- Location
- Spain
The blessed isle is the size of the US.
General Exalted Thread
The blessed isle is the size of the US.
Grounders10
Nine-Tailed Kitsune
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada, Mars
I always thought it was more like Russia. Still its the blessed isle, it ain't running out of 'insert critical material' before a threshold state unless said state is the only place you can get said material.
- Location
- Singapore
Hmm.... so instead of stuff like having no medicine, its a mass shortage?
- Location
- London, England
Well... you need to explain how exactly the literally thousands of Dragon-Blooded that live on the Blessed Isle managed to not sort this whole thing out way before it got to that point. Especially once you factor in the Immaculate Order, which is literally an entire militant priesthood of trained demon hunters and know exactly what a Sesseljae is and how best to fight them.
This is the sort of plot you want to apply to, like, a town or a small city, not the Blessed Isle.
- Location
- Singapore
Hmm..... so would a dragonblooded have difficulty hitting or killing a Sessejae? And those in large numbers?
I'llNameThisL8r
Bad at names
- Location
- Here
- Pronouns
- He/Him
If there's just one, sure. But as a rule there's never just one dragonblood involved in anything.
@Accelerator, no offense, but before you start making scenarios regarding Exalted I think you should read a lot more nonfiction about like, governance, economics, and other affairs of state and then apply those to your scenarios.
One Dragonblood vs one small pod of Sesseljae is unlikely to go very well for the demon. And the moment you hit an actual specialist, of which you do have a bunch in the Isle almost certainly, things are going to get even more uphill.
Basically, the Isle has what is colloquialy termed a whole goddamn lot of Exalts, a lot of which are specifically devoted to fucking over demons. It'd be like a sudden outbreak of zombies in the middle of an US military base at full alert. The duration of the thing would probably be measured in hours, and not a lot of them.
Dynamesmouse
Bzzzzzz
Yeah, the Sorcerous Keyword is a very important part of the Infernal power design, being able to create magical effects that do their own thing, instead of having to focus and use your own power to do something.oops
Thank you for reminding me, I had remembered the Countermagic thing, but completely forgot about the 'no commitment' aspect of it, remembering it as an inherent weakness.
That is kind of embarassing, considering how much I had been rereading, and worse, writing charms in the last few days.
I might have to add a line about the Infernal being able to deactivate a charm in my homebrew, thanks for pointing out my misconception.
@Accelerator just add a second circle trickster to your scenario. La Bai-ra, Descended of TED, who may escape Hell whenever a nation's hedonists throw the biggest party they are capable of, who encourages her lessers/insects to mate and hunt every moment they can. Her prescense turned what would have been merely the greatest disappointment any partygoer could ever suffer into the most devestating pharmaceutical disaster the Realm has ever seen.
- Location
- Singapore
I'll look at her.
Or maybe move the whole thing into the Threshold. It'll be more realistic. But less awesome.
Ok, this is embarassing, but where is she?
Last edited:
It's entirely possible he just wrote up the description he gave as something plausible off the top of his head. It is an entirely plausible demon to exist, and it would cause your idea to work, and that is exactly the kind of spontaneous Homebrew to fix problems a lot of the better Exalted Storytellers have to learn.
Or she may be canon somewhere. One of the distinctions I use for being a Good Exalted ST is that you can't actually tell when they bring in homebrew instead of using something canon.
- Location
- my house
So any thoughts on this? I feel like it's poorly balanced, but I suck at eyeballing that kind of thing.
- Location
- England
That or just limit it to being a major house cynis party, that destroyed all their reserves, and local mortal ones, of such substances before it was contained.
Make it major event in history which became the cause of the house never having a party with everyone involved again, an have their attempts to restock cause a major price hike for such substances because a big captive rich audience would do that. This would cause an artificial temporary shortage across the isle for the poorer individuals, and be the kind of event that instils a strong dislike among the common citizenry for even the most harmless of demons.
- Location
- Singapore
Yup, but this is Exalted. Beware of Unintended Consequence is part and parcel of the entire setting. A well meaning Exalted accidentally getting rid of all medicine in a city and watching in horror as the death toll mounts is exactly the kind of thing that is liable to happen when you hand godlike power to people who don't have the wisdom to use that power responsibly. (Perhaps not in the game itself, but in the setting itself there should be somebody who watches their neighbourhood suffer with addiction and move to stop it...and not be aware of the knock off effects of their action.)
- Location
- Singapore
I know. Excellent. Perhaps the kid Cathak killed?
Last edited:
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Actually, that's one of the places the inspiration for the idea from
(with Revlid's social hack taking the place of Motivations in your system). I've been idly thinking about adapting it for use in 2E.As for being transactional, I don't think that's really a problem. Maybe it's the syndic in me but I think most human interaction can be understood through the lens of exchange since everything can be assigned some kind of value, no matter of intangible or abstract.
Assuming you only use Principles/Motivations to represent facets of your character that you feel are narratively relevant, it works just fine for even casual interaction.
For example, if sexuality is a significant part of your character, you'd probably have something representing this in your Principles, showing the ST that it is something that your character has assigned value and thus can be influenced by.
This doesn't mean your character is asexual if they don't have a principle representing their preferences, it just means it isn't very relevant to their character and thus doesn't have much purchase on them and thus trying to seduce them through bedroom eyes probably won't be very productive.
It's not just desires either. Virtues, ideals, hopes, ambitions, whatever. They're all things human beings value and are thus things that can be assigned value. From that perspective, it's fine if the system is transactional because human interaction can naturally be understood and represented through that paradigm.
Am I making some kind of sense?
- Location
- Singapore
Anyway, I'll do it.
This can't go wrong.
Why the Blessed Isle hates demons.
It is well known everywhere that demons were dangerous, deceptive beings. That they would trick you with pretty lies. That no matter how innocuous or useful they maybe, it was just a trick. Just like the words of an Anathema. Sorcerers who specialized in demons were shunned, and some of the more puritan immaculates felt that those who studied demonology had been somehow tainted with their knowledge.
But this was not always so. In the past, demon summoning was, if not admired, at least shown as living proof of the ascendancy of the dragonblooded. As living proof of how, due to the Dragonblooded's enlightenment and spiritual perfection, they were able to seamlessly and perfectly command these demons. That these demons, no matter their power or strength, no matter how terrible their appearance, all bowed before the Dragonblooded.
That changed after the event. The event was a large party, held by House Cynis, to celebrate the Exaltation of one of their members. And it started with a copious amount of drugs. Drugs from all four directions, from the rarest of them all to common opium, to bone-ash from the underworld to congealed dreams to the fair folk. There was even a bottle of Celestial wine.
As the party was in full swing, more and more people got drunk, they realized a massive problem. As people got drunk and intoxicated upon the various drugs, they could not get drunk and high on other drugs. And thus, they could not sample a full variety. There was a limit to their debauchery, and for house Cynis, this was unbearable. A solution was made, involving a sorcerer summoning several stomach bottle bugs. Whenever a guest had felt they had enough of a particular drug or alcohol, or wished to sample another without their previous tastes clouding the sensation.
The sorcerer was bored by this duty. As the party revelled around him and it reached the climax, his boredom became unbearable. Spying a bottle of Western fire-wine, he ordered his stomach bottle bug to continue cleansing anybody who went into the area.
A large group of drunks, roughhousing, proceeded to enter the area by accident. Following its orders, the Sesseljae sucked the poisons amd drugs out of them.
Then it died. Then the 2 new bugs, free from any sorcerous bindings, proceeded to feast themselves on the various drugs, alcohol and recreative substances within the mansion, and multiplied. A mass swarm of Sesseljae appeared, and it took a whole day to destroy them. By then, the damage was done. Within 100 miles of the mansion there was not a single drop of wine, alcohol, opium, or drug.
The damage done to the people was staggering. With no opium, there was nothing to ease the pain. Nothing to remove the edge of the agony of a surgery or an amputation. With no alcohol swabs nor drugs, there was no way to prevent infection. Wounds began to fester and become gangrenous. The air began to smell of rot. Patients conditon worsened as the poultices and tinctures for their maladies were consumed, and the air was filled with the moans as they did not even have opium to numb the pain.
The shortage of any drugs or medicine had caused prices to skyrocket, causing bidding wars for the smallest bottle of poultice. Even at this time, numerous quacks and frauds went around selling false medicines, poisoning people with faulty substances. The neighbouring merchants whose stock was intact, letting their greed overtake their compassion, decided to raise their prices to take advantage of the increased demand. This caused an uproar for 2 reasons.
1. The merchants, were taking advantage of their families and friends pain and misery to make money. 2. The merchants no longer sold their goods at normal prices to people outside the affected area, causing even more shortages.
The sudden increase in the price of medicine and alcohol throughout a large area of blessed isle, eventually sparked off a massive riot. Merchant warehouses were opened up and looted. Stands were smashed and their owners chased out of town. People were grabbing medicine and opium for their friends and families who need it, while alcoholics drank down expensive wine meant for rich patricians down by the gallons. The riots caused civil unrest, injuries, and worst of all, fires, burning down an entire section of dockyard at the Flowing River port when the news of the merchant's outrageous prices had spread out.
In the end, the riot was forcibly dispersed, and the medicines redisributed to the afflicted villages. But the chaos, death, and suffering caused by the seemingly harmless Sesseljae had ingrained itself within the public consciousness, and from that day onward no demons were welcome on the blessed isle. The ones who could summon them, the sorcerers, had a massive blow to their image. No longer were they to summon up angelkae or agatae for parties. Now, they were marginalized.
Forgotten.
This can't go wrong.
Why the Blessed Isle hates demons.
It is well known everywhere that demons were dangerous, deceptive beings. That they would trick you with pretty lies. That no matter how innocuous or useful they maybe, it was just a trick. Just like the words of an Anathema. Sorcerers who specialized in demons were shunned, and some of the more puritan immaculates felt that those who studied demonology had been somehow tainted with their knowledge.
But this was not always so. In the past, demon summoning was, if not admired, at least shown as living proof of the ascendancy of the dragonblooded. As living proof of how, due to the Dragonblooded's enlightenment and spiritual perfection, they were able to seamlessly and perfectly command these demons. That these demons, no matter their power or strength, no matter how terrible their appearance, all bowed before the Dragonblooded.
That changed after the event. The event was a large party, held by House Cynis, to celebrate the Exaltation of one of their members. And it started with a copious amount of drugs. Drugs from all four directions, from the rarest of them all to common opium, to bone-ash from the underworld to congealed dreams to the fair folk. There was even a bottle of Celestial wine.
As the party was in full swing, more and more people got drunk, they realized a massive problem. As people got drunk and intoxicated upon the various drugs, they could not get drunk and high on other drugs. And thus, they could not sample a full variety. There was a limit to their debauchery, and for house Cynis, this was unbearable. A solution was made, involving a sorcerer summoning several stomach bottle bugs. Whenever a guest had felt they had enough of a particular drug or alcohol, or wished to sample another without their previous tastes clouding the sensation.
The sorcerer was bored by this duty. As the party revelled around him and it reached the climax, his boredom became unbearable. Spying a bottle of Western fire-wine, he ordered his stomach bottle bug to continue cleansing anybody who went into the area.
A large group of drunks, roughhousing, proceeded to enter the area by accident. Following its orders, the Sesseljae sucked the poisons amd drugs out of them.
Then it died. Then the 2 new bugs, free from any sorcerous bindings, proceeded to feast themselves on the various drugs, alcohol and recreative substances within the mansion, and multiplied. A mass swarm of Sesseljae appeared, and it took a whole day to destroy them. By then, the damage was done. Within 100 miles of the mansion there was not a single drop of wine, alcohol, opium, or drug.
The damage done to the people was staggering. With no opium, there was nothing to ease the pain. Nothing to remove the edge of the agony of a surgery or an amputation. With no alcohol swabs nor drugs, there was no way to prevent infection. Wounds began to fester and become gangrenous. The air began to smell of rot. Patients conditon worsened as the poultices and tinctures for their maladies were consumed, and the air was filled with the moans as they did not even have opium to numb the pain.
The shortage of any drugs or medicine had caused prices to skyrocket, causing bidding wars for the smallest bottle of poultice. Even at this time, numerous quacks and frauds went around selling false medicines, poisoning people with faulty substances. The neighbouring merchants whose stock was intact, letting their greed overtake their compassion, decided to raise their prices to take advantage of the increased demand. This caused an uproar for 2 reasons.
1. The merchants, were taking advantage of their families and friends pain and misery to make money. 2. The merchants no longer sold their goods at normal prices to people outside the affected area, causing even more shortages.
The sudden increase in the price of medicine and alcohol throughout a large area of blessed isle, eventually sparked off a massive riot. Merchant warehouses were opened up and looted. Stands were smashed and their owners chased out of town. People were grabbing medicine and opium for their friends and families who need it, while alcoholics drank down expensive wine meant for rich patricians down by the gallons. The riots caused civil unrest, injuries, and worst of all, fires, burning down an entire section of dockyard at the Flowing River port when the news of the merchant's outrageous prices had spread out.
In the end, the riot was forcibly dispersed, and the medicines redisributed to the afflicted villages. But the chaos, death, and suffering caused by the seemingly harmless Sesseljae had ingrained itself within the public consciousness, and from that day onward no demons were welcome on the blessed isle. The ones who could summon them, the sorcerers, had a massive blow to their image. No longer were they to summon up angelkae or agatae for parties. Now, they were marginalized.
Forgotten.
Last edited:
- Location
- Singapore
Lance of Abhorrence
Cost: 10m
Duration: instant
A spell used for crowds that one wishes to disperse, the sorcerer makes the symbol of sendings and whispers the word uttered by The Unconquered Sun as he gazed upon the first Creature of Darkness. The essence of revulsion coalesces within the sorcerer's hand, and is sent outward in a projectile form towards the crowd one wishes to attack. Upon hitting the crowd, the lance explodes, sending waves of revulsion and nausea radiating outwards from the blast point.
The blast radius of the spell is quite large, approximately 20 metres in radius, or able to affect approximately Magnitude (Sorcerer's essence -2) of people. The waves of nausea weaken and confuse any mortal affected, causing a -3 DV for all actions up to an hour. For essence users, they roll their stamina + resistance against a difficulty of 2. If they succeed, they are unaffected by the energy. If not, they suffer the same fate as the mortals.
AN: was thinking of spells suitable for exalted. Then realized all were hilariously lethal.
Cost: 10m
Duration: instant
A spell used for crowds that one wishes to disperse, the sorcerer makes the symbol of sendings and whispers the word uttered by The Unconquered Sun as he gazed upon the first Creature of Darkness. The essence of revulsion coalesces within the sorcerer's hand, and is sent outward in a projectile form towards the crowd one wishes to attack. Upon hitting the crowd, the lance explodes, sending waves of revulsion and nausea radiating outwards from the blast point.
The blast radius of the spell is quite large, approximately 20 metres in radius, or able to affect approximately Magnitude (Sorcerer's essence -2) of people. The waves of nausea weaken and confuse any mortal affected, causing a -3 DV for all actions up to an hour. For essence users, they roll their stamina + resistance against a difficulty of 2. If they succeed, they are unaffected by the energy. If not, they suffer the same fate as the mortals.
AN: was thinking of spells suitable for exalted. Then realized all were hilariously lethal.
Last edited:
- Location
- United States
Honestlty this sounds like it was written by a Cynis Sorcerer who's cranky that they don't get all the party invites they used to get before they got into demonology. There was never ever a watershed moment where public opinion turned against demons, because public opinion has always seen demons and their summoners as super sketchy.
- Location
- England
Could be interpreted as the point it went from "those sketchy bastards doing something dodgy" e.g. smoking in an enclosed area in the 90's, where its generally considered being dickish, with some groups holding it to be harmful but others finding it enjoyable and "cool". To it being "those sketchy bastards doing something that will hurt me, or something I care about" e.g. smoking in an enclosed area today, where its considered to be actively harmful to everyone around you, will provoke an active negative response in most areas and makes you a "tool".
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Welcome yet again to another session of Sunlit Sands!
Session 17 Log
We continue the 'marathon' scene of the previous sessions, resolving the final few meetings with the growing cast of characters in lovely Gem. Big props again to @Aleph for running the session.
Session 17 Log
We continue the 'marathon' scene of the previous sessions, resolving the final few meetings with the growing cast of characters in lovely Gem. Big props again to @Aleph for running the session.
Last session, we opened on Hinna revealing herself as a clandestine sorcerer in the Despot's employ. Amusingly though, she was not there on official business. No, her business was personal. As it gradually became clear, Hinna was a sun-worshiper!
Now, it's worth noting that even the Immaculate Order recognizes the Incarnae and includes them in prayer, but they believe that veneration of such gods should be done with humility and distance. Out in the Threshold, or further, you get more varied expressions of cult behavior. There's no reason why sun cults shouldn't exist, and Hinna, I got the impression, had a very 'secular' interest in the Holy Sun and the science behind his powers.
I like that Aleph used Hinna to reveal the concept of essence-trapping crystals, or to reinforce their existence. The idea is that the Storyteller should try to arm the player with tools and knowledge so that they can take actions. One of Exalted's bigger conveyance issues is that most players are conditioned to look at things in terms of their character sheet or Charms. That'll come up again later.
Further, Inks herself as a Solar does not actually have any organized opinion on the Sun as a god or how he relates to her, beyond what she knows of Immaculate propaganda and her own observations. Objectively, the Sun is a god, who can be prayed to, and like all gods, can but does not always reply to prayer. Inks has no moral, ethical or cultural drive to prolyetize for the Sun, except that cults have power, and she can use that power for more secular concerns.
Like, in Creation, you are supposed to, in my opinion, raise cults to gods for the purposes of getting those gods or cults to do something for you, not in a purely transactional sense, but still an operational one. A cult to the god of health can power the blessings and artifice in a magical hospital, for example.
Anyway, I'm not sure of Hinna's deeper motives yet, but she soundsinteresting...
One thing I'll point out for this session, is that it was very much a 'glut' of new content and objectives, as per Aleph's view that sometimes stuff just happens and the players have to deal. Done well it's fine, but as mentioned, the careful balance of screentime is critical.
Moving on from Hinna, Inks finally has a chance to examine Pipera's contract. As the session notes, there were some interesting clauses included, and we had an interesting, chararcterful conversation about it. Pipera's cagey, and Aleph deliberately wrote her so that Inks would have someone she had to win over, as opposed to just being blinded by beauty or intelligence. A challenge, in essence.
I'm not sure if Pipera is 'funny' yet, she hasn't quite hit that 'Gwenyth Paltrow as Pepper' level of artful snark, but she and Inks are still feeling each other out. I hope that as they get used to each other, they develop a strong personal dynamic.
I don't think Aleph expected Inks to get that much of Pipera's backstory in this first real day of working together, but I was happy to note that she had a backstory worthy of an Exalt. Drama, intrigue, lingering scars that built into cold vengeance.. Stuff of epics~
Finally, after out-of-game weeks, we get to see Ajjim and Pesala again, tigerdad and tigerdaughter. Aleph handled Pesala well, not forgetting her, but also making sure not to let the scene revolve around the child. Leaving the 'adults' to talk, Inks and Ajjim got down to business... Or would have if Ajjim hadn't done something silly like gotten himself infected.
with Green Sun Wasting.
This was an artful challenge on Aleph's part, because Inks only has medicine excellencies and Flawless Diagnosis. As mentioned in-log, I was debating keeping Ajjim in the baths and training up between sessions, or working hard to get medicine sooner rather than later.
Training times are crucial for challenges like these, because the ability to just pull a plot power out of thin air saps tension and generally makes the engagement perfunctory. Solars already have enough issues with Storytellers devising meaningful challenges. This was good because I had to evaluate cost and benefit of numerous approaches.
Having secured Ajjim for the moment, the box he brought was interesting, revealing an Essence Token of sorts that was in turn, some malfean green flame. Valuable and dangerous, to say the least.
Overall, most of what I mentioned last post is relevant here- this was an exposition-heavy, 'done to' series of sessions. I wasn't exactly clear on scene divisions either, which may become more of an issue as I learn more scene-duration Charms.
However, now Inks can start taking the initiative back. Current plots include but are not limited to..
Murder plot/ghost exorcist
El-Galabi
Ajjim's green fire source
Hinna's research project
Pipera's standing demands to fight the malevolent dead
Designing better sandships
Building better sandships/shipyard
general artifice/sorcerous advancement.
Now, it's worth noting that even the Immaculate Order recognizes the Incarnae and includes them in prayer, but they believe that veneration of such gods should be done with humility and distance. Out in the Threshold, or further, you get more varied expressions of cult behavior. There's no reason why sun cults shouldn't exist, and Hinna, I got the impression, had a very 'secular' interest in the Holy Sun and the science behind his powers.
I like that Aleph used Hinna to reveal the concept of essence-trapping crystals, or to reinforce their existence. The idea is that the Storyteller should try to arm the player with tools and knowledge so that they can take actions. One of Exalted's bigger conveyance issues is that most players are conditioned to look at things in terms of their character sheet or Charms. That'll come up again later.
Further, Inks herself as a Solar does not actually have any organized opinion on the Sun as a god or how he relates to her, beyond what she knows of Immaculate propaganda and her own observations. Objectively, the Sun is a god, who can be prayed to, and like all gods, can but does not always reply to prayer. Inks has no moral, ethical or cultural drive to prolyetize for the Sun, except that cults have power, and she can use that power for more secular concerns.
Like, in Creation, you are supposed to, in my opinion, raise cults to gods for the purposes of getting those gods or cults to do something for you, not in a purely transactional sense, but still an operational one. A cult to the god of health can power the blessings and artifice in a magical hospital, for example.
Anyway, I'm not sure of Hinna's deeper motives yet, but she soundsinteresting...
One thing I'll point out for this session, is that it was very much a 'glut' of new content and objectives, as per Aleph's view that sometimes stuff just happens and the players have to deal. Done well it's fine, but as mentioned, the careful balance of screentime is critical.
Moving on from Hinna, Inks finally has a chance to examine Pipera's contract. As the session notes, there were some interesting clauses included, and we had an interesting, chararcterful conversation about it. Pipera's cagey, and Aleph deliberately wrote her so that Inks would have someone she had to win over, as opposed to just being blinded by beauty or intelligence. A challenge, in essence.
I'm not sure if Pipera is 'funny' yet, she hasn't quite hit that 'Gwenyth Paltrow as Pepper' level of artful snark, but she and Inks are still feeling each other out. I hope that as they get used to each other, they develop a strong personal dynamic.
I don't think Aleph expected Inks to get that much of Pipera's backstory in this first real day of working together, but I was happy to note that she had a backstory worthy of an Exalt. Drama, intrigue, lingering scars that built into cold vengeance.. Stuff of epics~
Finally, after out-of-game weeks, we get to see Ajjim and Pesala again, tigerdad and tigerdaughter. Aleph handled Pesala well, not forgetting her, but also making sure not to let the scene revolve around the child. Leaving the 'adults' to talk, Inks and Ajjim got down to business... Or would have if Ajjim hadn't done something silly like gotten himself infected.
with Green Sun Wasting.
This was an artful challenge on Aleph's part, because Inks only has medicine excellencies and Flawless Diagnosis. As mentioned in-log, I was debating keeping Ajjim in the baths and training up between sessions, or working hard to get medicine sooner rather than later.
Training times are crucial for challenges like these, because the ability to just pull a plot power out of thin air saps tension and generally makes the engagement perfunctory. Solars already have enough issues with Storytellers devising meaningful challenges. This was good because I had to evaluate cost and benefit of numerous approaches.
Having secured Ajjim for the moment, the box he brought was interesting, revealing an Essence Token of sorts that was in turn, some malfean green flame. Valuable and dangerous, to say the least.
Overall, most of what I mentioned last post is relevant here- this was an exposition-heavy, 'done to' series of sessions. I wasn't exactly clear on scene divisions either, which may become more of an issue as I learn more scene-duration Charms.
However, now Inks can start taking the initiative back. Current plots include but are not limited to..
Murder plot/ghost exorcist
El-Galabi
Ajjim's green fire source
Hinna's research project
Pipera's standing demands to fight the malevolent dead
Designing better sandships
Building better sandships/shipyard
general artifice/sorcerous advancement.
So, those of you who are familiar with Sites from Damnation City for Vampire: the Requiem may recognise the format.
Everyone else should familiarise themselves with it. I'll wait.
Good. Now, the Site format is an excellent way for getting a location seed down which you can slot somewhere. So expect to see more things in this format.
Haunted Seedy Bathhouse
Type: Relaxation
Description: A three story building near the docks in Saata, the Delights of Venus was once covered in brightly coloured murals covering the white stone it is built from. The paint hasn't been touched up in several years and now bone white pokes through on the figures painted on the walls. One of the blue lanterns at the gate always seems to be out, no matter what they try. Sometimes there's a faint smell of blood about the place, but most newcomers blame that on Saata's usual odour.
On the inside, the would-be attempts at decadence are worn thin. The furniture is cheap and easily replaced, the walls have been painted a cheap shade of pale blue, and if you look closely you can see that plaster has been used to cover up score marks in the walls. The gentlemen and ladies who can be hired for extra services if you have the coin are jumpy, and have to be paid extra to work past nightfall. Still, it has all the required accoutrements, both a boiler house and carefully arranged polished metal sheet to heat the water. The communal baths are in the central courtyard, while more private tubs are located on the ground floor.
Cao Dinh is the proprietor of this place, a man nearly as seedy as the building he owns. His old scars and tattoos hint at his former career as a pirate, even if he claims to just have been a merchant. But he's gone honest now, and this place is his genuine attempt to get a safe retirement on land. If only he hadn't bought a haunted bathhouse and if only he hadn't already had more than his fair share of ghosts following him.
History: The bathhouse here was built around fifty years ago, and passed through several hands with no more murders than common for Saata. Then one night, a pirate gang hired the place and their rivals showed up and the water ran red.
Cao Dinh bought this place for cheap, and only then found out why they hadn't asked for more. At first it was just a few strange sights and sounds - strange breezes, noises would be heard at midnight, a customer would swear there was someone in the bath with her even when she hadn't paid for company. But recently it's been getting worse and worse. The furniture has been smashed up repeatedly, the night shift have seen spectral figures, and oh yes, he found three mutilated corpses of guests in one of the pools last week. He dumped them in the harbour and didn't tell anyone, of course, because he's a responsible businessman.
The worst thing, though, is the nightmares. He hears voices in them. Voices that say that they know him. That he killed them. And that now he's bought a place where the world is thin, they can get their revenge.
Activity: The bathhouse should be running twenty five hours a day, but it's emptier than it should be during the night hours. Word is getting around, but with the heavy dock trade in Saata there's more than enough newcomers who don't know to avoid the Delights of Venus. As a result, the crowd here are mostly sailors rather than locals. The atmosphere is generally rowdy, with parties in the communal baths and a constant flow of spirits and sweet seaweed bear. The private baths are sometimes hired by people for meetings, but most of the time they're being used for massages and other related activities.
Significant Storyteller Characters: Cao Dinh, the retired pirate and owner of this establishment. Yuling, who handles the books and swears she's going grey from the stress (Faithful Scribe Style 5), Red Butterfly, the pretty face of the enterprise and freedwoman who greets guests (Exotic Beauty Style 6).
Extras: A rowdy group of pirates from the Padua Family who've taken over the entire central baths and are rather drunk. One of the thaumaturges complaining in a low voice that they need more copper pipes for the boilers. A cluster of masseurs, talking in low voices about what happened last night who clam up as soon as someone approaches.
Hostile Encounters: Someone in the baths believes one of the characters is looking at his girlfriend and takes it personally. One of the bouncers takes a dislike to one of the players and tries to throw them out. Late at night, the door slams shut down and the character's bathwater freezes solid - when their head is underwater.
Locations: The open air central baths, covered by a thin gauzy net strung between the buildings. The private baths, medium sized rooms on the second story which look in and have shuttered rooms. The sizable boilerhouse. The parabolic metal sheets on the roof which focus sunlight into specific pools linked to the main baths to heat them up.
Stories: Take down the owner for the bounty on his crimes. Buy it out from Cao Dinh and turn it into a money-maker which takes advantage of its central location. Help him get rid of the ghosts. Help the ghosts get rid of him. Find your attempts to chill at a bathhouse somewhat thwarted when the water in your bath turns into cold blood.
Everyone else should familiarise themselves with it. I'll wait.
Good. Now, the Site format is an excellent way for getting a location seed down which you can slot somewhere. So expect to see more things in this format.
Haunted Seedy Bathhouse
Type: Relaxation
Description: A three story building near the docks in Saata, the Delights of Venus was once covered in brightly coloured murals covering the white stone it is built from. The paint hasn't been touched up in several years and now bone white pokes through on the figures painted on the walls. One of the blue lanterns at the gate always seems to be out, no matter what they try. Sometimes there's a faint smell of blood about the place, but most newcomers blame that on Saata's usual odour.
On the inside, the would-be attempts at decadence are worn thin. The furniture is cheap and easily replaced, the walls have been painted a cheap shade of pale blue, and if you look closely you can see that plaster has been used to cover up score marks in the walls. The gentlemen and ladies who can be hired for extra services if you have the coin are jumpy, and have to be paid extra to work past nightfall. Still, it has all the required accoutrements, both a boiler house and carefully arranged polished metal sheet to heat the water. The communal baths are in the central courtyard, while more private tubs are located on the ground floor.
Cao Dinh is the proprietor of this place, a man nearly as seedy as the building he owns. His old scars and tattoos hint at his former career as a pirate, even if he claims to just have been a merchant. But he's gone honest now, and this place is his genuine attempt to get a safe retirement on land. If only he hadn't bought a haunted bathhouse and if only he hadn't already had more than his fair share of ghosts following him.
History: The bathhouse here was built around fifty years ago, and passed through several hands with no more murders than common for Saata. Then one night, a pirate gang hired the place and their rivals showed up and the water ran red.
Cao Dinh bought this place for cheap, and only then found out why they hadn't asked for more. At first it was just a few strange sights and sounds - strange breezes, noises would be heard at midnight, a customer would swear there was someone in the bath with her even when she hadn't paid for company. But recently it's been getting worse and worse. The furniture has been smashed up repeatedly, the night shift have seen spectral figures, and oh yes, he found three mutilated corpses of guests in one of the pools last week. He dumped them in the harbour and didn't tell anyone, of course, because he's a responsible businessman.
The worst thing, though, is the nightmares. He hears voices in them. Voices that say that they know him. That he killed them. And that now he's bought a place where the world is thin, they can get their revenge.
Activity: The bathhouse should be running twenty five hours a day, but it's emptier than it should be during the night hours. Word is getting around, but with the heavy dock trade in Saata there's more than enough newcomers who don't know to avoid the Delights of Venus. As a result, the crowd here are mostly sailors rather than locals. The atmosphere is generally rowdy, with parties in the communal baths and a constant flow of spirits and sweet seaweed bear. The private baths are sometimes hired by people for meetings, but most of the time they're being used for massages and other related activities.
Significant Storyteller Characters: Cao Dinh, the retired pirate and owner of this establishment. Yuling, who handles the books and swears she's going grey from the stress (Faithful Scribe Style 5), Red Butterfly, the pretty face of the enterprise and freedwoman who greets guests (Exotic Beauty Style 6).
Extras: A rowdy group of pirates from the Padua Family who've taken over the entire central baths and are rather drunk. One of the thaumaturges complaining in a low voice that they need more copper pipes for the boilers. A cluster of masseurs, talking in low voices about what happened last night who clam up as soon as someone approaches.
Hostile Encounters: Someone in the baths believes one of the characters is looking at his girlfriend and takes it personally. One of the bouncers takes a dislike to one of the players and tries to throw them out. Late at night, the door slams shut down and the character's bathwater freezes solid - when their head is underwater.
Locations: The open air central baths, covered by a thin gauzy net strung between the buildings. The private baths, medium sized rooms on the second story which look in and have shuttered rooms. The sizable boilerhouse. The parabolic metal sheets on the roof which focus sunlight into specific pools linked to the main baths to heat them up.
Stories: Take down the owner for the bounty on his crimes. Buy it out from Cao Dinh and turn it into a money-maker which takes advantage of its central location. Help him get rid of the ghosts. Help the ghosts get rid of him. Find your attempts to chill at a bathhouse somewhat thwarted when the water in your bath turns into cold blood.