[Exalted] Is it Possible For Someone Who Has Sacrified Humans To Become A Celestial?

[Leliel]

Well, one of my characters-pending application to a PbP game on Myth Weavers-is a thaumaturge who, became obsessed with curing a contagion designed to target his Dragon-Blooded masters in the Seventh Legion during a failed purification of a small shadowland.

Seeing as how thaumaturgy sucks when it comes to Exalt-affecting diseases (for good reason), he began to lose his mind in pursuit of a vaccine, gradually crossing more and more ethical standards until all that mattered was a cure-the fact that there were now a depressingly large number of neomah and sessejlae gamboling about in Creation ceased to matter to him. Eventually, he lost his composure completely and sacrificed a dying mortal to summon Aleuva and get her input on things ("If she created the stomach bottle bugs, she has to know more about medicine then they do, right!?"). Surprisingly, it worked, and he was able to create a vaccine with the Keeper of the Forge of Night's help.

Now, he got cold feet in actually administering the cure when he learned of the birth of his daughter (mad scientist's beautiful child, ha-ha) and ended up becoming a Defiler, but I left it deliberately ambiguous whether his general persistence and ability to take risks in finding a cure for a disease made immune to mortal medicine would make him a viable Twilight. So:

Would a person who's "great act of heroism" involved something as amoral as human sacrifice be a viable candidate for Lunar or Solar Exaltation (the Incarnas' opinions of this practice be damned)?

[The Rose Dragon]

One of the first practices of worship offered to the Unconquered Sun was the sacrifice of humans on altars in plain view of the sun. So, yes, they can Exalt as Solars.

Lunars... I'm more iffy on that. Lunar Exaltations are just as amoral as Solar ones, but they are drawn to different heroic qualities, one of them being the desire to protect.

[Tavar]

Remember, Exaltations don't look to see if you're a good person. It's summed up really well here (http://exalted.xi.co.nz/wiki/QuotesofCoolness), third quote down. To sumerize: Exalted doesn't have a formal alignment system, and more importantly, the Shard's are distributed based on any good/evil basis. Solar shards simply look for someone who has grand goals, whether those are what we would consider as good goals or evil goals is besides the point.

[BobVosh]

Very much so, a great exaltation for a great cause.

[golentan]

One of the first practices of worship offered to the Unconquered Sun was the sacrifice of humans on altars in plain view of the sun. So, yes, they can Exalt as Solars.

Lunars... I'm more iffy on that. Lunar Exaltations are just as amoral as Solar ones, but they are drawn to different heroic qualities, one of them being the desire to protect.

I think that the "desire to protect the world from disease at all costs" would indubitably count, however. But yes, there are no moral strings attached to exaltation. You do something awesome, you get power. The sort of awesome thing and what you do with that power are your own bag.

[horngeek]

I think that the "desire to protect the world from disease at all costs" would indubitably count, however. But yes, there are no moral strings attached to exaltation. You do something awesome, you get power. The sort of awesome thing and what you do with that power are your own bag.

A Lunar might Exalt for getting the disease and surviving through willpower.

[golentan]

A Lunar might Exalt for getting the disease and surviving through willpower.

I was just pointing out that there wasn't anything there to conflict with the rule that lunar motivations must be phrased to "protect" something rather than the act that nets them their happy-fun mutagenic crazy ball and sets half the world to hunting them down as abominations for having the blasphemous audacity to keep breathing.