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Liminal Exalted
Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould Me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?
—John Milton, Paradise Lost

Developers & Authors: John Mørke, Holden Shearer

Illustrations: Melissa Uran
Original Layout Design: Brian Glass
Layout & Formatting: Charles H. Spaulding

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LThe
iminal Exalted preview Born of Darkness
Imagine awakening in unfamiliar surroundings. There’s pain,
Liminal Exalted, or Chernozem as they are more com-
monly known to those who have encountered or heard of though that recedes quickly, and disorientation, which lingers
them, are one of the new varieties of playable characters that much longer. Your body feels strange and unfamiliar, tingling
will appear in Exalted Third Edition. The Chernozem pres- and flushing with sensation as it also awakens, bit by bit.
ent a contrast to the more familiar Exalted, whose struggles You don’t know who you are. As you realize this, memories
raise up and cast down nations. While Liminals are as mighty rise up to present themselves. But they’re not your memories—
as other Chosen, their stories are inward-focused, emphasizing you know that immediately. There’s no sense of ownership or
the world’s impact on the character rather than the other way identification. It’s like remembering a character you read about
around. As such, they’re perfect additions to ‘mixed Circles.’ in a book, or heard about in a story. Perhaps it’s only one set of
memories. Perhaps it’s several, jumbles of lives and events hap-
Death Begets Life hazardly stitched together. Maybe these secondhand memories
are enough to tell you where you are.
A sorcerer cries out to Heaven atop a storm-lashed manse.
Maybe they’re enough to tell you who’s standing over you,
His fortune is gone, expended in its construction that he might
half-mad with emotion. You know this figure isn’t really your
harness and focus the power of the demesne below. His wife’s
creator—there’s a lingering touch on your mind, receding now,
cold body rests on an open slab atop the mystical ziggurat,
dark and immense: the receding hand of your real maker.
flanked by fires kindled with rare herbs from the depths of the
You’re not the sum of the memories in your head. You’re not
Wyld. A hearthstone gleams on her chest, focusing the power
the sum of the parts of your body. Who are you?
of land and flame and storm and spell. This desperate ritual has
No immediate answer presents itself. This is the dilemma that
only one goal: to tear the sorcerer’s beloved back from the cold
greets each of the Chernozem in the first moments of their life.
embrace of the Underworld, to convince Heaven to reunite
soul and flesh, to mend the hole in a man’s wounded heart.
The sorcerer’s demand is beyond the power of Heaven. The Children of the Black Earth
ritual is doomed to failure. But somewhere in the black and The Chernozem are life brought forth from death. They’re
storm-tossed reaches of the Underworld, something ancient not resurrected individuals, although they’re most commonly
and attentive hears his anguished cries. She cannot—and created when someone tries to restore the dead to life. Rather,
would not—give him what he wants, but has needs of her own. they’re new people, given life by a strange form of Exaltation,
She reaches through the window of his agony and makes the made of borrowed flesh and full of someone else’s memories.
ritual her own. A Liminal might be made from a single corpse subjected to
The cadaver’s eyes open and see. Fresh blood suffuses pale, some form of attempted resurrection ritual, or might be formed
stiff limbs. A still heart lurches painfully into motion. New life of parts of disparate bodies combined for some arcane purpose.
kindles in empty flesh. The body rises, drawing in a shuddering The only unifying factors are an attempt to bring forth life from
breath. Alive. dead flesh; intense, all-consuming fixation in the mind of the
The sorcerer cries out his beloved’s name. The figure before would-be resurrectionist; and the interference of an ancient,
him does not answer. It is not his wife. mighty force dwelling deep within the Underworld.

EX3 Kickstarter • Liminals Preview 2

 The Chernozem are, for the most part, rootless beings. Aspects of Flesh are born of creators driven by “savage” pas-
They’re alive, but not in the way everything else is. Life was sion—vengeance, rage, madness. Flesh represents lust, hunger
designed to beget life; for life to spring from death runs against and thirst, madness and rage. Flesh is the core of identity and
the grain of Creation, and most individuals find the Chernozem the vector of metamorphosis. It is the currency of those caught
deeply disturbing. A Liminal’s first discovery is that he is not between life and death. Flesh Aspects are choleric, active, and
the sum of his memories; his second is usually that he is not like often aggressive.
other people, and that other people know this, and don’t like it. Aspects of Marrow are born of creators driven by curios-
As a result, most Liminals stay on the move. Some simply ity, obsession, and hunger for knowledge. Marrow represents
roam from place to place, vagabonds without purpose. Oth- secrets buried deep within the flesh, the power of dark and hid-
ers become heroes for hire, performing great deeds and then den places, the strong sheathe of bone around the innermost
moving on before unease can overcome gratitude. Others still workings of the heart. Marrow Aspects are reserved and ana-
attempt to make a place for themselves in the world, no matter lytical individuals.
how difficult it may be. All come to understand that they are Aspects of Soil are born of creators driven by sorrow, re-
in some way incomplete, and wonder if there is some way to gret, yearning. Soil represents the seminal urge, the lure of life
become more than what they are. and jealousy for the living, the power of decay and the hungry
whispers that wait on the threshold between life and death. It
Hands of the Dark Mother is the final tomb awaiting the dead, and the cradle in which
The mysterious dark mother of the Chernozem granted them seeds sprout new life. Soil Aspects are introspective and given
Exaltation for a reason. The purpose of the Liminals is to act as to consideration of signs and omens.
wardens at the boundary of life and death, generally by hunting
the restless dead when they intrude upon the lands of the living. The Power of the Chernozem
Many Liminals work as warrior-exorcists, ghost-hunters, and de- The Charms of the Liminals derive from the associations of
stroyers of necromantic abominations. They’re most often seen their Aspects and the might of their unnatural bodies. Blood
in shadowlands, plying their trade and then moving on. Aspect magic, for example, may allow a Liminal to easily track
Yet the Liminals aren’t shackled to this purpose—merely a man for hundreds of miles with only a sample of bodily flu-
inclined to it, and sometimes goaded toward it by their an- ids to work from, but it also allows confident navigation of the
cient matron. Others hire themselves out as caravan guards, dark waterways and torrential courses of the Underworld, as
or join mercenary bands, or become the fearsome champions well as influence over the desires and addictions of others. Soil
of mighty princes; or attempt to build low-key lives in the great Charms might bind the dead back into their graves, while just
cities of Creation, where they might vanish into the crowd; or as readily helping the Chernozem bring forth new creations
retreat from the world of mortals entirely, becoming strange into the world.
and dreadful hermits lurking in forgotten jungle ruins, or squat- Additionally, the body of a Liminal is incredibly resilient; sev-
ting in high mountaintop caves, trying to ignore the howling of ered or destroyed limbs may be easily replaced with new ones,
ghosts in the night. and the Liminal’s body soon adapts the new addition so that it
looks like a natural part of her form. Moreover, the Chernozem
Aspects of Life and Death may draw skills and memories from stolen body parts: a Lim-
The Liminal Exalted lack the purpose-based Castes of the inal might gain grace from a dancer’s legs, skill from a swords-
Celestial Exalted. Instead they are divided into Aspects, some- man’s arm, or guile from a sly man’s tongue. With appropriate
what like the Dragon-Blooded. But where Dragon-Blooded are Charms, even more impressive and macabre feats of body-theft
marked by the primacy of elemental Essence running through may be possible.
their veins, Liminal Aspects emphasize elements of life and Finally, the Chernozem even have some capacity to return
death. A Liminal’s Aspect is defined by the drives of his cre- from the grave. As a Liminal’s very life-force is different from
ator—different brands of vibrant emotion or obsession produce that of mortals (or other Exalts), she doesn’t pass into death’s
markedly different Exalts. embrace in the same manner as natural things do. So long as
Aspects of Blood are born of creators driven by “possessive” her brain and most of her body is left intact, a slain Liminal will
passion—lust, greed, and ambition. Blood represents the heat eventually re-ignite the spark of her Essence and rise again,
of passion and the wonder of emotion. Blood is a carrier as well restored to life. This remains possible even if she is wholly dis-
as a fulcrum; it can be a river of plagues or a font of virginal membered and beheaded, so long as the brain survives and is
purity with which to attract and bind the foulest of horrors and later reunited with the parts of her body (or at least a body
bid them whip. Blood Aspects are sanguine, passionate, outgo- mostly consisting of parts that were formerly hers). Burning
ing creatures. and drowning may also interfere with a Liminal’s resurrection.
Aspects of Breath are born of creators driven by despair, Many Chernozem remain unaware of this power until they use
or even nihilism. Breath represents the gift of life, the cycle of it for the first time.
lethe, the power of possession, and the flow of Essence. Breath
is an unceasing tide, drawing in from the world and flowing
out to meet it; properly harnessed, it calls the storm and sets
it free. Aspects of Breath are reflective beings, often shaping
themselves to meet the expectations of others.