Exalted Faction

The Exalted Faction is a radical religious movement. They follow the minor deity known as the Light of Absolution.

## History

Some may describe it as fate, others may call it a coincidence. Regardless, when an 11th Star was found, it was unlike any other. After a series of strange dreams about a strange mountain, as well as many things that simply weren't understood, the man known as the prophet concluded that he must find the answer to why this was happening. He had set off, searching for the mountain which resembled the one in his dream, and searched for years before finally finding it. He was alone, and had walked into a deep crevice in the side of the mountain. He saw a glow, after travelling deep into it, and reached out for it. The moment the future prophet touched it, a terrible vision flashed vividly before his mind. It depicted a horrific end of the world, trapped in darkness and light. After a moment, when it had subsided, the man heard a voice calling to him. He felt a presence that wasn't there before, a light which he couldn't see before. He asked who it was, and the voice responded that its name could not be truly understood by humans, but that the closest approximation of its name was "Absolution".

The voice said that it had create the vision in his mind, and although it was unable to predict the future, it had calculated that as the way the world was going, this would be its ultimate fate. The only way to stop this future, said the voice, was to purify souls, to connect them to the presence of the Light, and for them to allow themselves to follow in its guidance. The prophet's holy mission had begun.

With the acquisition of his star, which allowed those connected to it to also become attuned with the Light of Absolution, and a high sense of holy fervour, his message spread, one way or another. Some converted to his cause through repentance, but others had their souls influenced by the magic of the star, defeated and ready to submit. The more they had converted, he believed, the better chances the world had to survive the catastrophe.

Despite being a member of the Council of Stars, his methods were heavily criticized when it became clear that he was creating powerful weapons and machines for the purposes of mass conversion. He believed that what he was doing was right, however.

## Gameplay

By far the most unique feature of the Exalted Faction is their entirely unique resource, called Absolution. It is acquired by following the will of the Light, by defeating enemy units or conquering territory, and can be spent on regenerating stardust, gaining small amounts of prestige, using powerful magic, or other rewards. Among the most powerful uses of Absolution is a spell inherent to the Machine Angel unit, known as "Absolution Beam", an incredibly powerful attack with range capable of attacking multiple pieces of terrain.

Their primary focus is combat, through magic. This does not discount their political abilities, as their policies can be very powerful as well, though they're generally also skewed towards combat. Additionally, they're capable of dealing large amounts of ethereal type damage, particularly from their mechanical units, Sentinel and Machine Angel, which is almost entirely unseen outside of the Exalted Faction. This means, their large units are easily capable of taking down other large mechanical units.