So, while Cavalier's arguments and write-in are most potent, and convincing, I still have found myself writing a stunt/fanwork for Lusang. I'm going to post it not because it might be the best or wisest choice, but because it has the type of story that I want to see the most of right now. Though, just in passing, I'm kinda sad that if Sail had won we wouldn't even have been able to get on a ship before Anys tried to murder us indirectly. That just sucks!
Fanwork ## Word Count 1016
As Sesus Ulyssian considered his options he thought back and considered what had brought them to this point. It was clear that the battle with Cathak Polemgaos had been the final straw. It had broken something in Anys Syn. It had pushed her to extremes that even Admiral Zao had not considered plausible. Brute force and personal control were not the preferred tactics of most of the Sidereal Exalted, but it seemed that Anys Syn believed herself to have reached almost the final extremity. It was perhaps well that she did not feel without alternative, for if she had, the damage a powerful Elder Sidereal could do in her death throes was not to be underestimated.
It appeared that the Blade Ambition might have struck truer than he knew. Had he taken the opportunity it had granted to begin a Civil War it was unlikely that all the force of the Realm would be arrayed against him as they were. Syn had wrought her conspiracy well, her ability to truthfully say she was Hesiesh combined with her powers as an Elder Sidereal had allowed her to weld the Realm back into a semblance of unity. It was as yet a weak weld, one that could break if it faced too great a pressure, but if given time to set it could be the foundation for a stronger Realm.
On the face of it a stronger Realm meant that Creation itself had a stronger protector and that it would be able to survive the storm of foes threatening it. Unfortunately, it was unlikely that such a pleasant future would be the end result of Anys Syn's manipulations. She was performing a difficult and possibly unsustainable balancing act. Her direct control of the Realm competed with the thousand thousand responsibilities of the leader of the Bronze Faction, as well as the other duties that one of the Eldest active Sidereals would have accrued in a millenia long lifetime.
It was far more likely that at some point she would misstep in some manner, and one of the many enemies of the Realm would take advantage to begin an avalanche of chaos. As she lost control, every aspect of her life would begin to unravel with disastrous consequences. She would strive ever harder to maintain control only for it to slip through her fingers, for the supernal excellence of the Solar Exalted was beyond her, the Five-Score Fellowship was long broken, and the Lunars would care nothing for her or the Realm save to destroy them. Only the Dragonblooded would stand with her, and if her masquerade was revealed then the basis of Sidereal control of the Terrestrial Exalted would be destroyed.
Syn's plan was the fate of Creation writ small, surrounded by foes while playing a delicate game to weave between hostile forces, and with a better than even chance of a horrible doom for all concerned. Even her chosen tactics for dealing with Zao and Ulyssian were a reflection of her vastly reduced time. Rather than remove either of them directly, she had mitigated Zao's influence and manipulated Ulyssian's posting. Any of the options that had been put forward would be deadly to the vast majority of Exalted, let alone one as newly chosen as Ulyssian.
However, that did not mean they would be lethal to Ulyssian. By allowing the trap laid out by Syn to appear to function, Ulyssian would blunt her attack without the loss of his local assets. Alternatively, he could fade from the realm, fake his death with the aide of his Infernal allies, but then he would lose his place among the Great Houses, and his access to the resources of the Realm.
The threats facing Lusang were great enough that Syn would think them sufficient to end him. They had already claimed multiple powerful Dragonblooded and the situation appeared utterly hopeless, which was the only reason he had been offered a posting in a province so theoretically rich. It would take all of his efforts to do so, but if Ulyssian could defeat or otherwise remove the forces threatening Lusang he would be in a vastly stronger position than he now stood. His control of the Satrapy would be bound as if in Orihcalcum and he would have near total control of its resources and population.
What was more, the terms of the Satrapal Writ would give him greater legitimacy. It was not impossible that Syn would eventually command the Immaculate Order to remove him if he grew too strong, but even the divine word of the Dragons might come into doubt if it contradicted itselfwas his legacy too strongly. Repeated, written, and public acceptance as one truly favored by the Dragons would make it difficult to declare him Anathema. Not impossible by any means, but it would fracture the image of divine perfection that Syn required for her plan to function.
Serentidopolis was also an option for using Syn's tactics against her, but one less appealing to he who had been Odyssial. Navigating the morass of corruption and graft that enveloped the city would be difficult enough for him without touching upon the apparent Heavenly disfavor plaguing the populace. Ulysssian's strengths were greater in the arena of combat than in that of bureaucrats. It would not be wise to attract the attention of Yu-Shan any more than it would any other major faction's. Ulyssian had quite enough powerful people trying to murder or otherwise neutralize him as things stood.
In the end, turning Syn's own efforts to end him to his own ends appealed to Ulyssian. Using other parties underestimation of him to his advantage had long been a part of his life, and it pleased him to use the hostile works of an Elder Sidereal to his benefit. Turning certain doom into transcendent glory was his legacy and duty as a Solar Exalted, even in circumstances that would almost certainly defeat any other member of the Exalted Host. Mortals and Dragonblooded had learned the lesson well already, but now Anys Syn too would learn that Odyssian Finds A Way.
