSONALITY
Terse, and slightly quiet, owing much to her long time spent in solitude. Due to a sense of duty, she finds it difficult to run from a fight, especially when others are at risk. After losing close friends, she's a bit of a loner and unwilling to get close to anyone. Since living alone most of her life, Astrid has become overtly strong-willed, unable to compromise, and sometimes entirely thoughtless.

Intimacy(s)
The Silver Spiral Stalkers

Motivation(s)

Battle
Good Food
Worthy Enemies
Defending the Weak
Smiting Evil
A good drink
Her Tribe

VIRTUES
COMPASSION: 1
TEMPERANCE: 1
CONVICTION: 4
VALOR: 4

LIMIT BREAK
The Tiger's Mountain
Life on her own has had its impact, everyone she get's close to seems to die while she seems unable to be bested. Like a tiger ruling a mountain, Astrid works best alone, refusing to listen to others and following her own plans to completion regardless of the cost. Uncompromising is an understatement as she hurtles herself into matters that would be potentially deadly. Perhaps the young lady secretly harbors a death wish, or perhaps she is merely overly confident in her skills. Once she cracks, however, nothing can dissuade her from her task.

MERITS
Double-Jointed: Exalted with this merit are uncanny contortionists, able to maintain a perfect split indefinitely, bend each finger to the wrist, kick their legs straight up, or even dislocate and reset joints painlessly. This means escaping grapples and most restraints is child's play for these Exalted.
Omnidexterous: The Exalted can use either hand or feet as readily as one would their dominant hand. Theoretically, the Exalted could wield four weapons or tools in this way, though matters of balance and common sense still apply.
Acute Senses: This Exalted has hearing of preternatural acuity, able to navigate entirely by pitch and reflection of echoes.

FLAWS
Chimera: Lunars with this flaw have forsaken their original Totem animal, and as such that form is a hybrid of both creatures, giving it an oddly mutated appearance. This leads other Lunars to treat them with distrust or distaste, as they appear to be falling to the Chimera.
Barbarian: Characters with this flaw grew up outside the bounds of civilization and as such do not know the ways of soft city-dwellers. They are not assumed to be literate and they take penalties understanding or expressing civilized etiquette.
Dogma: Your kinship to the spirits is closer than other Exalted, and you are bound by the rituals of religion regarding them. A minor religion practiced in the thresholds and by Wyld barbarians has power over Astrid. Rituals may bar her entrance to locations, as well as summon her to locations like a spirit.

---

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Astrid's father was killed by bandits before she was born, and her mother died in childbirth. For a time she was raised in an orphanage until a kind and burly man adopted her. That man happened to be a nomadic Barbarian named Lem, whose own wife and children were stolen by the Fair folk. He taught Astrid everything he knew about fighting. They traveled the lands, doing what they could to stem the tide of growing evil throughout the land.

While trying to hunt down a sect of the Cult of the Darkness's Unseeing Eye that had been stealing children, Astrid's adoptive father met his end. In a rage, Astrid attempted to get revenge for her father immediately, even though she was already wounded, surrounded, and heavily outnumbered. Screaming her throat raw, she threw herself at the cultists. For every blow they landed she landed six more, rage fueling her onslaught. It was then that she was chosen as one of Luna's Beloved. The next cultist to appear before her had long silvery-white hair, and try as she might, she was unable to land a single hit on him. The silvery-hair man kicked her to the ground, where she came to the sudden realization that he was the last cultist left alive. Slowly she found herself able to return to her feet and lock eyes with the last cultist, who had piercing silver eyes. "Lem and I are walking out of here." She slowly forced the words out between gasps for breath.

The silvery-eyed man glowed with the moon's light before disappearing with a whispered phrase, "I know, but what you do after is what I'm interested in."

Astrid continued to wander the lands, lost and without a cause, besides spreading her father's ashes slowly over the Earth he loved to travel. It wasn't long before rumors of a shape-changing woman spreading ashes around Creation caught the Silver Pact's ear. The Lunar Sorcerers found shortly after, putting her through the customary trials. With newfound purpose, she undertook these trials set before her by others like her. Upon graduation, they deemed her a Full-Moon, one of the warriors of the Luna. Miraculously, she managed to pass every trial without loss; unusual for a Full Moon. Astrid's skin remained unadorned with vicious scarring, simply because she never gave her opponents the chance. After her trials, the Lunars gave her a new name, Cascading Moonlight; at the time she was still a young teen, but she set out the moment her mentor deemed her ready, as she was determined to effect change.

Continuing to wander, but now searching for stronger and more powerful evils, Astrid continued her father's legacy; growing into a fine combatant along the way. Many nights were spent hunting animals in their own skin, others were spent practicing the Unfettering in the Wyld. In civilized societies, people tended to treat her with distaste, due much to her barbaric nature. She never made many friends, preferring a life of solitude to that of a socialite. Brushes with the Immaculate Order caused her to become an outlaw, though her crimes never warranted the Wyld Hunt to come calling. Finding herself a new enemy, Astrid began to make attacks against the Realm.

People die, especially when their line of work is hunting Terrestrials; with that in mind, Astrid found herself unwilling to befriend others, even though her good looks caused many to try. For a short time, she even hunted with a group of other Lunars, though this didn't last long as her brash and bull-headed attitude scared away most that tried. The only one that stayed was a No-Moon named Mila, which Astrid grew exceedingly close to. They hunted together, slept together, and traveled Creation as best friends and partners.

One day, the two managed to bite off more than they could chew. It was only supposed to be a single Immaculate, one that was abandoned for betraying his order. However what they DID find, was an ambush, almost a hundred staunch defenders of the Order ready to put down the Anathema They tried to run, using essence to flee, but Astrid was caught and certain to die. Mila turned back to save her, managing to free Astrid but at the cost of her life. Knowing death was certain and refusing to let Mila's sacrifice be in vain, Astrid fled, in tears. She has no clue how far she ran, but she found herself in an entirely new village.

In her new land, she finally made a home for herself, accidentally declaring herself de facto Goddess of a small tribe by accidentally seating herself at the head of the table. The tribe didn't mind, after all the seat had been left open for a Goddess such as her. Though never growing particularly close to anyone, she did learn to love the people living in her village. After repeated prompting from the Elder that initiated her, Astrid decided her skills were enough to start her own Thousand Streams River. The tribe was carefully culled, via selective exile. The remaining tribesmen were protected like a mother bear would her cubs. Tearing through anyone who dared threaten their peace, the tribe quickly grew in her image. Her heart still cried for her adoptive father and her now-dead partner, but the villagers would have been lost without her. Luna had ensured that she would live for this purpose, to finish the Great Experiment. Passing Exalted sometimes lauded over her prowess, but since Mila's death, she refused to join any of them.

Becoming chief of the village gave her life a new sense of purpose, and from there a fire sprang up in the girl. The tribe as a whole became her new family, one that could potentially outlive even her. Using her powers, she established a faith that worshiped Animal Gods, ancestor ghosts, and Luna; Astrid served as its figurehead. If these people needed a powerful Goddess-Queen, then Astrid would become it. After all... There were worse things to be.

Essence score: 3
Health: 7/7 (9/9 in Beastman form)
Willpower pool: 8/8

Essence motes
Essence Pool: Personal: 8 (half your willpower+your essence score+1) Peripheral: 20 (your full willpower + (essence score X 4))

CHARMS
7/7 Charms

1. First Dexterity Excellency: Essence Overwhelming (Dexterity 1 1M/Tick Duration: Instant) Some Lunar Exalted excel at using their natural talents. The Exalt’s player can invoke this Charm when making a roll based on the relevant Attribute. This Charm adds one die to that roll per mote spent. This Charm is the most common source of dice added to rolls; no combination of Charms can add more than (Attribute) dice to the roll. This Charm can also enhance unrolled uses of the relevant Attribute. Common examples of this are climbing the Feat of Strength chart with the Strength Excellency or increasing alcohol Tolerance with the Stamina Excellency. When enhancing a static value, each success rolled with dice from this Excellency increases the effective relevant Attribute by for an instant.
2. Armor-Forming Technique: (Stamina 3 1M ) - The character grows bony plates which adds three points of bashing and lethal soak and one point of aggravated soak for every mote spent; the Lunar may spend up to (Essence) motes. Soak from this Charm is Obvious and counts as armor for the purposes of Charms and piercing weapons. The bony armor renders other armor unwearable (the size and shape of the Lunar’s body has changed), except for Moon-Faced Mail (see p. 128) and moonsilver armor. When the Lunar shifts into war form, he may commit up to (Essence) motes in this Charm for as long as he keeps Deadly Beastman Transformation active. Other than the extended duration, it functions as normal.
3. Deadly Beastman Transformation: (Charisma 2 2M Duration: Indefinite) - Lightning Speed/Horrifying Might +2 Stamina, +1 Dexterity, +3 Strength The Lunar assumes a hybrid form of her Totem Animal and herself, a veritable 'Warform' which becomes one of her True Forms. She also gains two gifts and increased (+5) attributes. Lightning Speed doubles her running and jumping distance. The second gift adds +2 attribute points (+2 Strength, already taken into account above)
4. Twin-Faced Hero (Essence 3 Wits 3 Duration: Indefinite) - Not all Lunar Exalted are bound to their gender. This Knack enables a character to transcend gender, becoming either a male or female rendition of any form she dons. This includes her true forms. Both genders are fully functional in all ways—she may sire or bear children, for example. The character makes the choice to shift gender as she changes shape, or she may spend the full Essence cost to change into a shape she already wears, just to shift gender. Some Lunars prefer a perfectly neuter shape, which this Knack also makes possible.
5. Deadly Beastman Transformation 2: (Charisma 2 2M Duration: Indefinite Can only take once per Essence score) - Terrible Beast Claws +1 Dex +1 Strength. The Lunar gains horrible natural weapons, Claws (Spd +3, Acc +1, 3L, +1 to pry) and a Bite (Spd +0 Acc +2, 5L) These attacks are considered martial arts (Total stat adjustment: +2 Stamina, +2 Dexterity, +4 Strength)
6. Deadly Beastman Transformation 3: (Charisma 2 2M Duration: Indefinite Prerequisites: Can only take once per Essence score) - Savage Moonsilver Talons make the Lunars claws and teeth huge and made of Moonsilver; she is capable of carving through bone, flesh, and metal with equal ease. Claws have the following stats: Spd +6 Acc +4 Dmg +5L Pry +4. The bite has the following stats: Spd +3 Acc +2 Dmg +8L Pry +0. These moonsilver attacks can harm dematerialized spirits and count as Moonsilver for charms. (Total stat adjustment: +2 Stamina, +3 Dexterity, +5 Strength)
7. Relentless Lunar Fury (Stamina 3 1M/1Willpower Duration: 9 Actions) After activating this Charm, the character enters a devastating battle fury. She may slaughter her foes as dispassionately as the most cold-blooded assassin, show her rage with shouts and grimaces, or act any other way she desires. This short-lived Charm is the exemplar of Lunar—indeed, some say Exalted—combat. Shielded by their fury, the character becomes a truly frightening foe.
The Charm’s initial benefits are modest. The character adds one automatic success to all combat actions, from attacking and resisting knockdown to keeping balance during the fight, but her Defense Values remain unaffected. She does not suffer wound penalties until they are worse than -1 and completely ignores fatigue for the duration. Finally, the maximum benefit the character may obtain from her physical Attribute Excellencies increases to (Attribute + Essence).

Relentless Lunar Fury’s real power lies in other Charms. Certain Charms have the Fury-OK keyword. These Charms describe special (but related) effects that they have when activated simultaneously with the Relentless Lunar Fury. Any Fury Charm’s special benefit may be activated as a part of Relentless Lunar Fury without a Combo by adding two motes to the cost of Relentless Lunar Fury. These Charms’ fury effects always end with Relentless Lunar Fury. Characters may have the normal version of a Charm active at the same time the Fury-OK version of a Charm is active. A character may not activate more than (Essence) additional fury Charms at once.

A Lunar’s fury comes with one drawback: The Lunar becomes so very focused that she cannot perform non-combat actions. The Lunar must continue to hunt and kill enemies until the Charm ends. With a successful reflexive Willpower roll, the character can perform a non-combat action (at -2 dice) or come off the offensive for a single action. She can only stop the fury early by forcefully calming her anger and cooling her blood; to do so, her player rolls (Willpower) at a difficulty of the character’s Valor.

When a character activates more than three additional Charms in tandem with Relentless Lunar Fury (which requires Essence 4 or higher), the Charm becomes Obvious. Silver and white light flow around the character’s weapon and form contrails to emphasize her prowess.

COMBOS

!!!!!BONUS POINTS!!!!!
10/10 Used (6 on Essence Rank, 3 to an artifact, 1 on Valor)

PREFERRED FIGHTING STYLE

Beastman Rending
Spears thrown from the foot
Tri/Dual-wielding axes
Aiki-jūjutsu

LANGUAGES KNOWN

High Realm
SkyTongue
RiverSpeak
Northern Barbarian Dialect (Common enough to speak a few)

Heart's Blood
White Tiger
Black Cat
Reindeer
Polar Bear
Harpy Eagle
Dolphin
Rattlesnake


EQUIPMENT AND POSSESSIONS

Girdle of the Chthonic Baara (ARTIFACT •••)It is said that during the early days of the Primordial War the Argent Madonna personally handed down this unique wonder to the Lunar Exalt known as the Black Manticore. Although it is made of flowing, flexible moon-silver and set with cloud diamonds from the Elemental Pole of Air and fire opals from deep beneath Creation’s surface, the girdle still manages to project an innocuous appearance. Most mortals fail outright to notice it. Recognizing the artifact as anything other than a mundane belt requires a reflexive (Perception + Awareness) roll at difficulty 5. Supernatural obfuscation is not the girdle’s primary purpose or power, however. It was believed in the First Age that the belt had been somehow endowed with a measure of primal Wyld energy, stabilized by the touch of Luna. Those who know of it in the Second Age have their doubts. They suspect the power of the Chthonic Baara is that of Luna and Luna alone. They wonder if the shadow of the All-Beast is somehow reflected in their own Exaltations, allowing for the possibility of chimerism. Whenever a Lunar wearing the girdle of the Chthonic Baara assumes his war form through the Deadly Beastman Transformation Knack, he may reflexively re-assign that form’s mutations in any legal configuration he desires without being forced to take his spirit shape into account. For example, a Lunar with the spirit shape of a great cat could easily assume a war form sporting wings and tentacles. If he ceases to wear the girdle, his war form reverts to its normal state. This artifact costs three motes to attune.

Two sets of tattered clothes

Two sets of Metal Gauntlets and Greaves

Three Axes

Four Spears

Two Cold Iron Spears

Eight Pine Resin Bombs

Eight Lamp-oil Bombs

Various ribbons

Eight leather belts

A large rucksack

Portrait of Lem and Astrid

Three Waterskins

Two Whetstones

A large metal shield