Template:Anima effects

All castes of Solar Exalted can channel Essence directly through their animas to generate magical effects. Every Solar Exalted can use her caste's anima power without special training. In addition, any Solar Exalt can spend a single mote of Essence to:

• Cause her caste mark to glow brightly for a scene (as if the character has spent 4–7 motes of Peripheral Essence).
• Cause her anima to glow brightly enough to read by for a scene (as if the character had spent 8–10 motes of Peripheral Essence).
• Know the precise time of day for the rest of the scene.

One of the most visible results of the Essence trait is an Exalt's anima banner. When gods perform miracles, the miracle may be obvious or subtle, but the god itself is unchanged by the power. The Exalted, however, are not entirely in tune with their own Essence, given that so much of it is harnessed through the immortal core of power within them.

As a result, the Exalted have two pools of motes from which they can spend Essence: Peripheral and Personal. Personal Essence is Essence over which the character has total mastery. Personal Essence expenditures leave no trace, as long as the character does not use Charms with the Obvious keyword. Peripheral Essence is another matter. Peripheral Essence is controlled imperfectly by the raw power of the character's Exaltation. Exalts who spend Essence from their Peripheral Essence pool quickly develop a temporary halo called their anima banner. The more Essence they spend, the brighter the halo glows. Except for the 1–3 and 16+ effects, the halo fades at the rate of one degree per scene, or one level roughly every 20 minutes if the scenes are very long. Solar Exalted have brilliant golden anima banners that reflect the Solar origins of their power. Other Exalted have different sorts of halos. For example, the Lunar Exalted have brilliant, icy silver auras, while the Dragon-Blooded are surrounded by halos of elemental power so intense they can cause injury or death on exposure.

These halo effects occur naturally only when the character uses Peripheral Essence. However, an Exalt using Personal Essence can deliberately allow it to escape into her anima and have the motes expended count toward the number used during that scene. An Exalt typically does so when she has spent all her Peripheral Essence but wishes to stage a showy display.

Motes of Peripheral Essence	Effect
1–3	The character's caste mark glitters and is visible from certain angles. The player of anyone seeing the Exalt may make a (Perception + Awareness) roll at standard difficulty for his character to notice the caste mark. The Solar can use the Stealth Ability normally and may still hide behind Stealth Charms and other concealing magic without fear of detection. This effect can persist for as long as an hour after the character has ceased to burn Essence.
4–7	The character's caste mark burns and will shine through anything placed over it. It is impossible to mistake the character for anything but what she is. Stealth Charms and other such magic, including the Night Caste's ability to mute sensory impressions, fail. A character may use the Stealth Ability to hide in natural cover, but all such attempts incur a +2 difficulty.
8–10	The character is surrounded by a coruscant aura bright enough to read by, and her caste mark is a burning golden brand on her forehead. Stealth is impossible.
11–15	The character is engulfed in a brilliant bonfire of Essence that burns from her feet to at least a foot above her head. Objects that come in contact with the aura may be left bleached or faded, as if they had been exposed to the sun for many days. The character is visible for miles. The light produced is bright and steady enough to read by, out to a spearcast's distance.
16+	The character is surmounted or surrounded by a burning image totemic to her person. A warrior might be surrounded by a great golden bull, a Twilight Caste magician by an incredibly elaborate mandala, and so on. This effect fades during any action the character does not spend Essence, but it leaps back into existence from the solar bonfire of the character's anima if the character again burns Peripheral Essence.