Magic: Deicite and the Xinshen
Deicite
An uncommon mineral exists in the Sea called deicite or god’s ore, which appears as lustrous, lightning bolt-like veins of bronze-colored metal. The earliest settlers on the Coast discovered that a chunk of this ore, placed in the proximity of humans for long periods of time, would summon a being from the aether with skills or powers that benefitted the community. These beings came to be known as the Xinshen ("shen" for short) or New Gods.
When smelted using conventional means, god's ore appears as a pliable and lustrous metal comparable to silver in malleability and hardness. It can be used in this form to make jewelry, household decorations, and for other applications which require pliable metals such as dental fillings. Deicite processed in this manner becomes inert, and will not spawn xinshen.
Xinshen and the Rites of Apotheosis
The xinshen existed long before humanity ever witnessed them, forming spontaneously in the primordial wild of the Deep Sea. When they first spring forth from deicite, Lesser Xinshen take the form of immaterial specters possessed of limited sentience. These can take just about any form imaginable, appearing ghostly and intangible.
Existing in the transitory space between life and death, a lesser new god's capabilities are extremely limited. Some are gifted with powers that allow them to speak or project imagery. Old and powerful xinshen gain the ability to manifest themselves through states of matter such as fire and water, appearing as Elementals. The small amount of magic a xinshen can use is also determined by its surroundings: one raised by a farming community might have the ability to call rain or turn soil, for instance.
A Greater Xinshen is one that has gathered large amounts of strength through belief (human or otherwise). They gain the ability to manifest full-time, allowing them to interact with the material world and harness far greater magic than before. This evolution can alter or even completely change the shen's form if its environment has changed substantially since it first emerged.
Xinshen created by the people of pre-conquest Ashimachi took both anthropomorphic and bestial forms. As human religion evolved from tribal and shamanistic practices to more human-centric systems of belief, it became more common for them to take explicitly human forms. As one moves away from human settlements they may encounter xinshen with beastly or even vegetal forms.
With sufficient time and belief, a greater xinshen can evolve once more, becoming a mighty Primeval: a large and impressive god of significant power and influence. Unlike xinshen, Primevals can go long periods of time (hundreds or thousands of years, in some cases) without the sustenance of belief. The few Primevals witnessed by humanity have uniformly taken the shape of gargantuan beasts. Their domains can be hundreds of miles wide, making their enormous soulstones difficult to locate.
Over a thousand years of trial and error, humans have unlocked what are now referred to as the Rites of Apotheosis. The Rites were first recorded in the teachings of the Maqqian Sojourn (see Denominations), and detail the exact process by which xinshen are created and how to guide their development to produce new gods with specific attributes. Some less-scrupulous organizations use the teachings to mass-produce soulstone for use in artifice, though Artifacts remain a rare sight in the Coast.
Storyteller's note: Xinshen and Elementals follow most of the rules provided for Spirits and Gods in the Antagonists section of the Exalted corebook. Primevals' monstrous forms appear as Behemoths from the same section. Hearthstones correspond to the wonders of the same name in the Exalted corebook, and may or may not retain sentience when slotted into items. Soulstone takes the place of all Magical Materials. Manses and Demesnes in Sea of Trees are dedicated structures for the rapid creation and harvesting of Hearthstones or Soulstone.
From Deicite to Soulstone
Xinshen, Elementals, and Primevals are easily identified by the presence of a Hearthstone or Soulstone within their domain. These objects are an important byproduct of their evolution and act as their anchor in the world, as well as the conduit through which they absorb belief. Domains, defined areas within which the entities can move freely, grow over time. If a stone is moved outside its domain, the associated entity will dematerialize and travel along with the stone. Once it stops moving for a time the xinshen can emerge again, but any prior expansion of their domain will be reset.
For a xinshen to lose possession of its stone is to be condemned to a long and lingering death: such an entity forgotten to time will gradually wither away to nothing as its very existence bleeds into the aether. Conversely, if a xinshen is killed their hearthstone or soulstone will slowly but surely reconstruct them within the area of their domain.
The process of refining raw god's ore into usable soulstone is thus:
When the ore is in the presence of humans who hope, dream, fear, or hold strong aspirations, it gathers together all the wisps that such thoughts attract. As the wisps congregate in the ore, gaining in size and complexity, the impurities of the ore are consumed to fuel their growth into the beginnings of a xinshen. When hundreds or thousands of wisps have fused in the deicite, the shen completes its gestation. Their birth is a silent affair but no less magnificent to behold if one is so fortunate: free of impurities, the jagged veins of deicite instantly collapse into themselves, leaving behind an ovoid or faceted gem which can be as small as a pebble or as large as an ostrich egg. Hearthstones are beautiful gemstones that come in every conceivable color and pattern, polished to a mirror finish. If a shen's creators continue to dedicate prayer and belief to it, wisps gather in increasingly higher concentrations within the hearthstone. With enough time and dedication, the shen retreats into its hearthstone like a caterpillar woven into its cocoon. The hearthstone's glossy surface turns dull and opaque, growing in size and transforming into a mass of solid, unbreakable metal: a soulstone. When this process is complete the newly formed greater xinshen emerges with full sentience, a unique personality, and a name. Because they think and act freely, greater xinshen are also capable of creating other xinshen using this same process if raw deicite appears in their domain.
Artifice
Artifacts in Qarna are manufactured from soulstone. Given the indestructible, immutable nature of soulstone, this is no small endeavor: an artifact sword's edge will never dull, even after repeated binding with other weapons. One who wishes to shape this magical metal must be capable of manipulating magic, have studied both the arcane arts and artifice in great detail, and have access to an artifact forge stocked with high-quality tools as well as exotic or mystical reagents to facilitate the soulstone's transformation.
Talismans are a lower category of enchanted items, generally insignificant items imbued with limited amounts of magic which confer negligible magical benefits or small magical benefits with a limited number of uses. Constructed from mundane materials, the amount of magical energy they can store or transfer is tiny compared to proper artifacts (which are effectively unlimited), and they often break when exhausted. As such, this category of enchanted items typically takes the form of travel aides, souvenirs marketed toward tourists, or items made for those of intermediate wealth who cannot afford full-fledged artifacts but still desire some degree of magical enhancement.
Hearthstones cannot be used for regular artifice as they have very low malleability and will shatter when subjected to the refining process. However, they can be used in whole form: usually placed in talismans or trinkets which channel the aspects of the entity contained within and transfer them to the wearer. They can be reshaped or resized to a certain extent before losing coherence and power, so many items of artifice contain enchanted slots to place a hearthstone into. Perhaps the most difficult task in artifice is finding a source of raw material: obtaining soulstone means greater xinshen must give up their lives for the project; there is no mysterious mountain on Qarna from which an aspiring artificer can dig up vast quantities of soulstone. Acquiring enough soulstone to craft a daiklave could require the death of multiple gods - fully sentient beings who may have been created by the hopes and dreams of people who prayed them into being, sometimes for decades at a time. Because of this, the study of artifice is one that shows great potential for moral destruction. The godly power of artifact weapons and armor is something desired by many, including those of wicked character who will stop at nothing to obtain them. The means by which one obtains soulstone are a frequent theme in stories both factual and fictional: a group of xinshen volunteering to lay down their lives so that a young hero may forge a sword with which to destroy the evil that plagues their land; a local duke yearning for the power to conquer a rival's land and hiring a band of violent mercenaries to raid local towns and seize all their soulstone. Soulstone can be attuned to, which has the potential to change its physical qualities, and anyone with magical aptitude who is willing and able to form a close bond with a xinshen may also gain the ability to manifest it into herself. Doing so fuses the minds and power of both parties. Individuals with this ability are referred to as Stone Souls, and are distinct from Djinn in that their transformation is only temporary. The Chosen of the Reef in Ashimachi strive to become stone souls as part of their beliefs. Some city-states maintain at least one patron xinshen of their own creation, considered an agent of the state in some cases. Notable exceptions would be Ashimachi, Kansujian, and Chamatkaar, whose religious beliefs look unfavorably upon the practice of apotheosis and forbid it. Drachenkrone views apotheosis as a highly sacred ceremony reserved for Followers of the Priest: a greater xinshen made in the image of one of The Four dwells in each of Drachenkrone's cities, serving as spiritual advisors and counselors for those who need guidance in their Path. Lesser xinshen are created to serve in a similar capacity as tutors for vocational pursuits.
Storyteller's note: Crafting Artifacts follows the Crafting rules laid out in the Exalted corebook. Talismans are simple "one-dot Artifacts" - take any of the two-dot Artifacts in the Exalted Third Edition corebook, such as the Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light, and choose only a single effect which dissipates or breaks the item after a certain number of uses.
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