The Dream that is Dying (Exalted)

-/-

The Season of Fire has come, and all of Taira gives praise.

In Zamash, ancient capital of the realm, young men and unwed girls open their arms and spill fresh blood across plates of copper heated in the midday sun. Most shed only a few drops, but for the devout this is a time of great shriving, and the wounds they gather from branch and lash will be many weeks in healing. Their offerings smoke and bubble on the plates, swiftly claimed by the Incarnate Sun and drawn up to his palace in the sky on whispering streams of darkened smoke.

The shapes such smoke forms in the air are studied by priests in saffron robes, and as each supplicant kneels they are blessed with word of the year to come. Good fortunes are predicted for the righteous, much atonement demanded from the wicked, and on this day even the most cynical of men will pay heed to the words of the wise.

In the markets, the first traders are already hawking their wares, sallow skinned men from Nexus bickering with dusky nomads in silk of rainbow hues. They bargain on the steps of great pyramids and in the shade of verdant flowers, for the Hanging Gardens of Zamash are famed throughout the nations of the East. In shadowed salons the dynasts of Jades trade rare woods for freshly mined silver, and along the shore the strangely predatory vessels of rebellious Perswha are drawing in to dock, laden with western spice.

You watch it all from on high, safely ensconced in the highest room of the tallest tower in the Imperial Palace. The smoke from your hookah makes strange shapes in the air as it floats across the balcony, and you find your attention divided between such mysteries and the spectacle of the kingdom beyond.

"Sehzade," a voice from your chamber door calls, "there are men here to see you."

For a moment you do not respond, too lost in contemplation to spare thought for such mundane concerns, but as the moments pass the true meaning of such a comment wends its way into your mind. You sigh, setting down the wand upon the small heartwood table at your side, and rise to your feet.

Article:

Which gender are you?

[ ] Male. You are a prince, heir to the throne, expected to be of fiery temperament and inconsistent will. Your people will follow you as you blaze the charge, but expect you to rely on the quiet advice of your wiser relatives.

[ ] Female. You are a princess, heir to the throne, expected to be of clear thought and cunning insight. Your people will obey you, and clamor for the favour of being the ones entrusted to carry out your vision.

[ ] Riverborn. You are a sehzade, heir to the throne, born with sex and gender misaligned. Your people look to you as sovereign, and expect you to conform to the stereotypes of your soul.

• [ ] Choose one of the above to be your true gender.

[ ] Moontouched. You are a sehzade, heir to the throne, and your gender changes with the moon or perhaps is absent altogether. Your people regard you with wariness, perhaps fearing you touched by fearsome Luna, and expect you to be wise in ways that they are not.

What is your name? Taira has a distinctly Persian feel to it, but the lineages of the Shah trace their blood from a wide number of sources, so other naming conventions are acceptable. I reserve right of veto.
[ ] Write in

"And what is it, Al'rama, that such men want from me?" You say in an idle voice, turning and moving back inside your quarters. You do not wish to move, but even mild activity can aid in flushing the narcotics from your system, and something tells you that such focus will be required soon enough. "Could they not make appointment, or beg audience with my revered father?"

Al'rama bows low as you approach, his dark skin drinking in the reflected sunlight. He is of foreign birth, as are all your personal guards, and his coat of metal scales rustles faintly as he moves.

"Forgive me, sehzade, but their business is not with the Shah, nor with his child," he says politely, the sharp edge of a distant accent colouring the normal flowing tones of his Rivertongue, "it is with you, in your other capacity."

You blink once, clearing the last of the haze from your mind. "Oh. I suppose I had best see to them, then. Have these men escorted to one of the guest quarters, and then have my raiment prepared."

Article:

What name is it that these men know you by, what title is it that you hold, that they would seek you out in such a fashion?

[ ] The Shah's Voice. Taira is a land built on conquest and trade, an empire of many peoples brought together by force and bound by chains of ambition and greed. Such a legacy demands an eye in the world outside, and this is where you serve. You have travelled much for your age, and your face is known across the East as the representative the Shah sends when the interests of Taira as a whole must be represented. Your eyes are yellow, a sign of favour from Mercury, Maiden of Journeys.

[ ] Godspeaker. Taira is a land of many peoples and twice as many faiths, and there is no surer way to bring an empire crashing down than to disregard the faith of those who serve it. You have been trained from birth to serve as an intermediary between the empire and the Gods, and in this role have served admirably. Your eyes are a vivid blue, a hue much favored by Venus, the Maiden of Serenity.

[ ] Master of Horse. The pride of Taira are its cataphracts, the heavy cavalry against which no foe can hope to stand, and you are their leader. You have broken the back of many foes and led your soldiers to victory on many a day, and with you as heir few doubt for Taira's future security. Your eyes are the red of fresh spilled blood, and the soldiers say this marks you as one of Mars' own chosen killers.

[ ] Priest of Mysteries. Zamash is older than Taira, older than mankind itself. In its stones can be found the secret legacies of the Dragon Kings, and it is not the only place in Taira to bear such ancient heritage. You have taken an interest in such things from an early age, and now can be counted as one of the foremost experts on pre-human history in all the East. Your eyes are the green of the summer forest, and none doubt the favour shown to you by Jupiter, Maiden of Secrets.

[ ] Breaker of Chains. Taira lies upriver from the mighty hub of Nexus, and as with all nations must contend with the grasping claws of the city's Guild. You have made for yourself an expertise in denying them a hold upon your homeland's shores, and taken great pleasure in liberating others from their cold ambitions. Your violet eyes speak to the favour shown to you by Saturn, Maiden of Endings.

Farah Esther Amestris
Sehzade of Taira, Shieldbearer of Mars



Intimacies

Defining (+4/-3 resolve)
Treachery is the greatest sin
The price of glory is measured in blood

Major (+3/-2 resolve)
I revel in battle
Loyalty is the highest virtue
My Family (Grief)
Sabah (Protective Love)
Yozi Cults (Hatred)

Minor (+2/-1 resolve)
I am a failure
No one is above suspicion
Iron Siaka (Instinctive trust)
Taira (Regret)

Charms

House of Battles



House of Journeys


House of Endings

Martial Arts

Mechanics

This quest is being run on a stripped down, simplified version of the general storyteller rules and the Exalted 3rd edition ruleset. Anything I think won't work very well in a quest format has been pruned -perhaps most notably the idea of 'motes' of essence that need to be tracked - and generally the majority of challenges faced by the protagonist will be resolved by a single dice roll.

Your dice are d10s, and you will have between one and ten of them for most challenges depending on how skilled your character is. Any dice that rolls a 7 or higher generates a 'success', with 10s by default generating two 'successes'. You need a certain number of successes to pass a test, as determined by circumstance and opposition (generally active opponents will roll their own dice pool, and whoever gets the most successes wins).

Combat

In the Age of Sorrows, the wise man prepares for the possibility of sudden onset hyper-violence. In this quest such conflicts will be resolved over a number of rounds - in each round the attacker rolls a dice pool (generally dexterity + weapon skill) and the defender rolls their defense (generally dexterity or stamina + dodge/weapon/resistance). If the attacker wins, he removes a number of health levels from the opposition equal to the net successes on the roll.

Certain weapons can modify this, either generating bonus dice on the attack, adding automatic levels of damage on a hit (there is no such thing as a 'flesh wound' when struck by the thirsting lance of a war god) or applying various secondary effects. Likewise armour can add successes to the defense test or subtract a number of net successes from damage done as appropriate. These qualities will be defined in more depth as you encounter the equipment in question.

Most mortal humans have seven health levels by default. Damage can be in the form of Bashing (marked as [/] and easily healed), lethal (marked as [X] and prone to additional complications like bleeding out) or aggravated (marked as [*] and extremely difficult to heal).

Social Influence

Attempts at persuasion and other social efforts are largely handled like a combat round, only with willpower in place of health levels. There is also the additional complication of Intimacies - broadly, things you care about or believe. Attempts to make someone do something absolutely must play off an intimacy, and the scope of the action dictates the strength of the intimacy required - someone with a minor principle of 'My elders must be obeyed' isn't going to uproot their life and go on lifelong pilgrimage just because an older relative asked them to, while someone with a defining principle of the same very well might.

Intimacies come in Minor, major and defining levels, and provide a +1/+2/+3 success bonus to either the offense or defense test when invoked or opposed by relevant social influence. If the offense succeeds and the target has a different intimacy that might oppose the influence in question (of the same level or higher) the target may opt to lose willpower equal to the net successes rather than comply.