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TheCountAlucard
2011-01-30, 08:20 PM
All right, all right, let's get this thread started...

First and foremost, let me tell you about how this came to be.

See, back in October, I had fun running a nWoD game for Halloween. I mentioned that I might enjoy STing another game, though perhaps something different, like Exalted. Well, since the players I was talking to were unfamiliar, I had to explain Exalted to them. And explain I did. :smalltongue: Unfortunately, I was having so much fun talking about Exalted that I started jonesing for it right then and there.

I still didn't quite want to run Exalted, but since everyone in that game was relatively-unfamiliar with it, I didn't really have much choice, now did I? :smalltongue: I told them that I'd need some time to prepare, and that I'd aim for January for the start date of the game.

I also wasn't entirely sure of how many people I'd have in the game. As always, five is a fairly-ideal number, but I couldn't just ask five people to play; no, not all my gaming friends are really that reliable. It's inevitable that some of them will flake and be unable to play, or that scheduling problems will keep some completely out of the game. All in all, I asked about ten people, and got eight players, a tad more than I wanted, but a number I hoped I could still deal with. Six rookie players, and two old hands.

One thing I was a tad disappointed by, though, is that in my initial period of asking, "What do you want to play?", nearly everyone replied with, "A Dawn Caste Solar." :smalleek: Not everyone - two went with, "A Full-Moon Caste Lunar." :smalltongue: Okay, this isn't how the final product turned out, but even now, literally every PC in the group is at least halfway-oriented toward combat. :smalleek:

One of my loftier ambitions for the game is to involve all of the different splats whose books I can get my hands on. Abyssals? Yeah, I'll use them at some point. Infernals? They definitely have their uses. Dragon-blooded? What game would go without 'em? Lunars? Two of the PCs are Lunars! Fair Folk? Sounds like a good time to me... Sidereals? What Sidereals?

I decided to set my game in the East, mostly because our last group did a pretty good job of tearing things up in the Scavenger Lands and later in the South, and rather than disregard all that our circle's done there, we could just have it take place elsewhere (but not Elsewhere :smalltongue:). However, since I still haven't finished reading the East book, I decided I'd start the PCs out on an unlabeled spot on the map between Halta and Mount Metagalapa. We'll see how that turns out. :smallamused:

As for scheduling, I decided that we'd play once every two weeks, at the campus center of the local college (after all, with it now being open 24-7, that's too good to pass up as a place to game).

House-rule-wise, I restricted the players who'd never played before to Solars, and likewise disallowed them from taking Merits and Flaws. On the other hand, though, I attempted to provide incentive for them to flesh out their characters by allowing them five bonus points each for providing a decent backstory and picture of their character. The two more-experienced players were allowed to take Merits and Flaws, but to my surprise, the Flaws they took were pretty devastating. Also, for the sake of survivability, I houseruled it such that everybody got a free number of Ox-Body Techniques equal to their Stamina.

Anyway, I'll try and provide the details of the actual session itself sometime soon, 'kay? :smallsmile:

Kaun
2011-01-30, 08:31 PM
Sounds interesting!

7 is a fair mouthfull, are you banking on the hope that you won't have all of them at the table every session due to player unreliability?

TheCountAlucard
2011-01-30, 08:36 PM
Sounds interesting!The first session went decently enough. :smallamused:

8 is a fair mouthful, are you banking on the hope that you won't have all of them at the table every session due to player unreliability?I'm not banking on it, but it'd probably make things just a tad more convenient. :smalltongue:

Burnheart
2011-01-30, 10:16 PM
I'll just say as someone who hadn't even heard of Exalted before joining these forums, i am very interested in reading about this.

TheCountAlucard
2011-01-31, 09:47 AM
I guess I'd better get to the bit where I talk about the PCs, show shouldn't I? :smalltongue:

You'll notice something here: I said I ended up with eight players, yet here I detail seven player characters. There is a reason for this. Just not a good one. :smalltongue: You see, two of the players ended up jumping on at the last minute; out of those two, one built his character on the night of the game, and the other still hasn't done it yet, but really wants to play.

First on our list is the Dawn Caste, Sun Wukong, "Wuk" for short. He was educated from an early age in the dojo of Patient Rockslide, though when he took his Second Breath, Patient Rockslide had to ask him to leave, because soon the Wyld Hunt would be on him.

Second on our list is the other Dawn Caste, whose proper name I forget at the moment, but has the title of "Mantis Blade." Having grown up in a trading village south of Chiaroscuro, he entered into the tutelage of a perfectionist mentor. Following his training, he likewise took his Second Breath, and then left his village to travel with a Guild caravan, hoping to return and make his hometown proud.

Third, we have our Twilight Caste, "Kurosen." A student in the ways of sorcery and lore, he lived in the Scavenger Lands for some time before Exalting and heading East. His Motivation? He wants to rule Creation as the most powerful Exalt. Not megalomaniacal at all! :smalltongue:

Fourth is our Night Caste, we'll use his assumed name, "Guise." :smallamused: Raised in the Scavenger Lands by an abusive father, he ran away from home, and was eventually adopted into the life of an assassin, where he spent years learning the trade. Unfortunately, this mentor was soon himself murdered, and when he Exalted, he swore revenge.

Fifth is our other Night Caste, but what's in a name, anyway? For now, at least until I can have a detailed talk with him about how the game works, let's call him "Black Star," not to be confused with Black☆Star. :smalltongue: This is the player I mentioned above, of whose desire to play Exalted I was only notified about four hours prior to the game.

Sixth is our Full Moon Caste, a lizard-totem Lunar with amnesia - he can't remember anything from before his Exaltation. All he knows is that the Wyld Hunt is after him, and for some reason, he can't recall his original human form; he's essentially restricted to his warform and any shape he can steal. Since he doesn't remember his name, we just go with "Hammer." :smalltongue:

And seventh is our Full Moon Caste, a tiger-totem named "Midori-ne." :smalltongue: This one seeks entry into the Wardens of Gaia, the Lunar faction centered on brokering a mutually-beneficial existence between humanity and nature.

EDIT: Hey, finally got the cast's names down! :smallsmile: And hopefully I'll detail the session itself before long. :smalltongue:

Teln
2011-01-31, 10:12 AM
I am eagerly awaiting further information.

TheCountAlucard
2011-01-31, 09:12 PM
Looks like I've kept you guys waiting long enough. :smalltongue:

Okay, so the session starts out in the month of Resplendent Air, in the village of Rising Leaves, a farming community on the frayed edge of reality, as to the east can be found Bordermarches into the Wyld. Perhaps it's that chaotic influence, but something about the location makes Amaranth (the plant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth), not the WoD term :smalltongue:) grow particularly-fast in this area, which gives the Guild incentive to have a caravan stop over every now and then...

It's this Guild caravan that brings Mantis and Guise here. As for Wuk, Hammer, and Kurosen, it's the proximity to the Wyld that brings them (for Wuk and Hammer, it's a matter of escaping the Wyld Hunt, and for Kurosen, it's a matter of trying out his Wyld-Shaping Technique on some actual Wyld :smalltongue:). And Midori-ne, see, got word that the tide of the Wyld was about to advance on Rising Leaves. Can't have that, no... and that's everyone.

Wait, why's Black Star there? :smallconfused: Eh, at this point, his character sheet still wasn't finished, and everyone had been sitting there for some time, so we just said he was there, too. :smalltongue: There will be a reason...

Anyway, they all note that the amaranth is growing way out of season, and those who inquire about it (Kurosen, Midori-ne, Black Star) are directed to the city's thaumaturge leader, who explains how it might be the fact that Risen Leaves is bordering on Bordermarches that allows the plants to grow in this fashion. However, he fears that the proximity to the tides of chaos may yet prove to be their doom.

Meanwhile, Wuk is using a strongman routine to obtain some money to eat with tonight, and Hammer is busy "acquiring" a human form. Guise is stealthily "observing" Black Star, who, as the Night TWILIGHT AND WAS ALWAYS TWILIGHT Caste master of subtlety that he is, has his orichalcum grand grimscythe strapped to his back as he makes his way through the village. Black Star catches the notice of a man named Vaidis, a Westerner wearing the garb of a local, as well as a headband over his forehead. Vaidis tails Black Star, so Guise tails Vaidis, who spots Black Star heading into the thaumaturge's residence, sighs, and wanders off. :smallconfused:

Shortly after that, there's some confusion in the center of town when the harvested amaranth suddenly turns into blood. This leads to Wuk, Hammer, Black Star, Kurosen, Midori-ne, and Mantis having a discussion with the thaumaturge, who again expresses his concerns, this time mentioning a potential Fair Folk invasion, as well as a place of power he'd discovered to the east that he'd rather not risk the raksha get their hands on. The Exalts gathered agree to investigate it, and start heading east.

Through an incident that involves Wuk attempting to choke Midori-ne while she's in the form of a horse, they eventually discover that they're all Exalts. :smallamused: It makes just about as much sense in context, too. :smalltongue: For now, at least, they agree to work together.

Meanwhile, Guise is investigating the Guild representative, and who should meet up but this representative and Vaidis? Unfortunately, they begin conversing in a language that Guise does not understand (which Wuk's player delightfully dubs for us). Vaidis ends up showing the Guild man a paper with Realm writing on it, as well as a red jade daiklave, and then removes his headband, revealing an Eclipse caste mark scorched into his forehead like a brand. :smalleek:

As for the others, they've found their way to what they suspect is the manse. It resembles a seed pod, hundreds of feet tall, made out of the brightest green jade and the purest yellow amber, both spiraling together to form the thorny shape. The entrance, it seems, is at the top. :smallamused: Luckily, Wuk has a magic ring that lets him emulate the Cirrus Skiff spell. Inside, a pair of Erythmanoi guard the entrance, eternally-bound to refuse entry to those without the master's permission. A shame, then, that the master died in the Usurpation. :smallamused: Combat starts, but really, against six combat-oriented Exalts, are two First Circle demons gonna stand a chance? You can guess how it turned out.

The inside of the manse, as they discover, is like travelling along down the threads of a massive screw, and the entirety of it is devoted to a magical grove where sorcerously-bound demons pick enough giant fruit to easily feed a hundred people. The demons, however, were only instructed to pick the fruit, and have no compunctions against the circle's entry nor against them eating the fruit. About halfway down, Hammer thinks to ask where all the fruit is going. "Down the elevator." :smallamused:

That's right, there's an elevator. :smallbiggrin:

Hearing that, our two Lunars jump on that, while the Solars sigh and continue their trek down. However, Hammer and Midori-ne soon come to regret their rash decision, when they hear a noise emanating from below, a series of thunderous booms. Hammer kicks the elevator open about a third of the way down and encourages Midori-ne to sneak with him down the rest of the way, to see just what's making all the ruckus.

They reach the antechamber, and are somewhat-discouraged to see its resident, a vast behemoth with a body of glyph-carved verdegrised brass architecture, plant matter positively-growing from every aperture and seam in its body, greedily scarfing down and pulping all that came from the elevator. It doesn't notice them, and they beat feet back up the spiral to convince that whatever's down there isn't pretty. Wuk, however, decides to just walk up and address the thing, at which point it attempts to swat him out of hand like the fly he is. Undamaged but thrown back to the entrance to the antechamber, our scrappy Dawn Caste decides that it's butt-kicking time.

The Exalts attempt to bring down the beat-down on this behemoth, but along the way, they notice that it has some strange powers... like shifting the chunks of building that make up most of its hide to protect the wooden parts, resulting in their blows reverberating back at the PCs with bone-shattering force, as well as imbuing its own strikes with glowing green Essence that burns them more intensely than fire... :smalleek: Still, they go all Shadow of the Colossus on it and start stabbing at the unprotected areas on its face and the small of its back, at which point it climbs up the wall of the antechamber and does a pile-driver on the PCs unlucky enough to be on it. Black Star is knocked unconcious as a result, and the circle redoubles their efforts to kill this thing. Finally Wuk literally finishes it off by punching an opening in its eye socket and burrowing through its skull. If you're curious, the battle took exactly thirty seconds. :smallamused:

With the behemoth finished, they discover the powers of this manse: first-off, any Wood-aspected Terrestrial residing here has a higher chance of his progeny Exalting; secondly, the entire place is climate-controlled :smalltongue:; third, the magically-produced fruit, while capable of feeding a Magnitude 5 group, also confers the benefit of a tutor for the purpose of learning one dot of Occult. :smallconfused: Oh, and the bearer of the manse's hearthstone can literally sing to plants to make them grow... about a year's growth for a scene's worth of singing. :smalleek:

And really, that was it for the first session... rough as some parts of it were, I hope you guys enjoyed it. :smallsmile:

SurlySeraph
2011-01-31, 10:26 PM
Nice manse. Nice behemoth. That sounds like a great first session!

TheCountAlucard
2011-01-31, 10:32 PM
Nice manse. Nice behemoth. That sounds like a great first session!Thanks. :smallsmile:

Secret Stuff: You Players NO LOOKY!The behemoth was, of course, corrupted by Malfeas into its current form as a means of preparation for the Reclamation. Of course, no one's supposed to know about the Reclamation, so the circle has stumbled onto something very, very big, pun intended. :smallamused: That's why the behemoth was stashed away in this long-forgotten manse, a place that it logically shouldn't even be able to enter.

Burnheart
2011-02-01, 01:33 PM
Can someone please tell me what the Reclamation and the Usurpation are? Spoliered because it references TheCountAlucard's Spoiler.

The Rose Dragon
2011-02-01, 01:37 PM
Can someone please tell me what the Reclamation and the Usurpation are? Spoliered because it references TheCountAlucard's Spoiler.

The Reclamation is the Yozis trying futilely to retake the world. The Usurpation is when the Sidereals told the Dragon-blooded that the world would be better without Solars and ousted them from power together.

Burnheart
2011-02-01, 01:53 PM
The Reclamation is the Yozis trying futilely to retake the world. The Usurpation is when the Sidereals told the Dragon-blooded that the world would be better without Solars and ousted them from power together.

Thanks:smallbiggrin:

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-01, 03:40 PM
The Usurpation is when the Sidereals told the Dragon-blooded that the world would be better without Solars and ousted them from power together.By murdering them, and locking their Exaltations in a cage, and throwing it into the sea. :smalleek:

Cashius
2011-02-01, 04:13 PM
By murdering them, and locking their Exaltations in a cage, and throwing it into the sea. :smalleek:

Ya, that was way harsh.

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-01, 04:14 PM
Ya, that was way harsh.It's about time I saw you on this forum again... :smalltongue: So, what does my old ST think about what I've done? :smalltongue:

Kaun
2011-02-02, 03:51 AM
one of these days im actually going to have to sit down and read the eXaulted books

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-02, 04:10 AM
one of these days im actually going to have to sit down and read the eXaulted booksBwahaha. :smallamused: Anyway, seems Black Star's player's gonna make a few revisions to his character (see, it turns out he was wanting to build a crafter character, and after some rethinking, he feels Night Caste might've been a bad choice on his part).

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-13, 06:15 AM
Update update update! :smallbiggrin:

Update. :smallredface:

Okay, to start things off, Black Star's player decided to take a more sorcery-focused route. A much more sorcery-focused, Twilight-Caste route. And by that, I mean all the way up to Solar Circle Sorcery. :smalleek: How'd he get all the points for that, you ask? :smalltongue:

Well, it was just so tempting, when he was asking about how he could get the bonus points necessary, and, well...

Okay, so now there are three Known Anathema PCs. :smallbiggrin: His backstory, by the way? He was a mortal student of the Heptagram, and when he'd finally initiated into Terrestrial Circle Sorcery, he took his Second Breath, right then and there. :smalleek:

Good thing he got that fistful of Dodge Charms. :smallamused: Needless to say, he's now on the run, just like Wuk and Hammer. Well, at least now he's got some reason to be on the fringes of the Wyld, yes? :smallbiggrin: Now, his five-dot Enemy, that's another story...

Okay, with that out of the way, let's talk about our mysterious new player character! :smallbiggrin:

This Zenith Caste is on a quest to find his missing daughter, who ran away/was-plot-deviced-into-the-ether two years back. Said daughter has supposedly been spotted fairly-recently in the East, giving him reason to investigate in Amaranth. To get by, he often does a few odd jobs here and there as he investigates - sort of like a Compassion 1 Michael Weston with awakened Essence; however, as a Zenith, he is remarkably good at Survival - "Environmental effects? Mo' like, 'get the hell out of the way, Mother Nature, I wanna find my daughter!'" :smalltongue: Also a decent hand at Thrown, Dodge, and Resistance. :smallsmile:

Now, on to the session itself! :smalltongue:

When Last We Left Our Intrepid Heroes...
Well, the new manse is nice and all, but now that they've secured it, it should do well enough on its own. Since it's clearly not the cause of this Wyld-related trouble, the assembled Exalts decide to move on. As Wuk, Kurosen, Black Star, Hammer, and Midori-ne travel further into the slightly Wyld-tainted lands, they encounter a tree (big surprise there :smalltongue:), the branches of which have been carefully cultivated to form a massive spiral staircase... of course, PCs are far too impatient for that, so it's Cirrus Skiff to the rescue again! :smallamused:

They observe a bridge a few hundred feet up, with a knight-like figure seemingly-guarding the structure; he is dressed in what looks like heavy armor, if armor was made out of leaves. Each step he takes causes a crisp autumn leaf to fall where his foot touched, and the Exalts can see a pair of glowing yellow eyes through his arboreous helmet. This fellow reveals himself, however, to not be inherently-hostile; he is standing watch on the bridge because he seeks champions from the order-tainted lands to quest with him against a dangerous Unshaped that is moving uncomfortably-close to Creation. :smalleek: They will, naturally, be well-rewarded for their efforts. Of course, to prove that they're worthy champions, he asks that the first one who set foot on the bridge engage in combat with him... and that happens to be Mantis Blade. :smalleek:

They fight for a bit before the raksha judges him as worthy (and with him, the rest of the group), and guides them into the Wyld. :smalleek:

Deeper in, they encounter a copse in which the trees are slowly speaking to one another. Feeling out of place, Kurosen uses Chaos-Repelling Pattern to assert some of Creation around himself. The trees, incensed, scuttle out of the reach of his Charm and mutter angrily to themselves. Midori-ne, who happens to speak their language, finds this hilarious. :smalltongue: Anyway, from there, the raksha guides them into the Unshaped, where he makes a challenge to the sky itself.

To summarize a bit, the Unshaped puts them through tests somewhat-related to their Virtues; traveling through a reversed-gravity forest up (down? :smallconfused:) to the sky, resisting the urge to fool around with a tree that transmutes substances into gold, standing against an army of forest-creepers, and saving a man from dying of thirst. They do reasonably-well; though several members of the circle aren't exactly paragons of character, each is saved from failure by the other members of the circle. :smallsmile:

Their success over the Unshaped allows them to dictate their prize - they demand that it leave and never encroach on Creation again. With that accomplished, Ashirom Who Steps on Autumn Leaves (yeah, that's his name) grants them their rewards - Mantis Blade receives a pair of fey-crafted hookswords, Sun Wukong gets a pair of cesti of similar quality, and the rest of the group gets a massive quantity of silver. Oh, and Hammer makes a deal with Ashirom such that the raksha will craft a Ring Grace for him, but we're going to resolve that after I get some sleep and go over the rules for it again. :smalltongue:

Returning to the village, the PCs become exemplars of subtlety, passing out the silver and using the hearthstone from the manse to sing the plants back to life. Well, at least they did something nice. :smalltongue: The thaumaturge, curious but grateful, gets the story from the circle before passing some information along to them... namely, that members of the Wyld Hunt are close by (within a day's travel, see), searching for three Anathema that seem to have a bit of a reputation... :smalleek: The thaumaturge explains that while he's thankful for the assistance the circle has provided, he will not, cannot oppose the sworn brotherhood of Dragon-Blooded. After all, he must keep the best interests of the people in mind.

The circle decides to split up (always a good choice!); Wuk, Hammer, and Midori-ne will search the surrounding terrain, while the others will remain in the village... which is unfortunate - see, the Terrestrials are employing that lovely, lovely Survival Charm that causes all mundane tracking to fail against them, and it seems that the trio will be spending a minimum of about twelve hours searching. :smalleek: And that's also when the five Immaculates stroll into town. :eek: When the villagers are even slightly hesitant to provide information, the Water aspect kills one out-of-hand, and takes notice of the silver he drops... :smalleek:

Since Mantis and Kurosen don't feel like duking it out with a quintet of fanatic Immaculates, they hang back and don't made a scene while the Dragon-Blooded begin their search for the demonic Anathema. Black Star is resting at the inn when he hears a knock at his door, and a voice challenging him to come out. Black Star decides to go for the window, but the Immaculates were expecting that, and the ones that were waiting outside the inn blast him with elemental essence and the grappling rules. :eek:

Black Star eventually manages to escape the clinch, but then has to contend with a magical razored silver chain trying to decapitate him, a rain of fortyish arrows, and other things that make being an Exalt difficult. :smallamused: Luckily for him, he's just a little bit faster than they are, and since he's got Invulnerable Skin of Bronze up, he's doing pretty well against most of their ranged attacks. With this in mind, and knowing that there are at least three Anathema in the area, and seeing how Black Star's just gone iconic with his anima banner such that his light can be seen for miles, the Terrestrials decide to beat feet - head back to base, maybe get some reinforcements, et cetera.

Now, spotting this little incident, Wuk, Hammer, and Midori-ne make their way back. Noting the direction the Immaculates took to escape, they decide to finally employ some supernatural tracking... by waiting until nightfall and summoning up some demons to do it for them. :smallamused: That, and Hammer showing off how obviously-supernatural he is in his warform; he's certainly not doing it to catch the attention of player characters who've made no effort to join the group... obviously.

Now there's a good segue... see, while the circle's been doing its stuff, Guise and our new Zenith have been doing their stuff. Guise, for one, finally uncovers the name of the organization that brought about the death of his mentor; it's an order of assassins known as the Grass Spiders - centered in the East, they focus on killings that are unique and free from harming innocent bystanders. The Zenith, on the other hand, finds some more disturbing information. Namely, that his daughter was seen in the village about three weeks ago, traveling with a dark woman; the two stayed at the inn together, and the next morning, two villagers had been murdered. The daughter was recognizable by her heterochromic eyes that she'd had from birth, but there was also something else memorable about her - to wit, that she had a distinct black mark on her brow.

Oh, and she's running with a different name now, as well... they call her the Shoat of the Mire. :smallamused:

Our Zenith and Guise end up meeting each other; apparently, the Zenith has a mild resemblance to someone in Guise's past, which threw him off enough that he forgot to use a Stealth Charm to hide himself as he watches the Zenith from a rooftop. This leads to a one-sided conversation uttered in-between rooftop-jumping and spontaneous grappling, Guise only replying with eerie silence through it all, before finally kicking off some Athletics Charms and vaulting away. :smallconfused:

Some of the players still wanted to fight the Terrestrials, but at this point, it was about one-thirty, and we eventually discovered that because Stormwind Rider is slightly faster than Cirrus Skiff, and because the circle gave the Terrestrials a full day's head start by waiting to summon those demons, the Immaculates may well reach Gray Falls or some other Realm-controlled location that can provide reinforcements long before the circle ever sees them, pursuit would probably be an unwise tactic. With this in mind, we called it for the night. :smallsigh:

Burnheart
2011-02-13, 11:34 AM
Nice, did you have fun TheCountAlucard?

Teln
2011-02-13, 12:02 PM
The Zenith's daughter is now called the Shoat of the Mire? With a strange black mark on her head? Well, I fail to see how this could backfire horribly! :smalltongue:

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-13, 09:31 PM
Nice, did you have fun TheCountAlucard?Well, yeah, except for a few out-of-game issues. :smallfrown:
The Zenith's daughter is now called the Shoat of the Mire? With a strange black mark on her head? Well, I fail to see how this could backfire horribly!Hm? :smallconfused:Backfire horribly? :smallconfused: You mean for me, or for him?

Burnheart
2011-02-13, 09:45 PM
Ah, well i hope those out of game issues are gone next time you play, also is there a reason you Spoiler tag your VTM game updates and not these?

Kaun
2011-02-13, 10:57 PM
Ah, well i hope those out of game issues are gone next time you play, also is there a reason you Spoiler tag your VTM game updates and not these?

Im going to take a stab in the dark and say because he is the ST in this game and a player in the VtM game?!?

Burnheart
2011-02-13, 11:53 PM
Im going to take a stab in the dark and say because he is the ST in this game and a player in the VtM game?!?

I thought that but i don't see a reason to do that, so i asked.

DragonSinged
2011-02-14, 02:42 AM
Is it bad that I was kind of rooting for the Immaculates to win vs. Black Star? I'm not the only one, right? :smallwink:

Xefas
2011-02-14, 02:54 AM
he is remarkably good at Survival - "Environmental effects? Mo' like, 'get the hell out of the way, Mother Nature, I wanna find my daughter!'"

Does he kick Mother Nature in the face with his energy legs? ...Should that be a Survival charm?

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-14, 02:59 AM
Ah, well i hope those out of game issues are gone next time you play, also is there a reason you Spoiler tag your VTM game updates and not these?I spoiler the VtM stuff because otherwise, the pages would be about three miles long. [/exaggeration]

Okay, a little more realistically, my spoilering all of the posts in the VtM game was there in case others who'd played the game felt like providing their own input, that way they could read through the thread without necessarily having to read through my long posts about session details they already know about. :smallsmile: If only they'd take advantage of that and start posting... :smallannoyed:
Is it bad that I was kind of rooting for the Immaculates to win vs. Black Star?Not at all! :smalltongue:

I'm not the only one, right?Well, I for one would've much preferred that the Immaculates had killed Wuk or Hammer. :smalltongue:

DragonSinged
2011-02-14, 03:40 AM
Well, I for one would've much preferred that the Immaculates had killed Wuk or Hammer. :smalltongue:

Oh, it's nothing against Black Star specifically, I guess I was just hoping that five Immaculates might be able to take out one Solar, after having caught him all alone and somewhat by surprise, on their terms and all.

Ah well...

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-14, 08:19 AM
Oh, it's nothing against Black Star specifically, I guess I was just hoping that five Immaculates might be able to take out one Solar, after having caught him all alone and somewhat by surprise, on their terms and all.Well, he had the "Invulnerable Skin of Bronze" spell up, and was wearing heavy armor. Yes, in the middle of the night - he had been told the Wyld Hunt was in the vicinity. It's not exactly like the Immaculates lost, though - simply put, after five rounds of plinking away at this guy for minimum damage, they decided that they'd rather not risk the possibility of having to fight two more Anathema when the first one went iconic.

Cashius
2011-02-23, 04:12 PM
Well, he had the "Invulnerable Skin of Bronze" spell up, and was wearing heavy armor. Yes, in the middle of the night - he had been told the Wyld Hunt was in the vicinity. It's not exactly like the Immaculates lost, though - simply put, after five rounds of plinking away at this guy for minimum damage, they decided that they'd rather not risk the possibility of having to fight two more Anathema when the first one went iconic.

Good decision to beat feet after he went iconic, solars usually travel in packs(not like he is hard to miss by the others at that point).

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-23, 07:53 PM
Good decision to beat feet after he went iconic, solars usually travel in packs(not like he is hard to miss by the others at that point).It's not a matter of guessing that others might be there; they knew that there were two more Anathema in the area. :smalltongue:

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-27, 09:23 AM
Exalted Adventures!!! :smalltongue:

Third Session

Game started with the circle doing normal things for themselves: Wuk and Hammer chowing down on basketball-sized pears, Midori-ne hunting for food, Mantis Blade practicing his martial arts stuff, and Black Star and Kurosen summoning some more demons. Suddenly this is interrupted when the manse's walls take an ashy gray tint, and the plants begin sprouting razored vines of soulsteel. Suddenly the whole thing begins crumbling, and the circle decides to beat feet... except for Kurosen, who stays behind to attempt to finish the summoning, only to be buried alive under tons of ash. :smalleek:

As for the others, they dramatically escape from it in a manner befitting an action movie, only to look up and see the full moon blotted out by a dark, leonine figure that towers over them, black spines bristling from her hide. She attacks Hammer, landing a surprisingly-vicious blow on him. Mantis leaps to attack her, only to be slain by a counterattack from the spikes that cover her black hide. Hammer tries to blast her with his heavy Essence cannons, but she snuffs out the energy blasts with her hissing snake fingers, after which she grapples him and brings him up to the level of her eyes and whispers, "My secrets are my own," before crushing him to death...

...at which point he wakes up, his anima flaring brightly. :smallsigh:

Now, before anyone jumps down my throat about it, I made sure to clue the others in on this beforehand, so their characters could react appropriately and not break the suspension of disbelief. All that carried over from the dream to real life was the motes he'd spent.

He gives only the briefest explanation to his companions about the dream. Feeling a bout of paranoia, he goes out to see if there's anything nearby. He finds a clearing, sits down, and takes a meditative pose. He hears a song, carried on the wind from the southeast, sung in Forestongue, a sad-sounding song that seems to supernaturally-compel him to listen to it. He shakes it off, and runs to Wuk to persuade him to follow with Hammer to its source. However, when they step outside again, there is no music to be heard. Hammer nonetheless takes a rough stab at where the sound had come from, and following the frosty trail, finds a small glade, bereft of life and utterly iced-over. Hammer's guess? It's got the trappings of a shadowland... Wuk gravely agrees, and the two fly back to the manse. On the way, Wuk asks, "What's a shadowland?" :smalltongue:

At the same time, Midori-ne has actually just finished with a secret trip to the Wyld to speak with some associates in the Wardens of Gaia, who were intrigued at the discovery of a full (albeit not perfect) circle of Solars in the far East. They asked her to keep an eye on them, though if she can manage to turn Risen Leaves to a more "Wardens-friendly" culture, they would be all too happy to accept her into their ranks.

Meanwhile, Kurosen steps outside to wait for his companions, when he discovers that there's a ten-year-old girl sitting by the entrance, at the top of the hundreds-of-feet-high manse, and asks him if he's seen "the lizardman." She then proceeds to describe him, and Kurosen honestly admits that he'd just left. His subtle attempts to get the girl's name go ignored as she then slides down the manse and springs off into the darkness.

When Hammer and Wuk return, Hammer is rather disturbed at both the prospect of someone waiting for him, and also at the "genius" Twilight not seeming to find anything malevolent about it. Paranoid much? :smallconfused: After all, it's just a little girl... :smallamused:

After that, they get the respective ideas in their heads:
1) Kurosen should Wyld-shape the area around the manse, so that they won't have to worry about it being tainted by the chaos or anything...
2) Wuk and Hammer will build a still, because they're jonesing for what they hope will be awesome cider. :smallamused: Unfortunately, Wuk double-botches his roll, so I determined that the first batch would be poisonous. :smalleek:
3) Kurosen and Black Star are going to summon a couple more demons.

Well, when Wuk starts taking an inordinate amount of damage from the "cider" (Hammer's immune by dint of a hearthstone of his), Hammer proceeds to get even more paranoid, and they end up having a heated discussion with Kurosen and Black Star; when Black Star finds out that Wuk's been poisoned, he has his stomach-bottle-bug (the demon he'd summoned) try and scurry into Wuk to heal him. This... doesn't turn out so well. Wuk's not too knowledgable on demons, and when what is essentially a facehugger jumps from Black Star and tries to burrow into him, he freaks out and attempts to annihilate it. Luckily, Black Star recalls it before anyone dies, and then thinks to explain the poison-healy-demon to Wuk. :smallamused:

Also, a snowstorm happened outside. It's only 3 inches so far, but the PCs decide that it's probably a good time to abandon the manse (for now), seeing how being snowed in would probably make a Wyld Hunt's attempt on their lives more likely to succeed. They trek back to Risen Leaves, and hitch a ride with Mantis Blade's Guild caravan back to Nexus. Out-of-character, we estimated that the trip would take six-point-four months; of course, other stuff is going to happen before that's all over, so we can't exactly justify any montages. :smallamused: On the other hand, Mantis sent word ahead to Nexus to have his mentor meet him there; he clearly needs to learn a little more.

And that's about where we called it; yes, it was a shortish session ("Gods above and below, we finished before midnight!" :smalltongue:), but it served its purposes well enough. :smallbiggrin:

SurlySeraph
2011-02-27, 12:15 PM
I presume the lion-porcupine Lunar has that fighting-in-dreams Hearthstone Lilith has?
Yay for general plot development.
Hm, they're between Halta and Mt. Metagalapa heading Nexus-ward, right? If I'm reading the map (http://hd42.de/images/exalted/Creation_Map_v7.1a.jpg) right, there seem to be a lot of national borders, a Yu-Shan Gateway, and a Raksha Court in their way. Lots of potential plot there, even before taking Lunar stalkers, demon-related mishaps, and perfectly normal 10-year-old girls into account.

Teln
2011-02-27, 12:19 PM
You have to feel sorry for the sesseljae (the facehugger-bottle-bugs) sometimes. Poor things get into all sorts of trouble, just by trying to help.

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-27, 12:45 PM
I presume the lion-porcupine Lunar has that fighting-in-dreams Hearthstone Lilith has?Lilith has a fighting-in-dreams hearthstone? Wow, that makes what I did potentially a lot more sensible - wanna go ahead and let me know where it's in?
Hm, they're between Halta and Mt. Metagalapa heading Nexus-ward, right?Yeppers. :smalltongue:
If I'm reading the map right, there seem to be a lot of national borders, a Yu-Shan Gateway, and a Raksha Court in their way.Yes. Yes, there are. :smalltongue:
Lots of potential plot there, even before taking Lunar stalkers, demon-related mishaps, and perfectly normal 10-year-old girls into account.I certainly noticed. :smallamused:
You have to feel sorry for the sesseljae (the facehugger-bottle-bugs) sometimes. Poor things get into all sorts of trouble, just by trying to help.That they do. :smallbiggrin:

Ganurath
2011-02-27, 02:26 PM
I presume the lion-porcupine Lunar has that fighting-in-dreams Hearthstone Lilith has?Huh? I thought all the Deathlords are former Solars.

SurlySeraph
2011-02-27, 04:30 PM
@^: "Full moon blotted out by a dark, leonine figure that towers over them, black spines bristling from her hide" screams Lunar to me.
Unless you mean Lilith; Lilith is Desus's long-suffering Lunar Mate, who has been wandering around hyperpowerful and slightly crazy since the Usurpation.


Lilith has a fighting-in-dreams hearthstone? Wow, that makes what I did potentially a lot more sensible - wanna go ahead and let me know where it's in?

I don't remember the name; it's mentioned in her writeup in Dreams of the First Age.

Ganurath
2011-02-27, 04:40 PM
Granted, but last I checked the Dowager had the monopoly on "hissing snake fingers" and little girl Abyssals.

Edit: It's the Midnight War Crystal.

Tavar
2011-02-27, 04:41 PM
Unless you mean Lilith; Lilith is Desus's long-suffering Lunar Mate, who has been wandering around hyperpowerful and slightly crazy since the Usurpation.
Also noteworthy is the fact that spending over a millennium in the Wyld might have improved her sanity.


I don't remember the name; it's mentioned in her writeup in Dreams of the First Age.

Midnight War Crystal, apparently.

Burnheart
2011-02-28, 02:19 PM
A question TheCountAlucard since your V:TM game seams to have died, is this still going to be every other weekend or will you be moving up to every weekend?

Indon
2011-02-28, 02:25 PM
Huh? I thought all the Deathlords are former Solars.

All canon Deathlords are, but the possibility of a former Lunar becoming a Deathlord is made explicit in the Abyssals book, and not all of the Deathlords are statted out to allow for stuff like that.

TheCountAlucard
2011-02-28, 02:34 PM
A question TheCountAlucard since your V:TM game seams to have died, is this still going to be every other weekend or will you be moving up to every weekend?It's still going to be every other weekend. :smallsmile:

TheCountAlucard
2011-03-26, 07:28 PM
...

:smallsigh:

So, between double shifts of our old Exalted game, and spring break, it seems doubtful that we'll have a session this week. :smallfrown:

tonberrian
2011-03-26, 08:39 PM
tonberrian and pony are sad for murder count. :smallfrown:

TheCountAlucard
2011-03-27, 02:18 AM
tonberrian and pony are sad for murder count.Disregard that, we had some fun. :smallsmile:

Players showed up late; at around nine, we had four players. That's right, four. :smalltongue:

On the Road Again...

The PCs, travelling with the Guild wagon, traveled south, until they saw a massive, floating mountain in the distance. Midori-ne spotted hawk-riding humans in the distance, and decided she wanted to steal the form of one of the hawks. While the party travels, she flies up atop the mountain and stalks one of the hawks, before catching it and eating its heart, earning its shape.

Continuing south, the Guild advises the group to travel around Gray Falls, though the Guild intends to pass through it normally. Donning their Cirrus Skiffs, our intrepid circle flies around the city, and then awaits the arrival of the Guild wagons.

Unfortunately, when the Guild returns, they arrive with some bad news: the Wyld Hunt intends to continue their campaign against the Anathema menace, even enlisting mortal members of the militia to assist them. There's also some whispers of necromancy having been used. They continue travelling until twilight, as the players crack a few jokes or comment about how strange everything's going.

I stay silent until everyone likewise falls silent, and then...

Crack... crack... crack-crack...

The ground beneath them suddenly bursts forth with skeletal hands, grasping at them and anchoring them to the ground. And then the Wyld Hunt appears, calling them out. "Cease your dark ways, and face the might of the Wyld Hunt!"

Wuk, Midori-ne, Mantis Blade, and Kurosen battle with the Terrestrials for some time, before realizing that at the beginning, there were five Terrestrials, but now there are four... and that's when storms of arrows rained down on them from all directions. They manage to take down the Earth and Wood aspects, but the Fire and Air successfully flee... and as for Water, where'd he go...? :smallconfused:

And the wagon, for that matter... and the group of Guild merchants... and those skeletal hands... and Hammer and Black Star... :smalleek:

What will become of our intrepid heroes?

Find out next time! :eek:

EDIT: Highlights of the fight included Wuk getting the breath knocked out of him (literally), Mantis Blade bursting into flames, Kurosen killing the Wood Aspect with his scythe, Midori-ne incapacitated by the hail of arrows, Wuk riding Mantis Blade's attack into the Earth Aspect Terrestrial, Kurosen physically guarding Midori-ne to protect her unconcious body from further incoming attacks, and the boob-cloud. No, that last one's not getting explained, folks. :smalltongue:

Burnheart
2011-03-27, 06:06 PM
No, that last one's not getting explained, folks. :smalltongue:

Tease:smallbiggrin: Please try not to go 4 weeks without playing a session next time, ok?:smallwink:

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-09, 11:27 PM
So, the session starts with me catching Black Star up with the session he missed; he had to deal with the "Water Aspect," who mysteriously disappeared a few seconds into the fight... and then Black Star forgot the guy was ever there. :smallamused: The Air Aspect runs into him long enough to deliver another attack that blasts his breath out, knocking him unconcious... but his demonic protectors keep him safe. :smalltongue:

He awakens, and quickly deduces that he's in the Underworld. Unfortunately, not being an Underworld expert, he's only got a decent idea of how to get back: cross into a shadowland during the day, and then exit. :smallamused:

He's not too sure on where to find a shadowland, though, and finds a city on a river of blood. Traveling openly with demons catches the attention of the ghostly denizens, and soon he's asked who exactly he is, and who he works for. He's not too knowledgeable on the whole "Deathlord" thing, so he misses the context of the question, and starts asking about where to find the nearest shadowland. The ghost, for reasons I might explain later, believes he's trying to get in contact with the Dowager, and tells him about a shadowland called the Mound of Forsaken Seeds. :smalleek:

In the meantime, the other members of the circle are seeking a healer for Midori-ne. They meet a strange figure who seems to know that they are Solars; he claims that they are being watched by the heavens themselves, and that the forces of destiny are divided - some want to help, but others want to hinder or even kill this intrepid band. He suggests that they will be outside the sight of these enemies if they go to rescue their missing friends.

Following that, he administers a healing unguent to Midori-ne (secretly Celestial Wine), and leaves. :smallamused: The group goes to the Immaculate Temple in Gray Falls to ask for advice. :smallamused: The confused monk informs them of the (relatively) nearby shadowland called the Frozen Forest, though he warns them that if their "friends" are in the Underworld, it may be too late to save them... :smalleek:

At this point, we had a bit of a break, while some of us went to grab some eats, a potential new addition to the group discussed making a character, and Black Star's player got to meet those artifact creation rules from Oadenol's Codex. :smalltongue:

All right, continuing on... anyway, the group decides to go into the Frozen Forest, and emerge into the Underworld, where they find the same city Black Star had gotten his (mistaken) information, and learn his intended destination. They're also warned that the Mound is haunted by a powerful ghost with "Champions as powerful as yourself." They go and search for Black Star, and luckily find him before he gets to the Mound of Forsaken Seeds. :smallamused: However, upon their return to the Frozen Forest, they discover that their way back to Creation is missing; specifically, said shadowland seems to be locked in place, leading them only back into the Underworld.

With this discovery, they decide they have no option but to travel to the Mound. :smalleek:

Looks like the next session will be interesting. :smallamused:

Burnheart
2011-04-10, 11:07 AM
he administers a healing unguent to Midori-ne (secretly Celestial Wine)

Why is it secretly Celestial Wine? and for that matter who/what are Deathlords?
I know nothing about Exalted so i need some help understanding :smallsmile:

Ganurath
2011-04-10, 11:43 AM
Why is it secretly Celestial Wine? and for that matter who/what are Deathlords?
I know nothing about Exalted so i need some help understanding :smallsmile:Celestial Wine is exactly what it sounds like: An alcoholic beverage exclusive to the setting's heaven. Emphasis exclusive. Yu-Shan (setting's heaven) has a nightmarish bureaucracy, and smuggling the exclusive stuff is cause for all sorts of trouble. As for the Deathlords, they're the ghosts of dead kings that swore their loyalty to the ghosts of fallen elder gods in exchange for retaining (and expanding upon) the supernatural abilities they wielded in life. They are currently pursuing the destruction of all Creation, and the Dowager is a particularly nasty Deathlord due to having taken out 90% of its population with the Great Contagion at one point, and her constant experimentation with the Void that the Deathlords and their Neverborn (those ghosts of elder gods) masters means she has some very unique options for hurting people beyond making them fight a little girl with undeath-themed superpowers.

Sanguine
2011-04-10, 11:51 AM
Celestial Wine is exactly what it sounds like: An alcoholic beverage exclusive to the setting's heaven. Emphasis exclusive. Yu-Shan (setting's heaven) has a nightmarish bureaucracy, and smuggling the exclusive stuff is cause for all sorts of trouble. As for the Deathlords, they're the ghosts of dead kings that swore their loyalty to the ghosts of fallen elder gods in exchange for retaining (and expanding upon) the supernatural abilities they wielded in life. They are currently pursuing the destruction of all Creation, and the Dowager is a particularly nasty Deathlord due to having taken out 90% of its population with the Great Contagion at one point, and her constant experimentation with the Void that the Deathlords and their Neverborn (those ghosts of elder gods) masters means she has some very unique options for hurting people beyond making them fight a little girl with undeath-themed superpowers.

Must resist urge to correct facts in a way that will only confuse the issue.

Burnheart
2011-04-10, 11:52 AM
Crap now i want to try Exalted even more and i have no money to buy the books with :smallfurious:
edit: Sanguine feel free to correct things i don't mind :smallbiggrin:

Sanguine
2011-04-10, 12:17 PM
Crap now i want to try Exalted even more and i have no money to buy the books with :smallfurious:
edit: Sanguine feel free to correct things i don't mind :smallbiggrin:

Okay well the Neverborn aren't Gods and never were. Gods are a completely different animal(not really animals, well some of them are, kinda) and were in fact created by the Neverborn in life in conjunction with their kin that are still alive for whatever reason.

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-10, 01:42 PM
To put it more simply, it's kind of like Greek mythology.

So, we had the titanic Primordials, who created the world, and from them sprang the gods. Then the gods rebelled and took their place. Except in the Exalted setting, the Primordials had created the gods, not birthed them, and had laid a geas on them at the point of their creation, which is why the gods in turn had to empower humanity vis-a-vis Exaltation to fight the Primordials.

And those dead Primordials are now ghosts. Ain't that pleasant, now? :smallamused: Trapped in tombs of their own bodies, they desperately seek Oblivion, and think that killing Creation will help them to end their own torment. Hence why they empowered the Deathlords and such. :smalltongue:

Sanguine
2011-04-10, 01:48 PM
To put it more simply, it's kind of like Greek mythology.

So, we had the titanic Primordials, who created the world, and from them sprang the gods. Then the gods rebelled and took their place. Except in the Exalted setting, the Primordials had created the gods, not birthed them, and had laid a geas on them at the point of their creation, which is why the gods in turn had to empower humanity vis-a-vis Exaltation to fight the Primordials.

And those dead Primordials are now ghosts. Ain't that pleasant, now? :smallamused: Trapped in tombs of their own bodies, they desperately seek Oblivion, and think that killing Creation will help them to end their own torment. Hence why they empowered the Deathlords and such. :smalltongue:

Except in Greek Mythology the Titans didn't create the world.

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-10, 02:00 PM
Except in Greek Mythology the Titans didn't create the world.Blaargh, yeah, my mistake. :smallredface:

Anyway, with that out of the way... looks like next session's going to prove interesting... I just hope Hammer's player will deign us with his presence, for a change. :annoyed:

Burnheart
2011-04-10, 02:04 PM
Not everyones been showing up? I can't understand why, this sounds like a blast:smallbiggrin:

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-16, 01:47 AM
Not everyones been showing up? I can't understand why, this sounds like a blastIf only I knew; most irritating is that both times I didn't get informed he wouldn't be able to show up until the session had already started. :smallannoyed: If I can't run a makeup session for him before next game, I'm gonna just boot his character.

Burnheart
2011-04-16, 10:09 AM
If only I knew; most irritating is that both times I didn't get informed he wouldn't be able to show up until the session had already started. :smallannoyed: If I can't run a makeup session for him before next game, I'm gonna just boot his character.

He couldn't tell you he wasn't going to be there before you started, or he didn't think to let you know?

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-23, 07:41 PM
He couldn't tell you he wasn't going to be there before you started, or he didn't think to let you know?If I knew...

Anyway, tonight's session, the thrilling something-or-other as the PCs attempt to escape the Underworld through the very clutches of a Deathlord! :smallcool:

Assuming I don't spontaneously detonate on my way over to the game or something... :smalltongue:

And yeah, gonna have to drop Hammer's player. He wanted to go through a makeup session, but he was sick on the one chance we were both free to play, and is apparently going to a concert this weekend.

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-24, 03:00 AM
Evening, Noss Fens. Trapped in the Underworld, our intrepid circle of Exalts must traverse to the Mound of Forsaken Seeds, located in a massive, festering swamp. Everything is dead, but moves in a twisted mockery of life only seen in this cruel place. To avoid the local "wildlife," the group maintains their Cirrus Skiffs, flying just a few feet off the ground at only a slightly faster pace than had they gone on foot. The sky above suddenly darkens as a geyser of dark blood erupts in the distance, but instead of falling back to the ground, the thick spray of Essence-charged vitae coalesces into an ominous cloud...

Soon it begins to rain blood, driving the zombified animals to even more horrifying levels as they literally begin to cannibalize one another, the group collectively gritting its teeth and pressing on.

Finally we arrive at the Mound of Forsaken Seeds, a hill that rises above the moss-covered trees. The top seems to contain some sort of foreign architecture, the likes of which even our seasoned Twilights are unfamiliar with. A feeling of supernatural terror washes over the entire group, but they realize that they must seek shelter from the rain of blood until dawn, so that they can emerge into Creation. Midori-ne hits her Limit Break from resisting the fear (though she goes for partial control option), so she sulks by herself for a bit until the end of the scene.

It's only after they've bedded down (leaving their demons to guard them) that they begin to hear the gentle tune of a music box, a lullaby that sounds only just subtly wrong, wafting up from deeper within. They remain on their guard until the music stops, and then go back to bed. Shortly after, the demons awaken them, alerting the Exalts that something is approaching from deeper inside... and what is it that they see?

Children. Perhaps ten years old or so, just a group of pathetic ragamuffins illuminated by a soulsteel lamp one carries. The only language any of them have in common with the group is Forestongue, spoken by Wuk, Mantis Blade, and Midori-ne.

They ask each other what they're doing, and learn that a dark figure they call their "Mother" is keeping the children here. Their real parents, it seems, were brutally executed and forged into soulsteel by "Mother," and she intends to keep them imprisoned within the Mound. Wuk, of course, is angered by this atrocity, and wants to help the children out. Ultimately, the group decides that they'll do their best to help, even though "Mother" is very powerful, and will hunt the children down to the end of the world should they escape. The children slip back off down the tunnels (it is past their bedtime), with the instruction that all of them return at dawn.

It's another hour or two of listening to the horrid sounds outside when Midori-ne observes something coming up from the tunnel. She feels this sort of supernatural bond resonating with her tattoos, and as she notices this presence, she becomes aware of a small quicksilver cephalopod moving in her direction. After poking it with a stick, she ascertains that it is in fact, an artifact (of the variety typically made by Lunars), and decides to attune herself to it. The little squid latches onto her arm, and proves capable of serving as armor, shield, and weapon all-in-one. Very nice.

Well, nothing of note happens until morning, at which point the children return. All 250 of them, each carrying the various soulsteel items that their parents had been forged into. :smalleek: A tad more than the circle was expecting, to say the least. They decide the best measure is to just march the kiddies out, interposing themselves and their summoned demons between the kids and any zombies that dare to get too close.

That's when one of the kids dies. :smalleek: Killed instantly by a surprise attack from the distance. Pebbles flung from beyond the reaches of their vision pelt the group, striking at them like knives. Wuk leaps forward and makes himself a target, as well as beginning his powerup sequence, while Mantis Blade guards, and Black Star begins casting Technique Mirror, a very potent spell that sends attacks back at the sorcerer's opponent. Midori-ne, Kurosen, and Mantis Blade then wade into the horrifying patchwork zombies, eliminating over forty of them altogether, despite even more rocks pelting them.

After a number of unexpected attacks, their assailant makes herself visible, revealing herself to be a ten-year-old girl with a sling. 450 yards away from them, mind you. In the dark, in a swamp. A storm of black razor-bladed wheels form at the edges of her anima, and her sling begins catching them and hurling them at the party, even as Wuk conjures his Cirrus Skiff (which Mantis Blade, Kurosen, and Black Star hop onto) to close the distance.

Midori-ne is a little... conflicted, on the other hand; at the sight of this death-tainted little girl, Midori-ne finds herself forming an instant emotional bond to her, only to see the rest of the group just as quickly kill her off. When the rest of the group decides to zip back over to the children on a new Cirrus Skiff (after looting the body, of course), she stays behind and buries her.

Unfortunately, as the group returns, Black Star and Kurosen arrive just in time to see their demons gone, and a tall woman with ram's horns and snakes for fingers teleporting away with the children... and they decide to simply explain to Wuk and Mantis Blade that the kids "disappeared."

Following that, they finish off the remaining zombies and trek out into Bordermarches, but at least they're in Creation. Kurosen shapes up some wagons, horses, and a few mortal followers so they can take on the appearance of a caravan again, and the group resumes its travels to Nexus, unaware of what they inadverdently carry with them... :smallamused:

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-24, 03:31 AM
Evening, Noss Fens. Trapped in the Underworld, our intrepid circle of Exalts must traverse to the Mound of Forsaken Seeds, located in a massive, festering swamp. Everything is dead, but moves in a twisted mockery of life only seen in this cruel place. To avoid the local "wildlife," the group maintains their Cirrus Skiffs, flying just a few feet off the ground at only a slightly faster pace than had they gone on foot. The sky above suddenly darkens as a geyser of dark blood erupts in the distance, but instead of falling back to the ground, the thick spray of Essence-charged vitae coalesces into an ominous cloud...

Soon it begins to rain blood, driving the zombified animals to even more horrifying levels as they literally begin to cannibalize one another, the group collectively gritting its teeth and pressing on.

Finally we arrive at the Mound of Forsaken Seeds, a hill that rises above the moss-covered trees. The top seems to contain some sort of foreign architecture, the likes of which even our seasoned Twilights are unfamiliar with. A feeling of supernatural terror washes over the entire group, but they realize that they must seek shelter from the rain of blood until dawn, so that they can emerge into Creation. Midori-ne hits her Limit Break from resisting the fear (though she goes for partial control option), so she sulks by herself for a bit until the end of the scene.

It's only after they've bedded down (leaving their demons to guard them) that they begin to hear the gentle tune of a music box, a lullaby that sounds only just subtly wrong, wafting up from deeper within. They remain on their guard until the music stops, and then go back to bed. Shortly after, the demons awaken them, alerting the Exalts that something is approaching from deeper inside... and what is it that they see?

Children. Perhaps ten years old or so, just a group of pathetic ragamuffins illuminated by a soulsteel lamp one carries. The only language any of them have in common with the group is Forestongue, spoken by Wuk, Mantis Blade, and Midori-ne.

They ask each other what they're doing, and learn that a dark figure they call their "Mother" is keeping the children here. Their real parents, it seems, were brutally executed and forged into soulsteel by "Mother," and she intends to keep them imprisoned within the Mound. Wuk, of course, is angered by this atrocity, and wants to help the children out. Ultimately, the group decides that they'll do their best to help, even though "Mother" is very powerful, and will hunt the children down to the end of the world should they escape. The children slip back off down the tunnels (it is past their bedtime), with the instruction that all of them return at dawn.

It's another hour or two of listening to the horrid sounds outside when Midori-ne observes something coming up from the tunnel. She feels this sort of supernatural bond resonating with her tattoos, and as she notices this presence, she becomes aware of a small quicksilver cephalopod moving in her direction. After poking it with a stick, she ascertains that it is in fact, an artifact (of the variety typically made by Lunars), and decides to attune herself to it. The little squid latches onto her arm, and proves capable of serving as armor, shield, and weapon all-in-one. Very nice.

Well, nothing of note happens until morning, at which point the children return. All 250 of them, each carrying the various soulsteel items that their parents had been forged into. :smalleek: A tad more than the circle was expecting, to say the least. They decide the best measure is to just march the kiddies out, interposing themselves and their summoned demons between the kids and any zombies that dare to get too close.

That's when one of the kids dies. :smalleek: Killed instantly by a surprise attack from the distance. Pebbles flung from beyond the reaches of their vision pelt the group, striking at them like knives. Wuk leaps forward and makes himself a target, as well as beginning his powerup sequence, while Mantis Blade guards, and Black Star begins casting Technique Mirror, a very potent spell that sends attacks back at the sorcerer's opponent. Midori-ne, Kurosen, and Mantis Blade then wade into the horrifying patchwork zombies, eliminating over forty of them altogether, despite even more rocks pelting them.

After a number of unexpected attacks, their assailant makes herself visible, revealing herself to be a ten-year-old girl with a sling. 450 yards away from them, mind you. In the dark, in a swamp. A storm of black razor-bladed wheels form at the edges of her anima, and her sling begins catching them and hurling them at the party, even as Wuk conjures his Cirrus Skiff (which Mantis Blade, Kurosen, and Black Star hop onto) to close the distance.

Midori-ne is a little... conflicted, on the other hand; at the sight of this death-tainted little girl, Midori-ne finds herself forming an instant emotional bond to her, only to see the rest of the group just as quickly kill her off. When the rest of the group decides to zip back over to the children on a new Cirrus Skiff (after looting the body, of course), she stays behind and buries her.

Unfortunately, as the group returns, Black Star and Kurosen arrive just in time to see their demons gone, and a tall woman with ram's horns and snakes for fingers teleporting away with the children... and they decide to simply explain to Wuk and Mantis Blade that the kids "disappeared."

Following that, they finish off the remaining zombies and trek back into Creation, unaware of what they inadverdently carry with them... :smallamused:

Burnheart
2011-04-24, 09:33 AM
unaware of what they inadverdently carry with them... :smallamused:

They're not going to like it when they find out what this is, are they Count:smallamused:

SurlySeraph
2011-04-24, 09:45 AM
Now that's the Noss Fens done right.

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-24, 11:57 AM
They're not going to like it when they find out what this is, are they CountThey may very well not. :smallamused:

Da Big SekritThe moonsilver squid thingy? It is indeed a potent artifact, but was supposed to be bait for Hammer, covered with a horrifyingly-potent contact poison brewed by the Dowager especially for him. Midori-ne, however, is fully immune to poisons and diseases for a year and a day, thanks to the celestial wine, so she has no clue that her spiffy bracer carries instant death on it.

Now that's the Noss Fens done right.Thanks! That means a lot to me. :smallsmile:

Sanguine
2011-04-24, 12:10 PM
Now I forget whose daughter was the Deathknight?

Edit: Also I agree you handled the Noss Fens very well.

Burnheart
2011-04-24, 12:11 PM
So what happens if the effect of the Wine runs out when she still has it?

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-24, 12:24 PM
Now I forget whose daughter was the Deathknight?The Zenith guy whose name I forget. :smallamused: Unfortunately, said player dropped, or the session would've been a lot more interesting...


So what happens if the effect of the Wine runs out when she still has it?Chances are that the poison will have worn off by then.

Burnheart
2011-04-24, 05:59 PM
Chances are that the poison will have worn off by then.

Don't you decide chance in this Count? So it would be up to you, assuming they get that far so are you evil/mean/DMish enough to say it does?

Beowulf DW
2011-04-24, 11:50 PM
This sounds so awesome!:smallbiggrin:

I've got to get in on a game of Exalted someday. I don't have any of the books, but I've read quite a bit online. I've actually come up with a tentative backstory for an equally tentative Terrestrial character. I'd love to have a chance to try it out.

TheCountAlucard
2011-04-24, 11:54 PM
So it would be up to you, assuming they get that far so are you evil/mean/DMish enough to say it does?Yeah, but I wanna see just how she decides to use it. :smallamused: I imagine if she mostly just leaves it lying in a box somewhere, the poison probably won't wear off just yet, but if she wears it as armor, uses it to catch fish, and so on and so forth, then I imagine the poison would subside much more quickly. :smalltongue:

Tavar
2011-04-25, 12:44 AM
Or perhaps if she cleans it up and stuff. I mean, she doesn't even know where that thing has been!

Burnheart
2011-05-09, 04:32 PM
Did you guys not get to play this weekend?

TheCountAlucard
2011-05-10, 06:53 AM
Only two players showed up, and besides that, we weren't going to handle any in-character stuff; for one thing, Mantis Blade's player wasn't available, and won't be for a while yet (it's not like with Hammer's player, where since his character is absent, his presence isn't yet necessary), and secondly, I'm putting the game on hold for a bit, to make room for two games. Wednesdays, we'll be playing Shadowrun, and on some of our Saturdays, we'll be playing...

...an Infernals game. :smallamused:

EDIT: Will provide even more dun-dun-DUN!!!-worthy exposition, perhaps, after I've recovered from this insanely-long D&D session. :smalltongue:

Burnheart
2011-05-10, 07:09 AM
EDIT: Will provide even more dun-dun-DUN!!!-worthy exposition, perhaps, after I've recovered from this insanely-long D&D session. :smalltongue:

What makes it an insanely-long D&D session?

TheCountAlucard
2011-05-10, 07:49 AM
What makes it an insanely-long D&D session?The fact that I was there for more than twelve hours. :smallsigh:

Burnheart
2011-05-10, 08:35 AM
The fact that I was there for more than twelve hours. :smallsigh:

Twelve hours :smalleek: You're either really lucky if it was a good session or really unlucky if it was a bad or average session. Just who plays 12 hour sessions of D&D anyway :smallconfused:

Psyborg
2011-05-10, 08:48 AM
...an Infernals game. :smallamused:
WHAT.

EDIT: Will provide even more dun-dun-DUN!!!-worthy exposition, perhaps...
YES. SO MUCH YES. Please?

TheCountAlucard
2011-05-10, 04:22 PM
Twelve hoursMind you, about 2-4 hours of it was us joking around and making our characters.


You're either really lucky if it was a good session or really unlucky if it was a bad or average session.It was pretty fun. :smallsmile:


Just who plays 12 hour sessions of D&D anywayPeople who don't have to worry about work or class in the morning. :smalltongue:


WHAT.Eh, I've kinda wanted to run a Green Sun Princes game for a while now. Since this game is on its way out, I decided to posit the idea to the other players, and I got quite a lot of "Sounds awesome!"

So, yeah, running Infernals. :smallcool:


YES. SO MUCH YES. Please?Okay, fine. :smalltongue:

On that note, since it really could go either way on this, would you guys prefer if I started a fresh new thread for the Infernals game, or kept posting details on this one, for your convenience?

Burnheart
2011-05-10, 04:30 PM
Hmm its a different game so maybe another thread would be best, so this game is coming to an end is it?

TheCountAlucard
2011-05-10, 04:47 PM
Hmm its a different game so maybe another thread would be best, so this game is coming to an end is it?Well, at least for now; if I do start it up again, it's going to probably be sometime in the fall, if not later - all depending on how the Infernal game goes. :smalltongue:

Burnheart
2011-05-10, 07:03 PM
Then it definitly sounds like you should make a new thread for the Infernals game, which i look forward to reading TheCountAlucard :smallbiggrin:

Slade
2011-05-12, 06:39 AM
The fact that I was there for more than twelve hours. :smallsigh:

12 hours of awesomeness mind you! But yes, 12 hours.



Twelve hours :smalleek: You're either really lucky if it was a good session or really unlucky if it was a bad or average session. Just who plays 12 hour sessions of D&D anyway :smallconfused:

Actually, we did. After characters got made, which didn't take long since we were 1st level. We did, however, hit 3rd, made ourselves awesome to the town, did tons of RPing, and left on a cliff hanger. Very :smallcool: indeed.

Burnheart
2011-05-12, 08:47 AM
12 hours of awesomeness mind you! But yes, 12 hours.




Actually, we did. After characters got made, which didn't take long since we were 1st level. We did, however, hit 3rd, made ourselves awesome to the town, did tons of RPing, and left on a cliff hanger. Very :smallcool: indeed.

You guys live in america don't you? :smallannoyed: That means i can't join your group :smallbiggrin:

TheCountAlucard
2011-05-12, 12:54 PM
Yeah, sorry, USA. :smalltongue:

Anyway, I'll probably post the new thread on Saturday. :smallamused:

Burnheart
2011-05-12, 07:16 PM
Yeah, sorry, USA. :smalltongue:

Anyway, I'll probably post the new thread on Saturday. :smallamused:

Oh nice i'll keep an eye out for it.

TheCountAlucard
2011-05-15, 06:33 AM
Oh nice i'll keep an eye out for it.No need, here's the thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199289) :smallcool: