Primordials (Exalted)
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Exalted is a role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. The game is classified as high fantasy, but may be more accurately described as "mythic fantasy," as the original developer specifically avoided drawing on J. R. R. Tolkien for inspiration. It is strongly influenced by pulp fantasy such as Tanith Lee's Tales from the Flat Earth; Robert Howard's Conan; Michael Moorcock's Elric, Corum, and Hawkmoon; Glen Cook's Black Company; and Lord Dunsany's Gods of Pegāna; as well as ancient epics such as Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, Journey to the West, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bible; and finally Chinese and Hong Kong Wuxia movies such as Hero, The Storm Riders, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Japanese anime and manga, as well as video games and specifically console role-playing games such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, and White Wolfs own Sword & Sorcery table-top RPG setting, the Scarred Lands, are primary visual influences and they have some degree of influence on the content and themes of the game as well.
The Primordials are characters unique to the world of Exalted and are among the most powerful beings in both First Edition and Second Edition for Exalted.
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[edit] Overview
In the beginning, there was nothing but chaos and the Primordials, from whom all Creation sprang. They created the world and all things in it. When they had created everything that they had intended to create of the natural world, they created the Incarna and hosts of lesser spirits to serve them and maintain Creation while they played their Games of Divinity. Chief among the Incarna that was created was the Unconquered Sun. After a time, the gods grew discontent with their servitude and they rose up against the Primordials to take their place and play the Games of Divinity for themselves. Unfortunately, the gods could not lift a hand against the Primordials, and so the Unconquered Sun said to the rest of the gods, "Let us take men and give them the favor of the gods and use them as our champions against the Primordials, that we might overthrow them and play for ourselves the Games of Divinity." The other gods agreed and so the Unconquered Sun, along with Luna, the Five Maidens and the Five Elemental Dragons created heroes to fight against the Primordials, those touched by the Unconquered Sun being chief among them, then Luna, and then the Five Maidens.
During the Primordial War, some of the Primordials were slain by the Exalted, and with their last breaths, they placed the Great Curse upon the Exalted, which lead to the ending of the First Age. Those Primordials that were slain are now known as the Neverborn. The Primordials who surrendered were made to swear oaths on their own names and were banished into the body of one of their brothers, Malfeas. These Primordials are not permitted to enter Creation any longer, but they seek to escape their prison and take revenge upon the gods and their Exalted servitors. These Primordials are known as the Yozis.
[edit] Intact Primordials
- Gaia: She is the spirit of Creation, the mother of the Elemental Dragons (and thus of the Terrestrial Exalted), and godmother of all living things born of Creation. Gaia did not participate in the Primordial War. Some say, she sided with the gods out of love for her consort Luna, others say out of her love for all life. She is venerated abstractly by the Immaculate Order as the source of all life, and though many offer her prayers of thanksgiving, few ask for her intercession. She is benevolent, and her compassion for life is boundless, but she is as distant as the Celestial Incarna.
- Autochthon: Along with Gaia, Autochthon is one of the only Primordials to have survived the Primordial War. Autochthon, the Great Maker, is the master of craft, ingenuity, invention and artifice. After the war, he went into self-imposed exile beyond Creation behind the Seal of Eight Divinities, where he went into slumber. Autochthon sleeps there still, home to thousands of humans who went with him and have forged nations and cities within his great body, who call their home Autochthonia and work hard to keep their mechanical god in working order.
[edit] Slain Primordials
See the Neverborn.
[edit] Imprisoned Primordials
See the Yozis.
| Exalted | ||
|---|---|---|
| Types of Exalts and other Magical Beings | Solar Exalted | Abyssal Exalted | Infernal Exalted | Lunar Exalted | Sidereal Exalted | Alchemical Exalted | Terrestrial Exalted (The Dragon-Blooded) | Raksha (The Fair Folk) | Dragon Kings | God-Blooded | |
| Major Magical Beings | The Primordials | The Yozis | The Neverborn | Gaia | Autochthon | The Unconquered Sun | Luna | The Five Celestial Maidens | The Five Elemental Dragons | The Deathlords | |
| Five Magical Materials | Orichalcum | Moonsilver | Jade | Starmetal | Soulsteel | |
| Signature Characters | Solar Exalted: Dace | Yurgen Kaneko, the Bull of the North | Panther | Samea | Arianna | Harmonious Jade | Swan Abyssal Exalted: Maiden of the Mirthless Smile | Lady of Darkness in Bloodstained Robes | Seven Degreed Physician of Black Maladies | Disciple of the Seven Forbidden Wisdoms | Prince of Shadows | Falling Tears Poet Lunar Exalted: Lilith, the Owl Woman | Strength of Many | Magnificent Jaguar | Anja Silverclaws Sidereal Exalted: Shepherd of the North Star | Iron Siaka | Crimson Banner Executioner | May Blossom | Chejop Kejak | Black Ice Shadow | Sad Ivory Terrestrial Exalted: Tepet Arada | Mnemon | Cynis Denovah Avaku | Sesus Rafara | Peleps Deled | Sesus Nagezzer, the Slug | Tepet Ejava, the Roseblack Alchemical Exalted: Stern Whip of Industry | Fair-Spoken Rishi | Excessively Righteous Blossom | Unhesitatingly Loyal Weapon (?) | Lissome Avid Engineer Infernal Exalted: Lintha Ng Hut Dukantha The Raksha: Lord Kazour | Neshi of the Double Whips | Subarto | Dilari of the Sea Foam | Nlassa of the Lion's Mane | Laughing Boy | Shikuzi the Weaver | Judge Nehemeth The Mountain Folk: Kravah |
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| Exalted Universe | Anima Banner | The Blessed Isle | Celestial Gateways | Creation | The Cult of the Illuminated | Denandsor | Elemental Poles | Essence | The Great Contagion | The Great Curse | The Heptagram | The House of Bells | The Immaculate Order | The Imperial City | The Imperial Mountain | The Lap | Lookshy | Malfeas, the Demon Realm | Nexus | Rakshastan | The Scarlet Empress | The Scavenger Lands | Shadowlands | The Skullstone Archipelago | Thorns | The Threshold | The Underworld | Whitewall | The Wyld Hunt | Yu-Shan, the Heavenly City | |
| Source Materials | Sourcebooks | Novels | Comics | |
