Book of Bone and Ebony

EXALTED • BOOK OF BONE AND EBONY
their opponents are destroyed. In combat, the swamp
golem has a great advantage in that its attack is poisonous
(treat as poison snake venom according to the chart
on p. 243 of Exalted).
WHITE ROBE
Sijan is known for its extremely professional mourners
both in Creation and in the Underworld. They wear
their sacred robes with honor while carrying the burden of
grief that would otherwise only remain with the families of
the dead. With all the emotions involved in burial processions,
it is no wonder that white robes rise as a result of the
imprint of this grief.
Exactly as the name implies, these creatures appear in
the form of white robes that float through the air. Their gray
and bronze ornamentations are symbols that constantly
change depending on where they travel. Savants know that,
properly interpreted, they display a map to the nearest
Labyrinth entrance. Decoding the symbols require a successful
Wits + Language roll, difficulty 3, and Occult •••.
White robes pose no threat to anyone by themselves,
but other creatures and carnivores often follow in their
wake due to the robes’ power to paralyze those who are
capable of feeling grief. In order to remain unaffected by
the paralyzing grief the white robes emit in a 10-yard
radius, players of victims must succeed with a Compassion
roll at difficulty 2 or have their characters succumb to an
agonizing and overwhelming sense of loss that renders
them almost incapable of acting for four turns (mechanically,
this inflicts a four-die penalty on all actions performed
while under the robes’ influence).
Normally, griefbees (see below) follow the white
robes and surround them with an eerie green light. Seeing
processions of at least 50 robes are not unheard of, but most
white robes travel in groups of 20 or less and walk the roads
from Sijan to Rathess.
LESSER PLASMICS
Fork Spider: These spiders only exist in the areas
around Great Forks and have received their name due to
their forklike appearance. While the lower body is rather
ordinary for spiders, each leg expands into three smaller legs
at the bottom. Also, the spiders’ lower head area divides into
three separate sections, in essence providing the spider with
a regular set of eyes but with three mouths. Fork spiders are
of the same size as a newborn cat and, with a bite, can inject
a poison that temporarily weakens an opponent by causing
dizziness and lack of muscle control. Resisting the poison
requires a successful Stamina + Resistance roll, difficulty 2.
Failing the roll gives a character a four-die penalty for three
hours. Succeeding gives a one-die penalty for one hour.
There is no damage associated with the venom.
Griefbee: Griefbees share the appearance of any
normal bee found in Creation, but unlike their living
150
counterparts, these lesser creatures do not feed on nectar,
but on strong emotions, typically grief. The bees do not
grasp the concept of emotions in any other way other than
that it provides nourishment and allows them to give
birth. When the bees feed on strong emotions, they emit
an eerie, dark-green light similar in color to the corpora of
those who died in the Contagion. Looking at the bees
through that light makes it possible to see decayed tissue
and small bone structures. Like the frostbites (see p. 158),
griefbees immediately die if they are wounded.
River Quadruped: Many of the Eastern rivers are
home to the river quadruped. These creatures seem to me
made of partially decayed octopods, with every other leg
hanging as dried skin. These four-tentacled horrors are
carnivores and will devour anything they can drag into the
water and crush. The quadrupeds work in small groups,
often six or eight at a time.
SOUTHERN PLASMICS
The following plasmics have the Southern Underworld
as their natural habitat.
ASHEN NOMAD
Ashen nomads are humanoid plasmics with arms and
legs composed of tightly packed sand, giving them a stonelike
appearance. They have no facial features or eyes, and their
torsos leave a trail of dust. A nomad’s torso is kept together
by densely packed, rotten muscles and decayed flesh.
Ashen nomads wander the deserts and decayed
rainforests of the South, in search of a redemption they can
never find (for being plasmics, they don’t know what
redemption truly means or why they seek it). This constant
search is fuel for their aggression, which they display by
attacking any humanoid life forms unlike themselves.
After killing their victims, the nomads bury all the remains
in sand (including clothing and equipment), and even if
there’s no substantial explanation as to why, savants
studying plasmics believe it to be a gesture of homage to the
desert from whence the nomads sprung.
BLACK GARDA
These suicidal birds only exist in the warmest areas of
the South, where black fires may be seen beyond the
horizon. If it were not for the fact that the core of the black
cloud that makes up each black garda contains a glowing
red skeletal outline similar in shape to the legendary garda
bird, it would be impossible to spot the creatures.
Black Gardas wreak havoc by igniting themselves
with Essence and plunging toward their prey. Upon impact,
they engulf their targets in a black fire that warps and
ruins mortal metals while severely burning the victims’
bodies (16L raw damage).
Activating their attack costs 10 motes, and each bird
has an Essence pool of that exact amount. If something