Beneath a Hundred Ringing Bells [Exalted Shonen Quest]

[Kymme]

Beneath A Hundred Ringing Bells
Exalted adventure in a Magical Battle High-School!

Seven-hundred and sixty years ago the Scarlet Empress, Supreme Lady of the Conjunctions, Shadow of the Dragons, Queen of Queens, the Great and Most Mighty Protector of the Cosmos in its Entirety wielded the Sword of Creation against her enemies and took the throne of the world as her own. Through her rule the warring states of eras past were united into a great empire.

You are a scion of this great lineage - a dragon-prince Exalted with elemental power, poised to take your place as a soldier of the Scarlet Empire and the Dragon-Blooded Host.

Or at least, you will be in seven years.

Fifteen winters have passed since your birth and now, beneath the blossoms of a new spring, you are travelling by carriage to the institution that will give you everything you need to achieve greatness. The House of Bells is the greatest military academy in the Realm and, by extension, the entire universe. Your tutors, the instructors of your primary school, everything in your entire life has led to this moment. You are ready.

But… who are you? And what will you become?​

Hello everyone! I'm Kymme (rhymes with rhyme) and this is my first Quest! I'm a big fan of shonen anime and manga along with manhwa like Burning Effect and God of High School. This Quest stems from my desire to tell a battle shonen story the likes of which I've always dreamed, without being forced to capitulate to the desires of any editor or publisher.

This quest takes place in the Exalted setting, playing pretty close to 3e's presentation while borrowing some flavor from things like Venture and homebrew across the internet.

This story will take place throughout the main character's first year of schooling in the House of Bells, the preliminary military academy on the Blessed Isle in Creation, the setting of the Exalted RPG. I'm going to be running the House of Bells as something more resembling the eccentric high schools of animes like My Hero Academia, Girls Und Panzer, and Shokugeki no Soma (and also RWBY's Beacon Academy but hopefully better). Expect strange teachers, absurd field exercises, magical festivals, and probably a tournament arc at some point.

Don't expect for Orochimaru to show up midway through the first semester, or for a bunch of teenage demigods to battle a world-ending superboss before they've graduated. A lot of high school shonen stops being about the school pretty early, and I don't have any interest in doing that. Expect to see a ton of stuff from the House of Bells. I'm interested in exploring as many facets of a school for Exalted warriors as I can.

So, now that that's out of the way, the meat of the quest!

I'm going to use something resembling a style system, the likes of which have featured in Exalted Quests elsewhere on these forums. Styles describe a broad set of narrative capabilities a character possesses, encapsulating training, upbringing, bases of knowledge, as well as things like magical techniques or martial arts. In Creation everything is a little bit Kung Fu.

The main character's skillset will start the game lacking both breadth and depth, but if the House of Bells is half as good as advertised you'll start expanding your styles and picking up new ones like clockwork.

Now, back to it!

Click to shrink...

Here, on the southern coast of the Blessed Isle, spring brings soft rains. Droplets ring out musically against the roof of your carriage, and their song soothes your nerves.

Why are you nervous? Why shouldn't you be nervous! Your servants don't know anything more about the House of Bells than you do, and what you know is that it's grueling and unforgiving. Waking in the dark and running three miles before sunrise - every day. Students pitted against one another in war games that can result in injuries, deaths, or worse. Battles to the death against men and monsters! Disciplinary action that puts the barbaric Palace of the Tamed Storm to shame!

The rain does little for the sheet of sweat forming on your forehead and under your clothes, or for your grumbling belly and sore back. You spent last night in the mansion home of a Patrician family indebted to your parents. The decor was impressive, but your hosts were smothering. They stuffed you full of plum wine and roast boar and in their attempts to furnish their guest bedchamber with every possible luxury they neglected to make it comfortable. This morning your servants surprised you with a final gift from your great aunt: a fourteen layer kimono, each robe embroidered with patterns reflecting each full year of your life. You know that appearances are everything, and arriving at the House of Bells in such an ostentatious robe will send a clear message about the prosperity of your family and House. The garment is an impressive sight - your servants and hosts certainly attested so - but looking over the stifling folded collars at your swaddled arms, the beauty is difficult to appreciate.

You sit across from your two servants. Plum, your cup-bearer, has kept his saccharine smile pointed at you for hours now, sparing only the occasional glance out either window at the rainy countryside. Bright Chime, your nanny and oldest servant, has her nose buried in a wood-print novel. The title reads "Prince Ji and the Sword of Disaster." You've never seen it before. Perhaps she purchased it on the road?

You're just about to ask when the carriage stops and nearly bucks you from your seat. Have you arrived? A glance out the window reveals… nothing. It's thick forest on both sides of the wide road, and the rain has turned the trees to misty walls of green.

Bright Chime stops reading and gives you a thin smile before craning her neck up and calling to the driver. "Why have we stopped? Is something the matter?"

The gruff voice of Forest of Robins, your entrusted driver, calls back down. "Toppled carriage in the road. I'll see if we can go around."

Plum's wide smile inverts. For a moment he seems almost as nervous as you. "Toppled carriage? Dragons Above, how awful!"

Bright Chime shrugs. "The road must have given way. This damnable rain!" She calls up through the ceiling. "Please be cautious, Forest. We'd hate to be late, today of all days."

"Noted, Chime."

"Are the occupants still there, Forest? We should give them a ride!" You speak without thinking, and earn startled and confused looks from Bright Chime and Plum.

Bright Chime raises her eyebrows. "Exalted one, you know that we mustn't be late."

"I don't care. Forest, if there's anyone there hail them. Does the carriage belong to any Great House?" Truth be told, you're dreading arriving at the House of Bells. Whatever is going on, it'll at least buy you some time.

"If they've got a Mons I can't make it out through all this rain. It's hard to tell, but the carriage isn't abandoned. Hold on down there, we're going to start again." Forest calls to the horses and the carriage is moving again.

Forest lets out a strangled cry and you all practically jump out of your seats. Bright Chime grows pale and inclines her head up. "What's going on?"

"Quiet! There's… there's something there. It's… eating their horses."

Plum covers his mouth with his hands, eyes wide and white. Bright Chime casts a quick glance at you and then stands, bringing her face up to a small gap behind the driver's bench.

"What is it? Can you see it clearly?"

"It's a leopard. A Great Pale Leopard, here in the hills."

Dragons above. You've heard stories about these creatures. Eight-limbed hunting cats, bigger than horses and nearly silent in the thick forests of the southern coast. The pelt of one such animal adorned an entire wall of your Patrician host's dining chamber - a trophy from a hunt many years ago. For one to have come down from the higher forests to the plains is extremely rare. Think. There must be some reason.

Perhaps it was starving, and ventured into the lowlands for easier prey? A few horses harnessed to a toppled carriage would be a perfect remedy for its aching belly. And if the horses prove insufficient, the helpless passengers taking refuge inside would make for a delectable second course.

[Upbringing - Hunting]

"We have to frighten it off." Once again your servants shoot you confused looks, but you continue. "Animals are fearful and stupid creatures. Once it realizes that defending its kill means wasting energy and suffering harm, it will flee."

You interrupt Bright Chime and Plum before they have a chance to caution you. "More time wasted is more time for that monster to go after the people inside that carriage. Chime, my…"

[Weapons Training]

[X] ...bow... Time spent hunting has sharpened your eye, and time in primary school has strengthened your arms and shoulders. You can string your great softwood-and-bamboo yumi in a single, fluid motion and plant a spearpoint arrow through a frog's eye at a hundred feet.

...and my...

[ ] ...straight sword. The double-edged jian, straight and true, is your weapon of choice. You lack true mastery, but it feels natural in your hands and your knowledge of the Six Floating Eagle Postures of Mount Meru lends you a straightforward confidence in battle.

[ ] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.

[ ] Write-in. If anybody has any ideas for fighting styles or sidearms they'd like to see by all means suggest them.

Bright Chime nods and retrieves your weapons from a chest beneath her bench. You can't parse the emotions on her face. Pride? Fear? She complies all the same.

You stand and address your servants. "Plum, Chime - you both wait here. Forest, we're going to face that monster together. Is your rope dart ready?"

"Always." The carriage shifts and the door opens. Forest stands before you, wide hat shielding her from the rain, rope dart coiled about her arms. "Shall we go spook ourselves a beastie, Exalted one?"

You nod and drop to the wet road. The long hem of your layered kimono begins to soak into the mud and you close the door before Plum and Bright Chime can notice. You begin walking around the front of the carriage, Forest by your side, past the horses and out onto the road. Through the mist and the light rain you can see the high back of the Great Pale Leopard as it devours the dead horses.

The creature is as pale as the clouds and mist, and it seems to dissolve into the sky at the sharp point of its shoulders. The spots across its body are lighter still, near pure white. With four front paws it rolls a horse up to its massive jaws, now slicked with blood and gore. Its long tail, thick and bushy, sways in the air like a treetop in the wind.

This is nothing. You're saving your fear for the House of Bells. That institution will ask more of you than anything in your life ever has. This, though? This eight-legged jungle cat twice the height of a man?

All this situation demands of you is your courage.

[ ] ...Proceed bravely. Make some noise, shout, and loose an arrow or two. If you can spook the thing quickly then you have no other worries. If something goes wrong, you'll still have Forest of Robins' support.

[ ] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[mothematics]

Some of your prose evokes translations of the Romance of Three Kingdoms for me, somewhat austere yet gently poetic. I'm interested to see where this goes.

[X] ...straight sword. The double-edged jian, straight and true, is your weapon of choice. You lack true mastery, but it feels natural in your hands and your knowledge of the Six Floating Eagle Postures of Mount Meru lends you a straightforward confidence in battle.
[X] ...Proceed bravely. Make some noise, shout, and loose an arrow or two. If you can spook the thing quickly then you have no other worries. If something goes wrong, you'll still have Forest of Robins' support.

 

[giodan]

[X] ...straight sword. The double-edged jian, straight and true, is your weapon of choice. You lack true mastery, but it feels natural in your hands and your knowledge of the Six Floating Eagle Postures of Mount Meru lends you a straightforward confidence in battle.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[Chamberlain1012]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

I like the idea of a disciplined, intelligent character. Seems like particularly important qualities for an officer-to-be.

 

[kichithewolf]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[KreenWarrior]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.

[X] ...Proceed bravely. Make some noise, shout, and loose an arrow or two. If you can spook the thing quickly then you have no other worries. If something goes wrong, you'll still have Forest of Robins' support.

 

[veekie]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[GoDisDEaD]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[BadAtScreenNames]

[X] ...ladder. Your family was... confused by your choice of weapon, to say the least, but your first demonstration of Heaven's Ladder style was rather convincing.
[X] Proceed Bravely.

 

[BadAtScreenNames]

EDIT: Sorry, double post!

 

[Derek58]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[Uhtread]

[X] ...reaper sword. The elegantly curved katana, and the discipline it demands, are your tools of battle. Your earliest blade-tutors instilled you with the tenets of Three Points Fulminating Edge, and under the stern eye of your mother's armsmaster you continued to hone your draw.
[X] ...Proceed intelligently. Take cover behind your carriage and take the time to set up a good shot. An arrow to the eye or heart might do more than just frighten the beast off.

 

[Nevill]

[x] ...straight sword. The double-edged jian, straight and true, is your weapon of choice. You lack true mastery, but it feels natural in your hands and your knowledge of the Six Floating Eagle Postures of Mount Meru lends you a straightforward confidence in battle.
[x] ...Proceed bravely. Make some noise, shout, and loose an arrow or two. If you can spook the thing quickly then you have no other worries. If something goes wrong, you'll still have Forest of Robins' support.

 

[Kymme]

Tempering your courage, you move to interpose the toppled carriage between yourself and the Great Pale Leopard. Forest of Robins follows your lead, pushing her hat back on her head to keep her field of view as wide as possible.

You feel ridiculous clad in these soaking clothes, slippers dragging through the sucking mud, quiver and sword haphazardly tucked through your waist-sash. You push those thoughts aside and press on.

The rain obscures everything. The beast hasn't noticed your carriage and the delicious horses bound to it, and vice versa. No one is making any sudden movements.

"I'm going to start lining up a shot. Pull me back after I've fired."

Forest of Robins places a hand on your shoulder. You can feel her callouses through all fourteen layers. "You're sure about this, Exalted one? Straight through the eye isn't a shot your mother could make trivally, disregarding the rain and the mist."

You tilt your head back and meet her gaze. She's close enough to you that her hat shields you from the rain. "It's fortunate, then, that I'm not shooting to kill. Pull me back after I've fired."

You keep your eyes locked to hers until she nods. Appearances are everything, and showing self-doubt in the face of adversity projects weakness. You can do this. You must.

Why?

Because you've dreamt of glory your entire life. In primary school, before the Dragons graced you with your Second Breath, you were hounded by doubts. The path to your shining dream was obscured by the great darkness of chance. Either die after a short and ignominious mortal life, or seize the immortality of the Dragon's Blood which is your birthright and achieve greatness as a member of the Exalted Host.

You are Exalted now, and the road to your shining dream is a straight path through all adversity. What is that dream?

[ ] To be the greatest warrior in the Exalted Host. Unending shall be your victories and forever shall they be remembered. You will be a poet and sage and scholar with an unerring blade and an immaculate bow. Your enemies, and you shall make enemies, will be humbled by your skills. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Battle]

[ ] To be the Founder of a new Great House. With dedicated service to the Realm and its eternal Scarlet Empress you will be Twice Exalted. Your name will be carved into history as synonymous with glory and reach, the equal of Ragara or Mnemon or new V'neef. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Legacy]

[ ] To be a peerless general of the Realm Legions. You shall conquer armies and bend nations to the will of the Empire, and you will line the walls of your fortress-palace with trophies taken from every corner of Creation. To your soldiers you will be as Mela Reborn, a dragon-god of war in mortal flesh. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Command]

[ ] To take control of your House. You are young now but one day you will be an honored Matriarch, wise and knowledgeable. Every household, every component family, every territory and Satrapy and scion. They'll all be yours to control and yours to command. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Power]

[ ] To avenge your family. Your youth was marked with conflict and fear as your household suffered persecution at the hands of their own House and the other Houses of the Blessed Isle. With fury in your heart you will seize the teachings of this institution and become an instrument of revenge on those who have wronged you so. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Vengeance]

The mud sucks at your feet as you square your stance. The Great Pale Leopard looms over you now, some twenty feet distant, still tearing apart one of the dead horses. With arms out straight you knock an arrow and slide your body into proper form, thumb at the corner of your mouth. You trace the movements of the monster's jaws, the way it bobs its head down to bite, the way its paws move the horse's body this way and that.

You focus, drawing in a quiet breath, correcting for the wind and the rain. Your sleeves are cumbersome and the water soaked into your kimonos weighs you down, but you are unbending. There is a moment, a single flash of black-pink flesh as the leopard-beast opens its mouth and you exhale. There is no tension in the moment. For you it has always been this way. Your breath is the surmounting of a mountain, the completion of a sculpture, the final flourish of a poem. There is no effort in release.

You watch your arrow fly.

"Someone please help us!"

The shout from within the carriage is deafening. The quiet susurrus of the falling rain is broken in an instant, and the monster lifts its head. Your arrow slips into the fur and flesh of its thick neck and is gone. Its eyes, blue and suddenly sharpened with pain, fill with your image. It sees you.

Forest of Robins' rope dart wraps around your waist and she pulls you behind the toppled carriage. The sucking mud keeps a hold of your sandals and you arrive at your driver's side barefoot. A paw the size of a torso fills the space behind you and splashes you and Forest both with flecks of mud and rocks.

One of the occupants of the toppled carriage continues their desperate and infuriating shouting. "I can hear you out there! Help!"

The Great Pale Leopard stalks around the carriage in a graceful motion, silent and ephemeral in the rain. Its eyes flash and its lips draw back in a hiss like a waterfall. Its body seems to stretch and compress as it moves, sharp shoulders sliding beneath spotted fur.

You knock and draw another arrow, naked feet sliding in the dirt. Your hand is at your cheek. The arrow flies and the monster pounces. Your eyes cannot follow the arrow because Forest of Robins lifts you into her arms and leaps away a hairsbreadth before the leopard-beast's paws can catch you.

The two of you strike the ground sidelong and slide. The leopard slides too, a whole chunk of the road giving way beneath its great weight. The monster's miscalculation buys you a few moments of time.

Forest of Robins rises first and lifts you to your feet before you can refuse her. "We need to get back to your carriage, Exalted one. This beastie is too much for us."

"No." You do your best to keep a petulant tone from entering your rebuttal, but you're rattled. This monster is beyond your power to kill, and to wound it now will require more than mortal ability.

Fortunate, then, that the Blood of the Dragons runs like liquid divinity in your veins. You are Exalted, a Prince of the Earth, and yours is the magic of Creation. You are empowered by one of the Five Elements. Air, Wood, Fire, Water, or Earth. Young as you are, your elemental power is raw and difficult to contain, gathering forth in a Manifestation that is potent but taxing on your body. The Dragons saw fit to bless you with a Manifestation that is especially useful in combat.

What shape does yours take?

[ ] You can lighten your limbs and increase your physical speed eightfold, allowing you to strike with your sword so fast as to be imperceptible or fire one arrow and then fire eleven more before the first strikes its target. [Air Aspect]

[ ] You have a stormcloud inside you, and when you call upon its power you can release shocks of lightning or shroud your weapons in electricity. [Air Aspect]

[ ] Your blood congeals into venomous sap that drips from your fingers. Your touch inflicts your foes with paralysis and you can suffuse your arrows with the same noxious power. Most plant-based toxins will have no effect on you. [Wood Aspect]

[ ] Your body is like a fresh green sapling, able to stretch and flex in impossible ways. Your flexibility is such that you can bend around blows and extend the reach of your body. [Wood Aspect]

[ ] Your burning soul sparks your breath, letting you release great gouts of flame from your mouth and nose. This natural expression of your power also allows you to inhale flames and smoke harmlessly. [Fire Aspect]

[ ] You can conjure a corona of explosive flame that trails behind your arrows or sword, lending them incredible speed and power for singularly awesome attacks. [Fire Aspect]

[ ] You can pull water from your heart and fashion it into the shape of extra limbs which you can use to attack and defend yourself instinctively. [Water Aspect]

[ ] You can control water in the air around you, manipulating fog and mist to befuddle your enemies and hide your own presence. You can even form the mist into your own image. [Water Aspect]

[ ] You can plant your feet and harden yourself into an unmoving bastion. Weapons will glance off of you and not even an avalanche can move you, provided your stance is stable. [Earth Aspect]

[ ] You can stomp your feet to create a shockwave through the earth strong enough to overturn wagons or large monsters, and send dozens of people sprawling. [Earth Aspect]

Passions and Manifestations are the first examples of me injecting my shonen bullshit into this quest.

Passions represent your character's greatest ambition - one of the driving forces behind your actions in this quest. Think of them as the main character's Defining Intimacy. They're my way of including the kind of bombastic motivations that shonen characters often bring to their stories, but hopefully given something of a Realm flare. If anybody has any particular suggestions for motivations, for our main character or for others, please let me know! I'm taking all the suggestions I can get.

Manifestations are those character-specific superpowers you see in a lot of battle shonen. Your Quirks, your Semblances, your Nen abilities, etc. They're a bespoke part of the setting as I envision it. Each young Dragon-Blooded has some particular facet of elemental power that shows up first and strongest, and from that first ability comes the rest of their power, in external expressions or internal embodiments. Manifestations are costly, and their usage almost always creates hazardous Anima Flux around the user.

Whatever Manifestation you choose, there'll probably be a vote at some point to give it a catchy and fun name.

Click to shrink...

 

[KreenWarrior]

To be the Founder of a new Great House. With dedicated service to the Realm and its eternal Scarlet Empress you will be Twice Exalted. Your name will be carved into history as synonymous with glory and reach, the equal of Ragara or Mnemon or new V'neef. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Legacy]
Sympathetic, not overly cliche, flexible.

[X] You can pull water from your heart and fashion it into the shape of extra limbs which you can use to attack and defend yourself instinctively. [Water Aspect]

This just seemed the coolest of the options to me.

 

[GoDisDEaD]

[X] To be the greatest warrior in the Exalted Host. Unending shall be your victories and forever shall they be remembered. You will be a poet and sage and scholar with an unerring blade and an immaculate bow. Your enemies, and you shall make enemies, will be humbled by your skills. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Battle]

[X] You have a stormcloud inside you, and when you call upon its power you can release shocks of lightning or shroud your weapons in electricity. [Air Aspect]

 

[veekie]

[X] To be the Founder of a new Great House. With dedicated service to the Realm and its eternal Scarlet Empress you will be Twice Exalted. Your name will be carved into history as synonymous with glory and reach, the equal of Ragara or Mnemon or new V'neef. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Legacy]

[X] You can control water in the air around you, manipulating fog and mist to befuddle your enemies and hide your own presence. You can even form the mist into your own image. [Water Aspect]

 

[Nevill]

[x] To be a peerless general of the Realm Legions. You shall conquer armies and bend nations to the will of the Empire, and you will line the walls of your fortress-palace with trophies taken from every corner of Creation. To your soldiers you will be as Mela Reborn, a dragon-god of war in mortal flesh. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Command]
[x] You can stomp your feet to create a shockwave through the earth strong enough to overturn wagons or large monsters, and send dozens of people sprawling. [Earth Aspect]

 

[Uhtread]

[X] To be the Founder of a new Great House. With dedicated service to the Realm and its eternal Scarlet Empress you will be Twice Exalted. Your name will be carved into history as synonymous with glory and reach, the equal of Ragara or Mnemon or new V'neef. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Legacy]
[X] You have a stormcloud inside you, and when you call upon its power you can release shocks of lightning or shroud your weapons in electricity. [Air Aspect]

 

[PandaHat]

[X] To be the greatest warrior in the Exalted Host. Unending shall be your victories and forever shall they be remembered. You will be a poet and sage and scholar with an unerring blade and an immaculate bow. Your enemies, and you shall make enemies, will be humbled by your skills. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Battle]

[X] You can control water in the air around you, manipulating fog and mist to befuddle your enemies and hide your own presence. You can even form the mist into your own image. [Water Aspect]

 

[zang269]

[X] To be the Founder of a new Great House. With dedicated service to the Realm and its eternal Scarlet Empress you will be Twice Exalted. Your name will be carved into history as synonymous with glory and reach, the equal of Ragara or Mnemon or new V'neef. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Legacy]

[X] You can lighten your limbs and increase your physical speed eightfold, allowing you to strike with your sword so fast as to be imperceptible or fire one arrow and then fire eleven more before the first strikes its target. [Air Aspect]

Speed is king! Hit hard if you want, but to strike ten times is more important than striking five times as hard.

 

[Prefixmancer]

[X] Your body is like a fresh green sapling, able to stretch and flex in impossible ways. Your flexibility is such that you can bend around blows and extend the reach of your body. [Wood Aspect]

 

[Ashen Cross]

[X] To be the greatest warrior in the Exalted Host. Unending shall be your victories and forever shall they be remembered. You will be a poet and sage and scholar with an unerring blade and an immaculate bow. Your enemies, and you shall make enemies, will be humbled by your skills. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Battle]
[X] You can pull water from your heart and fashion it into the shape of extra limbs which you can use to attack and defend yourself instinctively. [Water Aspect]

 

[Ct613hulu]

[X] To be the Founder of a new Great House. With dedicated service to the Realm and its eternal Scarlet Empress you will be Twice Exalted. Your name will be carved into history as synonymous with glory and reach, the equal of Ragara or Mnemon or new V'neef. For this reason do you go to the House of Bells. [Passion for Legacy]

[X] You can lighten your limbs and increase your physical speed eightfold, allowing you to strike with your sword so fast as to be imperceptible or fire one arrow and then fire eleven more before the first strikes its target. [Air Aspect]

 

[rosemythos]

[X] To be the Founder of a new Great House. [Passion for Legacy]
[X] You can pull water from your heart and fashion it into the shape of extra limbs which you can use to attack and defend yourself instinctively. [Water Aspect]