[X] ...Sesus Khem Po Fan, your cousin. Born a few months after you in an adjacent household he spent most of his life being compared to you, often unfavorably. You've only met him a half dozen times in your life, at Sesus galas which pitted you against one another as tools of your parent's vanity.
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Beneath a Hundred Ringing Bells [Exalted Shonen Quest]
- Thread starter Kymme
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Location
- The North
Thank you for pointing out those typos! I've made corrections now.
I'm glad you're enjoying the story! As for traditional Air Aspect abilities and the like, I'm not really going to conform to Exalted's mechanics very much in this Quest. Dragon-Blooded in this story will be able to do things that they cannot in canon, and I'm interested in reimagining their powersets to be more open and outward in their elemental theming. I'm definitely going to ignore the mechanics in favor of telling the best story I can.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] ...V'neef Hangbu, your old primary school rival. You humbled him time and time again with your archery skills over the years. He was actually expelled from your school post-Exaltation, when his audacious attempts to overshadow you wound up getting a fellow student injured.
Last edited:
- Location
- Earth
[X] ...Sesus Khem Po Fan, your cousin. Born a few months after you in an adjacent household he spent most of his life being compared to you, often unfavorably. You've only met him a half dozen times in your life, at Sesus galas which pitted you against one another as tools of your parent's vanity.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] ...Mnemon Tehou! Let's have a bitter rival we richly deserve!
[x] ...V'neef Hangbu, your old primary school rival. You humbled him time and time again with your archery skills over the years. He was actually expelled from your school post-Exaltation, when his audacious attempts to overshadow you wound up getting a fellow student injured.
- Location
- France
[x] ...Mnemon Tehou, you old primary school punching bag. Once, they held all of the power in your primary school - first in class to Exalt. After you took your Second Breath the tables were turned, and you quickly devoted your time and effort to crushing them in every field, from history lessons to calligraphy training. He was the kindling on which you stoked your Burning Muse Style.
- Location
- [REDACTED]
[X] ...Sesus Khem Po Fan, your cousin. Born a few months after you in an adjacent household he spent most of his life being compared to you, often unfavorably. You've only met him a half dozen times in your life, at Sesus galas which pitted you against one another as tools of your parent's vanity.
No family like a Dragonblooded family.
No family like a Dragonblooded family.
A Race Against the Sun 4
- Location
- The North
You cringe internally, but also with your face. Of all the horrid specters of your past, his is the one that confronts you first. You expected some sort of roadblock to head you off, but not him! And his friend - you don't recognize her, but she's holding her staff with the posture of a trained fighter. They both have red hair and pale skin, the Empress' own complexion. Perhaps they're both Mnemon scions? What is your plan? You've got to proceed with caution - if you drop your knife and go for your bow or your sword they'll pounce.
"Mnemon Tehou," you say, turning your grimace into a wry smile. "How's your handwriting?"
Tehou's eye twitches. First blood is yours. "I'm not here to exchange pleasantries, Sesus." He spits the word. His fists tighten. "You're going to suffer an 'accident' en route to the House of Bells. Not career-ending, of course, but enough that you'll limp into campus well after sundown," he says, eyes shining with anticipation. "Dressed as you are, I'd be doing you a favor! C'mon, you don't want the instructors to see you like that in broad daylight, do you?"
"You know it's too late for that, Tehou." The young woman says, tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder. "The Chuzei's seen her already, along with everyone else. Dragons, it's so funny!" She looks down her nose at you, gleeful. "You think you're such a bigshot, but you're so obviously pathetic! What even happened to you? Did you slip and fall in the mud or something?"
You feel an indignant flame of your own rising in your chest. Do you tell them of your battle against the leopard? No, they've no real reason to believe you. Besides, they're hardly worth the breath. That tree-running cadet is long gone, but now you've got a road to follow. It seems to curl down from the west slope of the hill - separated from you by this tangled wooden obstacle course.
"Why the silence, Sesus? You've always been so eloquent, and now you've got nothing to say? Where's that famous wit of yours?" Tehou takes a step forward and braces himself, sandals sliding powerfully into place on the bare dirt. His hands are spread wide, fingers twisted inwards like claws.
It's some kind of… Tiger stance? You readjust the grip on your knife, keeping your posture relaxed. Tehou's never been your equal in combat, and a few months apart certainly won't have changed that. You've much less of a handle on his cousin, though.
"Bold, Tehou, to assume a pitiful man is deserving of my wit. Where does chaff like you get off thinking you're worthy of the sword rather than the sickle?" You sigh mockingly. "Ah, but you did always have such trouble with those High Realm characters. I assume your cousin has been teaching you to read? Miss, you've certainly got your work cut out for you."
Tehou's cousin suppresses a snort, and Tehou's will snaps. He bounds forward into the earth, silver jacket trailing him like the tail of a submerging whale. Tehou's been Exalted for a whole year longer than you, and in that time he's learned to harness his Manifestation - he can part loose earth like water and swim through it as fast as any fish.
He leaps from the earth in another explosion of dirt, throwing a wide kick into your raised guard. You stagger and he leaps back into the ground, disappearing from sight. Behind you is the obstacle course, all troughs of water and wooden scaffolding. Before you are two Dragon-Blooded, scions of House Mnemon. The sun hasn't yet set, but the clouds obscure its exact position. You've got three hours, at most.
What do you do?
[ ] Fight them. You far exceed Mnemon Tehou in skill of battle, and even if his cousin has some skill you're the only one here with real weapons. A battle will leave them both thoroughly trounced, and you thoroughly exhausted.
[ ] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
"Mnemon Tehou," you say, turning your grimace into a wry smile. "How's your handwriting?"
Tehou's eye twitches. First blood is yours. "I'm not here to exchange pleasantries, Sesus." He spits the word. His fists tighten. "You're going to suffer an 'accident' en route to the House of Bells. Not career-ending, of course, but enough that you'll limp into campus well after sundown," he says, eyes shining with anticipation. "Dressed as you are, I'd be doing you a favor! C'mon, you don't want the instructors to see you like that in broad daylight, do you?"
"You know it's too late for that, Tehou." The young woman says, tossing a lock of hair over her shoulder. "The Chuzei's seen her already, along with everyone else. Dragons, it's so funny!" She looks down her nose at you, gleeful. "You think you're such a bigshot, but you're so obviously pathetic! What even happened to you? Did you slip and fall in the mud or something?"
You feel an indignant flame of your own rising in your chest. Do you tell them of your battle against the leopard? No, they've no real reason to believe you. Besides, they're hardly worth the breath. That tree-running cadet is long gone, but now you've got a road to follow. It seems to curl down from the west slope of the hill - separated from you by this tangled wooden obstacle course.
"Why the silence, Sesus? You've always been so eloquent, and now you've got nothing to say? Where's that famous wit of yours?" Tehou takes a step forward and braces himself, sandals sliding powerfully into place on the bare dirt. His hands are spread wide, fingers twisted inwards like claws.
It's some kind of… Tiger stance? You readjust the grip on your knife, keeping your posture relaxed. Tehou's never been your equal in combat, and a few months apart certainly won't have changed that. You've much less of a handle on his cousin, though.
"Bold, Tehou, to assume a pitiful man is deserving of my wit. Where does chaff like you get off thinking you're worthy of the sword rather than the sickle?" You sigh mockingly. "Ah, but you did always have such trouble with those High Realm characters. I assume your cousin has been teaching you to read? Miss, you've certainly got your work cut out for you."
Tehou's cousin suppresses a snort, and Tehou's will snaps. He bounds forward into the earth, silver jacket trailing him like the tail of a submerging whale. Tehou's been Exalted for a whole year longer than you, and in that time he's learned to harness his Manifestation - he can part loose earth like water and swim through it as fast as any fish.
He leaps from the earth in another explosion of dirt, throwing a wide kick into your raised guard. You stagger and he leaps back into the ground, disappearing from sight. Behind you is the obstacle course, all troughs of water and wooden scaffolding. Before you are two Dragon-Blooded, scions of House Mnemon. The sun hasn't yet set, but the clouds obscure its exact position. You've got three hours, at most.
What do you do?
[ ] Fight them. You far exceed Mnemon Tehou in skill of battle, and even if his cousin has some skill you're the only one here with real weapons. A battle will leave them both thoroughly trounced, and you thoroughly exhausted.
- You cement your reputation as a badass among the First-Year cadets.
- You'll probably arrive at the House of Bells later than most other cadets. The instructors probably won't be as impressed as your fellow students. You'll be placed in a lower bracket within your class.
[ ] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
- You'll get to the House of Bells early. This will surely impress the instructors, and earn you at least some status among the people who will be your teachers. You'll be placed in a higher bracket in your class.
- Tehou will tell everyone you backed down from a fight with him. Your first impression among the First-Year cadets will be as a coward.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
Try to catch the wind, nerds.
Try to catch the wind, nerds.
- Location
- France
[X] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
[X] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
- Location
- Probably at sea
[X] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
Being branded a coward is going to suck, but that's the kind of thing I'm pretty darn sure we can fix throughout the year. I imagine the instructors' opinions of us are going to be a little bit harder to shift than those of some random teenagers. We know we're a badass, the rest of Creation can wait until we deign to let them know. In the meantime, we'll be in the higher class and working faster towards our goal, which is after all the point of all this.
Being branded a coward is going to suck, but that's the kind of thing I'm pretty darn sure we can fix throughout the year. I imagine the instructors' opinions of us are going to be a little bit harder to shift than those of some random teenagers. We know we're a badass, the rest of Creation can wait until we deign to let them know. In the meantime, we'll be in the higher class and working faster towards our goal, which is after all the point of all this.
- Location
- Vermont
[X] Fight them. You far exceed Mnemon Tehou in skill of battle, and even if his cousin has some skill you're the only one here with real weapons. A battle will leave them both thoroughly trounced, and you thoroughly exhausted.
Being looked down on by teachers kind of sucks, but this is a shonen quest. Fellow students will offer just as many ways to advance, and if we have less access to official resources, then the time spent exploiting them can be used for personal stuff. The House of Bells can teach us to be good at what we do, but its real power is in networking with the other elemental demigods attending.
Being looked down on by teachers kind of sucks, but this is a shonen quest. Fellow students will offer just as many ways to advance, and if we have less access to official resources, then the time spent exploiting them can be used for personal stuff. The House of Bells can teach us to be good at what we do, but its real power is in networking with the other elemental demigods attending.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
[x] Run. Are they really worth it? Tehou is just some chump you made cry a few times, and whoever his cousin is, she probably can't beat you in a foot-race. Your objective here is to get to the House of Bells, not defeat some Primary School rival.
- Tehou will tell everyone you backed down from a fight with him. Your first impression among the First-Year cadets will be as a coward.
[X] Fight them. You far exceed Mnemon Tehou in skill of battle, and even if his cousin has some skill you're the only one here with real weapons. A battle will leave them both thoroughly trounced, and you thoroughly exhausted.
- Location
- The North
Thank you all for voting! Looks like Rin will be taking the 'run' option.
I've got the post in the works - it's looking to be a pretty long one. As an offering to my readers I've dusted off my drawing skills and made a small sketch of our protagonist.
Thank you all for your support!
I've got the post in the works - it's looking to be a pretty long one. As an offering to my readers I've dusted off my drawing skills and made a small sketch of our protagonist.
Arrival at the House 1
- Location
- The North
They cannot catch you. You will not let them.
Mnemon Tehou bursts from the ground two paces to your left and launches a flashing kick. You step backwards, closer to the obstacle course, and let his kick swing past you.
Tehou doesn't so much land as dive, seamlessly disappearing back into the ground. Such mastery! How can he use his Manifestation for so long without exhausting himself?
No matter - you're running. Your first few strides are great kicks, propelling you backwards while keeping Tehou's cousin clearly in view. Then the ground bulges under you. Tehou can't help himself. He bursts from the ground and you extend your leg into his chest, adding his rising momentum to your own in a twisting leap. You hit the ground running and dash into the tangled course with Tehou and his cousin biting at your heels.
Wooden walls and ladders and rope nets and spinning logs assail you, and you breeze through each in turn with steady poise. Tehou's cousin runs below you, leaving icy footprints in the shallow troughs of water. Though you hurl yourself over each obstacle with ease the gap between you closes bit by bit. In the space of a few seconds she's running directly beneath you on a path cutting straight through the course. At this rate she'll be waiting for you on the other side.
You need more speed, and your Manifestation is more than happy to provide. The wood around you whistles as your soul inhales and then exhales into the whirling blue smoke of your Anima. You take twenty-and-five strides in the space of a breath and drop from the obstacle course onto the road. To your pursuers it must look as though you've vanished, with nought but a pale blue contrail of charged air to mark your winding path.
Your feet strike the road and you run as fast as your legs can carry you. The hill and the obstacle course vanish behind you shortly before your Manifestation runs out and your pace slows.
The exhaustion sets in as weight. The finely-woven cotton of your robes had dried somewhat in the long carriage-ride, but a run through a wet, rain-slicked forest has filled them with twigs and leaves and heavy, heavy water. Your pace slows until you stop and double over, hands on your thighs.
Your long knife is gone. You blink a few times, scanning your empty hands. You must have let go of it at some point on the obstacle course. Damn! You curse yourself and stand up straight, fists balled at your sides. There's no use going back for it - you'd be wasting time and risking a fight with Tehou and his cousin.
You close your eyes and think for a moment when the sun emerges from the clouds. It hovers proudly over the western horizon, near but still resplendent with early evening light. You've still got time. Its light begins to warm your clothes and you feel the weight begin to lift. Onwards.
-----
The road winds inexorably west and soon the forests around fall away into gentle hills and plains with long grasses. A few small towers and wooden forts dot the land, but they are nothing to the House of Bells. It rises high above the plains in a great edifice of stone, wide enough to swallow up the entire western horizon. Its minarets and belfrys carve the sky like a mountain range, and even at this distance you can hear the ringing.
You remember the stories.
It is said that, in the time before the Scarlet Dynasty, the House of Bells was a great fortress of the lords of Arjuf - the triumphator Herons. Each Heron cast a massive bronze bell to mark their rule, carved with depictions of their greatest deeds. These bells hung in the twenty highest towers of this palace, in which the Herons of Arjuf kept their summer courts. When Rawar, the Empress' husband, succeeded his cousin Heron XX, he declined to have a bell cast in his honor. Instead, he declared that the old winter palace be made an academy where the youth of the Scarlet Dynasty might be trained to be great warriors.
The Bells of the Twenty Herons still hang in their belfrys, and scattered across the palace in myriad towers hangs a bell for every graduate.
One day a bell adorned with your name will hang alongside them, and every time word of one of your great deeds reaches this House of Bells each and every cadet will hear its ringing. When you are made the Founder of your own Great House, it will ring with every glorious deed of your lineage. One day your bell will ring.
You set off on the final dash to the House's gates.
-----
Entering the House of Bells feels like stepping into the den of a great monster. All around are the signs of vicious intention, a million places where defenders could hide to lash out in ambush or leave deadly traps. You find yourself somewhat on edge, which is only compounded once you exit the shadow of the gatehouse into the palace's open bailey.
You find yourself in a tiny yard pinched between three towering buildings, alone save for a single individual. A man in a dark green coat sits behind a small table, hands folded neatly over a long scroll. His black hair is pulled back into a tight topknot. He smiles slightly at you, but only with his mouth. His dark eyes are impassive.
"Hello, cadet."
"Um, hello." You say, readjusting your sash. "Are you… the person who is supposed to receive me?"
"Not you specifically, but yes." The man nods his head and opens his book. You can read the tight calligraphy from this distance - it's a list of names. "I'm here to receive all of the cadets and log their arrivals. Your name, cadet?"
His brusqueness irritates you, but you know better than to respond in kind. This man is clearly some employee of the House of Bells, and it's your duty to be on your best behavior. "My name is Sesus Rineera, sir. Daughter of…"
"Sesus…" He says, flipping through the pages of his book. "Sesus. How many cadets are we getting from Sesus this year…" He turns one more page and nods to himself. "Ah, twenty. Rineera..."
You blink. Twenty? Sesus is sending twenty of its scions to the House of Bells this year. Is that typical? Yours is the one of only three Great Houses which maintains its own legions, so it is to be expected that Sesus would wish to educate as many of its scions here as it can. Who could they be? You couldn't count the number of similarly-aged cousins you've met with a dozen hands, but you can only count the cousins you remember on one. Sesus has more than a hundred families across the Blessed Isle and the Threshold. You are but a single heir.
Suddenly you feel quite small.
The man in green coughs into his hand and cuts your existential crisis short. "Rineera." He lifts a sharp-pointed pen in one hand and quickly crosses out your name with a flourish. "You've passed your first examination." He turns his attention to a stack of papers beside his book. "And with flying colors, I might add."
Thank the Dragons. "It is nothing," you say, doing your best to appear humble. "I was guided by the wisdom of Mela."
"Sure you were. Let's see…" He pulls a blank leaf of parchment closer and writes the four High Realm characters of your name. "Looks like you'll be first in Second Scale, Fang Four."
"Pardon?" You ask. He's using legion designations for some reason. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."
The man in green closes his eyes for a moment and steeples his hands. "When an eighty-man talon forms up, Second Scale is the second from the back, and Fang Four stands to the right of Fang Three."
You know that. "I know that. Is this some sort of class placement?" You're trying to maintain your facade of politeness, but anger is starting to creep into your tone. Who even is this man?
"Yes. We sort cadets into Fangs and Scales to keep everything aligned. You've arrived before most of the cadets, which means you'll be given a higher position in the talon."
Second Scale, Fang Four… that means that the preceding three Fangs must already be filled. So… "I'm the sixteenth to arrive, then."
The man in green nods, and, seeing the surprise and alarm in your eyes, smiles. "Sure are. Number fifteen got here about an hour ago."
Your Manifestation grants you incredible speed. You made sure to carry only the base essentials. You blazed a trail through the forests, where other cadets would have been lost. You didn't expect to be first, of course. You had no doubt that there would be First Years with speed-granting Manifestations or pathfinding skills that eclipse your own. To think that you would be beaten out by fifteen of your peers, and by such a wide margin.
You need to grow stronger.
"I… I see." You fold your arms. "Where do I go from here?"
"Nowhere, yet. Once four more cadets have arrived and the Fourth Fang is filled you'll be assigned your servant and taken to your chambers in the First Year barracks." He gestures with his pen to the building behind him. "Until then you'll need to wait here."
You sigh and find a wall to lean on. The next four cadets will be the rest of your Fang. In all likelihood you'll be stuck with them for the rest of your time here at the House. You face the gate and brace yourself for whatever will come next.
-----
You wait for all of five or so minutes before Nellens Eresa bursts into the bailey riding the largest deer you've ever seen. His ruby-cut lenses are bent on his nose and his red hair is filled with twigs and leaves.
The man in green stands, eyes wide, as Eresa coaxes the deer to a stop and slides off of its back. Once his feet are firmly on the ground Eresa readjusts the straps of his massive backpack and gives the deer a reassuring pat on the neck. It chuffs at him and then sprints out of the bailey and back into the plains.
"Eresa!" You call, confused and surprised and somewhat alarmed. "What in Creation is going on?"
Eresa turns to see you and smiles. "Oh, Sesus Rineera! I'm glad to see that you've made it!"
"Forget that, you can tame deer? Since when?"
"Since the Second Breath, I guess." He looks at his hands, as though the magic of his blood is somehow contained within them. "It's my Manifestation. They say the Dragon of Wood, Sextes Jylis, was beloved by all the gentle animals of the world. I've got something like that."
You blink a few times. Putting it together - Eresa is the seventeenth cadet to arrive at the House of Bells, a Wood Aspect, who can befriend animals. You're going to be stuck with this overgrown Nellens boy for the next seven years. You sigh internally and then return Eresa's smile. "That's a fascinating ability. It's fortunate you were able to utilize it to arrive here well ahead of the sunset."
Eresa walks over to the man in green and checks in. You hear whispers above you and so you cast your gaze upwards, to the fourth floor windows of the First Year barracks. The shutters are wide open, and posed around the sill are several cadets who've fixed you and Eresa in their gazes.
The cadet with the long-sleeved orange robe sits with their legs kicked over the sill. They smile down at you cat-like, amused by something. The bluish tinge of their skin marks them as Air Aspected, same as you. Beside them sits a tall cadet, a girl with a straight bob of white hair and a stern, pointed face. Her eyes glimmer in the evening light, betraying her interest. Behind them are three others who watch you with less amusement. The girl with the living bamboo stilts is there, leaning against the window's frame, looking bored. Another girl with wavy violet hair glares down at Eresa, arms folded in an expression of distaste. Just behind them is another boy, with crimson-tipped hair and wide burning eyes. You meet his gaze for a moment and when he turns away you recognize him - your cousin Khem Po Fan. So aloof.
Eresa finishes checking in and walks over to you. He sets down his pack and leans against the wall beside you. "So, we're waiting for three more cadets to complete our Fang." He sighs and sags against the wall, releasing some of his tension. "According to Instructor Six Feathers there are one hundred and forty registered First Years. He says we should be seeing them pour in over the course of the next few hours."
Mnemon Tehou bursts from the ground two paces to your left and launches a flashing kick. You step backwards, closer to the obstacle course, and let his kick swing past you.
Tehou doesn't so much land as dive, seamlessly disappearing back into the ground. Such mastery! How can he use his Manifestation for so long without exhausting himself?
No matter - you're running. Your first few strides are great kicks, propelling you backwards while keeping Tehou's cousin clearly in view. Then the ground bulges under you. Tehou can't help himself. He bursts from the ground and you extend your leg into his chest, adding his rising momentum to your own in a twisting leap. You hit the ground running and dash into the tangled course with Tehou and his cousin biting at your heels.
Wooden walls and ladders and rope nets and spinning logs assail you, and you breeze through each in turn with steady poise. Tehou's cousin runs below you, leaving icy footprints in the shallow troughs of water. Though you hurl yourself over each obstacle with ease the gap between you closes bit by bit. In the space of a few seconds she's running directly beneath you on a path cutting straight through the course. At this rate she'll be waiting for you on the other side.
You need more speed, and your Manifestation is more than happy to provide. The wood around you whistles as your soul inhales and then exhales into the whirling blue smoke of your Anima. You take twenty-and-five strides in the space of a breath and drop from the obstacle course onto the road. To your pursuers it must look as though you've vanished, with nought but a pale blue contrail of charged air to mark your winding path.
Your feet strike the road and you run as fast as your legs can carry you. The hill and the obstacle course vanish behind you shortly before your Manifestation runs out and your pace slows.
The exhaustion sets in as weight. The finely-woven cotton of your robes had dried somewhat in the long carriage-ride, but a run through a wet, rain-slicked forest has filled them with twigs and leaves and heavy, heavy water. Your pace slows until you stop and double over, hands on your thighs.
Your long knife is gone. You blink a few times, scanning your empty hands. You must have let go of it at some point on the obstacle course. Damn! You curse yourself and stand up straight, fists balled at your sides. There's no use going back for it - you'd be wasting time and risking a fight with Tehou and his cousin.
You close your eyes and think for a moment when the sun emerges from the clouds. It hovers proudly over the western horizon, near but still resplendent with early evening light. You've still got time. Its light begins to warm your clothes and you feel the weight begin to lift. Onwards.
-----
The road winds inexorably west and soon the forests around fall away into gentle hills and plains with long grasses. A few small towers and wooden forts dot the land, but they are nothing to the House of Bells. It rises high above the plains in a great edifice of stone, wide enough to swallow up the entire western horizon. Its minarets and belfrys carve the sky like a mountain range, and even at this distance you can hear the ringing.
You remember the stories.
It is said that, in the time before the Scarlet Dynasty, the House of Bells was a great fortress of the lords of Arjuf - the triumphator Herons. Each Heron cast a massive bronze bell to mark their rule, carved with depictions of their greatest deeds. These bells hung in the twenty highest towers of this palace, in which the Herons of Arjuf kept their summer courts. When Rawar, the Empress' husband, succeeded his cousin Heron XX, he declined to have a bell cast in his honor. Instead, he declared that the old winter palace be made an academy where the youth of the Scarlet Dynasty might be trained to be great warriors.
The Bells of the Twenty Herons still hang in their belfrys, and scattered across the palace in myriad towers hangs a bell for every graduate.
One day a bell adorned with your name will hang alongside them, and every time word of one of your great deeds reaches this House of Bells each and every cadet will hear its ringing. When you are made the Founder of your own Great House, it will ring with every glorious deed of your lineage. One day your bell will ring.
You set off on the final dash to the House's gates.
-----
Entering the House of Bells feels like stepping into the den of a great monster. All around are the signs of vicious intention, a million places where defenders could hide to lash out in ambush or leave deadly traps. You find yourself somewhat on edge, which is only compounded once you exit the shadow of the gatehouse into the palace's open bailey.
You find yourself in a tiny yard pinched between three towering buildings, alone save for a single individual. A man in a dark green coat sits behind a small table, hands folded neatly over a long scroll. His black hair is pulled back into a tight topknot. He smiles slightly at you, but only with his mouth. His dark eyes are impassive.
"Hello, cadet."
"Um, hello." You say, readjusting your sash. "Are you… the person who is supposed to receive me?"
"Not you specifically, but yes." The man nods his head and opens his book. You can read the tight calligraphy from this distance - it's a list of names. "I'm here to receive all of the cadets and log their arrivals. Your name, cadet?"
His brusqueness irritates you, but you know better than to respond in kind. This man is clearly some employee of the House of Bells, and it's your duty to be on your best behavior. "My name is Sesus Rineera, sir. Daughter of…"
"Sesus…" He says, flipping through the pages of his book. "Sesus. How many cadets are we getting from Sesus this year…" He turns one more page and nods to himself. "Ah, twenty. Rineera..."
You blink. Twenty? Sesus is sending twenty of its scions to the House of Bells this year. Is that typical? Yours is the one of only three Great Houses which maintains its own legions, so it is to be expected that Sesus would wish to educate as many of its scions here as it can. Who could they be? You couldn't count the number of similarly-aged cousins you've met with a dozen hands, but you can only count the cousins you remember on one. Sesus has more than a hundred families across the Blessed Isle and the Threshold. You are but a single heir.
Suddenly you feel quite small.
The man in green coughs into his hand and cuts your existential crisis short. "Rineera." He lifts a sharp-pointed pen in one hand and quickly crosses out your name with a flourish. "You've passed your first examination." He turns his attention to a stack of papers beside his book. "And with flying colors, I might add."
Thank the Dragons. "It is nothing," you say, doing your best to appear humble. "I was guided by the wisdom of Mela."
"Sure you were. Let's see…" He pulls a blank leaf of parchment closer and writes the four High Realm characters of your name. "Looks like you'll be first in Second Scale, Fang Four."
"Pardon?" You ask. He's using legion designations for some reason. "I'm not quite sure what you mean."
The man in green closes his eyes for a moment and steeples his hands. "When an eighty-man talon forms up, Second Scale is the second from the back, and Fang Four stands to the right of Fang Three."
You know that. "I know that. Is this some sort of class placement?" You're trying to maintain your facade of politeness, but anger is starting to creep into your tone. Who even is this man?
"Yes. We sort cadets into Fangs and Scales to keep everything aligned. You've arrived before most of the cadets, which means you'll be given a higher position in the talon."
Second Scale, Fang Four… that means that the preceding three Fangs must already be filled. So… "I'm the sixteenth to arrive, then."
The man in green nods, and, seeing the surprise and alarm in your eyes, smiles. "Sure are. Number fifteen got here about an hour ago."
Your Manifestation grants you incredible speed. You made sure to carry only the base essentials. You blazed a trail through the forests, where other cadets would have been lost. You didn't expect to be first, of course. You had no doubt that there would be First Years with speed-granting Manifestations or pathfinding skills that eclipse your own. To think that you would be beaten out by fifteen of your peers, and by such a wide margin.
You need to grow stronger.
"I… I see." You fold your arms. "Where do I go from here?"
"Nowhere, yet. Once four more cadets have arrived and the Fourth Fang is filled you'll be assigned your servant and taken to your chambers in the First Year barracks." He gestures with his pen to the building behind him. "Until then you'll need to wait here."
You sigh and find a wall to lean on. The next four cadets will be the rest of your Fang. In all likelihood you'll be stuck with them for the rest of your time here at the House. You face the gate and brace yourself for whatever will come next.
-----
You wait for all of five or so minutes before Nellens Eresa bursts into the bailey riding the largest deer you've ever seen. His ruby-cut lenses are bent on his nose and his red hair is filled with twigs and leaves.
The man in green stands, eyes wide, as Eresa coaxes the deer to a stop and slides off of its back. Once his feet are firmly on the ground Eresa readjusts the straps of his massive backpack and gives the deer a reassuring pat on the neck. It chuffs at him and then sprints out of the bailey and back into the plains.
"Eresa!" You call, confused and surprised and somewhat alarmed. "What in Creation is going on?"
Eresa turns to see you and smiles. "Oh, Sesus Rineera! I'm glad to see that you've made it!"
"Forget that, you can tame deer? Since when?"
"Since the Second Breath, I guess." He looks at his hands, as though the magic of his blood is somehow contained within them. "It's my Manifestation. They say the Dragon of Wood, Sextes Jylis, was beloved by all the gentle animals of the world. I've got something like that."
You blink a few times. Putting it together - Eresa is the seventeenth cadet to arrive at the House of Bells, a Wood Aspect, who can befriend animals. You're going to be stuck with this overgrown Nellens boy for the next seven years. You sigh internally and then return Eresa's smile. "That's a fascinating ability. It's fortunate you were able to utilize it to arrive here well ahead of the sunset."
Eresa walks over to the man in green and checks in. You hear whispers above you and so you cast your gaze upwards, to the fourth floor windows of the First Year barracks. The shutters are wide open, and posed around the sill are several cadets who've fixed you and Eresa in their gazes.
The cadet with the long-sleeved orange robe sits with their legs kicked over the sill. They smile down at you cat-like, amused by something. The bluish tinge of their skin marks them as Air Aspected, same as you. Beside them sits a tall cadet, a girl with a straight bob of white hair and a stern, pointed face. Her eyes glimmer in the evening light, betraying her interest. Behind them are three others who watch you with less amusement. The girl with the living bamboo stilts is there, leaning against the window's frame, looking bored. Another girl with wavy violet hair glares down at Eresa, arms folded in an expression of distaste. Just behind them is another boy, with crimson-tipped hair and wide burning eyes. You meet his gaze for a moment and when he turns away you recognize him - your cousin Khem Po Fan. So aloof.
Eresa finishes checking in and walks over to you. He sets down his pack and leans against the wall beside you. "So, we're waiting for three more cadets to complete our Fang." He sighs and sags against the wall, releasing some of his tension. "According to Instructor Six Feathers there are one hundred and forty registered First Years. He says we should be seeing them pour in over the course of the next few hours."
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- Location
- Probably at sea
[X] Sesus Yoneera
Sesus Karin sounds freaking awesome, but... that doesn't actually mean anything if she doesn't have any kind of connection with us. Having a slightly less incredible mother who is an actual mother surely has to be the better option here. Family is important for Dragonbloods, especially for us if our goal is a new House, and Sesus Yoneera sounds like a better option for that. Less pragmatically, I just like strong parent-child bonds in fiction.
[X] Plan 'This was a military academy, right?'
-[X] A haunted-looking Leedal scion with a giant axe.
-[X] A Cathak scion in full military regalia (minus one horse).
-[X] A sharp-eyed V'neef with a long spear and not a hair out of place.
For lack of a better theme, these three seem like they're actually prepared to come to a military academy, armed with discipline, proper equipment or a Dark Past as the case may be. Having Tepou on the team would be a good way to generate conflict, but I'm sure there's going to be more than enough of that whatever we do. I'm not going to attempt a write in, as I'm sure you've come up with outlines for all your suggested choices and they're probably better than I can do.
Have we seen Rineera's cousin Khem Po Fan before? 'Aloof' is an interesting thing to be, for someone joining at the exact same time as us. Also, was not expecting us to be sixteenth even with our speed boost and not stopping to mess around. Is someone a sorcerer already?
Onward!
Sesus Karin sounds freaking awesome, but... that doesn't actually mean anything if she doesn't have any kind of connection with us. Having a slightly less incredible mother who is an actual mother surely has to be the better option here. Family is important for Dragonbloods, especially for us if our goal is a new House, and Sesus Yoneera sounds like a better option for that. Less pragmatically, I just like strong parent-child bonds in fiction.
[X] Plan 'This was a military academy, right?'
-[X] A haunted-looking Leedal scion with a giant axe.
-[X] A Cathak scion in full military regalia (minus one horse).
-[X] A sharp-eyed V'neef with a long spear and not a hair out of place.
For lack of a better theme, these three seem like they're actually prepared to come to a military academy, armed with discipline, proper equipment or a Dark Past as the case may be. Having Tepou on the team would be a good way to generate conflict, but I'm sure there's going to be more than enough of that whatever we do. I'm not going to attempt a write in, as I'm sure you've come up with outlines for all your suggested choices and they're probably better than I can do.
Have we seen Rineera's cousin Khem Po Fan before? 'Aloof' is an interesting thing to be, for someone joining at the exact same time as us. Also, was not expecting us to be sixteenth even with our speed boost and not stopping to mess around. Is someone a sorcerer already?
Onward!
- Location
- Classified
[X] Sesus Yoneera
Not interested in "mommy doesn't love me" angst.
[X] Plan Interesting
-[X] A Cathak scion in full military regalia (minus one horse).
-[X] A Peleps gourmand who brought their entire kitchen and pantry.
-[X] A haunted-looking Ledaal scion with a giant axe.
Hopefully, we can get a full set of elements. I just picked people that seem interesting to know. I want to know what food guy's deal is, and how the fuck he managed to make 18-20th place with a whole kitchen on his back.
Not interested in "mommy doesn't love me" angst.
[X] Plan Interesting
-[X] A Cathak scion in full military regalia (minus one horse).
-[X] A Peleps gourmand who brought their entire kitchen and pantry.
-[X] A haunted-looking Ledaal scion with a giant axe.
Hopefully, we can get a full set of elements. I just picked people that seem interesting to know. I want to know what food guy's deal is, and how the fuck he managed to make 18-20th place with a whole kitchen on his back.
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[X] Sesus Yoneera
[X] Plan Well Dressed
-[X] A flowery Cynis with hook swords and a heart of gold.
-[X] A sharp-eyed V'neef with a long spear and not a hair out of place.
-[X] A Cathak scion in full military regalia (minus one horse).
[X] Plan Well Dressed
-[X] A flowery Cynis with hook swords and a heart of gold.
-[X] A sharp-eyed V'neef with a long spear and not a hair out of place.
-[X] A Cathak scion in full military regalia (minus one horse).