Defiler Caste

The Defiler Caste are the sorcerers and craftsmen of the Infernal Exalted, associated with the Twilight Caste of Solar Exalted.

Overview
The Defilers are the Chose of She Who Lives In Her Name, and in the name of their patron, these twisted craftsmen, sorcerers and savants will rebuild a new and better Creation, one more in keeping with the design goals of its original draftsmen. Defiler Exaltations seek out hosts who understand the truth of She Who Lives In Her Name — that Creation, on some fundamental level, is irretrievably broken and must be repaired... or else simply torn down and replaced. A common theme among Defiler Exaltations is that the recipient is one who was somehow betrayed or rejected seemingly by the entire world around him. Some lost everything they ever cared about to a caprice of fate. Some came forward with new and innovative ideas, only to be derided as cranks or set upon by mobs as heretics. Some simply spent lives of quiet fury, intuitively realizing that every setback, every opportunity missed or denied was somehow the fault of those too jealous or simple-minded to recognize the Defilers’ greatness.

Those who fit in this last group are most often the recipient of Malfean Urges, and the need to revenge themselves on rivals and enemies leads the Defilers to tear down everything as a prelude to any new constructions. Defilers with Cecelynian or Pyrian Urges see themselves as the only ones capable of establishing a new paradise of perfect order, free from the chaos that has so long plagued Creation. The distinction between the two lies in the fact that Pyrian Defilers will sacrifice their own ambitions in pursuit of perfect order, while Cecelynian Defilers are much more likely to do the reverse. Adorjani Defilers are capricious idiot-savants, as likely to invent a new musical instrument that causes insanity in listeners as they are to create new spells capable of permanently rendering every mortal in an entire city a deaf-mute. Finally, Ophidian Defilers are usually demented hypocrites who seek to purge from the rest of society those temptations that they themselves would pursue most avidly.

Defilers are chosen for intellect, cunning and, above all, a willingness to change the world, regardless of the risks or consequences. Like their Twilight cousins, Defilers are driven to seek out knowledge and to use it. The chief difference between the two lies in the purposes for which the two castes would set their accumulated knowledge to use. Defilers acknowledge no ethical or philosophical limits on how knowledge should be used. Twilights are not so sanguine about reshaping the world on a whim... for the most part. (There is a reason that so many First Age Twilights were found among the akuma, after all.)

Anima Banner
The caste mark of the Defiler is a third eye that opens on the Exalted’s forehead to unleash a baleful green flame that is both smokeless and heatless. The anima of a Defiler is a mixture of green and white flames, painful to the eyes to look upon. Defiler totems often resemble demons descended from She Who Lives in Her Name, although some Defilers simply surround themselves with burning white orbs of power symbolic of their mistress’ glory.

Anima Effects
Defilers may channel Essence through their animas as a last-ditch protective act, surrounding themselves with an impenetrable sphere of congealed Essence reminiscent of the 99,997 globes of She Who Lives In Her Name. If, after damage has been rolled, a Defiler will take damage, he may instead spend five motes of Essence to surround himself with a globe of infernal Essence in an attempt to resist the damage. Subtract the Defiler’s permanent Essence from the attacker’s damage successes before applying them to the Defiler’s health. This power automatically activates at no cost to the Defiler when he has spent 11+ motes of Peripheral Essence.

Caste Abilities
Occultists, craftsmen and surgeons who use their intellect to twist and reshape the natural hierarchy of Creation, Defilers excel at Craft, Investigation, Lore, Medicine and Occult.