STRENGTH //2// DEXTERITY //3// STAMINA //2//
CHARISMA //3// MANIPULATION //2// APPEARANCE //4//
PERCEPTION //4// INTELLIGENCE //4// WITS //3//
ATHLETICS â 0
AWARENESS â 0
DODGE â 3
INTEGRITY â 3
MARTIAL ARTS â 2
MELEE â 4
RESISTANCE â 2
THROWN â 0
WAR â 0
LARCENY â 0
LINGUISTICS â 3
PERFORMANCE â 0
PRESENCE â 2
RIDE â 0
SAIL â 1
SOCIALIZE â 2
STEALTH â 0
SURVIVAL â 2
BUREAUCRACY â 0
INVESTIGATION â 0
LORE â 3
MEDICINE â 2
OCCULT â 1
Knife Wielder
Twinkle Toes
Artifact Utilization
Subtleties of Connotation
PERSONALITY
She has a strong sense of humility as well, originating from lessons learnt through tears. Lux wouldnât call herself wise; she doesnât consider herself to be heroic, special, or anything more then just an everyday anybody. Despite having taken her Second Breath and becoming a Dragon-Blooded, Lux lives simply, she experiences new things for the sake of it, helps when help is needed. She wouldnât call herself a hero, but if she knows she can help, she just does, merely because itâs the right thing to do.
Beyond that, the Lux of the present day is a young woman of cheer, rather awkward tendencies, occasional awful jokes, and a desire to live. Though she doesn't hold anything quite akin to deep friendships, Lux still enjoys establishing camaraderie with others nevertheless, even if she can sometimes be a bit peculiar, she generally means well and thoroughly likes the company of other people. While Lux lacks a formal education, she's still a rather decent conversationalist who is socially competent, for the most part. However, she does have something of an unfortunate quirk that can leave others viewing her as uncouth.... Perhaps a tendency leftover from her earlier life, she has something of a fascination with things she perceives as gorgeous, which leads her to staring at them rather intensely. Whether this be a bit of jewelry, artwork, architecture, etc., Lux cannot help herself, and becomes engrossed in what she's viewing. Naturally, this inconveniently extends to her sometimes gawking at people who somewhat overwhelm her sense of aesthetics. Aware of this issue, Lux has made efforts to cease at least staring at people, and has made strides, but she is still prone to lapses...which has led to more than one embarrassing incident, or her feeling mortified in the aftermath.
In general, Lux tends to be something of a rather even-tempered young woman, all things considered. That isn't to say Lux doesn't get irked, though. She is capable of snapping at people if they get on her nerves, or if they push one of her buttons.
Though, she always does her best to see the good in people, and rarely really believes others to be totally evil, and thinks pretty much anyone is capable of changing themselves for the better due to her own circumstances. Of course, this isn't to say that she isn't willing to draw a blade and fight against others if she feels it a necessity. Lux is not a pacifist, but she prefers to avoid conflict as much as possible. She will fight to protect those who need immediate protection, and she will defend her own life.
Help those in need of help
Leave others with a smile
Never falter
TEMPERANCE â 2
CONVICTION â 2
VALOR â 2
âWhatever I must do...to protect another....â
Like all Exalted, Luxâs strongest Virtue can prove to be her downfall when under the effects of the Great Curse. Her compassion drives her to live with her heart on her sleeve, show immense amounts of empathy, and perhaps to care too deeply for others.... When the Great Curse overcomes her, Lux utterly changes for the duration of its effects. That strong and righteous compassion that drives her forward becomes mutilated and twisted. Aspects of Luxâs old persona bleed through to the surface, and while she is still technically acting on her compassion, itâs a rather morphed version of it. Her morality greys, and sheâs suddenly not so opposed to darker deeds if the ends seemingly justify the means. If it means she can help or protect someone she cares about, sheâll be willing to steal, and even do something like suddenly plunge a knife in the back of an unsuspecting individual. She acts on her instincts, doing whatever feels like itâll get the job done as quickly as possible, even if it horrifies others, or could lead to her own demise. Anyone who bears witness to Lux like this will get to see who she used to be in years gone by....
Characters with this Merit have a broad basis of knowledge and skill to draw upon and an almost preternatural ability to adapt their understanding to new purposes and situations.
Pain Tolerance
Characters with this Merit can shrug off injuries that would leave most individuals unconscious or writhing in agony.
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A character with this Flaw experiences horrific dreams whenever she sleeps. She may have experienced a mind-shattering personal trauma or received the attention of malefic spirits or sorcerers, or perhaps she harbors guilt over past misdeeds.
Secrets
The character harbors a secret that could prove embarrassing or even dangerous if others were to learn of it.
Strangeness
Life is just a little stranger for this character. Fae seek them out for conversations, Elementals manifest often to dance in their path, but only on their watch. Sometimes it rains toads in their path, etc. Odd things just happen, these events tend to complicate the situation, rather than help.
Lux is a young woman of around 18 who is of a somewhat smaller frame, possesses a well-proportioned figure, and a youthful face that makes most believe her to be younger than she truly is. Her complexion is rather light, her skin fair, while her hair is vibrant shade of blonde, kept rather short due to an incident with a horse in the near past, it is anything but neat though, typically it rather unkempt in appearance, seemingly defying gravity and basic laws of physics from time-to-time, yet it seems to work for her, oddly. Upon her person, perhaps her most striking physical feature is her rather vivid green eyes. Typically, Lux is a modest dresser, keeping the majority of her body covered by some type of durable clothing that can withstand travel.
The earliest years of her life, Lux grew to emulate her âcaretakers,â she lacked a sense of humanity and knew only how to follow her instincts to survive in a world that was harsh and cruel.
Until the age of eight, Lux led a life that was bathed in crime and blood, she lived on scraps, and she knew few days where she was truly content. Hunger and thirst plagued her a majority of those yearsâand truly she thought this was just how life was for everyone in the world. She thought that every person lived like she and her âfamilyâ did. And, as far as she knew this was how sheâd live her whole life til the day she died, whether it be from starvation, old age or having a âfamily memberâ slit her throat in her sleep, Lux fully accepted this horrid existence.
That is, til this chapter of her life came to an abrupt end in the late hours of the night. Someone, a woman revered as a local vigilante do-gooder, wandered her way through the winding paths that led to the hideaway that Lux and her âfamilyâ lived in. Sheâd come to put an end to their reign of crime, but was not a woman without a sense of empathy or mercy. Though it seemed idiotic, she shouted that if anyone wanted to surrender themselves, and scatter to the corners of Creation while promising to lead a life free of crime, sheâd spare their lives. Naturally, she was mocked and laughed atâthat she truly thought herself capable of victory? She was one woman facing down dozens. And yet.... She did prove victorious against their lot, when they raised their weapons at her, she knew that no one would take her up on her offer of mercy, so she no longer hesitated and cut a bloody swath through the criminals, not stopping til each one was felled by her spear...until she came across Lux.
Believing Lux to be an orphan recently kidnapped by the bandits, the woman who introduced herself as Vered Saphir took Lux into her care, promising to find the girl a safe and warm place to call home. Lux put on a rather commendable charade, playing upon the womanâs soft heart; she acted the part of a traumatized and terrified girl.... Though Vered had told Lux she would find her a new home, Vered inadvertently always found one reason or another to keep Lux with her, making excuse after excuse as to why each location they visited was ill-suited for a child to live. And while it was that Lux initially started only acting, Veredâs actions, her compassion, her everything had a strong affect upon Lux after some months as her ward. Initially, Lux couldnât quite comprehend what was happening to herâthat Vered had ignited a spark within her that had burned through her heart and mind, awakening her sleeping humanity. She learned compassion, empathy, found her conscious during that time at Veredâs side.... These things almost broke her.
Alongside the development of a conscious, so too did come the guilt, remorse and regret for all sheâd done before. The lives sheâd taken; the lives sheâd destroyed when she knew no better. This ate away at her nerves and mind til one night she couldnât take it anymore. She broke down into hysterics before Vered, confessing to her caretaker all of her sins and of the immense guilt she was experiencing. A part of Lux honestly believed that Vered would kill her then and there, as she revealed the dark deeds she committed.
Vered though, merely consoled the girl, embracing her as she soothed her anxieties. Lux sobbed into the arms of her caretaker all night.
In the years following all this, Lux fully dedicated herself to emulating Veredâadmiring her entirely. She learned everything she could from herâworldly as Vered was, suffice to say that Lux learned a lot; from combat techniques to several different languages.... Those were the happiest times of Luxâs life, truly. ....and during the middle of another night, Luxâs life would once more change. Veredâs reputation as a vigilante do-gooder preceded her. Some revered her as a bit of a folk hero, while others most certainly did not view her so fondly. During the earliest hours of the AM, she and Lux were ambushed by a group seeking revenge on Vered for her actions against them several months before, and while Vered fought with all her might, she did possess one weakness.
Several of the criminals took Lux hostage, a knife pressed so close to her throat that she bled. They told Vered that they would kill Lux, unless she surrendered her weapon and received their âjustice.â Livid, Vered tossed aside her spear while Lux screamed at her to fight...but Vered cared too much for Lux to do such a thing and risk her life. And before Luxâs eyes, Vered was stabbed through the stomach. What happened next once more served to shift Luxâs seemingly obvious destiny.
It felt like time stilled, Luxâs breath caught in her diaphragm, and her heart faltered, her whole body felt like it numbed. All Lux really remembers is screaming as loud as she could scream, sensation returning to her body tenfold. Everything became a blur of tears and her screams, and when she returned to awareness, she found herself standing amidst a dozen or more corpses whoâd been otherwise torn to shreds and burned nearly unrecognizable, while she was covered in their sticky, drying blood.
Sheâd taken her Second Breath that night, and awoke as a Prince of the Earth.
Itâs been nearly three-and-a-half years since Veredâs death, and Lux has done her best to go on with her life, trying to live in a way thatâd made Vered proud. Sheâs wandered across the Scavenger Lands, met many people and experienced much, learning miscellaneous things.... Lux has learned about herself, about whom and what she is, putting the pieces together as sheâs gone onward in her journeys. From time-to-time sheâs been known to help those who needed help, righted wrongs she bore witness to and generally has done her best to live life like Vered used to. Some people might think of her as heroic, but Lux would deny such praisesâshe feels that sheâs just an everyday anybody, and is no one more special than the next person. All sheâs doing is what she would hope anyone would do. If that makes people view her as a hero, then, maybe it's better for them to view her as such, if it gives them hope.
- SPARK KINDLING RESCUE TECHNIQUE
Medicine â 2
Essence â 2
Cost â 2m
Duration â Varies
By sending a potent surge of Essence through the targetâs body, the Fire Aspect sparks an incapacitated target into furious action for three turns for every success on a Strength + Medicine roll. The target does not regain consciousness and cannot take actions of his own, so the Exalt using this Charm must guide the targetâs somewhat uncoordinated running, but the target can move at his maximum speed for the duration of this Charm, provided the Exalt guides him around obstacles. Targets affected by this Charm are, albeit only briefly, stabilized and will not lose blood again until three turns after the Charm concludes. If the target takes damage beyond the maximum dictated by his Stamina while this Charm is in effect, he dies the moment the Charm concludes. - THRESHOLD WARDING STANCE
Dodge â 2
Essence â 2
Cost â 1m
Duration â Instant
It stands to reason that, if one wishes to dodge, one must have room to do so. The Dragon-Blooded defy this obvious logic. For the duration of a single tick, a Dragon-Blood using this Charm can ignore all environmental penalties to his Dodge DV, even in places where dodging would seemingly be impossible, such as on tree limbs or up to his knees in quicksand. - BLINDING SPARK DISTRACTION
Melee â 3
Essence â 2
Cost â 1m
Duration â Instant
When swords clash, they inevitably give off sparks. Ordinarily, these sparks are an annoyance at most, but few Dragon-Bloods are ordinary. With this Charm, a Dragon-Blood can manipulate such sparks, augmenting them into fiery luminescence with his Essence and then sending them cascading into his opponents eyes. The Exalt can activate this Charm reflexively whenever he successfully avoids an attack from a metal weapon with his Parry DV or simply when he strikes any metal or stone object with his sword, including successful parries. The Essence spent multiplies what would normally be a few flying sparks into a crackling blue and gold spray that flies into his opponentâs eyes. The opponent is blinded for the following action, causing her to lose two successes from all attack rolls made for her. If the player of the opponent succeeds on a reflexive (Wits + Dodge) roll to have the character look away, however, he suffers only a two-die penalty instead of losing two successes.
The character may activate this Charm either against an opponent whose attack he has successfully parried, or against an opponent who has successfully parried one of the character's attacks. This Charm is invoked in Step 9 of attack resolution and is treated as a counterattack, save that it does not reduce the characterâs DV. The opponent must make a (Wits + [Awareness or Dodge]) check with a difficulty of 1. If she fails, she is blinded until her next action, suffering a -4 internal penalty (Exalted, p. 135). If the check is successful, she can see imperfectly and suffers a -2 internal penalty instead. If her successes match or exceed (the Dragon-Blooded's Essence), the opponent completely negates the effects of this Charm. - DRAGON-GRACED WEAPON
Melee â 2
Essence â 2
Cost â 1m
Duration â Instant
The Dragon-Blood has achieved a unity with his weapon that allows him to impart some of his elemental nature to it. On a successful melee attack, the Dragon-Blood may also inflict an elemental effect appropriate to his aspect on the target. Air buffets the target, subtracting two dice from her next action. Fire sets the target ablaze for a single action, giving a +4L bonus to the Dragon-Bloodâs damage dice pool. - ELEMENTAL BOLT ATTACK
Lore â 2
Essence â 2
Cost â 1m per 2L
Duration â Instant
Sometimes referred to as âthe Dragonâs Claw,â this Charm permits a Dragon-Blood to fire a bolt of elemental energy appropriate to his aspect from his hand toward a target. The bolt is targeted with (Dexterity + Athletics) or (Dexterity + Archery), whichever is preferred, with an Accuracy bonus equal to the Dragon-Bloodâs Essence and a range of (Essence x 20) yards. The bolt inflicts 2L per mote spent up to a maximum number of motes equal to the Dragon-Bloodâs Stamina. The bolt also has an elemental aspect and triggers the following elemental effects: Air buffets the target, subtracting two dice from her next action. Earth triggers a tremor beneath the targetâs feet, forcing her player to roll (Dexterity + Athletics), difficulty 4, to keep the character from falling. Fire sets the target ablaze for a single action (+4L to the attackerâs damage pool). Water fills the targetâs lungs with seawater, adding three ticks before her next action due to violent coughing. Woodexposes the target to a plant toxin, requiring a reflexive (Stamina + Resistance) roll, with a difficulty equal to (the Dragon-Bloodâs Essence), to avoid suffering a -1 penalty on all actions for the remainder of the scene. - LANGUAGE LEARNING RITUAL
Lore â 2
Essence â 2
Cost â 2m/1wp
Duration â One week
The Children of Mela often serve as the diplomatic corps of the Dragon-Blooded Host, and while fluency in foreign tongues often requires years of study, this Charm can reduce the necessary time to just an afternoon. The Dragon-Blood must spend at least one hour meditating and listening to a foreign language being spoken. He can then âabsorbâ that language into himself, becoming completely fluent in both conversation and literacy. The Charm lasts for one week, at which time the knowledge gained fades completely.
Each commitment sustains fluency in a different language (written fluency requires Lore 1). - GHOST-FIRE BLADE
Melee â 3
Essence â 2
Prerequisite Charms - Dragon-Graced Weapon
Cost â 1m or 2m
Duration â One action
Since the Great Uprising, the Dragon-Blooded have accepted the burden of defending the masses of humanity against the depredations of angry ghosts and truculent spirits. Chief among their arsenal in this ongoing battle is this Charm, which permits a Dragon-Blood to charge his melee weapon with Essence so that it can damage ghosts and spirits even while they are dematerialized. Additionally, if the Exalt spends four motes instead of just two, the weapon is considered Holy for the Charmâs duration and inflicts aggravated damage against creatures of darkness. The charge lasts for only a single action, although its effects do apply to each attack in a flurry. Essence for the Charm must be spent before the attack is initiated.
The Leader use of this Charm can inflict aggravated damage but does not extend the capability to strike dematerialized beings.
- N/A
- N/A
Lux is aware that she is rather on the smaller side, and knows that she is not capable of taking down most opponents with sheer strength or brute force thanks to this, so she prefers to try to distract enemy combatants and fell them in haste.
End it Quickly
Generally in line with her nature, Lux prefers to kill as mercifully as possible. If she has to kill, she doesn't want to needlessly draw the act out and cause anyone prolonged suffering. She prefers to strike fast and true
Knife Wielding
Stemming from her early years as being the ward of bandits, Lux has something of a talent for knife wielding overall. She's tried her hand with other weapons, but seems to just have knack for knives. Overall, she's actually rather skilled with them, and quite deadly when need be. Typically, she wields any knife of hers in a reverse grip and can actually double-wield if she feels it necessary, though she's less skilled with her left hand.
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Though not her strongest area, Lux does possess some level of skill in hand-to-hand combat, enough that she at least defend herself and land a few blows. While she'll default to knife wielding most of the time, if caught without her knives or in an area not suitable for knife fighting, Lux has with her a rather standard pair of knuckle-dusters that she'll slip on to give her an extra edge.
Seatongue
Forest-tongue
High Realm
Otherwise appearing rather ordinary, the Amaranthine Flame has an outer shell composed of copper that has never once oxidized or rusted throughout its life, appearing still to be new. Within the lantern, however, is Red Jade from which its eternal flame burns. Only in the hands of a Fire Aspect Terrestrial Exalted does the lanternâs true potential show. The lantern is capable of manipulating fire on varying levels, depending on the intent of its wielder at the time, though Lux typically uses it to light campfires or to see in dark areas. When utilized in combat, the lantern sends out a flame in the form of a large bird at the behest of its wielder that is rather akin to the Flight of the Brilliant Raptor spell. A bird birthed of ruby flames seeks out the target the lanternâs wielder desires to strike and streaks across the field before smashing into it, violently exploding and spewing forth flames that incinerate a rather wide area around the target.
Damage done by this attack is dependent upon the lantern wielderâs (Lore + Occult). The lanternâs power is capable of being called upon on an as needed basis, but is limited by its wielderâs essence motes. Each time the Amaranthine Flame is used in battle, it costs its wielder 4m.
- A set of extremely durable traveling clothes.
- A small arsenal of several different types of knives and knuckle-dusters.
- What seems like an unbelievable amount of sweets. (Seriously, she never seems to run out.)
- A whetstone.
- Several strips of animal jerky.