Editing Exalted Versus World of Darkness (section)

==Among the Night People==

So now that the Exalted are back, how do they fit in with the creatures of the night?  It turns out in some ways they fit right in, but in others they're such a disruption to the chain of conspiracies and secrecy that supernatural societies keep sacred that it's bound to cause chaos in one way or another.  

Now it bears mentioning that, according to the author, less than a year after the Black Vault was opened, there are only about two hundred Solars scattered around the world, about twice the number of Lunars, about a hundred Sidereals, maybe the same amount of Abyssals, and a few dozen Infernals.  Of the Dragon-Blooded, there are perhaps around five hundred true Terrestrial Exalted, with many more Dragon-Touched relatives to support them.  Finally, there are less than a dozen Alchemicals keeping a low profile and avoiding notice from the Technocracy.

Suffice to say that, with these numbers, the Chosen have their work cut out for them.  California alone has about three '''hundred''' Kindred, never mind the one hundred Hungry Dead that invaded San Francisco during the early 2000s.  And those are ''just'' the bloodsuckers -- there's a whole nation of Werewolves who have their own worries, and might rip you a new one first than talk, various flavors of Tradition and Technocracy-aligned Mages who would just ''love'' to try and "research" your Exaltation, and hostile Spectres who hate you for merely being ''alive''... Yeah.

That said, lopsided odds have never stopped the Exalted before.  

===The Chosen and [[Vampire: The Masquerade|the Kindred]]===

As one of the more widespread and actively predatory supernatural that can be found in the World of Darkness, vampires are often the first denizens of the night that the Exalted encounter.  Indeed, about a ''third'' of Celestial Exaltations came about as a direct or indirect result of a vampire attack.

A few details before one gets into the glorious chaos throwing a Solar at a Kindred would normally create:

* Exalted '''cannot''' be Embraced. The moment an Exalted goes Kindred, the Exaltation leaves to seek its next incarnation.  Dragon-Blooded are slightly different, as they retain what Essence they had left when they died; the moment they use up those for their Charms, they act as if they're regular Kindred. The Charms themselves also vanish at a rate of one per night, starting from their highest-ranked Charm.

* Ghouls may Exalt! This burns away any kind of advantages that partaking in Vampire blood may give them, so no more access to Disciplines barring the initial dot in Potence. An Exalt may still ''choose'' to continue, but there's no real advantage to doing so beyond feeding an addiction.  As for Abyssals, well, they can't become Ghouls, and if they try to drain a Vampire back, they will find that Kindred blood is bland and they can't regain Essence from it either.

* While the initial process of Exaltation burns away any ''existing'' Blood Bond, a Chosen may still get placed under one afterward, though some Charms or Intimacies give some way in struggling against it. By and large though, it's not something any Exalted would want to be under.

* Solar blood burns like liquid sunlight, so any Kindred trying to drain a Solar deserves all the pain that they will get. A Kindred takes 1 level of aggravated damage for every blood point they try to drain from a Solar. It counts as sunlight for Fortitude rolls or Setite clan weaknesses.

* Otherwise Exalted blood is ''extremely'' nourishing, and gain three blood points for every health level of lethal damage they do.  Any Kindred who kills a Terrestrial Exalted through blood drain also have their Generation temporarily lowered by 1 for a number of nights equal to their Essence rating.

Due to the low numbers of the Exalted, they haven't quite registered as a threat to the Kindred, but as some of the Chosen slowly grow in power (particularly the Solars), and start to directly attack them on their own turf, they're going to have to pay attention.  And unless one happened to be an Abyssal (where one can ''easily'' find themselves neck-deep in Kindred politics before they realize it), Celestials get along with Kindred as well as oil and water.

Solars have simple reactions to the Kindred, influenced by how often their Exaltations comes about in the wake of Vampire attacks: [[Rip and Tear|it's gotta die, right now]].  For their part, any Kindred will be distinctly uncomfortable when any Solar has their anima flaring anyway, as the aura counts as bright light, and they immediately have to check for ''Rotschreck'' with a +2 difficulty.  

Lunars are a slightly different matter by comparison.  Some Lunars started out as Ghouls, and as the Exaltation burned away their blond bonds, they made it very clear that the abusive relationship was at an end. Permanently.  And given how it's ''very'' easy to mistake a Lunar for a Garou, Vampires will steer clear of Lunars regardless unless an overwhelmingly powerful assault can be done. That said... Lunars are normally loners to begin with, and Kindred can be ''very'' friendly if they think one can be useful. So it's really a messy, case-by-case thing.

Sidereals find that the Kindred are serious problem that needs aggressive "managing", as eventually any kind of prognostication or farseeing they try will involve the Get of Caine in one way or another. Unlike Solars however, Sidereals usually have a good grasp of just how ''outnumbered'' they are, before they stir up a hornet's nest of bloodsuckers.

Terrestrials on the other hand have learned through painful experience that, if the Kindred have to be dealt with, one has to do it through subtlety if possible, ''especially'' around the blood wizards of Clan [[Tremere]].  Blood bonds are doubly an issue, especially among the easily-infuenced younger Exalts, so the vampire who's responsible is usually dealt with quietly and expediently.

Abyssals find themselves in a very odd place indeed, no thanks to their connections to both the Underworld and the Neverborn slumbering there.  On one hand, the ghosts that hang around them can't stand vampires, and as many an Abyssal experienced Exaltation in the wake of a vampire attack, they won't exactly be positively pre-disposed to Kindred. On the other hand, due to how similar some of the Abyssal's abilities are to Kindred, it's easy for some Abyssals fall in and be influenced by the local covens, only to quickly find themselves literally neck-deep in Kindred politics.  Suffice to say, given enough time an Abyssal ''will'' rise to the top as Prince of a city, and woe to any Kindred who gets in their way.

===The Chosen and [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|the Garou]]===

The Garou are an ancient and proud but dwindling people whose racial duty to protect Gaia from those who would despoil Her is leading them head-first towards their own destruction.  They are too preoccupied with the coming Apocalypse to really register the return of the Chosen into their midst, but given that the Exalted are here to ''stop'' the end of the world, their paths will cross eventually.

Here are a few things to keep in mind before one gets into the nitty-gritty details of Garou and Exalted interactions:

* Anytime a Garou would trigger something that would measure against Gnosis or Rage, Exalted would use Willpower instead. Likewise, if something needs to be used to compare against Primal Urge, use Animal Ken instead.

* Likewise Werewolves, or anyone who's experienced the First Change, cannot Exalt. Likewise, Exalted ''cannot'' experience First Change.  However Kinsfolk '''can''', though it purges their bodies of whatever spirit magic is already there.  That said, the blood of a shifter is still there, and a Lunar can still produce kinsfolk or Garou offspring.

* No, animals can't Exalt. Lupus Exalted are certainly not a thing.

* Exalted are immune to the Delirium.  Lunars don't cause it either, though people would probably run away in terror at a Lunar's rage form ''anyway''.

* Solars, Lunars, Sidereals, or Dragon-Blooded don't trigger Sense Wyrm, unless they took an extended bath in toxic waste somehow.  Abyssals (and Infernals likely) ''always'' register as Wyrm-tainted.

* Recognized by Spirits as legit representatives of Heaven, the Exalted may enter into binding deals with spirits (see the Totem background). This technically also means that an Exalted can, either via '''Rite of the Totem''' or '''Rite of the Joined Circle''', join a shapeshifter pack, though non-Lunars would likely have trouble with pack tactics. 

* Celestial Exalted are immune to powers or beings trying to merge with their soul. So Solars etc. cannot turn into fomori.  The Dragon-blooded ''can'', but have ways of dealing with the issue before they're fully possessed -- usually by going into the Spirit World directly and punching the offending Bane in the face.

* If a Dragon-blooded ''does'' turn into a fomor (a highly unlikely occurence that involves a '''lot''' of bad luck), the fomor retains all their Exalted powers, and develop Powers and Taints in the usual manner, though they cannot raise their Essence rating ever again. These unfortunates usually die within a few years if they can't make a deal with a powerful supernatural to excise the Bane from their soul, as their bodies literally tears itself apart.

Solars and the Garou interactions entirely depend on first impressions, and suddenly being exposed to a seven-foot tall furry embodiment of RAGE and violence on a rampage is normally not positive. If they can get over the initial terror however, Solars can definitely get behind their (ultimately doomed, admittedly) mission to protect Gaia.  As for the Garou themselves, any Solar who somehow manages to get on their good sides (likely through a LOT of work on the Solar's part) will be seen as curious, if Sun-touched ally at best.  

Lunar and Garou interactions involve a lot of confusion (fittingly).  Lunars are more likely to be mistaken for an odd changing breed, and given the Garou's track record with other Fera, that's not necessarily a good thing, and violence does occur, which Lunars are more than capable of returning. On the other hand, any Garou encountering a Lunar during a Spirt World foray will ''definitely'' not mistake a Lunar for another Fera, what being without Gnosis and radiating power like a mini-Incarnae. Any Lunar who somehow manages to get on a peaceful footing with the Garou many eventually be considered an honorary (and honored) member of the Garou Nation, the Ahadi, or the Beast Courts.

Sidereals and Garou don't get along, especially since the latter are likely to just think that they're just another variety of Mage, who have had a bad habit of trying to steal Caerns from under them. This is not helped by how Sidereals seem to slip and vanish from their memories.  Sidereals for the most part, are still trying to figure out why Destiny seems to push them to help some Garou packs, and destroy others, so until they figure out the differences between the Garou Nation and the Black Spiral Dancers, discretion is best.  

Abyssals and Garou don't get along either, but due to how vampiric an Abyssal is, plus how they reek of the Underworld and the Wyrm, violence is inevitable anyway.  Nihilacs have a worrying affinity for Abyssals however, though one or two Pentex executives may find trying to hire an Abyssal to be a worthwhile pursuit.

Terrestrials and Garou don't get along, though this is more due to the fact that they need the same locations -- the Dragon Nests and their wellsprings of energy.  The Dragon-blooded families try to avoid werewolves when they can, as a Garou pack can easily overpower a young Terrestrial, but given the importance of the Dragon Nests to the simple act of Terrestrial Exaltation, the Dragon-blooded will defend their holdings with ferocity rivaling that normally expected of the Werewolves. 

As for the Infernals and Alchemicals, they're too few to even register as a blip on the Garou Nation's radar.

===The Chosen and [[Mage: The Ascension|the Awakened]]===

Mages already have a lot on their plate, given the rivalries between Traditions, nevermind the issues these have with the Technocracy trying to define what is "mundane" reality for the world at large, on top of other dangers like the Nephandi and Marauders... They're not going to be expecting honest-to-goodness ''demigods'' walking around the world again, but that's just what they're going to have to deal with now.

Now, some rules of thumb when it comes to interactions between the Awakened and Enlightened versus the Exalted: 

* Exalted aren't Sleeper witnesses with regards to Awakened magick.

* People who've already Awakened cannot Exalt. The Exalted cannot Awaken. Dragon-Touched ''may'' Awaken however.

* Mages may try to counter an Exalted's Charm or Ancient Sorcery effects by making a contested roll versus an Exalt's activation roll, and if the Mage makes more successes the effect is disrupted. If there aren't any activation rolls, have the Exalt roll her effective Arete versus difficulty 6 as the mark to beat.

* Trying to mess around with an Exalt's Essence requires Prime, with higher dots in Prime to see, move, or convert it to Quintessence (the latter requiring Spirit as well).

* Trying to mess with a Sidereal on the other hand requires Entropy, and must also have Prime if the Exalt tries to manipulate destiny using Essence.

* Mages can attempt to modify or wrest an Exaltation from its holder... but it's difficult as heck, and in many ways it's simply easier to just ''kill'' the Exalted instead. Plus it's always considered vulgar.

* While the Avatar Storm is certainly a thing, Exalted have no worries in trying to cross the Gauntlet.

* Exalted may learn static magic before or after Exaltation providing they have the Hedge Magic merit. Exalted magic users don't have mana, and instead use Essence.

Solars will probably get along somewhat peacefully with the Disparates and Mages of the Traditions, as they're still mostly human.  If the Solar knows some magic already, there's a good chance they might be recruited to join one of the Traditions. After all, if they're human, does some sort of magic that aligns with the Tradition's values, and supports the goal of the Tradition, then who's going to argue against them?  The Technocracy is another matter entirely, as Solars would likely be classified as a dangerous reality deviant that needs to be purged with extreme prejudice, something that a Solar can easily repay in kind.  

Lunar mystics will likely alarm most Mages, even the Verbena, as not only do they practice blood-based shapeshifting, piss them off enough and they can turn into this massive fanged ''thing'' that can rip your head off in short order.  That said, there are mages who aren't afraid to approach a werecreature to talk shop, and unlike the Garou a Lunar won't have a racial prejudice coloring their interactions.  And while it would really be out there for a Lunar to join the Traditions, being at least friendly with them isn't out of the question.  

Sidereals are the type of Exalted that can easily pass as a Mage, as they look and act the way anyone else expects a mage to look and act.  Mages themselves are not free from this, as they're likely to consider them Orphans, with even the Chosen of Secrets able to use the "magician" template for their Dynamic LARPing ability.  Much like the Sidereals themselves though, Mages by their very nature make them slippery with regards to the Exalted's destiny-shaping magics, and while in ''general'' trends favor aiding the Traditions and Disparates against the Technocracy, there are always exceptions; a young and less-jaded Technocrat may be destined to win for example, and a corrupt mystick allowed to meet their doom.  Nephandi are another matter entirely though, and while Sidereals still haven't cottoned to these evil mages being a unified faction, they and their "Master" ''must'' be stopped for the good of all.  

Abyssals put any Mage in visual range on edge, as they show up as someone that who's clearly supposed to be dead, only isn't.  While mages won't attack them on sight, Abyssals ring all sorts of alarm bells, even for a Hollow cabal, and Heaven help you if one decides to settle in Awakened territory.  That said, thanks to their connection to the Underworld, Abyssals are the ''perfect'' agents for anyone interested in investigating the Dark Umbra, with the former likely willing to work for any sort of answers to what they've become, or other occult knowledge -- like traces of lost Ancient Sorcery.

The Dragon-Blooded houses have the most contact and experience with Mages through the ages.  While for the most part it's been wary observation and general mistrust, the house of Li in particular has had a fruitful relationship with the Wu Lung. While the fortunes of the dragon wizards have waned in recent decades, the Dragon-blooded house have profited from the Ancient Sorcery spells that the former group had recovered, and its current Fire-aspected Matriarch intends to continue its alliance, to the point of having  her Dragon-touched descendants continue their training with the mages.  

For the most part though, the Council of Nine Mystick Traditions are unaware of the Dragon-Blooded families as being anything more than obscure Crafts or Orphans. The Akashic Brotherhood have an inkling that the Terrestrials ''might'' be anything more than an ancient people with potent spirit blood, but even then they just consider them one of the many exotic ''shen'' in Asia. Likewise the Order of Hermes thinks they are simply a craft that somehow mastered binding elemental spirits to their Avatars to insulate themselves from Paradox, not realizing that the Terrestrial Exaltation is hereditary rather than anything brought about by a magical ritual.

As for the Technocracy, they've been largely ignorant of what the Dragon-blooded ''truly'' are, barring possible Orphans or unknown reality deviants.  In return the Dragon-blooded families don't understand the modern ways of the Technocracy, or how powerful and widespread their influence and reach truly is.  For them, the image of a mage involves ancient chants in dead languages, magic circles drawn from chalk, and wands, and ''not'' excel spreadsheets or attack drones.

Alchemicals by their very origins will have a very adversarial relationship with Mages in general.  The Technocracy -- particularly Iteration X -- would see them as thieves who, accident or not, have made off with their Autocthonian artifacts, and want those artifacts back even if they have to kill you to do so.  Their reception from the Traditions would probably not be much better, as Tradition mages would just love getting their hands on artifacts that their enemies conveniently "lost", regardless if said artifacts have now semi-permanently bonded to a person.

===The Chosen and [[Kindred of the East|the Hungry Dead]]===

In the same way that the Kindred haunt the nights of the Western world, the Wan Kuei stalk Asia's night.  Degenerate descendants of fallen heroes from the Age of Legends, they clothe themselves with a veneer of civility and enlightenment that otherwise hides the fact that, at the end of the day, they need to feed off the living to continue existing. Despite their corrupted and diminished state, the Wan Kuei believe that they are the only legitimate inheritors of that bygone age. With the return of the Exalted however, they will soon find out that they are very ''very'' wrong.

There are a few things to keep in mind during encounters between the Exalted and the Hungry Dead:

* Whenever an effect that would normally compare against a Virtue that a Wan Kuei would have targets an Exalted, use Willpower instead. If it measures against Dharma, use the Essence rank equivalency instead.

* Dhampyr/Half-Dammned are capable of Exalting!  Doing so removes any of the Disciplines they learned, and any ''joss''-manipulation they used to have though,

* Exalted are extremely nourishing as far as Chi goes. When the hungry dead feed on an Exalt, they gain a point of Chi as normal per health level of damage done ''and'' a point of Essence... Which has various effects depending on the type of Chosen involved:

** Solar blood causes a level of aggravated damage per point of Chi they ''try'' to drain. For every Essence drained, they gain two points of Yang Chi... which THEN causes all the Yang Chi in the vampire's body to violently ignite; roll their current Yang Chi points as aggravated damage dice. Each successful die burns away a point of Yang Chi. This "ignition" cycle continues every round the Wan Kuei drains more Essence from the Solar. 

** Lunar blood grants two points of Yang Chi per Essence stolen.

** Sidereal blood gives one point of '''Yugen''' per Essence point drained. This is enough reason for Sidereals to avoid getting drained by the Hungry Dead at all costs.

** Abyssal blood gives two points of Yin Chi per Essence drained.  On the flipside, if an Abyssal tries to drain a Wan Kuei gains a point of Essence for every Yin Chi drained, but Yang Chi doesn't do much for them.

* Due to being able to purchase the Totem Background, Exalted can ''technically'' have the Nushi background as well (as they're functionally the same). While this means that an Exalt ''may'' join a ''wu'', legally no Court [[Mandarin]] in their right mind would do so, plus Exalted won't be included in a ''guanxi'' anyway.

* Recently-dead Exalted from Asia may experience Second Breath if the Chosen in question meets all the usual criteria -- steeped in Vice, a violent death, and a strong Will for their souls to fight free of Yomi Wan.  However due to the Dragon-blooded families need for secrecy, they try to make sure that this '''doesn't''' happen to any of their scions, leading to a lot of elaborate funeral traditions. If the Exalt doesn't stay dead in spite of all of this, all available Dragon-blooded Exalts in the area are mustered to hunt the new vampire down before the local Courts get to it.

Solars and the Hungry Dead are just a recipe for trouble waiting to happen, as the Solars are everything that the Wan Xian had been.  However as they lack the long history that the hungry dead have accumulated, never mind that their great power seems to have been given by Heaven easily instead of having been earned after centuries of suffering and virtue (or vice), it's considered an insult of the highest order that the [[Mandarin]]s or [[Ancestor_(KoTE)|Ancestor]]s can't ignore.  For their part, the moment the Solars see just how deeply-imbedded the Hungry Dead are in local crime and finance, never mind all the casualties they leave over the course of their pursuit of "enlightenment", they're liable to react with vast amounts of explosions and gunfire that will likely leave a Scarlet Screen in ruins and a good chunk of a Court experiencing Final Death.

Lunars and the Hungry Dead aren't much better, as in general, the Wan Kuei are arrogant, dismissive, and cruel, which won't endear them any to the average Lunar.  And while the Lunars ''outwardly'' resemble the Ferocious People of the Beast Courts, they exist outside the diplomatic checks and balances that the ''shen'' have with the hungry dead.  The moment a Wan Kuei even tries something against a Lunar, violence is guaranteed to happen.

Sidereals find that the Hungry Dead are deeply entwined with the turning of the Wheel of Ages and the coming of the Sixth Age, though it's unclear if they're causing it or trying to prevent it. Probably both.  Regardless, everything tells the Sidereals to use extreme caution when dealing with the Wan Kuei, as neither have realized that the Sidereals are filled with the heady and heavily addictive ''yugen'' (aka liquid enlightenment). It's going to be very bad night indeed when someone discovers ''that'' little wrinkle.

Abyssals and the Hungry Dead get along in the same way Solars do with the Wan Kuei. In other words, badly, and not helped by the fact that they're just a much more efficient type of predator muscling into the same niche that the Wan Kuei already occupy, and this can't be allowed. That said, many younger hungry dead might be drawn to the dark charisma of an Abyssal, forming gangs or cults of personality around one as they're so edgy it goes over and becomes ''so cool'' instead.

Infernals and the Hungry Dead won't get along at all (sense a pattern with Solar-derivatives here?), as they're fledgling Yama Kings-to-be who if powerful enough can ''create their own hell-realms'', the latter of which almost all Wan Kuei have had to escape from.  As possible claimants to the to-be-abandoned Throne of Heaven, they're the main opponent of the more virtuous hungry dead, and will be opposed the moment their existence is known.  At the same time however, more corrupted Wan Kuei and wannabe akuma may be convinced to join an Infernal's service, and their power and knowledge will be very welcome additions to the forces an Exalt can use in their campaign against the ''other'' Yama Kings. 

The Dragon-blooded families of Asia have tried to play the long game, and have tried as best as they could manage to maintain a very low profile, even among the ''shen'', and pass themselves off as eccentric sorcerers or perhaps descendants of priests and minor spirits. However due to their vested interests in the Dragon Nests, the families have a long and rather uncomfortable history with the Wan Kuei.  This is not helped by the inherent hubris of the hungry dead, particularly those who are part of the Quincunx, who believe themselves to be the successors of the Wan Xian, and will respond with violence at even the hint that they're ''not'' the only remaining remnant of the Age of Legends still around.  The Dragon-blooded families are ready to respond in kind, but if the issue can be settled with just quietly disposing one snooty vampire, then it's fine. If the forces of a whole Court gets alerted in the process though, then the Dragon-blooded family may have no choice but to abandon their Dragon Nest and flee the country for several decades.  

That said, if a Dragon-blooded family can avoid the notice of the local Courts, it's possible to be good neighbors, at least.  They've worked with [[Song of the Shadows|Bone Flowers]] before, and as long as they're not trying to get into Tibet (in which case, they're then very VERY dead Bone Flowers), and even rented bakemono from local [[Howl of the Devil Tiger|Devil Tigers]] when they needed extra disposable bodies to throw at a bigger threat.