Amongst the Gods one stood above all, bearing the Shield, the Horn, the Laurels and Spear was Ignis Divine, The Unconquered Sun. He who was perfection, the light and the infinite majesty of untold glories. The Golden God who was unparalleled was the patron of the world and the veritable "Father" of the Lawgivers. Those who would be Lawgivers, the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, emulated their father's perfection, his light and majestic history and championed his desire to do great good.
The only one who could stand upon the dais of the Unconquered Sun was Luna the Fickle Lady and the goddess of the Moon, or more specifically she was the Moon itself. Unlike the Unconquered Sun, whose very existence was the complete Perfection of all given action, Luna represented the force that allowed that which was impossible to become possible. As such the impossible, standing equal to the Unconquered Sun, becomes possible. She was the Patron, as she would have it the Matron, of the Stewards. Also known as the Chosen of Luna, these were Masters of Shapeshifting to emulate their Patron Luna. Capable of savage, noble fury, these souls were the right hand of the Lawgivers and they all were bound to a single "Solar Mate". At the height of power they ushered in a golden Age.
The Maidens of the Celestial Incarnae represented not one but five souls. Mercury, Maiden of Journeys, Venus, the Maiden of Serenity, Mars, Maiden of Battles, Jupiter, Maiden of Secrets and Saturn, Maiden of Endings, were their identities. Each governing a sphere of influence that held dominion in space or in time, but Fate itself. Allowing them great power they too held dominion over Heaven, though not as much the Unconquered Sun or Luna, they still had enough influence to cow any would be god. They are the Patrons of the Vizier, Chosen of the Maidens. They were capable to manipulate, to some extent, Fate as their patrons could, therefore making up for their lack of power with deceptive and subtle manipulations.
Creation was created upon the Primordial Gaia, one of the last Primordials and the lover of Luna. Through her steadfast nature she joined the upstart Gods for the betterment of Humanity and herself. Strong and unyielding she bears the joys and horrors of Creation and experiences each wonder and atrocity as no one else can. Though offered a choice she gave her blessings to the Elemental Dragons who in turn blessed mortals, these souls became the Dragon-Blooded and were, once upon a time, loyal foot soldiers to the other Exalted. Though significantly weaker than the other Exalted they these Exalted were capable of passing down their Exalts to their children.
The Yozis, are the broken defeated remains of the Primordials. Twisted mutilated and perverted into fragmented shadows these vengeful creatures stole fifty of the three hundred Golden Exalts and perverted them, as they were they themselves were twisted, into the Green Sun Princes. These Infernal Exalted had the sole purpose of corrupting Creation in order to free their Yozi masters. Their powers were a based of their Yozi Master and had some amount of their previous power as Solar Exalted. Yet for all their changes they still hold the Spark of a Golden Exalt, so regardless of side they were destined for for greatness.
The Neverborn are the souls of Primordials who Slain during the Primordial Wars. Their deaths ruptured reality and they became the creatures they are. Sleeping souls that hunger for the end of all things. To that end they created the Deathlords in the Underworld, and captured one hundred Solar Exaltation. They in turn, became the Deathknights, Chosen of the Neverborn, those who desire the death of all things in Creation, to finally pull all within into the Void.
Finally, he who was the Great Creator, Autochthon, revealed himself last. The great Primordial who would only be seen on Creation one last time to deposit his last gift to the Chosen of Creation. His creations, the Alchemical Exalted was the product of Science and sorcery imbued in Clay and powered by the soul of Heroic Spirits. Greater than a Terrestrial yet below the Celestials these Heroes were crafted to be Champions of Autochthonia until the moment were all Chosen were gathered for the final battle.
Everyone knows of the great Exalted. Or at least they once did. The times have changed; no longer do powers of Essence resonate upon Creation. In fact, Creation itself is no more, worn away through time. The Celestial Incarnae have been either been slain or passed on, the Ancient Greater and Lesser Gods fading as their influenced dwindled with humanity, the elementals lost form and became empty shells of their element, even the "Fair Folk" those alien creatures gained shape and were no more then shaped dreams. The time of magic and ancient wonders had came and ended. The Yozis completed their Reclamation, perverting Creation into a mirror image of Malfeas. Unfortunately, with their success came the eventual rise of the Neverborn and their Deathlords. With much of Creation's defenders dead the Neverborn nearly succeeded in eliminating the life itself.
But they failed as all great evils fail; a hero rose up and although he lost the Neverborn and their minions did not win. There are three hundred Solar Exalts, of them fifty became Infernal Exalts and one hundred became Abyssal Exalts. Three hundred Lunar Exalts and one hundred Sidereal Exalts. However, the one who saved Creation was not amongst these, though Exalted he was. His name was forgotten, a relic and a legend that time had eroded away. Only the remaining of the Celestial Incarnae, Gaia and Autochthon remain with this knowledge. With the end of creation the secret was set free, the hero who should be forgotten was the "First and Last, Greatest Unparalleled".
Conceived as the first Exalt, he was meant to be a blue print for all other Exalted. But as the prototype there features built into the Exalt that made him both desirable and not. He first concept to be an Exalt that was blessed by the Incarnae, to create a weapon capable of demolishing their Primordial Masters. In truth, the idea was sound and logical, however, only the Maiden of Secrets so the inevitable flaw in its creation. Power, both unrestrained and unchecked was far more trouble than it was worth.
The first problem lay with the overall raw power invested into the Exaltation. The Unconquered Sun desired great power to match it with his supremely perfected skills. The problem lay in the fact that the mortal that contained such power was simply too much, at first activation the body would either explode in a gory fashion or rapidly age due to the body was incapable of handling the excess Essence. So instead, as opposed to the modern Solar Exalt, the Exaltation gave off a weaker Ascensions, but higher leveling curve. This meant that upon Exaltation the overall increase in raw power would be significantly weaker than a Celestial Exalt, in fact a Dragon-Blooded Exalt gains a higher power up upon Exaltation, this allows the mortal body to gradually adapt the immense power that is contain. In return for this handicap this single Exalt learns faster, grows stronger and becomes more attuned to essence at faster rate than any other Exalted type. Another flaw was the method this Exaltation "Shined". The Unconquered Sun Desired all of his Exaltation to glow with the glory equal only to his own, every skill, every action reflects the magnificence of imminent perfection. However, this Exaltation did not Shine as intended, instead it gave its light to ohers, granting them a miniscule portion of the radiance it would innatly bear. Ignis Divine who knew only of his own method of brilliance saw this as a generous but ultimately flawed aspect, and so thosgh he would never curse or hate this creation, he would never see it truly as his own Masterpiece until much, much later, pass the centuries.
The next problem came from skills, as this was the first Exalt all those involved desired to mark it with their own power. However, just as the first problem, the mortal body rapidly degrades when any of the gifts is activated. So in order to rectify this the Gods only "partially" blessed this Exalt. This Exalt retained all the gifts from the celestial Incarnae save for but a few they held back on. For the Unconquered Sun he did not allow the Exalt to gain the "Divine Mandate", the right Rule over Creation upon Victory, unless he was there were no other Exalts available. So long as a single Exalt of any type live and breath this specific Exalt has no purchase or authority in anything to do with Creation, his rank was that of a commoner despite his power. Luna was only capable of gifting this Exalt with his Human Form, his Spirit Shape and his War Form. These "True Forms" are the only things this Exalt can transform into, however he gains any advantages h desires to those forms as any Lunar Exalt has. The Maidens of Fate gifted him with the ability to see the Strands of Fate far more clearly than most, however, the Exalt is incapable manipulating it like true Sidereal, furthermore as a gift and curse he is considered "Fateless" no longer bound by the strands of Fate. But the true horror came when the Maiden's realized the applications that came from its existence. No being God, Primordial or otherwise can glean the exalted by anything except mundane means. This meant that magic can not be used to scry it, or the use of any magical application to detect it, meaning it could sneak upon any God and assassinate them and their only warning would be their mundane perception. In their desire to create a an Exalt to their liking they created the ultimate God-Killer, to their eternal horror.
Thankfully these gifts do not come all at once, the Exalt is born with his Exaltation, receives the Unconquered Sun's gift first, as he must always be, followed by the Maidens and if they can find their spirit shape they will receive their gift from Luna.
The third problem emerged from the Primordials who sided with the Gods, Gaia and Autochthon. Gaia desired to add her might to show support to her Lover, Luna, while Autochthon would not allow his greatest masterpiece to exist with out his mark. So they each grafted into the Exalt a single ability. Gaia grafted "the World", an ability that allowed the manipulation of gravity, but make no mistake this ability is beyond what any Exalt an control. Autochthon grafted "the Wisdom" the ability to understand any mechanism whether physical, the crafting of a Fire Wand, or abstract, like the method of madness from demons, as with 'the World" an activation of this ability is costly and very rarely used, after all the mind can only handle so much information. Also due to te fact that Primordials were adding their own Essence into the mix with that of the Gods, Autochthon devised a safer vessal so that when the Exaltation awakened it would not destroy the body in an eruption of gore. Autochthon created a Mortal Masterpiece that that has been chained and bound as the mortal vessal for this Exaltation. Perfect in form and nearly flawless, its weakness lay within the Exaltation. For without the Exaltation's activation the body remains a powerful, beautiful and ultimately useless Clay Husk, devoid of life and luster.
The next difference, when compared to the normal Exalt, is that when the mortal body dies, it does not go to the God of Exaltation to cleaned of impurities. When an Exalted dies it is cleaned tgen finds a new hosts that is capable of of fulfilling its search parameters, Solar Exaltations seek out souls with a magnificent and important destiny, Lunar Exaltations seek a souls who survive and protect, so to do the Sidereal Exalt seek out those who desire Order. This Exaltation always travels with Autochthon's Mortal Masterpiece. When the body dies, the Essence bound to the Clay Doll dissipates and reforms in a brand new location. From there the body draws in a nascent Essence around it to reform the body properly, however unless the enough Essence is gathered to activate the Exaltation remains the Mortal Masterpiece will stay idle and it will begin to atrophy, most times the Exalt will a awaken to piteous, emaciated body, a single step away from being a corpse.
The last difference was that this Exaltation was never known. Even when it was created no Exalt of any type may eve truly know this specific Exalt. The Maidens placed a powerful Geas on the Strands of Fate, distorting any Exalt to know this Exalt. For reasons unknown the difference makes it impossible for this Exalt to be understood amongst his peers.
And so, when this Exalt was finally finished the Gods were both surprised and frightened. Surprise by their success and afraid for the exact same reason. As such, this was the only Exalt of this type, this Primal Exalt, to be created. Afterwards the other Exalted, minus the Alchemicals, were crafted and sent off, all based on the original prototype.
And so it was, the Primal Exalt existed during the Primordial Wars, hidden within the rank and file soldiers. It was never in the spotlight, the Solar and Lunar could not begin to conceive it, the Sidereals, could not find it in the Strands of Fate and the Dragon-Blooded mistook him for a normal soldier or an ordinary man. However, despite all this he stood with the Exalts, claiming victory in small skirmishes and never being acknowledged. Many times it died and was reincarnated, so he might rejoin the battles and many monsters and lesser Gods fell before him, his strength gaining with silent speed. Until at the climax he completed the greatest quest he could ever hope to achieve at that time. He gained the true name of the souls of the creature that would soon be known as the Ebon Dragon. Sore, the Flawless Spark Beneath Ambition dueled for mastery over herself and lost, her name was the prize and her body was shattered. However, whether or not due to mercy or sadism the Primal Exalt spared her life and bound her soul to an Amulet, instead of letting her die he now uses her flawed power to against her parent. What made this so amazing was not that fact that he overpowered a soul of a Primordial, but the fact that he unchained the bonds that connected her to the Ebon Dragon. As such, the power Sore had could be brought to bear on the Ebon Dragon, a feat absolutely impossible otherwise. And better yet, unknown to anyone at he time, the Amulet that bound Sore, Flawless Spark Beneath Ambition, had another benefit that would not be seen util much later. The existence of the Amulet forged, at the time it was called a "Primordial" Phenomena. It was a mysterious energy field surrounding the Primal that "Denied the existence of an Exaltation". As such, when the Great curse was cast with all its hateful bile at the Exaltation only "one who was not Exalted" was spared its corruptive existence.
As the time of the Primordial Wars drew to a close, the life in creation strove to a time of rebuilding and peace. This culminated in the Golden Age of the Exalts, however, for one specific Exalt the rewards was not so obvious. All other Exalts received a prize, in matter of speaking. The solar Exalts received the Mandate of Heaven, the Divine right to rule all of Creation as they saw fit, the Lunar exalts served as the Solars' second in commands and mate, they oversaw the interests of the Solars, and the Sidereals became the Wise Voice of the Solars guiding them directly or indirectly towards a glorious future and the Dragon-Blooded became the foundation and Elite soldiers of the Celestial Exalted, truly an honorable position. But for the Primal Exalt, its reward was different. The Primal Exalt was created as an instrument of war, as the prototype Exalt it served no other purpose, so the Celestial Incarnae cut off their Divine gifts to it. The Primal Exalt still bore all the physical attributes such as strength, intelligence and charisma, but he could only reach the pinnacle of human limit. As it stood he was simply an extremely fit, extremely smart and extremely attractive man, but no more than such. During the time of the Golden Age the Primal Exalt worked and lived as a mortal man, scrapping together enough money to live a comfortable life while learning new trades. This was his life in that age and in truth this was the best time of its life.
Eventually, all kingdoms fall, the rule of the Solars degraded by corruption and weakness, and although it tried to help and fight back the gifts of the divine never returned. He was slain many times helping the weak and betrayed Solars, and helped many Lunars escaped but he was still a normal and mortal man. He fell by the dozens; the Exalted would never know who it was that helped them. The Maidens saw the noble desire of the Primal Exalt, who wished to preserve the Golden Age and save his comrades, could no longer watch his repeated failures. So in return, they found his Primal Exaltation and bound it in chains of silk and velvet. These materials reinforced by Sutras bound the Exaltation, and the Maidens took turns cleansing it themselves. Though the Exaltation never regained his powers under their care it was cleansed of all the darkness that began to corrode its soul, the by product of his hate and the influence of Sore.
The Bronze Age came as a direct result of what the Sidereals' action. It was also necessary, it was the choice men that allowed such events to happen, as such none of the Gods aided the Solars and Lunars, and they did not help the coming Fae attacks or the outbreak of the Great Contagion. All was left at the hands of the Exalts and those beneath them, all the while the Primal Exalt slept, waiting for the day he was unbound by the Silk and Velvet Chains.
After many centuries the final battle had come at last, the Solars redeemed in the eyes of the Unconquered Sun returned, the Lunars emerged from the Wyld and supported their previous mates and those who supported the Golden Faction of the Sidereals emerged to bring forth again the Golden Age. But all was not fine. Those of the Bronze Faction sought to eliminate the Solars and their allies. The Dragon-Blooded fearing the Anathemas came forth to end their heresies. In the deep ark of the Abyss the Neverborn gathered its dead armies and where lead the Abyssal Exalted. And In Malfeas the twisted, broken Yozis forged the Infernal Exalted to call them forth to regain Creation. Some battles for straight forward, such as in the open plains or in a great valley. Some were waged indoors and the weapons were the pens and the spears were words. Other times the greatest of battles was waiting for the incoming storm regardless of that, the Primal Exalt revealed itself only near the end of the war.
As a brief summary the battles were more or less instigated by the Yozis and their Infernal Generals. They had captured the Scarlet Empress and turned her into the Queen of Hell with the aid of the Neverborn. In every battle, was an act in favor of the "Reclamation" the twisting of Creation to reflect the Demon World of Malfeas, as such that would free the Yozis. They unfortunately succeeded, with half the Exalts dead and the mortal warriors badly beaten, the Yozis were close to achieving victory. But then, the Neverborn awoken, and with their Whispers called forth the dead from the Abyss, countless souls waged in endless combat were slaves to the their Whispers. They overran the Yozis and their minions and cleansing the rest of the Exalted, the Time of Exalts had one last bright glow before it finally faded.
With the Death of all Exalts and the bindings of the Silk and Velvet Chains were shattered, the Primal Exalt was once again freed. As he descended once more into Creation he found a host in the most unlikely place. The last Child of the Scarlet Empress, the last Child of the Queen of Hell and the Ebon Dragon was born with a simple purpose, to die at first breath. This horrible atrocity would seal the pact that would bind the Gods once more into the Service of the Yozis. And it would have succeeded too; except the Primal was already their upon her birth. When all was distracted the girl was taken in secret and was whisked away into the one place where even the Yozis and Neverborn would take a second thought before crossing, into the Wylds. It was there that the last Circle compromising of Exalted Half-Cates, the mortal children of Exalts, raised the child, with The Primal as its mysterious teacher. With danger as her ally and Death her only constant companion she grew up far faster than any child should. It took thirteen years, but by then all the Half-Castes had fallen, it was up to the Primal Exalt to raise the girl himself, to that end he leaned on his past memories, his past lives to complete her training for war and for a time he succeeded. But time was not a luxury he had. Upon her third decade the last of the Fae came forth. They were a dying breed, as formless creatures taking form was closer to an end then anything. But it was either take form or be devoured by the Neverborn. The Wyld had shrunk and the power of the Fae was dwindling the corruption of the Yozi's and the Miasma of the Neverborn was doing the work ten thousand could not. As a last ditch effort their Queen offered her Heart Grace, in effect her life, and the power of the Last of the Fae for a single favor: Vengeance. Vengeance upon those that broke them, vengeance upon those that formed them and in return the Queen Mae would surrender what fleeting power she had left.
The Primal Exalt was not, greedy, nor was he power hungry; he was ,however, arrogant to the point of hubris, but not quite there. He accepted the offer in return for eternal service to himself his pride enjoyed the thought of Queen beneath him. It also came to his great amusement that Sore, the Flawless Spark of Beneath Ambition, also sought vengeance against her father the Ebon Dragon for discarding her eons before, so too she took her form. It was at this point did the Maidens of Secrets and End told him of the truth. In the dead of knight in the darkness of his dreams showed him the path he was required to take. The Exalts had squandered their gifts, victory could no longer be possible, life had lost and the Creation would die. This is the Absolute Truth, Ignis Divine and Luna were already slain since his exile, their Divine Spark faded and was spared the Neverborns' wrath, Gaia had long since fallen due to heartbreak, the Creation was broken. All that was left was to make sure they "broke even", the Yozi could not be allowed to live to spread their corruption and the Neverborn would never be satisfied with the death of Creation, they would seek out more. And so Ignis Divine and the rest of the Celestial Incarnae, before his fall, conjured a perfect plan: the destruction of the Games of Divinity.
The Games of Divinity were set of challenges that kept the amusement of Gods and Primordials alike, at the cost of debilitating obsession over it. The Incarnae hypothesized that the since the Games were at the start of all Creation it could use all the power since the beginning to wipe out the Yozis and the Neverborn. After all, the Games contain the energy of all those who played since the beginning of time. Let it not be said that such a task was easy, nor was it fast. The Games resided within Yu-Shuan, or in Heaven, and although the Primal Exalt, Queen Mae and Sore were able to make it that far they had already lost what followers they had in battling their way there. It was here that the young, in terms of Exalted, daughter of the Queen of Hell and the Ebon Dragon would realize her power. Parthena, the "Jeweled Flower Beyond Twilight, was the child of the Scarlet Empress she had the finest Stock of Dragon Blood available to her, making her the strongest Dragon Blood since her mother. As the Spawn of a Primordial she inherited the "Greatest Betrayal" from her Father. The Ebon Dragon was her mirror Opposite, while he was darkness she was light, where he sought deception she revealed truth, and where he sought to gain power she sought to empower others. She was the Ultimate Betrayal to her father and as such caused him harm by her very existence.
At the foot of the Games they spent seven years taking their first steps. After ten steps Mae could no longer bare the Games, her mind warping she cast herself with the binding of the Primal Exalts Exaltation, truly binding herself to servitude in order to save what was left in her mind. Twenty steps later Sore did the exact same thing to preserve herself as well. Parthena lasted fifty years before following her fellows in servitude. After three hundred years the Primal Exalt finally reached the Games and nearly went insane at the majesty of it all. No words could describe its perfection, no sound cold be uttered in its presence, and no thought could liken to the horror he felt then and there.
At that point in becomes more myth than facts. Some say that he lasted millenniums before he finally succumbed and destroyed the Games. Some say he absorbed the power of the Games themselves and used it to cleanse what was left of creation in silver fire. Whatever, it was tha the Primal Exalt did only three facts are constant. The first was that the events took at the very least three thousand years before anything happened at all, second was that an event took place the erased the Yozis and the Neverborn from Creation and the last fact was that the Primal Exalt faded from memory, from existence… and for once, the Creation bore a new name, it turned on its side a perfect sphere, bereft of essence and the horrifying majesty that came with it.