u/Firm-Split9333

Previously on mapping Exalted Essence: https://www.reddit.com/r/exalted/s/JnH1v7qnoU

For our 4th part in this series, I am going to look at how the other realms of Exalted Essence fit in with Creation. We have The Wyld, Malfeas, Heaven, Autochthonia and the Underworld. There isnt much details to go on at all for these locations as to how they relate to Creation spatially. Therefore some speculation must be made.

The Wyld is a sea of chaos with creation being an island of stability within, so we can tell that Creation is within the Wyld, as previously mentioned during the first part of map creation. Yu-Shan aka, heaven is a small continent within an endless sea of quicksilver. Malfeas has no details on its position other than being inside one of the titans and surrounded by an endless desert and the Underworld(the afterlife) and Autochthonia (robotland?).

With very little to go on, I shall propose 2 mutually exclusive cosmological models.

The first is the Petal or Island Model. Here I propose that all Realms of Existence live inside the Wyld, as the endless silver of sea of heaven could easily just be part of the Wyld since as far as I can tell the Wyld can be anything. Hell also is surrounded by an endless desert so that could be similar, just a transitional boundary than never obviously fades into the Wyld. The Underworld and Autochthonia don't seem to have any known qualities to their borders but might have similar effects. Thus Creation is a more solid continent in the sea of the Wyld while the other realms are loosely connected by Shadowlands and magical gates to Creation as smaller islands surrounding it.

https://preview.redd.it/k39aufti07kh1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b5aaf778765ebc4915742c8457295e0e4118211

The second model is that all the Realms are stacked attop each other in a squat cylinder. We can call this the Cylinder model, layer cake model or dishstack model, more research may need to be done. Heaven of course must be on top of Creation, its called Heaven after all so it must be there. No cultural bias has been introduced into this analysis of course. Autochthonia is above Heaven, uh mostly because I couldn't think of where it could go to balance the stack in a pleasing way. The Underworld clearly goes underneath Creation as its self evident in its name, and thus Shadowlands are like sticking a chopstick through layers of cake and puncturing both Creation and the Underworld. Malfeas, aka Hell is below the Underworld, since its a prison and the people who put them there probably wanted it to be in a terrible place to live. The Wyld spreads out betweeen each layer and around it like icing in a cake.

https://preview.redd.it/oauuiyuj07kh1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f497d02332b64d2654703441b8be28c479e09bad

And with that we are done with all the setting material within Exalted Essence! I do have this other book called Pillars of Creation that has yet more setting information although I have not analyzed it yet for inclusion in the map. If I do, I would hope that the authors have carefully maintained continuity between publications and avoid changing the locations of already analyzed and placed map locations. It would be a shame if locations that are clearly landlocked suddenly were retconned into being coastal locations. Such revelations would cause havoc on my true and accurate map.

Any way thanks for checking on my mapping of Exalted Essence and hopefully you will be able to use this map material to guide your players in traveling between locations in Creation!

Previously on mapping Exalted Essence: https://www.reddit.com/r/exalted/s/WFrirREILU

With the Dreaming Sea and East done, the South is up. So looking at the intro, its hot and deserty outside of the coastal area being mediterranean as mentioned earlier. Major locations wise we have Chiaroscuro which based on the art is a postapocalyptic modern city. Actually it looks like Dubai from Spec Ops the Line! Which I guess makes sense seeing that game was from the 2010s or something and Exalted Essence is from 2023! Wait a minute isn't the main building in the middle of the picture the Cayan tower? Does this game have some hidden lore that its set in the postapocalyptic future like the Shannara chronicles?

Anyway Chiaroscuro is apparently a massive port city so that means its coastal and its in a desert but no other location details. Its also Arabian inspired so maybe the Dreaming sea can be its Red Sea. After that is Gem which is inside a volcano and it mines jewels in a place called the firepeaks, so it sounds like its more inland towards the Pole of Fire. I can put it far south while Chiaroscuro is up in the Strait of the Dreaming Sea. We also have the Varang City States which is a in a river valley that goes from the Summer Mountains to the Inner sea. It sounds like they are unrelated to Chiaroscuro so I could place them on the far side of the landmass, theres no mention of rivers for Gem or Chiaroscuro. An-teng is a minor location that is in a jungle and a Realm colony, so its probably coastal. We also have Dajaz with is specifically mentioned to be 1000 miles south of Gem! Sounds pretty hot. It means I wont place Gem right at the edge of the world then. Last minor location is the Bronze Tide, but they sound like a Nomadic fleet instead of a fixed area. They arent in the Dreaming sea so I can put them on the left side of the map since thats the only place that would fit.

So Chiaroscuro is going on the peninsula in the South that is on the Dreaming Sea's northern tip. I'll add a mountain range to seperate the rest of the Dreaming Sea coast from the South proper, like the Arabian Peninsula and then Gem will be in that mountain range while Dajaz is helpfully exactly 1000 miles south of that.

https://preview.redd.it/ruwqdxi2jljh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf4704ba2b983dddfc1f5da0415f7ae44c260af2

For the Varang city states, Ill add a bunch more mountains and volcanos around the left side of the map and then add a river from one of these mountains that goes to the sea and put them there. Then I'll add An Teng as a coastal city with a little river going to it and some jungle. Bronze tide can just be off the coast.

https://preview.redd.it/qpphkux3jljh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6598ff406e928b9e43490a06d9f189a2a6d702dd

That does it for the South. Not sure what would go in the big empty zone in the middle. Maybe I could have moved An Teng there to be right across from Arjuf but I figured that they should use the same river as Varang since there aren't any other rivers mentioned.

Finally, at least before I try to take a crack at where Heaven and Hell area, we have the West.

First up apparently its all one big ocean, and we have the pole of water at the end. Wu-jian is the first major location and its just a small island that is heavily built up like Singapore or Hong Kong. Its the gateway for the Realm so it must be close to the Blessed Isle's west. I can put it as an island a off the the west, a few thousand miles north of An Teng since thats a Realm colony and also near Bittern since that is their major port. Skullstone which is next, is said to be a volcanic archipelago, so that sounds farther south. I can put it near the Bronze Tide. The Caul is a place where Lunars are winning the war against Realm occupation. No location given but its full of Jungles so it sounds more southern.

https://preview.redd.it/v92imc25jljh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e867574895df92ab17a72324bbbf2e3f3a335a13

For minor locations we have Wavecrest, another island group, Volcanic soil, owned by the Realm, I'll put them south of Wu-jian. Azure and the Coral Archipelago sounds like a cooler climate and much of the west is still empty so Ill put them to the north of Wujian. Lintha and Bluehaven is given a precise location of near the southwest coast so thats easy to place.

https://preview.redd.it/c0697b96jljh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e7779edd1b2474710f82fbee76a6fc91c688b3c

Now we have a complete and as accurate as possible map of Creation!

https://preview.redd.it/tsts2bg7jljh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d3faaf411be460f3e785085a2cc9a87c4a3a726

Next up, I guess I can see if the other Realms are mappable. If Heaven, Hell and the Afterlife exist, maybe they fit together as some kind of cylinder? Then I can crack open the Supplement known as Pillars of Creation and see if that has some locations to fill out this map.

For the past few years I've been having an issue with how I sleep, I've noticed some combinations of pillows, and toppers cause my shoulders, neck and upper back to be tight and lightly sore and after a few days my wrist and forearm will feel itchy or lightly painful. If I change how I sleep it goes away but then after some time that position feels bad and then I try to change everything again. In particular sleeping on my back tends to worsen it so I side sleep. Firm mattresses and toppers are better I think, but at the same time its harder to sleep or my arm is now on something thats too soft etc.

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar issue and any advice on this?

In terms of size I am a male, 31, 145 pounds. My current bed is an extra firm bed that Ive been trying with a variety of poly foam, non-memory toppers from the foam factory.

Previously on Creating a map of Exalted Essence: https://www.reddit.com/r/exalted/s/5tkIBAc7eU

Now for the East. First up the book says that the East is full of forests and rivers and has lots of cities and a high population. Lookshy that was mentioned earlier, is within the River Province and fights the Realm alot and theres a Confederation of Rivers that also defends against their imperialist ambitions, and calls them the Scavenger Lands. The pole of Wood is somewhere at the edge and has massive trees and forests

For major locations we have Nexus, its a big lawless city that is specifically said to be at the confluence of the Yellow and Gray rivers that become the Yanazee. No other location information but it has a guild called The Guild that controls trade everywhere, so it must be centrally located. Theres another city called Great Forks tha also sounds like its on the river but no mention of what river it is on, but I will the assume the same as Nexus, the name also sounds like its on a series of Forks or a Delta but no info given. They are also mentioned as inspired by Athens and South East Asia so I think we can assume a coastal location since no one else seems to be Coastal mentioned yet. On the Eastern edge of the Scavenger lands there is the Hundred Kingoms which is just random minor city states, but it gives us some positioning compared to the Scavenger lands the forests that lie past it. We then have Thorns which is a former Realm city that was conquered by the undead. No location info, but it has vineyards and got into wars with the other city states before and Bagdad is suggested as an inspiration, so I think it is more southern than everyone else and coastal since it was owned by the realm before. Minor locations after that are Haltan Republic, a place built ontop of giant trees, so definetly in the far east past the 100 kingoms mentioned earlier. Linowan, also in the forest and they fight the Haltans so we know they are close. Then theres Mahalanka which some sort of modernish city ruled by apes and their sorcerer queen but no location given. Finally theres Sijan which is a giant tomb but no location given but they sound like they get involved everywhere. Lookshy was mentioned before but I dont see any info on where this Dragon Blooded place is.

 There also is a minor location called the Dreaming Sea which is in the South east corner. Its got more Dragon Blooded who live in Prasad with the capital of Kamthahar no other location given. Ysyr, is a place of sorceres no location info. Then there is Palanquin, no location info. Volivat is a bunch of towers inside the ocena itself followed by Mount Namas and then Champoor. Not much location information overall but it sounds like an actual ocean.

In this case I think the North and East are together in one continent, and the Dreaming Sea is what is at the end of the continent in the south. So I will attach another chunk of land to the northern continent I already drew, and it curves off at the corner in the south east where the Dreaming Sea will be. I presume its ok if the oceans can spill out the edges of the world into the rest of the Wyld. I'll make the coast line wiggly since the North is pretty straight. The easiest location to place I think is Haltan Republic, they must be right at the Pole of Wood and Ill draw some giant trees. The Linowan are nearby and theres a never mentioned before river so I can add those next. I'll draw some mountains to the north and make the river come from there and turn it to the ocean.

https://preview.redd.it/h5c7bqind8gh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e81f22241a7c7e1a046ee17d96282764c8313dfa

So thats easiest ones. For Nexus, its between two rivers so Ill need to add the Grey and yellow rivers somewhere. I think Ill put one coming out of the Pole of Wood and another one comeing from the edge of the world and add more mountains. I'll put Great Forks at the mouth of hte river into the ocean. For the Hundred Kingdoms, I think it would fit as a strip of land between Nexus and Haltan Republic, based on what we know. I may have made this continent a bit too narrow but oh well. For Thorns, I think it needs to be spaced to fight all the other city states but its not related to any major rivers. So I will put it north of Great Forks and very close to the Realm since it seems to owned by them before. Sijan has little info but they go everywhere to tend to the dead. So I will put it on the silver river on the Coastline to give them global access. Dont really have any other cities mentioned to be on the Silver river.

https://preview.redd.it/2x0q32pud8gh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d63b251eff76c5a33d5d15eced01091db1011f68

The Last 2 are Mahalanka, and even though its not Bolded, Lookshy sounds kinda important since its full of Dragon Blooded and they defend everyone else from the Realm. Based on their other mentions in the book, it doesnt sound as if they are a full city state, its more like a postapocalyptic military order, like the Rangers of Wasteland or the Brotherhood of Steel. I can put them somewhere central to protect all the other locations, a bit north of the Yellow River. Finally Mahalankha has no location info, but seeing as Lunars are hunted down by Dragon Blooded, its probably not related to the other locations. I think I can put it in the Northern part past the Linowan in the mountains at the edge of the world. So thats the East.

https://preview.redd.it/ldfvjujyd8gh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e7cd064ba8b27222d2510c929611804042f91a3

For the Dreaming sea, I kinda need to guess where things go. No directions are given in the book. First I think I should draw the Southern continent quickly so I can create a boundary for this ocean. The description of the South says its got mediterrean style coastal regions and then its just desert and then volcanic mountains with firestorms. So kinda sounds like the top chunk of Africa if you saw off the bottom. Ill just make a big mushroom shape for it so the dreaming sea has space.

https://preview.redd.it/pxf85ug3e8gh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9020b8eb9a0aeb72499cbf5543c9b91e8c0858c4

Mount Namas is the only place with a direction specified as its north of the dreaming sea. Ill put it at the edge so its far from Lookshy, This actually fits in with the mountains I previously drew so Ill add somemore and put it there. Next Volivat is mentioned to be inside the ocean, so Ill just stick them in the middle. The Lunars in Mt Namas are fighting against Prasad so Ill put Kamthahar on the northern shore. No more location info is available so I will put Ysyr, Palanquin and Champoor in the south. Champoor fights Fairfolk so it sounds like they are cloest to the edge of the world.

https://preview.redd.it/ug9z7139e8gh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=12f511d9a470b8f89d867312eacce24bc282a932

And that does it for the Dreaming Sea.

https://preview.redd.it/7otsgslae8gh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73edda7f56d46e1653c75ab9e6ed92b418ca2b4f

Lets say that theoretically, I am a new Exalted player who only has access to Exalted Essence, and since there is no map to show me the world of Exalted, I need to draw my own, untouched and unbiased by the detritus of prior editions!

Alright, so looking from page 23, theres some stuff about the Exalted and this thing called the First Age after the Exalted killed the greek titans or something and got to rule the world with some fancy city called Meru as their capital but it looks like they went off and did their own things. Not much geographic information here. Then pages 24-26 are just more history on how they got driven mad by this curse from the titans and decided to kill each other and then a magic plague and fairies kill 90% of the world then afterwards a Dragon Blooded Empress takes over and rules for 700 years from this place called the Blessed Isle, and they rule a bunch of colonies in this place across the world. Sounds kind of British inspired, and also this tells me that the Exalted live for centuries due to being demigods!

Now on page 26 we have some information on how I can draw my map, first it looks like Creation is a flat world that has 5 elemental poles, and its 9,000 miles to the edge. Sounds like a disk then? The center is on the Blessed Isle where the Dragon Blooded Empire is and thats the pole of Earth and mount Meru is there, so I know where to place those things right in the middle of my map.

https://preview.redd.it/jr3o0zoiumfh1.jpg?width=2885&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1037951414c8a38ec8e7c7169b86068a4bacc714

Alright so I've drawn a rough free hand disk and a smaller disk inside for the blessed isle, although Im not sure how big it could be. Might need to make it smaller but the text says its a continent so I guess its Australia sized and then the rest of the disk is floating on a sea of the Wyld whatever that is.

So next up, is just a bunch of stuff on this Realm but next up is some cities. The Imperial City's location is not mentioned, but previously Meru was mentioned to be the city of the Exalts before they killed each other, so I'll put it in the center of the world inside Mt Meru. Next up Arjuf is said to be related to the South of the world, so I put it right on the bottom of the Blessed Isle. Then Bittern sounds like its on the west of the island and its got another spiky island nearby so ill put it on the left hand side and scribble an island with some spikes nearby.

Next up theres some stuff on untamed wilds and it turns out Meru or the Imperial mountain is actual empty and full of dead cities, so let me instead scribble the Imperial city to be a little south of the mountain. I have no idea where the Tarpan wastes would go but it sound desertlike so ill put it in the south and the Eseon forest can be in the north, since that part of the world sounds wetter and cooler.

https://preview.redd.it/tn5oeqpoumfh1.jpg?width=2885&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0da96dbe31c8a5110998560409998fab5125ab12

After that we have some other Dragon Blooded locations. It sure seems like they appear alot, are they the main characters other than the Solars in this world? First up is a place called Lookshy, who are some sort of remnant goverment with magical artifacts from the First age and they live in a place called the Scavenger lands. Plus another place called Prasad that lives near the Dreaming Sea but no details on where those are yet. I'll skip them for now.

Next up is the North. Apparently thats the Pole of Air, so let me put that at the tip of the disk. Whitewall is one big city that is surronded by monsters and it has a magic road and Walls to protect it. No details on location other than its isoleated and far from the Realm and the Road connects it to the rest of the world. Then we have Gethamane which is an underground city in a mountain. No mention of location or terrain outside of the city. Then we have the Icewalkers who are nomads that are migrating south because a Solar is now leading them and they captured a city called Plenilune which is on a river called the River of Tears that flows out of the White Sea. Plenilune is one of a bunch of Saltspire League cities but I dont know anything about the rest. Theres some other locations like Haslanti League which is several city states banded together who dig up a wizard's ruined kingdom to find advanced technolgoy like crossbows and they have airboats and iceships. No location though. Then there is this place called the Mountain of the Spider King that is between Gethamane and Whitewall and the rest of the world. Sounds kinda like a Dark Elf with a name like that! Finally Foritude is a miserable city ruled by gangs and theres no location there.

It seems to me Whitewall is the most isolated of the locations and it has a big road that goes to 2 other locations which are in mountains. So I'll put Whitewall way up on the map. I think the North is just one big landmass, but the book doesnt say much about the continents if they exist on this flat world and I am not sure how far away the Blessed isle is from other places. Anyway Whitewall is going to be surrounded by mountains and snow and tundra and then it has a road that goes through these mountains and Gethamane is in one of those mountains. Then on the same road further South is the Spider King. Then the Road goes on to reach Plenilune since its supposed to go to the rest of Creation and theres a nice river that I presume goes into the same ocean that the Blessed Isle is on. The Whitesea is going to be a big inland sea like the Caspian. Ill put the Haslanti League around there since they use airboats and iceboats which would be good over a big inland ocean and the mountains to reach Whitewall. I'll put Fortitude on the right side of the continent where there is space left. It will be inland since its a prison city.

https://preview.redd.it/lk80aw7xumfh1.jpg?width=2885&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d993cc68554b9f20804dc39c8a5af18576feef7

That looks like all there is for the North. I'll see if I can continue some stuff tomorrow. Its a shame this Exalted Essence RPG world has no map. But I am sure I can create it accurately by hand for my players.

https://preview.redd.it/4xf0rdzuumfh1.jpg?width=2885&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59dde21a54cac77bdda567433c2a0582594c1552

Are Solars quite badly off compared to everyone else in terms of setting material and crunch? Mechanically they only have the Core book and Miracles of the Solar Exalted which is widely panned. Unlike everyone else, their Companion book is just a bunch of mostly bad charms no new locations and characters, while all other splats got or are getting more artifacts, locations and characters in each of their companions. DBs also got The Realm and some of At8D but they probably deserve those.

If a third book for Solars was announced what would you like to contain?

https://preview.redd.it/4bijq36bqx8h1.png?width=2196&format=png&auto=webp&s=80b897d6f671586f1b44a41d3f1ac4534c1991c0

https://preview.redd.it/msbeqdcfqx8h1.png?width=2196&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4e650dd0aabda744a5739eeacd4c1ee1d13d389

https://preview.redd.it/5funi28hqx8h1.png?width=2196&format=png&auto=webp&s=935d7442c0d24510d68a6915a2791b1edfe5d9b0

A couple months ago I posted a survey on the subreddit on peoples likes and dislikes in Exalted, and it seems that for most disliked Exalt, Exigents is coming up pretty highly, although Solars are also unpopular due to the bad writing of the core book and Miracles of the Solar Exalted.

Why do you guys think fans, or yourself dislike them?

How would you feel if 4e announced that in order to concentrate its efforts, only Solars would be designed to be playable as the main splat in previous editions and thus would be able to get multiple supplements just for themselves and world/setting books would follow? With other splats as maybe a distant goal to be started on long after?

Here is a more comprehensive Poll on your favorite/least favorite Exalt type without Reddit's 6 option limit and more questions splitting between Mechanics and lore, along with some other questions about Non-exalt player types.

The results of everyone else should be visible after you have placed your own choice. Please message in comments if there is any issue with that/permission to access.

Link to Spread sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q8r5R-fHZ_mX5TDPUvgmBL4dkVB6k8m2qVXUtktUVuc/edit?usp=sharing

I've seen this meme around for some time and was wondering where/when the idea came from? Generally I've seen it used in reference to 2e but I actually encountered it in real life when I was getting interviewed for a 3e group last year and suggested a Deeb character in a primarily celestial game and got the suggest that I might want to pick a Real Exalted instead.

Lost Zarlath is a city in the Far North East of Creation that has appeared as a map dot in all 3 editions. It was planned to appear in the canceled Towers of the Mighty book for 3e but otherwise has not appeared. In 1e its mentioned in a Shogunate era story in the Aspect books as a place where the Shogunate were defeated by the Fair Folk. I have been looking through the 1e books and have not found any more mentions and not in 3e's At8D.

Does anyone know if it appeared again in other books in 1e or 2e.