Break Glass in Case of Emergency (Exalted Exigent-Creation Quest)

They say sailors are a superstitious lot, they say it with scorn on the shore of the Blessed Isle, they say it with confusion on the gem-studded shores of the south and to the North where the ice and snow touches the sea and if you were to ask them why, a sailing man or woman being, they'd say eye 'how odd and uncountable their ways' to fear the shadow of an albatross or count the yowls of striped cats at noontime. What they meant Gemlyn knew was 'those customs aren't from here'. She smiled into her mug of rice-wine, one hand reaching to scratch at her left ear or what was left of it, never quite healed right. But sailing folk from Wavecrest to the Skullstone and beyond knew the sea was it's own kingdom and belonged to no one people. Only fools and demon's get claimed otherwise, the memory like black wings against the light of day pouring though the scavenged glass of the— ha — Watering Hole. By scuttlebutt it used to have another name, a fanciful one from out east, but now they just called it by the name it had earned from all the fancy Chiaroscuro carpets that gathered along every wall, supposedly that's what the desert folk called a place that had fresh water among the dunes where fire reigned and, supposedly again, the reason why so many of them congregated here was that a sorcerer had laid a curse upon the owner to go blind if he did not 'surround himself with such beauty'.

Now far be it from be to smell a half-rotted perch on a poker but that all sounded like bullshit to draw in the poets, the gullible and drunkards, if there was even a difference between getting drunk on words or wine, but one thing was for sure Gemlyn knew if you were aiming to find a crew willing to go out 'venturing far from shore or sense this was one of the better places to do it, for both the company and the way the artfully placed partitions would muffle the sounds of errant conversation and not just from the ear.


"A treasure map?" The northerner asked, his face pale as snow, his shoulders broad as an ox-dragon and she was glad for the distrust that she was in those eyes, the first one today to doubt her, though not from fear alone.

"Nay," the sailor shot back, what good's a map for finding that which from all maps is lost. "I said I had a way to the Lost Fleet, that I've been there and plan to go back with bold crew and empty holds."

"Oh Aye, you're some kind of witch then?" The short, almost squat westerner across from her asked flicking a ember of his smoke-stick at her. Gemlyn hadn't asked him about his vices nor he about hers.

"Nay, just lucky." From inside her left sleeve, Da's conjuring still had it uses even if she wasn't skilled enough to use it like he had to part fools from their coin, Gemlyn flipped a piece of what seemed at first to be silver, but the light of the lantern overhead played on it like moonlight on wave-foam and on the jagged edge it burned like fire. "One of two, like to like calls..."

"And the other half?" the pale northerner asked, though if wasn't so dim as to miss the obvious answer, just wanted it from her own lips.

"Lodged in the Fleet's own timbers," she confirmed.

"Mighty precious for so small a thing," the bog man mused and if she were two decades younger or with twenty fewer souls sent down the Lethe to her name Gemlyn might have grown weary at the double meaning.

She snorted. "Mayhap you could take it and if you've Merury's own luck even come out of it with all your limbs and both eyes in the bargain, but they'll kill you when you get there with blood tinged moonsilver. I left it with a friend and there ain't luck enough under heaven to talk or kill your way around them, not there."

"You've friends among the damned and the forsaken?" the westerner said, putting out the the spark of fire, though the sweet smelling fire endured.

"Oh, you're pardon holiness, didn't know we had a monk with us," the woman scoffed. "There's no touch of dead-thing to it, no wraith, nor corpse nor hand of bone as saying goes, just honest sailors same as us." So not so honest as all that, the words unspoken were heard just the same. "And all the goods and treasures of a dozen fleets, not a drink to parch their throats nor any company nor distraction they can't carve out for themselves." She leaned across the table. "I'm not proposing a heist nor yet a fight. There's trade to be had with those who can never find a port, but have all the same desires as any other man or woman born of flesh and blood."

"And you need us because...."

Here came the hard part then. "I need you lot because there is a curse, though not what fools believe, once you set foot on its decks you can only leave once so you lot can come with me and deliver barrels and boxes, come back rich in jade, but if any of the folks who came with me go back... well they aren't leaving."

"Doesn't that mean you can't either?" the larger man asked.

"I do not miss it, I was born on a ship, caul on my head and on a ship I'll die," Gemlyn shrugged and was grattifed to see two pairs of eyes so different from each other widen in surprise and yes respect. "I'm out here to help my mates and you... why you'll be rich as kings. What reason have you to spit at the chance?"

"Aye then," said one and then the other: "Lets talk price."

OOC: @Critian Caceorte up to you to decide if Gemlyn was lying here, it could be this is a trick to get more sailors doomed to a life of eternal wandering, could be she was telling the truth.

You knew of Veering Waves, it was difficult not to know, thanks to a... event which happened during one Calibration, centuries past. While the Incarnae as a whole had grown a bit of a thick skin for comments when people thought they weren't looking (which was essentially always, the seven of you heard a LOT more than you let on), there were always those times where nonetheless a certain comment or another went over the line, and divine retribution often followed. You yourself were proud to be on the lower end of "Issuing punishments due to relayed comments" (A competition which always had Jupiter reigning at the bottom, and Venus often near the top), but even You would have done something had You heard someone talking in that manner about yourself.

It was only the fact that Mercury could take care of herself, thank you very much, that stayed her sisters from doing something. Mercury was easily the most casual of the Incarna (when Luna wasn't in such a mood, of course) and was a Goddess of among many other things sailors. Thus, She was particularly well-inured to the usual comments about her appearance or manners (or lack thereof). That was all fine and dandy. What wasn't fine was when someone not only delved into those sorts of topics, but wrapped it all up in the truly stupid bow of "I bet half of the Gods here could sail from the Southwest to the North better than her."

Mercury's pride was never in her appearance, but in her skills. And Veering Waves, who spoke those words out loud, had no idea that She was right behind him when he made his fatal error. Publicly, the Maiden of Journeys made an open challenge to all there that anyone who wanted to also participate in her race against Veering Waves were free to do so. She would show them why SHE was the Master of All Things Travel. And, in the end, it wasn't even a contest. Mercury did not use any of her teleportation tricks, nor did She use a grand galleon or First Age ship. Instead, She relied on a canoe to get Her from the Southwest to the Northern seas. With no sails or tricks, and only her own strength to push Her there, Mercury was declared the winner far ahead of anyone else.

As punishment for daring to make such comments about Her and then not even backing it up with skill, Mercury punished Veering Waves with a potent curse: So long as he lived, he would wander aimlessly across Creation, starting in one patch of sea and ending up in another. He would never reach any port, instead only subsisting on what lost goods he could acquire from scavenging. So thorough was her punishment that She asked You for a favor: To use your horn to summon the Jotun, the Avatar-Body of Cecelyne the Endless Desert in order to ensure that Veering Waves would never end up in Malfeas by mistake. Strangely, the sandstorm-avatar had no problem with going along with this request, even if She was forced to agree anyways.

So it was that everyplace was denied to Veering Waves, who could only roam around on collected driftwood for a ship. Or, rather, a series of rafts, all tied together with rope in a mocking imitation of a flotilla, a squadron of ships. All those centuries spent roaming aimlessly with no hopes of ever seeing port again obviously had their effect on the God of Lost Sailors. He grew more despondent, and more desperate to ensure that those sailors that washed ashore onto his rafts were taken care of well. As a god, he would forgo any sustenance and gave it solely to his "crew", for he had no chance for companionship otherwise.

Evidently, all of that time wore on him enough that he wished to create someone that could atone for his punishment and either free him from this curse... or at least spare him another second of this drudgery. Judging by how ill he looked once he absorbed the divine spark into himself, it seemed like the second option was the more likely one. You just hoped that Veering Wave's reputation would be prepared posthumously.

---

The young woman that Veering Waves chose to be his champion, a girl who had disguised herself as a boy in order to avoid the common superstitions of women bringing bad luck onto ships, now awaited the spark that would grant her her powers. But what form would those powers take?


This poor girl would need as much help as she could get, especially if she was to take on... one of those Infernals on her own. But what help were You willing to give?

Due to the nature of the request, the following Gift has been locked in:
[X][Gift] Kaun's inventions, the Sea Whispers, could be easily reversed engineered and turned to more common use elsewhere. (+10 to Lead and Sneak Events in Western Locations, or the Southeast.)

Choose which of the following you would also like to give this Exigent. Please write your votes in the form of a plan.

[][Gift] After observing many cases of how superhuman strength could help an Exigent out, you decided to grant the subject an amulet which emulated the least of these effects. (+10 Bonus to Fight)
-[] How many? (Max 3)

[][Gift] While you could not assign a Celestial Lion to assist this Exigent, you do know of a minor god who can serve as an assistant. (+10 Bonus to Lead)
-[] How many? (Max 3)

[][Gift] It should be fairly simple to commission an Essence Shield Projector to protect this Exigent. (+10 to Fight/Lead events against enemies with ranged attacks.)

[][Gift] Though a Peach of Immortality was out of the question, you could certainly afford to give someone a regular supply of Age-Staving Cordial, lengthening their short lifespans. (Grants +10 retroactively to a character's Lifespan roll)
-[] How many? (Max 2)

[][Gift] You could always ask a favor from Mars, Maiden of Battles, to bless this Exigent in their fights. (One Reroll the first time that a Fight event would require Recovery, taking the higher result. ALSO guarantees that the SECOND event will be a Fight event.)

[][Gift] In this dire situation, perhaps more direct action could be taken. You shall allow this Exigent a singular use of your most divine panoply, to help them get on their feet. (Instead provides a +50 bonus to the FIRST event roll, bonus counts as part of natural die roll, will reduce the Enthusiasm gain for this Exigent.)

And in addition, You could always make another go at a vision...

-[][Vision] Send the Exigent a Vision (10 Effort)
--[] Write-in what you want the POINT of the vision to be. It must be a single sentence in length. This will serve as the Vision's important line, NOT the entirety of the Vision itself. It can be used to convey an objective for the future, impart information that Sol would know about a situation, establish a facet of the Exigent's personality, or simply provide reassurance to them.

-[][Vision] No, You will spare the effort for now (No Vision)

Finally, who was this young girl?

[] Exigent's Name
[] Exigent's Appearance
[] Exigent's Anima Banner (Should have dizzying / confusing quality to it)

---

Author's Note: So, normally I would not offer a suggestion as to what Gifts you should take, because that would interfere with voter choice. In this case, however, I would recommend taking one of the amulets of strength. Even if you already have the Fight gift covered with the free artifact weapon, it may prove necessary in the future...

As always, any questions you have, let me know!

Well, we seem to be unanimous in regards to what the vote should be. Again, I'm closing things here because I have stuff to do during the afternoon which is my usual closing time, so apologies to those who were not able to vote like usual. This will likely not be a habit I keep doing, since my 1 PM end time aligns with my lunch breaks at work which makes it easier to close votes and do rolls.

I will be doing the Event rolls in the post below, so we will see how Layda does in her role.