The Chosen of Secrets are one of the castes of Sidereal Exalted. Their patron is Jupiter, the Maiden of Secrets.
Overview[]
Life is mystery. All that a person knows about herself and her life only highlights that which is unknowable. How she treats her personal mysteries determines how she meets her destiny. Everything hidden or guarded, anything kept from free access, falls under Jupiter’s influence. Her Chosen watch over secrets and restricted knowledge, arranging that nothing becomes known or lost before its time.
Before the First Age, the Chosen of Secrets made the Solars’ libraries incomparable: these Chosen sought knowledge destined to lie undiscovered and gave it new fates, leading it into the Old Realm’s repositories of wisdom. The Chosen of Secrets also served the Night Castes admirably; the Sidereals looked up hidden knowledge in the archives of Heaven to supplement the Iron Wolves’ considerable abilities to find criminals against the state. The Oracles kept that information perfectly hidden when it came to the Usurpation, and they discovered the secret lore necessary to bind the Solar Exaltations in the Jade Prison.
Chosen of Secrets fought a losing battle against the destruction of knowledge after the Great Contagion, but they saved much. That information now rests in secure archives in Heaven, so constructed that only the Chosen of Jupiter understand how to navigate their stacks and can control access to their secrets. They wove destinies for refugees to find lost cities and rebuild, and for one Dragon-Blooded to learn how to wield the Sword of Creation. The Fair Folk’s hidden tactics became known to the Oracles, and thus to the Dragon-Blooded and Lunar generals fighting the Fair Folk.
Those destined to become Chosen of Secrets find value in knowing and in not knowing. Every person who does not possess a secret lends that secret value, especially if a person seeks it. Some knowledge becomes more powerful when known by many, and some secrets are mighty only with the threat that they might be exposed. Those who Exalt as Oracles learn early that every secret is a weapon finer than any stiletto.
When a Chosen of Secrets supports a faction, she protects its mysteries from outsiders and gathers information for the faction’s benefit. Bronze Faction members discover conspiracies to disrupt the Realm’s rule, advise the heads of Great Houses from their wise perspectives, instruct at the Heptagram, run the All-Seeing Eye and find Anathema for the Wyld Hunt. Oracles of the Gold Faction conceal signs of the Solar Exalted, draw lost First Age knowledge to the returning Twilights, foster conspiracy and share knowledge with those who advance certain ideals. The Chosen of the Maiden of Secrets are mysterious even among other Sidereals, and the Chosen of Secrets’ arcane schemes can be tortuous to unravel.
Abilities[]
Caste Markings[]
The green irises of the Oracles frame pupils flecked with tiny emerald stars. Great expenditures of Peripheral Essence set the Sign of Secrets glowing on the Chosen’s forehead in bright green light.
Anima Effect[]
A Chosen of Secrets reflexively makes the Lesser Sign of Jupiter for 10 motes. The Chosen’s anima billows outward in a brilliant green that wafts around all those affected. For one scene, the Sidereal and all her allies within (her Essence x 10) yards are immune to mind-reading and mental attacks from opponents with an Essence less than the Sidereal’s. Against other opponents, the Oracle and her allies add (her Essence) to their Mental Defense Values. Allies enjoy this advantage only as long as they remain within range.
With the Sidereal’s anima banner in the 11 to 15 mote range, this costs only five motes. If the banner is fully manifest (16+ motes), this costs only one.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
