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Ascensions and Transgressions: the Tales of Keris Dulmeadokht (Exalted game)

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So this was great and all, and I am especially eager to learn what madness Hanily gets up to in the future...

But does anyone know what that To Follow A Star is referring to? Or is it a short story that's yet to be released? Because I'm blanking right now.
 
Nervaqus987 said:
If you're getting taxed on it, does it still count as smuggling?
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It's a cultural thing. All cross border trade is referred to as smuggling, regardless of whether it's sanctioned or even taxed.

It's probably Keris's fault for introducing the concept of smuggling as the cooler version of trade without actually explaining the meaningful difference between the two.

Altaigne said:
What is the use of having twenty eyes if you lose your sight doing it? Why are all of poor Eko's siblings like that? Since when did Vali engage in concubinage, anyways?
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Well, they are probably like that because they get it from their mother.

And referring to Vali's arrangements as "concubinage" is a very self serving thing for the rhetorical argument being made. But as a shounen hero, he does end up in very, uh, certain relationships with his rivals. Which is to say, from an outside observation they look like they're dating, but Vali would just claim they're rivals with benefits.

And Vali can't just have one rival. That'd be boring, just competing against the same person all the time!

Pyro Hawk said:
But does anyone know what that To Follow A Star is referring to? Or is it a short story that's yet to be released? Because I'm blanking right now.
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Experimental side story run as a game where Calesco is the PC.
 
Is "To Follow A Star" available to the public? I think that Calesco is a fascinating character and would love to read more about her adventures. Her developing romantic / arch-nemesis relationship with the new Solar whose Exaltation she inadvertently catalyzed is a story that I am particularly interested in exploring further. It is a bit disappointing that this sub-plot seems to have vanished or been overshadowed by everything else that is going on with Keris.
 
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EarthScorpion said:
Well, they are probably like that because they get it from their mother.

And referring to Vali's arrangements as "concubinage" is a very self serving thing for the rhetorical argument being made. But as a shounen hero, he does end up in very, uh, certain relationships with his rivals. Which is to say, from an outside observation they look like they're dating, but Vali would just claim they're rivals with benefits.

And Vali can't just have one rival. That'd be boring, just competing against the same person all the time!
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I demand that you write one of Vali's dates incredible battles against his most bitter foes! Such Ham cannot remain hidden!
 
Ct613hulu said:
Is "To Follow A Star" available to the public? I think that Calesco is a fascinating character and would love to read more about her adventures. Her developing romantic / arch-nemesis relationship with the new Solar whose Exaltation she inadvertently catalyzed is a story that I am particularly interested in exploring further. It is a bit disappointing that this sub-plot seems to have vanished or been overshadowed by everything else that is going on with Keris.
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We're still in the process of gaming it out.
 
Ct613hulu said:
Her developing romantic / arch-nemesis relationship with the new Solar whose Exaltation she inadvertently catalyzed is a story that I am particularly interested in exploring further. It is a bit disappointing that this sub-plot seems to have vanished or been overshadowed by everything else that is going on with Keris.
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Uh, that would be because the new Solar got Sidereal'd away by the Gold Faction and hasn't been seen in Saata since, and after a solid eleven weeks of melodramatic gothic moping, Calesco ran into a cute weather-witch studying thaumaturgy at the Windswift Temple and got over her.
 
EarthScorpion said:
It's a cultural thing. All cross border trade is referred to as smuggling, regardless of whether it's sanctioned or even taxed.

It's probably Keris's fault for introducing the concept of smuggling as the cooler version of trade without actually explaining the meaningful difference between the two.



Well, they are probably like that because they get it from their mother.

And referring to Vali's arrangements as "concubinage" is a very self serving thing for the rhetorical argument being made. But as a shounen hero, he does end up in very, uh, certain relationships with his rivals. Which is to say, from an outside observation they look like they're dating, but Vali would just claim they're rivals with benefits.

And Vali can't just have one rival. That'd be boring, just competing against the same person all the time!



Experimental side story run as a game where Calesco is the PC.
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So Eko's right about it being all Mama's fault.

And Vali's relationships are all similar to the one Keris has with Ney? In the sense that he's doing it because you're his rival, not because he likes you or anything, idiot!
 
Altaigne said:
So Eko's right about it being all Mama's fault.

And Vali's relationships are all similar to the one Keris has with Ney? In the sense that he's doing it because you're his rival, not because he likes you or anything, idiot!
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Not at all.

Keris and Ney are just Tsun.

Vali is actually like that.

Vali, like Haneyl, is completely aromantic.
 
TheAO3 story "Kerisgame Dramatis Personae" seems to have the most up to date information on the Keruby.

There is also a bestiary discussing the non-sentient animals of Krisity buried in the Index.
Here is a direct link: Beasts of Krisity
 
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Infernal Liaisons (A Lady's Mirror of Envy) (NSFW Side Story)
  • Sidestory
    • So, the lewd side-stories were getting a little numerous and honestly kind of plot-heavy enough that calling them "Extras" was starting to strain the boundaries of credibility. As a result, I've created a new series entitled Infernal Liaisons to hold the Kerisgame smut that we seem to keep on churning out and which keeps on developing narrative importance. We've christened it with the short oneshot A Lady's Mirror of Envy, featuring an Infernal threesome, an accidentally-voyeuristic Lilunu and some incredibly awkward questions for a mortified Keris.

    Enjoy!
     
  • Sidestory
    • I think the scariest thing in that chapter is that Lilunu channeled Adorjan bringing Keris back to HER direct attention for the first time in a few years. Hopefulley she can get thru Wood season without a Titanic issues.
     
    Ligier can thank his Greater Self that Adorjan really isn't interested in him, so Lilunu's femdom mode won't be aspected that way. Otherwise, he might not be as upset by Lilunu taking the lead as one might think, given that she was made in the image of she who had primacy over Ligier as the Empyreal Chaos's two fetich souls.

    As for the Wind-Kissed, A Lady's Mirror of Envy took place in Ascending Air, and the Silent Wind hasn't shown up as of late Water. She could have simply forgotten the infidelity the same way Eko forgets things that angered her.
     
    (Calesco-centric Sidestory) To Follow A Star - Chapter 1
  • Sidestory
    • EarthScorpion said:
    Pyro Hawk said:
    But does anyone know what that To Follow A Star is referring to? Or is it a short story that's yet to be released? Because I'm blanking right now.
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    Experimental side story run as a game where Calesco is the PC.
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    And it just so happens that time is now!

    Yes, for those interested in what Calesco is doing on her big trip up into the north, To Follow A Star has just made its grand debut! This will be much more of a normal-paced game that will track Calesco in parallel with the seasonal updates of the main narrative as she makes her way up to Triumphant Air to liaise with Danadu Mara, the Ligierian cult leader who Keris saved from the magistrate's blade back in A Very Saatan Coup, and then further on up to the Scavenger Lands to rediscover lost lore of the order of Venus Joybringer (and also to find and escort Malek Qaja & entourage back to the southwest once she's done). It's likely there'll be more than one update for this per season, as it'll be operating on more compressed timescales. This will be using the Exalted Essence rules where it uses mechanics at all, and for those who can't be bothered to check the Dramatis Personae, Calesco's party consists of...

    • Herself. Keris's Eighth Soul, Calesco holds Keris's Adorjani dreams and Ophidian temptation. She is Keris's Compassion and kindness as well as her piercing, wrathful morality, hiding the agonising light of awful truths under beautiful shadowy lies. Prone to black-and-white thinking, Calesco is often bitter and harsh to the strong, but is gentle and kind to the weak. She is an incredibly gorgeous serial disaster lesbian who falls for girl after girl in a never-ending series of doomed romances that never last, something that seems to appeal to her shadow-nature. She is Eko's full sister and Rathan's opposite.
    • Baron Iroi - An agyaborn dragon aide who matured in early 775, Iroi attended Princess Calesco's tutoring sessions as a child, and volunteered immediately when Keris announced Calesco needed an assistant. He is less formal and more relaxed than most dragon aides, with dirty-blonde hair and mud-brown eyes. He is also thoroughly gay, eliminating the otherwise-almost-certain risk of him falling for Calesco. Iroi is accompanying Calesco north on her mission to retrieve Joyful Priestess lore from the Scavenger Lands.
    • Lady Fari - A female orven with a particular talent for ocean navigation. Keris summoned Fari to help her as she searched for Vali during his stint as a prisoner of Shaper Kalathais, and later assigned her as a bodyguard and navigator for Calesco on her mission to retrieve Joyful Priestess lore from the Scavenger Lands.
    and technically also, for the brief hop to Triumphant Air...
    • Count Mele - Mele is the first tidal raider and a long-time friend and crony of Prince Rathan. He holds the hearts of three mercurial artisans: Cala (f), Noi (m) and a further unknown, and is skilled enough at mediating between them that none of them have killed him or each other yet. He took part in the repairs to the Second Sister and Rathan's travels to the west of Shuu Mua.


    In this first chapter of her journey, Calesco makes her way to Triumphant Air, the stronghold of the Realm that lies in the Skull Sea just north of the Neck and the Wailing Fen. There she makes contact with the cultist-lord whose spy networks her mother wants more closely tied to her own information sources, and discovers that high Dynastic society has a rather lower opinion of Saatan priestesses than the respect she is accustomed to.

    She also manages to fall in love again. Because she is Calesco.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • This looks like it could go some fun places. Calesco is an interesting viewpoint character, especially when she's put in the position of working with and around all sorts of morally questionable people. It'll also be fun to see her reunite with some of the characters from way back in the Malra arc now that she's grown up a little bit (and I'm crossing my fingers that this will include Ney somehow, but I'm not counting on it).

    "Oh Lelabet of the night, daughter of the darkling womb of the nameless queen of shadows, forgive me, forgive me." He realises he still has his sword drawn, and sheaths it hastily. That the strange anathema servant of the demon king Ligier can send the shadow fiend Lelabet, beautiful and masked, patron of witches; it is a statement of the power of the one he is sworn to serve. Now, how best to use this, for Lelabet always aides the weaker party in any conflict...

    The gorgeous demoness blinks slowly, almost seeming taken aback for a split-second - perhaps impressed at his knowledge of the lords and ladies of Hell. But she recovers herself before he's even sure he saw the hesitation, and her scowl shifts slowly into a smile that lesser men would sell their souls for - and no doubt many have.

    "Oh, very well," she husks.
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    Mara... does not seem like a very smart man. Guessing the identity of a demon lord seems like the sort of thing that could turn out very poorly; there's literally thousands of them, so even an experienced infernalist is unlikely to know them all on sight, and mistaking even a weak demon lord for one of their more famous peers could be taken as a grave insult. He's very lucky he was dealing with Calesco here instead of a more typical 2CD.
     
    Don Alverzo said:
    Mara... does not seem like a very smart man. Guessing the identity of a demon lord seems like the sort of thing that could turn out very poorly; there's literally thousands of them, so even an experienced infernalist is unlikely to know them all on sight, and mistaking even a weak demon lord for one of their more famous peers could be taken as a grave insult. He's very lucky he was dealing with Calesco here instead of a more typical 2CD.
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    As Calesco remarked later, it was a very good guess and he probably would have been able to identify actual demon lords.
    Far as he knew, the demon lord before him was of the Ebon Dragon, a messenger (which already winnows the list down to somewhere in the teens?), prominently masked, and takes the form of a woman; possibly other identifying characteristics not given in the Green Cherry Demonomicon.

    To Follow A Star said:
    But in fairness, she has her mother's inclination to care about politics - which is even less than her father's.
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    Wait, isn't Calesco's father, insofar as she has one, Keris? Making her mother, when contrasted with her father, Adorjan? I thought she cared enough about politics to sow "purposeful chaos that exposes the flaws in systems and lays low the proud..."
     
    Fear & Excess (NSFW Side Story)
  • Sidestory
    • So. Here we go.

    Fear & Excess has, as of this release, been in development since early July of 2020. We have been working on this for more than twenty months, and essentially everything in Five Calibrations Pass so far has been written in the knowledge that we were heading towards this point. This story started out (as so many seem to) as simply a smutty sidestory about Keris and Sasi to parallel the ones we'd already written about Keris and Testolagh in Pride & Envy and about Keris and Ney in Two Nights Together.

    It rapidly became more than that. A lot more.

    Standing at a total of twenty chapters and almost a hundred thousand words, Fear and Excess has become a major turning point of the plot of the Five Calibrations Pass timeskip and, honestly, of Ascensions and Transgressions in general. This is a big story, and a heavy story, and the material within it is not lightly handled. It features Keris and Sasi at their best, but also at their worst, and it's probably the most borderline story we've ever written.

    Due to the rules of the forum, I am not going to include a direct link to it in this thread. You can find it in the Infernal Liaisons series linked in the recent post about the Lady's Mirror of Envy short story. We will be releasing it in stages, which I will amend this post to include as the story updates.

    I may sound ominous with this introduction, and I take that tone for a reason; read the tags on the story before diving in. But I'm also fairly proud of the story we've written, and I think it's an important and integral part of the path of Keris's journey, as well as a sharp wake-up call as to where she's been going wrong - and perhaps more importantly, it serves as much-needed characterisation for Sasi to expand on her, develop her and bring her up to date as a major character who's had far too little time or narrative focus lately. And they will both come through it stronger, in the end.

    With all that said, here's Fear & Excess in its constituent parts:
    • Release One: Beginnings and Bad Decisions
    • Release Two: A Visitor to the Street of Sin
    • Release Three: Oh Fallen Princess, What has Become of Thee?
    • Release Four: Of Dragons, Desires and Deceptions
    • Release Five: The Serpent's Claim
    • Release Six: Meditations Upon Mentors
    • Release Seven: Worlds Within and Wiles Without
    • Release Eight: The Golden Child and the Blood-Born Serpent
    • Release Nine: In The Aftermath, The Ashes Settle & Epilogue
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Well that's a warning and a half. Not something I'm super excited to see, to be honest. The smutty parts of this story are things I generally skim past to get to the plot, and the more extreme elements can make me kinda uncomfortable, so the idea that a crucial piece of plot/character development is packaged with the most extreme smut yet is... I'm glad you guys have written something you're proud of here, that's definitely the most important thing, but it might be quite the challenge for me to figure out how to read it. I honestly don't know how much of it I will read.

    I will say that I've enjoyed most of what's been posted so far, and it's really helped to flesh out Sasi (poor girl). It's also making me really grateful for that "Not a Bad End" tag.
     
    Don Alverzo said:
    Well that's a warning and a half. Not something I'm super excited to see, to be honest. The smutty parts of this story are things I generally skim past to get to the plot, and the more extreme elements can make me kinda uncomfortable, so the idea that a crucial piece of plot/character development is packaged with the most extreme smut yet is... I'm glad you guys have written something you're proud of here, that's definitely the most important thing, but it might be quite the challenge for me to figure out how to read it. I honestly don't know how much of it I will read.

    I will say that I've enjoyed most of what's been posted so far, and it's really helped to flesh out Sasi (poor girl). It's also making me really grateful for that "Not a Bad End" tag.
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    Going by what's up so far you can just read and if you hit something you don't like skim or skip to scene break.
     
    pheonix89 said:
    Going by what's up so far you can just read and if you hit something you don't like skim or skip to scene break.
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    Yeah, that's basically how I've approached the previous side stories and it's largely worked out so far. The big warning just has me nervous, and I don't want to skip too much of something that's almost two years in the making and is apparently a major turning point in the story.

    But c'est la vie. This is a free story on the internet, every word that's posted is an undeserved gift and I don't want to sound ungrateful. I'll cope, I just felt it was worth sharing my perspective.
     
    Don Alverzo said:
    Yeah, that's basically how I've approached the previous side stories and it's largely worked out so far. The big warning just has me nervous, and I don't want to skip too much of something that's almost two years in the making and is apparently a major turning point in the story.

    But c'est la vie. This is a free story on the internet, every word that's posted is an undeserved gift and I don't want to sound ungrateful. I'll cope, I just felt it was worth sharing my perspective.
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    It's not the porn (what little there is) that has me going oh dear lord so far.

    It's the incredibly, unspeakably, mindbogglingly bad decisionmaking.
     
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