Page 13
Run by Mark Moores
Please Note this game is intended for Mature players
This Game is currently ON HOLD !!
Copyright
White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
Beginnings
The Heart of the Empire
The Characters (V.1)
The Characters (V.2)
The Characters (V.3) Updated
29.09.07
The Tower of the Sun
Exaltation
Escape
The Lost City of Gold
The Throne of Sol
Wanderers
The Library of Maxos
Latest Update
How did it come to this?
Morning!
The Story So Far New
29.09.07
Exalted: The Game
You have been exalted by a higher power, you are more than human.
However there are no guides, the world is spread before you, a myriad of limitless possibilities.
I can’t tell you any more about the campaign because it would spoil it…
Exalted is a fantasy/manga/white wolf crossover game with a cinematic, free-flowing rules system.
Exalted: Character Information
If you wish to play, you will need to work out a human background for your character and think about how a revelation would affect them mentally. Copies of the exalted rulebook will be available at the club if you need to read the rules on character creation.
Exalted: The City of Lost Gold
Beginnings [top]
The story opens in Thorns, a city resting on the shore of the central sea. High sandstone walls surround the clustered low level
buildings constructed of the same material. In the light of the setting sun the city seems to be ablaze. Thorns derives its name from 6
first age spikes of impossibly slender black glass, five around the edge of the town and one towering spike at its
centre.
The characters were at a party held by Tyler Thorns, the regent of the city, in his palace in the shadow of the central spire.
Felicia Avron was there to mix with the rich and hopefully profit in a monetary way from the experience. Qintar Jones (with his wolf, Lupus) was there in his professional capacity as a capable sword for hire and Master Vee, eccentric genius, had been dragged down to the party by his patron Tyler to be shown off to the nobility. There were also others, but they are now dead.
Gradually reports filtered though that an army was approaching, Tyler marshalled his watch commanders, but after telling them to check out the rumours seemed fairly unconcerned… Worse news soon arrived however - the army had come from nowhere and within an hour surrounded the city. The guard tried to defend the palace but within another hour Mask of Winters strode into the throne room flanked by three Deathknights - Unnatural Stillness, Typhon and Absence of Laughter.
Mask's silver-black cloak billows and shadow tentacles emerge to wreath Tyler - who despite being a blond giant of a man is begging for his life. Within a few seconds the ruler of Thorns is a desiccated husk. Mask the surveys the room and chooses five volunteers, including our heroes, to carry a message for him to the Imperial City. To ensure their compliance they were given strange necklaces of shadow that he conjured from the air - after seeing the necklace rip apart one of the volunteers who refused to comply, everyone was a lot more convivial to the idea.
The characters had time to grab a few things before they headed down to the docks catch a ship that Mask had left there for them. The ship seemed to be carved of bone, and had no crew yet when the characters boarded, it moved off.
Inside the ship was no less strange than outside. At the front of the ship was a black room with a silver pentagram on the floor. At each point of the pentagram were elemental symbols, also inlaid in silver. The room was lit by black candles that let off a purple light and a thick cloying odour. However, even after examining the room Master Vee cannot get anything interesting to happen.
The main cabin has ten shelves of black wood, each one surmounted with a coffin, also in black wood. The cabin at the stern of the ship is stranger still. There is an area open to the sea, a chart on the wall showing the ships position, a strange gyroscope contraption and a bed which, if you step into it suspends you in mid-air.
Felicia locks herself in the stern cabin and the others make do. A couple of days later they arrive at the Imperial City (this is unnaturally
quick - especially for a ship with no sails).
The Heart of the Empire
[top]
The ship, being unusual, is greeted at customs. A beautiful, charming Dragon-blooded wearing blue Jade armour, called Iluria, was in
charge of the dock guards and escorted the characters to the Customs House. The Customs House of the Imperial City is a large square building
in White marble with Green marble inlay.
After wading through a minor official, Dreg Langran, the characters are taken to see Danagi - Customs Official First Class. After talk without end, they are licensed to travel to the Imperial Palace and there await an audience with the Council of Regents.
The streets of the Imperial City are full of wonders. Jade palaces held at impossible angles jostle with obsidian houses owned by those of more modest means within the two hundred foot high black granite walls. The most marvellous sight however is the Imperial Palace, this is made of white marble inlaid with amethyst. Dizzying amethyst spires stretch to the skies connected with walkways and the palace is surrounded by a fiery lava moat.
In the square in front of the palace are the bodies of three Solar Exalted, Anathema, who have been driven on to spikes by the Wyld Hunt as a symbol for the people. They rest next to a Statue of a heroic Dragon Blooded titled "The Defender of the Faith".
The Imperial Gatekeeper, Harmon, lets them in. They are shown to an antechamber which is filling up with people waiting for audience with the Council of Regents.
The antechamber is hung with purple drapes. A pool in the centre of the room extends to the corners and is crossed by walkways of amethyst under which koi carp swim lazily.
There are very attractive female twins in the corner opposite the door wearing white and black silk. Near them are a troupe of very small men wearing black and white costumes.
In the corner near the door is a silver haired Dragon Blooded with aristocratic features.
In the other corner near the door is someone that Felicia actually bothers to talk to, Malera, the rather dashing Imperial Huntsmaster - who is here to report to the Regent Cathak Cainan that his favourite falcon is sick.
In the final corner is a group of Imperial Guards, in purple and white, behaving quite boisterously.
There is also an officious bureaucrat nervously looking through what seem to be plans.
Along the back wall there is a man working nicks out of a sword. He has long, raven black hair and a dangerous glint in his grey eyes.
There is also a svelte young blond girl wearing a pale dress of green silk and near her a man with an easel wearing a pink shirt.
Finally there are two children playing on one of the walkways. Qintar saves one of them when they have fallen into the pool - Gared, the servant attending the anteroom thanks the characters on behalf of House Tepet.
The characters are shown in to the Council of Regents after about three hours of waiting. The Imperial throne room is as impressive as the rest of the palace. The characters enter through an arch made of a strange dull black metal and enter a three hundred foot long chamber again arrayed in white inlaid with purple.
The Regents sit on golden thrones in front of the Imperial Dragonbone Throne. There are five in attendance, four thrones are empty.
As they stand before the council the characters shadow necklaces slip from their necks like snakes and coagulate on the floor before rising as a wraith-like image of Mask of Winters.
Mask delivers a short yet effective speech stating that Thorns has now been annexed into his shadowlands and no Imperial interference will be brooked. The characters are then quizzed by the Council.
The five are: [top]
Banoba - House Ragara - A corpulent man, sweating profusely in a red and gold tunic. He is of the opinion the characters should be killed
and their heads returned to Mask.
Alara - House Cynis - Stunning, dark haired, pale skinned beauty. She is wearing a see-through gown of yellow silk that conceals nothing of her lush figure. She is of the opinion that the characters should be imprisoned.
Cathak Cainan - House Cathak - A sharp featured, willowy man with brown hair that is greying at the temples. He advises that the characters are placed in guest chambers as they are nothing but a distraction.
Regent Fokuf - House Tepet - A regal looking man in green and silver. He councils that the characters have been through a terrible ordeal and they should be quartered in the guest rooms.
Argen - House Ledaal - A slight man with sandy hair who sniggers to himself at odd moments. Is again in favour of quartering in the guest rooms and questioning again later.
With a majority in favour, the characters were assigned guest quarters.
The Tower of the Sun
[top]
The characters are housed at the top of a tower (again of white marble). There are five large rooms, each with floor to ceiling windows looking out at
views 150 feet above the ground. There is also a split level communal area with many cushions and an outdoor area where a waterfall drops over the edge of the
tower to be caught a couple of levels below by a shelf. A clever system of mirrors above the false ceiling ensures that many vertical shafts of sunlight
illuminate each room. It is mid-afternoon when they arrive and the positioning of guards at the foot of the tower has the characters questioning the description
of the tower as guest quarters…
At the top of the tower the characters are greeted by Andrea, a pretty young servant girl who is on call for them 24 hours a day.
There is a rush for what are perceived to be the best rooms, then Felicia goes to take a bath, Qintar thinks about escaping and Master Vee shuts himself in his room to construct a collapsible hang-glider to escape.
Their first visitor is an bald old man with a long white beard called Stregrel - he questions them closely, saying that he is merely a minor priest in the Imperial Household but was interested in their news.
The second visitor was Banoba (with guards) who proceeds to threaten them, he says he will see them dead before the week is out, then twirls theatrically and leaves.
The next visitors are Imperial Guard, who escort the characters from their comfortable quarters down the stairs, through a secret panel, down more stairs and to an uncomfortable cell in the dungeon.
While discussing how they will escape, visitors arrive - Regent Alara and a sinister golden skinned man with tattoos across his skull. Alara then proceeds to tell the characters, in some detail how she will torture them with pain and pleasure for her amusement this evening.
Unfortunately, her musings are interrupted just before the first cut by Virgil On - the Chamberlain of the Imperial Household (who had been alerted by Andrea) who has guards escort them back to their quarters (much to Alara's chagrin).
Then Regent Argen arrives and questions them.
Finally after the sun goes down Andrea visits and tells them that she has heard a rumour they will be executed tomorrow afternoon. The characters begin to plan their escape - but it will be practically impossible as the guards have been doubled. They decide to make a break at dawn.
Exaltation
[top]
As the characters slowly wake from sleep they feel a warmth spreading through their limbs, a lassitude comes over them and they lie in the rays of the sun. Gradually the
characters feel that they are absorbing the sunlight and unnervingly they begin to float above their beds. Finally, there is a sense of a vast pool of energy building within them
and the characters begin to glow, a little at first but as the hours pass with a blinding radiance.
Finally the sun seems to speak in their minds (Master Vee is given a vision) and they fall back to their beds. The characters emerge from their rooms and note that everyone else has a mark on their foreheads - they are evil, anathema.
This is a bad situation, trapped in the middle of the Imperial City, among mortal enemies…however the characters feel stronger than ever before and gathering their weapons they descend the stairs.
Escape [top]
The characters rapidly discover that their characters have abilities they previously only dreamt about. They fight a running battle with various Dragon-Blooded as they run
for the gates of the city.
Some do not make it, some are grievously injured, but those who survive stagger through the Imperial gates and across the docks. Using threats and jewellery that Master Vee seems to have procured they persuade a mad captain (Stride Orlov) at the docks to help them escape. Felicia seems attracted to the first mate, Jin.
Unfortunately they are pursued by tenaciously by the Imperial forces, including Dragon Blooded who seem to be able to control the winds. Somehow they manage to stay ahead, but no one is able to sleep much and everyone is getting tired.
Then their pursuers get bored and sent a giant storm upon Orlov's ship Flying Cloud. The ship is smashed, seemingly by a giant hand of water rising from the sea behind them and people try to grab flotsam and hang on to life. One by one characters pass out and they awake beneath the strong rays of the sun to find themselves bedraggled on a beach.
The Lost City of Gold
[top]
The beach upon which the characters find themselves is fringed with trees, but just inside the treeline the characters note strange black stone pillars with undecipherable
symbols on them. Felicia also notes a strange black cat moving through the trees beyond the pillar, something not quite right about it, as if it wasn't made of flesh and bone.
Master Vee shows useful skills and as the characters recover over a week he builds them a very impressive beach hut shelter. With great sense, they decide that discretion is the better part of valour and build a raft to travel up a river into the interior rather than chance the forest, heading towards a flat-topped mountain in the distance.
Unfortunately, further in the interior the river becomes impassable and the characters head into the forest. They encounter a black stone panther, but it does not seem unfriendly. Now they are closer to the mountain, they can see a stair carved into it rising towards the clouds wreathing its summit.
Reaching the foot of the stair the characters are confronted with a 40ft high guardian statue, called Artemis. After a pleasant conversation they are allowed past and climb the stairs, for most of a day. Upon reaching the summit and passing through two black gateposts they see a city spread before them in a depression that Master Vee refers to as an extinct volcano.
The city is a dirty grey with many low level buildings in the suburbs. A great avenue leads from the staircase to a great plaza at the centre of the city. The Plaza is surrounded by many columns arranged in a semi-circle around a huge building that is obviously the heart of the city. Around the edge of the crater and the semi-circle of columns are more strange black obelisks.
As the characters descend to the plaza they note scattered bones strewn across the path and half-buried in the earth either side. There is a strange shimmering in the air and the bones coalesce into skeletons. About a hundred are arrayed before the characters, but as they shamble forward Master Vee summons a whirling storm of Obsidian butterflies that destroy the horde.
The Throne of Sol [top]
Standing in the plaza the characters are awed by the sheer scale of the white marble building before them. Based on a pentagram with sides of about 400 yards there are
towers at each point that curve over and taper to form a point. A sweeping staircase with 3 ft steps leads up to a huge door above which an inscription on the portico reads "This
place is death to all who enter with ill intention. I Karal Bax have created the Throne of Sol for the Aeneid - the greatest of this greatest of ages. Look upon my work ye mighty
and tremble - for all your power is as naught to that contained within."
As Qintar approaches the stairs, he is swept up them, floating two inches above them…as he reaches the doors they swing open to reveal a cavernous room. The ceiling is vaulted by the external towers and between them a latticework of gold supports glass panels.
In front of Qintar a great staircase rises to a central five sided platform. Golden filaments stretch down from the roof to the platform. A grand staircase rises in front of the door then splits and meets two sides of the platform and now the characters are closer, they can see that the marble has gold veins running through it.
A voice from a sepulchre cuts across the silence "I have sensed your coming, I am Memory of Sorrows and now you will submit to me!"
Qintar springs up the stairs towards Memory as the other characters enter the Manse, at the top he sees Memory.
A mane of silver hair frames a pale, flawless face, luscious red lips and haunted purple eyes. A purple cloak with silver inlay billows around her night black, bone framed armour. Behind her rises a monstrous black shadow whose arms fray into terrible claws and whose eyes burn a dull purple.
Qintar feels the crushing weight of her will upon him and trying to move towards her is like wading through treacle. As battle is joined the other characters catch up and a minute later the air is still. Memory lies like a rag doll sprawled against a pedestal at the centre of the platform, broken, but as Qintar approaches for the kill she touches something on her belt and a swirling cloud envelops her. As it clears she is gone and the characters begin to take stock of the rest of their surroundings.
From the corners of the central pedestal thin filaments of gold extend to the ceiling. In the centre of this pedestal is a strange black liquid that emanates power. At the edge of the central platform five more pedestals also stand, each with the symbol of a different element on them. Beyond these pedestals the vast space is split into five easily identifiable sections each corresponding to its pedestals symbol.
Water falls into a series of pools of different temperatures from one tower. Another tower is surrounded by a reflecting pool and a garden based around rocks covered in lush moss. Another tower is hidden in a forest and the faint sound of another waterfall can be heard, hidden by the trees. The penultimate tower is seen through the haze of heat from a pillar of flame and further back from this inferno there is a lounge and kitchen area. The final tower is surrounded by an exercise area, which includes a sandpit circle, a marble circle and about 50 pillars of various heights at varying distances from each other.
Over the next month (an enforced rest while wounds heal) the characters explore and discover many wonders - a real time accurate scale model of the island, a pair of dark glasses that can be used to control the cats (who are part of the security system) and activate other defences, books on magic, a food generator.
The characters also start to clean house, as the City is currently tainted by what had taken residence there. Upon cleaning, the buildings of the City also turn out to be white marble with golden roofs. However, Master Vee tells them that the shadow will never be truly banished until the key has been found to enter the towers and explore its source deep under the City.
After trying every way they can to get into the towers, Master Vee finds an obscure reference in a text that talks about true elements - elements that can only be obtained from the edges of human dominion where the Wyld holds sway.
Wanderers
[top]
The characters take this news fairly heavily, they thought they had found a home and now, almost before they are settled, they are wandering again…The characters head
off into a land that once welcomed them as human, but now will revile them.
The characters cross a land bridge to the mainland and head north. After a while they happen across a caravan run by Hugo Gilgamer, master merchant. The characters rapidly assimilate themselves within this group…Felicia in particular making friends with Heidi, then making really good friends with Maximillian, Argot and Hugo himself (which upsets his assistant Analise).
As the journey progresses, Felicia's friendships progress. Qintar also stops John, one of the caravan guards, from picking on Armando an orphan who took up with the caravan in the south. Qintar takes him under his wing and begins to teach him martial discipline.
There are a few distractions as they travel north:
At the village of Mishaka the characters discover that a fey noble has been preying on young villagers and now has kidnapped the Mayors daughter. Master Vee discovers that the Mayor is willing to agree to the Fey having two teenagers a year in return for his daughter's life and tries to broker a deal. However, the other characters are not quite so callous or mercenary and confront the Fey and strange visions he summons. It is a challenging fight, but the characters scrape through and claim their reward.
The characters the move on to Celeran, capital of the lands of the Marukani horselords. The annual fair is on and the characters cruise around and find an inn for the night. Everything is bright sprays of red, yellow green and blue silks. Felicia helps Simone (an innocent priests daughter travelling to Sijan) sneak away from her guards and guarded by Qintar they see a bit of life. An incident of note is a trader being paid a fortune for a faded cloak with gold thread (identified as orricalcum by Master Vee) that had been found in the far north somewhere near Icehome.
The characters head up into the mountains for several days. By the side of the path, on the edge of an escarpment they encounter the Library of Maxos. This walled enclosure is dominated by the Manse of Nexus a huge octagonal building that looms on the edge of the cliff. Outside the walls there is a small community supported by business from the Library. (yes, I know, this is The Name of the Rose - but the plot had subtle variations - still credit is due to Umberto Eco, probably the most talented professor of Semantics in the world!)
The characters are invited to stay, and the Abbot enquires as to their business. From their somewhat diffuse answers the Abbot discerns that the characters may be able to help solve a mystery. His departure is punctuated by the human-like screams of pigs being slaughtered.
On the day before the characters arrive a young, talented artist called Adelmo was found dead on the rocks below the Manse. There was a snow storm that night and all of the windows of the library were shut. Anyway, the library is locked at night and hence the monk could surely have not jumped from there.
The party seem in the mood for a murder mystery and begin to investigate. Master Vee determines that if the body had been thrown from the wall then it could in theory have slid down the mountainside to its current position. A vociferously religious old monk called Ubertino drops dark hints about Adelmo and Berengar's sexuality - however his evidence is somewhat suspect as he appears mad! Nicolas, the Master Glazier, also notes that he has heard rumours of someone entering the library during the night - despite its locks.
Qintar spends most of the night keeping watch, from a distance, of the library. He sees nothing, but near dawn he hears a faint splash. He races around the compound to try to discover the source, but by the time he discovers the body of Venetius (a scribe, friend of Adelmo) in a vat of pig's blood, the culprit has fled.
Berengar and Benno (both friends of Adelmo) appear nervous. Malacai, the very tall, very thin, billowing black cloaked librarian will not allow the characters access to the library - and Master Vee, studying him with sorcerers sight believes him to be inhuman, possibly some strange kind of exalted he has not encountered before. The characters examine Venetius's body more thoroughly and discover he was strangled before he was dumped in the vat. However, there are no marks on his neck so maybe he just choked?
Updated 05.03.07
The characters spend the day searching the monastery, questioning people. Berengar looks like he wants to say more but cannot quite be persuaded. Master Vee discovers that Nicholas (the master-glazier) has rediscovered a technique for making brilliant blue glass that has been lost since the first age, he also turns his Sorcerers sight onto pretty much everyone he comes into contact with and discovers that both Ubertino and Abbott Praxit also appear to be the same type of unknown Exalted as Jorge. Some suspicion falls on Salvatore, the slightly sleazy hunchbacked monk who seems to have had a much less cloistered past than his fellow.
Qintar again keeps watch at night but it appears to pass peacefully.
The third day dawn's cold but sunny. News has arrived that Sesus Lahor, an important noble of the Empire intends to visit the monastery tomorrow. Master Vee remembers that the orricalcum threaded cloak in the bought for a fortune in the fair at Celeran was being bought by someone in the livery of House Sesus. Mid-morning a cry goes up that Berengar is missing and the characters help in the search. Felicia finds some paper under Berengar's bed - it has a couple of blood smeared finger marks on but otherwise just appears to be a practice page for an illuminated manuscript (the parchment is very thin and not full quality). Upon further careful examination it is found that a message has been written on the parchment (perhaps with lemon juice?) and this is successfully retrieved as "The hand over the idol works on the first and the seventh of the four".
Berengar's body is found in the Balenary, his tongue is black but he otherwise appears unharmed, Master Vee determines that he has been poisoned but can't quite place the poison. The characters spend the rest of the day examining the Church (looking for idol's) and note a particularly detailed frieze surrounding the door of the West transept that seems to show Solar Exalted. Ubertino comes and tries to chase them out of the Church.
That night both Qintar and Felicia keep watch at different locations within the grounds. Qintar notices that about midnight Salvatore goes and lets someone fairly short and cloaked through the side of the main gate. Following him he enters the church, goes down to the crypt and manipulating an altar seemingly made of skulls in the catacombs opens a passageway. Qintar follows and emerges in the Kitchen within the Library! Salvatore is being paid by Remigio (the Cellarer) who then draws back the hood of the mysterious figure to reveal a teenage girl who he leers at. Qintar confronts them in a fairly aggressive manner and Salvatore admits that he has seen Adelmo entering the Church at night and not re-emerge, he also says he is weak and begs Qintar not to tell the Abbott. Remigio admits that he found Venetius's body here in the kitchen the night he died sprawled on the floor with a smashed glass beside him but says the glass only appeared to contain water. He ran and does not know who moved Venetius's body to the vat of pigs blood. Qintar escorts the teenager, Prisna, back to the village and gives he some coins to help her family (who unsurprisingly enough are very poor).
The next day all of the Monastery and the village is in rush to make everything perfect for the visiting dignitaries. The characters spend the morning sleeping/thinking through the possibilities that arise from their investigations. Early afternoon Sesus Lahor arrives with an impressive party of over 200 nobles, soldiers, hangers on, servants and slaves. Master Vee watches Sesus's arrival and notes him throw a gold coin to a beautiful young girl in the crowd on his way to the Monastery but thinks no more of it. Sesus meets privately with the Abbott that afternoon and is seen storming away to his camp outside the gates. The characters try to stay out of the way of Sesus and his retinue. That evening Qintar receives word from the village that Prisna has been arrested as a witch.
Qintar and Felicia again keep watch, this time near dawn Qintar is alerted by Lupus who is very distressed by something he can smell on the wind. Qintar and Felecia see a whirling cloud of red smoke/dust rise over the wall and speed towards the Abbott's quarters. They race it but lose and arrive maybe 5 seconds after it. The door is locked but Qintar smashes it in and they charge upstairs only to find that they are too late, the stench is terrible, there is blood and scraps of flesh everywhere. What was the Abbott has been smeared on the walls and the red mist/dust devil is escaping through the second floor window. The characters go and rouse the monastery. Master Vee does not know what attacked the Abbott but he guesses as a very powerful demon or some kind of transformational magic - like everyone else he thinks Sesus Lahor was to blame.
Later that morning it is announced that Sesus Lahor will personally take charge of the witchcraft trial and that all the deaths in the Monastery have been caused by Prisna cumulating in a pact with anathema to kill the Abbott the night before. Qintar is seething.
Jorge is appointed acting Abbott and calls the characters to the library. These he explains that he is an Exalted, although of an older and rarer type than the Solars. The library contains a secret shrine of rare Solar books and knowledge from the first age that Sesus Lahor wanted to access. Access which the Abbott refused. Jorge himself killed Adelmo and Berengar to protect this knowledge and Venetius was poisoned (by a hallucinogen, Khar, from the east) when investigating. Now could the characters leave as they are drawing attention to the Monastery and could cause the secret of the Library to be revealed.
The characters leave, mostly unhappy, was justice done here? Prisna burns that night at dusk.
The characters are currently in Nexus, the largest and most populous city in the conglomeration of city states called the Threshold. The Threshold has never been conquered by the Dragon Empire and is defended by the well disciplined armies of Lookshy (which is where the characters have recently come from).
You came here chasing a piece of True Element, any piece (Wood, Fire, Water, Ice or Earth), that you hope will open secret doors in the island fastness that you have claimed as your own.
The current cast is:
Currently the Hexball season has just started in Nexus and the party have spent a considerable time and effort putting Qintar in a position to play on a team - the Bastion Wildcats. Felicia has invented cheerleading and Master Vee (with help from Chen-Tsi) has been working on producing a particularly vivid blue glass in a newly fitted out workshop. Jon'O has been trying to figure out the, very fluid, legal system and lobby for useful law changes.
Plots/Rumours/Stuff you were doing (in no particular order)!
People you have met/heard of:
And that's about all folks.... the floor is yours!
How did it come to this? [top]
How did it come to this? You were rich, famous and popular. Nexus, the river harlot, had embraced you to her bosom and you had drunk deeply of the high life. Then last Wednesday it all began to unravel......
In the afternoon a tax collector (and enforcers) turned up at Master Vee's workshop demanding a windfall tax (City Ordinance 489 - new, surprisingly) on his blue glass production. Then a newssheet was distributed with rumours about Qintar's private life and dalliances with very young ladies.
On Thursday a young prostitute comes forward and accuses Qintar of rape, by Thursday afternoon she is dead and the papers are accusing Qintar of silencing her. Friday morning Felicia hears that Rosa, her head cheerleader, is missing.
Friday afternoon the characters attend the auction of the contents of the Valane (a boat the characters saw sink in mysterious circumstances on their journey to the city). Qintar and Felicia (who is associated with Qintar in the public mind) are loudly jeered and asked to leave. Master Vee no longer has the funds to purchase the Valane's contents and instead comes away with a sorcerous rosewood box from which he senses great power (he just wanted to buy something!).
Saturday morning both Qintar and Felicia receive letters from the Sentinel Hill Wildcats saying their services are no longer required. Saturday afternoon Rosa's body is found in Firewander, horribly mutilated, there are rumours of Felicia being seen in the area.
Now it is Sunday morning and the sound of splintering wood has just woken you from your sleep....
The current cast is: [top] Updated 29.09.07
The quiet morning air of Sentinal's Hill in Nexus was ripped asunder and large creatures (later identified as demons by Lo Pan) began to flood through the rent in reality. They were 8 legged, like spiders but had a human torso (with disquietingly beautiful human features) and carried huge diremaces that seem to burn. With some malevolent intelligence they headed straight for the The Sentinel, where Qintar and Felicia were staying.
Several residents in local houses woke up feeling a bit funny (and with a nagging feeling something bad was happening outside), glowing golden and hovering above their beds. Some more rapidly than others began to realise that they had Exalted and were now outcasts from society, however it wasn't all bad - they tended to feel fitter, stronger, quicker, more than mere humans. Looking out of their various windows they saw the demons heading for the inn and responded by heading out to confront this threat (some seemed to be quite slow about heading out however.....).
Felicia and Qintar were woken by the door of the inn being shattered and heard screams from downstairs. Emerging from their rooms they saw that Max (the innkeeper) and his family had been attacked and went on the offensive. It took a while but the creatures were slain. Then a huge demon began to emerge from the portal. Almost as if they had been waiting for it Qintar and Felicia went into overdrive, however the most telling contribution was from Tanlei who severed two of its eight legs. Michaela (the barmaid from the Sentinel) actually landed the killing blow.
Then a rapid cleanup operation commenced, the bodies disappeared but some things, like Lo Pan's bronze skin could not be covered up so easily. Hung Hsui proved useful in dealing with the watch and now an air of calm sadness prevails, Max and his family were all slain.
Exalted, Second Incarnation, The Story So Far.... [top] New 29.09.07
After dealing with the morning disturbance Master Vee appeared - as useful as ever. He had deciphered the runes on the box purchased in Great Auction and prised it open. Inside is a rose coloured glowing stone which when raised to the ear seems to make the holder here a word similar to K'tee'k in an alien tongue. After searching all the information he can find he has found some similarities to the languages of the Eastern forests.
The parties ruminations are rudely interupted by a well trained cadre of 4 dragon blooded dressed all in black who invite them to an audience with Ephiselle (the Midnight Queen - Nexus council member). Ephiselle tells them in no uncertain terms (and beautiful surroundings), that there is a boat leaving to the east or a caravan leaving to the north at down and they had better be with one of them and out of the city where they have become a source of problems.
Dawn finds them on the Zepher, heading upriver past the impressive first age dam that it is illegal to investigate too closely! The Captain is Sara Birch and the first mate is called Martin, other crew are Lileth (second mate but doesnt seem to do much except give the Captain back rubs), Bob, Dave and Sam - all grunts, oh and some slaves, but they don't count - do they?
Things on journey - attacked as they leave Nexus by water and fire elementals - odd eh?, ambush by a fey who diverts the path of the river (Felicia negotiates their passage personally with Tarquin, much to Qintar's exasperation), a couple of days R&R at Great Forks (sex, religious festivals, drugs and gambling, and a small murder mystery that was perfectly solved...), a pirate ambush at Mist Island involving fire that floated on the water, a layover on Mist Island which involved meeting its Master and his pet (a flying lizard), a trip to Greyfalls, meeting a caravan under attack by Hawkmen on that diversion (including a huge cat in a cage that seemed quite agitated until fed a brick of opium), finally everyone falling asleep the night before landfall at Ka'jeth and having odd dreams of wolves mating!?!?!
Ka'jeth is amazing, half built on the ground, half up in the branches of the soaring redwoods. People rapidly discover that things are a bit different from home though and some of the strictures that the forest people are deemed harsh. They are also assigned a "monitor" who will follow them and help them as a guide - he is called K'assa'k. They meet lots of other people too including Hans Kreugar who offers to help them, given his extensive experience of the East. First thing they need to do is get a pass to travel to Chanta - the capital - where Hans thinks they can get more information for their quest. To get the pass they just have to do a favour for the Mayor (M'et'ara'k) and sort out the disappearances that have been occuring. Hung Hsui is arrested as a tit for tat exchange for a member of the Ka'jeth council in Nexus. Some people seem to recognise Felicia already - strange....
The characters head to Caltia's Triumph, where there has been an invasion of tiny spiders and most people have gone missing. Due to Qintar's brave (?foolish?) actions they discover that the small, purple spiders are intimately involved in the disappearances and track them back to the Noss Fens shadowland. There they venture down into an amethyst cavern deep underground and meet a spidery Death Knight - the Amethyst Lady of the Tangled Web and her minions. Its a tough fight and in the end the party flee as the cavern collapses. Heading back to Ka'jeth they find that there have still been more disappearances (at least they have a celebration in Caltia's Triumph).
Investigating the disappearances in Ka'jeth they eventually lead out of town (after seeming to be out-negotiated by a very bright falcon - doh!) where a commando has vanished on a night exercise. The characters meet a tainted, vengeful spirit of a lost child and eventually kill it - but some of them have scars from the visions it inflicted and no one feels very clean afterwards. Returning to Ka'jeth they get their pass and head into the forest on their journey to Chanta.
The characters are currently forging a path through the trees far above the ground. They bypass a graveyard and are taunted from the ground by one Arturo Silverwood - just another annoying fey noble. They still have 600 miles to go....
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