Winning vote
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Arc 2 Post 10: Strangers' Way
Strangers' Way
21st of July 2006 A.D.
The trip starts, like most really interesting trips with an argument, specifically about who's going to drive. Harry sees no issue with driving a mostly blue Volkswagen Beetle with AC from the sixties though the heat of midsummer on a two and a half hour journey. Not that you haven't had your share of daydreams about being stuck in some too confining place with Harry, but there is such a thing as too hot and sweaty. Part of you wonders if this is one last attempt to dissuade you from coming at all. Rather than accuse him of that you make the point that Mouse could be really helpful out in the boonies especially if you run into more beserkers.
"Trying to fit him into that car is a crime against dog," you proclaim to an approving woof from the fellow in question. "Look we take my car and you can pay for the gas, how about that?"
"Trouble is who's going to pay for all the electronics that get fried?" he argues. "Look I know that my car can make it because it has for years. No to take more risks we don't have to before we even leave the city." I know my way works so that's what I want to do, you hear in his tone.
"There's a solution to that," you point out, motioning to your phone. Seeing him shift uneasily on the couch you are quick to remind him. "You spent an hour in the basement looking at wizard books or whatever, did you find anything to say that what I'm doing isn't safe?"
"Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence Kirk," he quips.
"Still not a good Spock, maybe a late season McCoy," you counter. "Look it's my car I'm gonna do it anyway, why not do it now so we can drive around in something that isn't pushing half a century and the cruise control doesn't get shot? You get to have more leg room I don't risk dad's insurance premium, everyone wins." You are pretty sure you could fix anything that might happen to your car on the road, even if you have to do it in the middle of the Illinois wilderness or something, but that is beside the point. "You can even observe how the Beige Wagon acts once it has been demonified."
He stops, looks at the car again, then his eyes go just a little out of focus, talking to Lasciel's shadow. 'Ooh... don't put petty demons in the cruise control Molly, I'm just going to have a chat with one of the sub-souls of the Fallen.' Admittedly there is a part of you that is more annoyed that you can't hear her than at any hypocrisy on his part, but still.
"OK do your thing then," he finally says.
You get in and tap your fingers across the dashboard to the tune of Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell, humming along in your mind, calling forth one of Mikaboshi's hell to serve a better cause if they would.
Lost 1 Essence
Demon bound for 1 Week. Will need to be reapplied.
The concept of 'better' is confusing at first, almost shocking and by the time you still the confusion in the buzzing chorus the binding feels loose, frayed... less than it should be. It will last for maybe a week before the spirit is returned to your anima and you have to try again. Ah well good enough for the trip...
Now for the important part, who gets to choose the radio station.
***
"So what did the fey tell you about this guy?" you ask, as Harry finally relaxes a little and leans back into his seat once you are out of the traffic of Chicago's suburbs. He is not, you are relieved to note, a backseat driver, though he apparently cannot help but loom and make it really obvious he would like to say something.
Still between your new friend smoothing out some of the sudden stops and starts and using the warning lights to to signal when you are about to do something silly with the lights you did great for your first long trip outside the city without dad, if you do say so yourself.
"He deals with the same kind of spirits as Gorfel, uses iron to ward his house against them and the land spirits around here, the ancestor ghosts of the Mamaceqtaw don't like him much. That could also indicate that he's been messing with the dead which is a second connection to Gorfel and his lot."
"So we walk in, threaten him into spilling what he knows and then follow the trail where it might lead us."
"Hold on there, we don't know if he was with Gorfel at all, he might just not be liked by the local spirits and that's not a crime and there is no sense in making enemies over nothing," Harry answers. But is is Usum who, unintentionally persuades you to that side. "Such petty conjurors are far below that you can count as enemies Crown of the Endless Night"
Probably not a good attitude to take going into this. Pride goeth and all that so you nod.
***
The town of Menominee, named for the English name of said native tribe doesn't seem to have a lot of people in it, a lot of cows sure sure munching the still green grass along the creek that runs though town, but even near the red brick church in the center of town there aren't that many people on the street and those that are look real funny at the car with Chicago plates coming into town. You wonder what they would think if they knew how strange the car really is...
Patting the dashboard in thanks you get out of the car to the none too well hidden stares of the locals. This isn't church so you had seen no reason to dress any differently than you normally do, piercings and all, if anyone has anything to say about it they can say it to your face.
As for Harry, though he isn't precisely inconspicuous himself he does get into talking to the locals asking about the local landmarks, playing the hapless tourist, lost and too proud to admit it. What he is really doing, he explains is getting the names of local landmarks which the Wyldfae had used to mark where the sorcerer lives.
"Why didn't you just have one of them guide us?" you ask, curious to see what the rebels and rabble of faerie are like. They sound like your kind of spirits.
"If a sorcerer goes to the trouble of making a cold iron anchored ward odds are good they have cold iron weapons, around here cold iron bullets. Not worth the risk to save us a few minutes of looking like clueless tourists," he replies as you make a turn towards somewhat uncreatively named Catfish Creek. The bridge over it is a narrow slab of concrete, its barriers cracked and worn like the bones of some strange water beast left out to rot in the sun
'Old Man Matthews' is on the other side of the bridge, a widower who lives with his grandchildren according to a somewhat chatty fellow in an oversized football jersey. "Don't stop round his part, just drive on through and you'll find the main road eventually," was what he'd said at the last.
Indeed the house makes that impression all by itself. The facade may once have been white, but it so that must have been around the time that Harry's car was factory-new. The windows creek listlessly even in the almost nonexistent breeze and even the roof seems to be shedding tiles. Whatever Old Man Matthews does with his magic it can't be very profitable.
What do you do?
[] Follow Harry's lead
[] Take point
-[] Drop hints about Gorfel and his lot, see if he bites
-[] Pretend to be some kind of winter fey displeased by all the cold iron, that would give him all sorts of wrong ideas about what you can and can't do
[] Write in
OOC: I thought about giving a name vote for the car, but is already has one, it's just that it's alive now.
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Rolls
Do you use your car? Yes, so yes in fact that I rolled in convincing Harry that you might as well put a demon in it now when he can see you do it
Harry Rolls willpower
Harry trying to talk to the demon in his head subtly one success at least but...
DC 5 because you already know about Lash, not that you needed it
Driving roll, would be DC7 because you have never driven outside the city without Michael, but -2 DC from the car demon
Wizard detective doing his job
Do you use your car? Yes, so yes in fact that I rolled in convincing Harry that you might as well put a demon in it now when he can see you do it
Harry Rolls willpower
Harry trying to talk to the demon in his head subtly one success at least but...
DC 5 because you already know about Lash, not that you needed it
Driving roll, would be DC7 because you have never driven outside the city without Michael, but -2 DC from the car demon
Wizard detective doing his job
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[X] Follow Harry's lead
For all our power, he is the professional here.
So... I kept chipping away at the kingdom design. I am, however, aware that endless editing is a sin, and not everyone is going to like additional ideas I came up with (sometimes less is really more). So, before incorporating the changes and additions into the threadmarked post, I'd like to put them up for discussion.
There are three parts. The first one is an update on the build. The second one is lore / mechanical ways to get out of hell, and the final one is the view of state religion dedicated to Molly that I think could be interesting.
For all our power, he is the professional here.
So... I kept chipping away at the kingdom design. I am, however, aware that endless editing is a sin, and not everyone is going to like additional ideas I came up with (sometimes less is really more). So, before incorporating the changes and additions into the threadmarked post, I'd like to put them up for discussion.
There are three parts. The first one is an update on the build. The second one is lore / mechanical ways to get out of hell, and the final one is the view of state religion dedicated to Molly that I think could be interesting.
Large size -1 point
Difficult terrain 0 points
Pockets of Safety +2 points
Balanced Ecosystem 0 points
Eartly Fauna 0 points
Earthly Flora 0 points
Deadly Flora +1 point
Deadly Beasts -1 point
Human Populace 0 points
Resident devil -1 points
Advanced Social Structures 0 points
Advanced technology -2 points
Committed -2 points
Endless Suffering -1 point.
Difficult terrain 0 points
Pockets of Safety +2 points
Balanced Ecosystem 0 points
Eartly Fauna 0 points
Earthly Flora 0 points
Deadly Flora +1 point
Deadly Beasts -1 point
Human Populace 0 points
Resident devil -1 points
Advanced Social Structures 0 points
Advanced technology -2 points
Committed -2 points
Endless Suffering -1 point.
If someone were to look at it from far away, your kingdom would look like a perfect circle with a radius of 263 kilometers, most of its surface is buried under multicolored ice made of water, mercury, krypton, xenon – almost all elements of the periodic table known to man, and perhaps, more. If observed from a closer distance, and by a more discerning eye, the nature of the land appears far more complex, and perilous. Jagged, razor sharp forests of ice-like shards extend hundred meters high, forming a near impossible to traverse landscape. As time passes by, they break, shift, change and grow, as if they were alive. And indeed they are, if not in a way that Earth knows life. Many-limbed creatures, eyeless and pentaradially symmetrical, skitter through these deadly forests, chittering in bursts of infrared radiation.
Such is the depth of your domain's unfeeling coldness, that rivers of liquid oxygen flow through it, confined by the banks of superconducting bronze. Strange, alien creatures that derive nutrition from radiological decay of uranium and breath hydrogen-helium atmosphere, populate these rivers, inimical and universally hostile to everything within their reach. Their bioluminescence is the only source of illumination beyond the soft silver light of the moon traversing the starless black skies, each revolution with a new phase and surface.
To venture into this hellscape in an attempt to escape the kingdom of your heart without permission, is to face almost guaranteed demise, for even if one was to clad themselves into a space-worthy thermally sealed suit, they would still be fleeced to the bone by a never-ending blizzard of ferrous snow. Electrically charged iron and nickel dust cyclone with the wind speeds far exceeding a hundred meters per second obscures the borders of your realm from NeverNever to eye and any electronic equipment.
And yet, not every place within your self is so inhospitable. For even as the iron cyclone rages at the border of the world, a no less ferocious anticyclone expands from its center. Where they meet, in a tiny strip of land only thirty kilometers wide, their clash in the skies is both ferocious and life giving. In that narrow space, the titanic magnetic fields generated by them cancel each other, and their particles' collisions generate heat enough that eternal ring of lightning plasma is raging in the skies, unable to escape its natural confinement. The temperature is high enough that liquid water can flow in this equator. The light is soft and bright enough that photosynthesis is effective. And life, or at least life recognizable by Earthborn eyes at first glance, strives there, desperate to occupy this narrow ring of space allowed to it. Dense and ever shifting forests rustle in the ever blowing winds, their deep blue crowns endlessly shrugging metal dust from themselves. Their trunks stretch ever further in hopes to catch the lightning and fill their underground capacitors with vital energy. Fast and dangerous beasts, iron hided and sharp toothed traverse metal coated land of ever shifting shadows below, seeking either fruit or prey, for life is short and dangerous in this world, and no source of nourishment is to be dismissed.
It is among these forests that civilization of your world exists. It is confined into five great fortress-cities sitting in five corners of a great pentacle, 185 kilometers from the center of the world. Each fortress is positioned on top of a great pole of metal, large enough to generate its own magnetic field and prevent metal dust from passing into the city, and to serve as a source of free electricity for the city's industry. They are connected to each other by great underground channels forming the beams of the pentagram, with magnetically levitating trains moving at the speeds far beyond speed of sound.
Each city is different, unique, strange and, somehow, nostalgic. Each is perfectly independent, and each is required for others to exist prosperously with their own roles.
In the east stands ruby clad city of law and warriors. Forges and training centers fill it, and all those who seek martial perfection, those who wish to pursue the career in law enforcement and law making, those desire to sally forth in defense of the realm, gather there.
To the south east lies the city of knowledge, its emerald flags adorning the walls of its libraries, universities, research centers and laboratories. All those who strive for understanding visit it at least once in their lifetimes. Many a secret is hidden behind its walls, some, likely, unknown even to you, its creator. Certainly, its records extend to before the creation of its sister cities, perhaps to before the realm it is in existed at all.
In the south western corner of the pentagram, the city of art stands, its streets clad paved with saphires. Where silence and focus reign in the libraries of its neighbor to the east, laugher and jubilation can be heard in all parts of this city. Magnificent are its galleries, captivating its theaters, and enthralling its bordellos.
And when the inhabitants of your world tire of jubilation, grow weary of training, become forlorn in their pursuit of knowledge, they travel to the city at the far west corner of the great pentacle. There, under the amethyst roofs of its buildings and ministrations of the carefully selected caretakers, they find the end to their struggle, and beginning of something new. For not all your citizens are human, and none of them know age and death as mortals do, and in time require assistance to move on, to rest, to change, and perhaps to end. It is also there that other guests of your world, souls of the damned are processed and made to atone for their sins, to find salvation and healing before being let out into the wider society.
Finally, in the north, there is a city from which teams of daring explorers venture forth, protected only by their armor and faith in you, to brave the borders of your realm in pursuit of minerals and other wealth. There the services that maintain great transportation arteries linking the five sister cities are located. There the main food production facilities are located. And finally, there stand the great golden gates, beyond which is the only tunnel leading directly to the border of your world.
Great are the cities of your kingdom, each more than a million strong in number, each with its culture, philosophy, dreams and futures. And yet, they are not the crown of this world. For in its very center, there exists a sixth structure.
A giant statue, or a mountain if a form of statue, an exist of the wheel around which the world turns stands in the middle of your soul. Two eastern dragons, one black as the darkest night, the other all colors of rainbow, spiral around each other in a mockery of a human DNA, rising from the ground to challenge the empty skies. In their jaws, a giant crystalline palace rests, its architecture something that doesn't belong to today – only to tomorrow and perhaps to ages long since past. It is the seat of your governance, and the natural meeting place of the governing parties of your subjects. It is also a church, a and a site of holy pilgrimage for them. The only possible glimpse of something that doesn't exist in this realm. Illuminating your throne, and observable only in your throne room is the Sun. Sometimes yellow, and sometimes green.
Such is the depth of your domain's unfeeling coldness, that rivers of liquid oxygen flow through it, confined by the banks of superconducting bronze. Strange, alien creatures that derive nutrition from radiological decay of uranium and breath hydrogen-helium atmosphere, populate these rivers, inimical and universally hostile to everything within their reach. Their bioluminescence is the only source of illumination beyond the soft silver light of the moon traversing the starless black skies, each revolution with a new phase and surface.
To venture into this hellscape in an attempt to escape the kingdom of your heart without permission, is to face almost guaranteed demise, for even if one was to clad themselves into a space-worthy thermally sealed suit, they would still be fleeced to the bone by a never-ending blizzard of ferrous snow. Electrically charged iron and nickel dust cyclone with the wind speeds far exceeding a hundred meters per second obscures the borders of your realm from NeverNever to eye and any electronic equipment.
And yet, not every place within your self is so inhospitable. For even as the iron cyclone rages at the border of the world, a no less ferocious anticyclone expands from its center. Where they meet, in a tiny strip of land only thirty kilometers wide, their clash in the skies is both ferocious and life giving. In that narrow space, the titanic magnetic fields generated by them cancel each other, and their particles' collisions generate heat enough that eternal ring of lightning plasma is raging in the skies, unable to escape its natural confinement. The temperature is high enough that liquid water can flow in this equator. The light is soft and bright enough that photosynthesis is effective. And life, or at least life recognizable by Earthborn eyes at first glance, strives there, desperate to occupy this narrow ring of space allowed to it. Dense and ever shifting forests rustle in the ever blowing winds, their deep blue crowns endlessly shrugging metal dust from themselves. Their trunks stretch ever further in hopes to catch the lightning and fill their underground capacitors with vital energy. Fast and dangerous beasts, iron hided and sharp toothed traverse metal coated land of ever shifting shadows below, seeking either fruit or prey, for life is short and dangerous in this world, and no source of nourishment is to be dismissed.
It is among these forests that civilization of your world exists. It is confined into five great fortress-cities sitting in five corners of a great pentacle, 185 kilometers from the center of the world. Each fortress is positioned on top of a great pole of metal, large enough to generate its own magnetic field and prevent metal dust from passing into the city, and to serve as a source of free electricity for the city's industry. They are connected to each other by great underground channels forming the beams of the pentagram, with magnetically levitating trains moving at the speeds far beyond speed of sound.
Each city is different, unique, strange and, somehow, nostalgic. Each is perfectly independent, and each is required for others to exist prosperously with their own roles.
In the east stands ruby clad city of law and warriors. Forges and training centers fill it, and all those who seek martial perfection, those who wish to pursue the career in law enforcement and law making, those desire to sally forth in defense of the realm, gather there.
To the south east lies the city of knowledge, its emerald flags adorning the walls of its libraries, universities, research centers and laboratories. All those who strive for understanding visit it at least once in their lifetimes. Many a secret is hidden behind its walls, some, likely, unknown even to you, its creator. Certainly, its records extend to before the creation of its sister cities, perhaps to before the realm it is in existed at all.
In the south western corner of the pentagram, the city of art stands, its streets clad paved with saphires. Where silence and focus reign in the libraries of its neighbor to the east, laugher and jubilation can be heard in all parts of this city. Magnificent are its galleries, captivating its theaters, and enthralling its bordellos.
And when the inhabitants of your world tire of jubilation, grow weary of training, become forlorn in their pursuit of knowledge, they travel to the city at the far west corner of the great pentacle. There, under the amethyst roofs of its buildings and ministrations of the carefully selected caretakers, they find the end to their struggle, and beginning of something new. For not all your citizens are human, and none of them know age and death as mortals do, and in time require assistance to move on, to rest, to change, and perhaps to end. It is also there that other guests of your world, souls of the damned are processed and made to atone for their sins, to find salvation and healing before being let out into the wider society.
Finally, in the north, there is a city from which teams of daring explorers venture forth, protected only by their armor and faith in you, to brave the borders of your realm in pursuit of minerals and other wealth. There the services that maintain great transportation arteries linking the five sister cities are located. There the main food production facilities are located. And finally, there stand the great golden gates, beyond which is the only tunnel leading directly to the border of your world.
Great are the cities of your kingdom, each more than a million strong in number, each with its culture, philosophy, dreams and futures. And yet, they are not the crown of this world. For in its very center, there exists a sixth structure.
A giant statue, or a mountain if a form of statue, an exist of the wheel around which the world turns stands in the middle of your soul. Two eastern dragons, one black as the darkest night, the other all colors of rainbow, spiral around each other in a mockery of a human DNA, rising from the ground to challenge the empty skies. In their jaws, a giant crystalline palace rests, its architecture something that doesn't belong to today – only to tomorrow and perhaps to ages long since past. It is the seat of your governance, and the natural meeting place of the governing parties of your subjects. It is also a church, a and a site of holy pilgrimage for them. The only possible glimpse of something that doesn't exist in this realm. Illuminating your throne, and observable only in your throne room is the Sun. Sometimes yellow, and sometimes green.
The realms is Idaho sized in surface area (Large size: -10 kingdom creation points), and is a perfect circle with the radius of 263 km (the surface area of Idaho is 216632 square kilometers, which means that the radius is R=sqrt(216632/Pi)).
There is a small moon seen circling around the realm. It is a super-giant magnet.
Most of the realm is unsurvivable, with only a narrow goldilocks zone, and has a hard terrain (Difficult terrain: +5 points, Pockets of Safety: +15 points). The surface temperature outside the survivable area (indicated white in the map) is ~ -200 C, meaning that nitrogen and oxygen are liquid, and argon, mercury and most other things are solid. The atmosphere in those areas is composed primarily of hydrogen, with heavy presence of deuterium and tritium heavy hydrogen isotopes (I'll explain later). The ground is composed of large ice-like crystals, razor edged and perilous to traverse. They are inspired by tiberium from Command and Conquer. They grow, devour material from the ground and reconstruct it into parts of themselves. Essentially, they are very alien, very dangerous, plant life forms (deadly flora +1 point). Some very alien creatures exist in the rivers of liquid oxygen. Those creatures are mindless and hostile (deadly beasts -1 point). They use thermal energy of nuclear decay for sustenance, and feed on uranium dust that is abundant in the rivers. For a reference picture see a tiberium landscape, but far colder.
The landscape is very heavy with metals and heavy elements. Because of how cold it is, several metals, specifically bronze alloys, are superconducting, creating strong magnetic fields and leading to stuff like levitating rocks existing.
Harsh winds ~ 500 km/h circle the outer edges of the world. Essentially, it's a huge mega-tornado encircling the whole realm. The direction of air movement is indicated on the map (blue curved arrow). The air is heavy with electrically charged iron and nickel dust. This, together with the moon's rotation, essentially creates a super-giant induction motor that generates a magnetic field that plays merry havoc with electronics and navigation. Visibility is also very low. The dust is small enough and sharp enough to cut anything unprotected by serious armor down to bones.
Similar winds, but rotating in an opposite direction, are blowing from the center of the realm out. Where the cyclone and anticyclone meat, they collide, generating friction, electrical discharges and heat. The magnetic fields generated by the two winds also negate each other in this area. Because of this, magnetically confined hydrogen plasma is ignited in the upper parts of the atmosphere. Because of the heavy deuterium tritium presence, low intensity fusion reaction occurs, generating additional heat and some radiation.
All these factors combine to make a narrow band of the surface (indicated in white, 30 km wide) habitable in terms of magnetic fields, temperature, illumination. However, the terrain is still hard enough, and there's metallic dust. Because of this, the human-like civilization is confined to the five great cities.
The cities are separated by dense forests (Earthen flora) of blue and purple leaved plants (colors based on hypothetical exoplant plants, if I got the wavelengths right), that constantly shift in the wind and by themselves, in order to shrug off metal particles accumulating on them. Said particles accumulate on the ground beneath them, and serve as part of their makeup. They also try and catch lightning from the skies for energy, which is accumulated in underground capacitor banks. Because of the excess of metal, animals (Earthen fauna) almost universally have metal shells and are rather heavy.
The cities are located in five corners of a giant pentagram. They are technologically advanced, with complex societies of human and non-human inhabitants (Advanced Social Structures, Advanced technology, human population, resident devils, Commited population). Each city is located on top of a giant pole of metal, paved over with insulating material. In order to generate electricity one needs just to put a metal rod into the ground and attract lightning from the air. The poles generate magnetic fields that keep the metal dust away.
The cities are inspired by the Maidens, as people might have noticed.
In the north (Indicated as yellow) is the "Mercury city" inspired by the Maiden of Journeys. It houses the industries needed to maintain advanced transportation networks existing between the cities and in the cities (Advanced Transportation: -5 points), and the "foraging" industry, which essentially runs Tiberian Sun harvesters – operations to venture out into the hellscape and gather valuable resources. It also houses a large golden gate, beyond which there's a direct route to the realm's border – a giant underground tunnel.
In the east there's "Mars city" (indicated in red), dedicated to war. Since the cities are (mostly) in peace with each other, and depend on each other, it wouldn't make sense to make a "war industry only" city. Because of this, police academies and prisons (gaols: -5 points) are also located there. There are a lot of martial monasteries working on developing magical martial arts. Weapon manufacturers (including for weapons needed in foraging industry) are also located there.
In the south-east there's "Jupiter city" (green on the map), a center of learning, both technological and arcane. Universities, laboratories, arcane centers, and also spy agencies are there.
In the south-west lies "Venus city" (blue on the map), which is an center of entertainment and arts. Theaters, art galleries, TV studios, brothels. Also kindergartens, because children should be happy. It is also a major center of food production.
Finally in the west there's "Saturn city" (purple on the map). It is a medical and psychological counselling center. It also primarily deals with dead souls sent to our realm, other than those we need imprisoned (those go to "Mars city"). Mortuary centers are also there. Because the population of the world is unaging or at least very slowly aging, it would also deal with "endings", ie a very thorough psychological renewal sessions for very old beings to make them make a new beginning in life. This is also the only place where final death can happen in this realm (endless suffering. -1 point, condition for resurrection "any death except one that happened in special rituals in Saturn City").
Population of each city is about a million people. The food production is handled via vertical farms, and very efficient and nutritious alien fruits. There's not much meat, though.
In the center of the realm, there's a giant column depicting two ascending eastern dragons. It is meant to be inspired by Ebon Dragon and Oramus. At the top of the column there's a giant crystalline complex. For image reference, see Crystal Tokyo. It is a political and religious center of the realm, and Molly's seat of power, complete with an (almost always) empty throne. It houses the united government of the people of the realm, even if each city also has self-governance. As a special feature, the throne, which is located at the geometric center of the realm, is illuminated by unseen sun. Anyone sitting in it, if they look up, would be able to see said sun, in an effect that is reverse to how one can see night sky from the bottom of a well (and yes, I know that it doesn't work in real life). The sun is sometimes yellow, and sometimes green.
There is a small moon seen circling around the realm. It is a super-giant magnet.
Most of the realm is unsurvivable, with only a narrow goldilocks zone, and has a hard terrain (Difficult terrain: +5 points, Pockets of Safety: +15 points). The surface temperature outside the survivable area (indicated white in the map) is ~ -200 C, meaning that nitrogen and oxygen are liquid, and argon, mercury and most other things are solid. The atmosphere in those areas is composed primarily of hydrogen, with heavy presence of deuterium and tritium heavy hydrogen isotopes (I'll explain later). The ground is composed of large ice-like crystals, razor edged and perilous to traverse. They are inspired by tiberium from Command and Conquer. They grow, devour material from the ground and reconstruct it into parts of themselves. Essentially, they are very alien, very dangerous, plant life forms (deadly flora +1 point). Some very alien creatures exist in the rivers of liquid oxygen. Those creatures are mindless and hostile (deadly beasts -1 point). They use thermal energy of nuclear decay for sustenance, and feed on uranium dust that is abundant in the rivers. For a reference picture see a tiberium landscape, but far colder.
The landscape is very heavy with metals and heavy elements. Because of how cold it is, several metals, specifically bronze alloys, are superconducting, creating strong magnetic fields and leading to stuff like levitating rocks existing.
Harsh winds ~ 500 km/h circle the outer edges of the world. Essentially, it's a huge mega-tornado encircling the whole realm. The direction of air movement is indicated on the map (blue curved arrow). The air is heavy with electrically charged iron and nickel dust. This, together with the moon's rotation, essentially creates a super-giant induction motor that generates a magnetic field that plays merry havoc with electronics and navigation. Visibility is also very low. The dust is small enough and sharp enough to cut anything unprotected by serious armor down to bones.
Similar winds, but rotating in an opposite direction, are blowing from the center of the realm out. Where the cyclone and anticyclone meat, they collide, generating friction, electrical discharges and heat. The magnetic fields generated by the two winds also negate each other in this area. Because of this, magnetically confined hydrogen plasma is ignited in the upper parts of the atmosphere. Because of the heavy deuterium tritium presence, low intensity fusion reaction occurs, generating additional heat and some radiation.
All these factors combine to make a narrow band of the surface (indicated in white, 30 km wide) habitable in terms of magnetic fields, temperature, illumination. However, the terrain is still hard enough, and there's metallic dust. Because of this, the human-like civilization is confined to the five great cities.
The cities are separated by dense forests (Earthen flora) of blue and purple leaved plants (colors based on hypothetical exoplant plants, if I got the wavelengths right), that constantly shift in the wind and by themselves, in order to shrug off metal particles accumulating on them. Said particles accumulate on the ground beneath them, and serve as part of their makeup. They also try and catch lightning from the skies for energy, which is accumulated in underground capacitor banks. Because of the excess of metal, animals (Earthen fauna) almost universally have metal shells and are rather heavy.
The cities are located in five corners of a giant pentagram. They are technologically advanced, with complex societies of human and non-human inhabitants (Advanced Social Structures, Advanced technology, human population, resident devils, Commited population). Each city is located on top of a giant pole of metal, paved over with insulating material. In order to generate electricity one needs just to put a metal rod into the ground and attract lightning from the air. The poles generate magnetic fields that keep the metal dust away.
The cities are inspired by the Maidens, as people might have noticed.
In the north (Indicated as yellow) is the "Mercury city" inspired by the Maiden of Journeys. It houses the industries needed to maintain advanced transportation networks existing between the cities and in the cities (Advanced Transportation: -5 points), and the "foraging" industry, which essentially runs Tiberian Sun harvesters – operations to venture out into the hellscape and gather valuable resources. It also houses a large golden gate, beyond which there's a direct route to the realm's border – a giant underground tunnel.
In the east there's "Mars city" (indicated in red), dedicated to war. Since the cities are (mostly) in peace with each other, and depend on each other, it wouldn't make sense to make a "war industry only" city. Because of this, police academies and prisons (gaols: -5 points) are also located there. There are a lot of martial monasteries working on developing magical martial arts. Weapon manufacturers (including for weapons needed in foraging industry) are also located there.
In the south-east there's "Jupiter city" (green on the map), a center of learning, both technological and arcane. Universities, laboratories, arcane centers, and also spy agencies are there.
In the south-west lies "Venus city" (blue on the map), which is an center of entertainment and arts. Theaters, art galleries, TV studios, brothels. Also kindergartens, because children should be happy. It is also a major center of food production.
Finally in the west there's "Saturn city" (purple on the map). It is a medical and psychological counselling center. It also primarily deals with dead souls sent to our realm, other than those we need imprisoned (those go to "Mars city"). Mortuary centers are also there. Because the population of the world is unaging or at least very slowly aging, it would also deal with "endings", ie a very thorough psychological renewal sessions for very old beings to make them make a new beginning in life. This is also the only place where final death can happen in this realm (endless suffering. -1 point, condition for resurrection "any death except one that happened in special rituals in Saturn City").
Population of each city is about a million people. The food production is handled via vertical farms, and very efficient and nutritious alien fruits. There's not much meat, though.
In the center of the realm, there's a giant column depicting two ascending eastern dragons. It is meant to be inspired by Ebon Dragon and Oramus. At the top of the column there's a giant crystalline complex. For image reference, see Crystal Tokyo. It is a political and religious center of the realm, and Molly's seat of power, complete with an (almost always) empty throne. It houses the united government of the people of the realm, even if each city also has self-governance. As a special feature, the throne, which is located at the geometric center of the realm, is illuminated by unseen sun. Anyone sitting in it, if they look up, would be able to see said sun, in an effect that is reverse to how one can see night sky from the bottom of a well (and yes, I know that it doesn't work in real life). The sun is sometimes yellow, and sometimes green.
Wan Kuei are the unruly dead who, through guile, cunning, and, above all, sheer perseverance, escaped on the thousands hells their soul found itself in after death. For the untold billions suffering in the underworlds of Yama Kings, it is no more than a few thousands that achieve this feat. Yet every soul struggles, and every hell can be escaped from. Indeed, if a new hell was to germinate from the chaotic seas of wyld possibility, or to be constructed by even the most godlike of powers, it too, would be a prison imperfect, the very laws of nature preventing formation of a realm truly without hope for escape. Why that is so, is a question unanswered. Some wise mystics believe that it is hope itself that lies as the cornerstone of these realms, and that the perfect hell would paradoxically have no power, and would collapse before it even came to be. Other students of ancient and forbidden lore posit that all hells are but echoes of some Primordial hell, sharing its base fundamental nature common to them all. It is the raw will of its unknown prisoners that prevents modern hells from being inescapable, they theorize. Select few wonder if those first prisoners have themselves ever escaped, or if they still struggle, projecting their effort through all of the cosmos.
The realm of your heart is, beyond everything else, a hell, to which souls of mortals are confined. It is thus its nature to be escapable, and of those souls in your kingdom to attempt escape. Yours, however, is not the world of one of foolish and greedy Yama Kings, and there are paths made intentionally available to each of your kingdom's denizens. They number four in total.
The first, and, sadly, by far the most travelled to its destination, is the path of surrender, leading to the end of struggle and nothing more. When a citizen tires of existence, they travel to the amethyst clad city in the west, and submit themselves to the priests living there with but a single request – to end it all. Should counselling, therapy, prolonged rest and meditation on the beauty of living not help, they are then subject to a solemn ritual. In a quite chapels, silent priests would write strange, arcane symbols on their bodies, give them ice wine fermented from the fruits only growing in the darkest outermost edges of your realm to lull them to sleep, and then, shedding tears of regret, murder them with ritualistic daggers. Unlike any other death under the light of the moon and lightning, this one does not permit returns. The soul slips quietly into the Maw of Oblivion.
The second route is for those burning with the lust for battle, enticed by religious fervor and the promises of glory. To follow it, one must devote themselves to training. Join one of the monastery-forges of the Red City, practice diligently one's katas and recite fervently one's prayers to the Empress-to-Be. Rise through the ranks of monks and win a right to join the honor guard of Her crystal palace – that is the ticket to salvation through servitude. For it is amongst those in her guard that the Empress is prophesized to select the men-at-arms who will do battle in her name outside this realm once the time comes. And if one is lucky enough, skilled enough, distinguished enough, survives enough of these battles, then they can pray to the Empress for a permanent release, to take them into the mortal world and release them from her service.
The third road is the shortest one, and, perhaps, the hardest. If one wishes to escape the kingdom of five cities, one needs but to take a train to the City of Journeys, and to declare it so. No obstacles will be laid before them, and they will be swiftly taken outside the city. From there on, everything will be in their own hands. They will just have to walk to the outer edges of the world, to climb the razor-edged forests, to pass through the iron hurricane and to traverse into the uncertain Ways of the unreality. It is not an easy task. To attempt it is common, for it is human nature to seek escape from the place of confinement. It is a sign of strength to crack one's cell open, rather than bow one's head and succumb to punishment. Many try, and most fail, nurturing the outer fields with their lifeblood, only to draw breath once more in one of the cities. Those few who would succeed are declared Anathema, their names added to the rolls of the enemies of state. For to succeed is to cast away the bonds of family, companionship and faith that define the nations of this world. It is to become a hungry dead, and to forevermore prey on the inhabitants of the worlds.
The fourth and final way branches off from the ones already described. It is not the way of many, rather it is the path of select few, for whom other roads are not suited. If, after throwing oneself against the outer storms time and time again, one learns humility, and yet doesn't desire the ending granted in the silent chapels of the Amethyst City; if they do not have the trust and faith in their heart to dedicate themselves to the Empress-to-Be in the promise of salvation… Then, on a new escape attempt, they can walk in a different direction. Not to storm in the direction of the rim, but to move in the direction of the Red City, evading beasts and traversing forests in the way. Once they reach the next city, their pilgrimage, and the trials accompanying it, truly begin.
In the city of saffron and forges, they are faced with two tasks. First, to master their body, and to prove their strength. To do so, they have to defeat one of the grandmasters of the martial art sects of the city in unarmed combat, demonstrating that they have mastered the first weapon everyone has – their own body. Then, as the second part of their trial, they are to forge and master a weapon, apprenticing. Their creation has to be acknowledged as a masterwork by the Ring of Smiths that control the weapon manufacturing of the realm, and their skill in wielding it by a grandmaster of the art. Only when these two tasks are done, their trial is considered complete, and the doors of City of Rubies open for them, so they can, once again journey the circle of life on the path to the city of Secrets.
Once they reach the Verdant City, their trial of History begins. Its two mirrored parts are to learn the history of the past, and to create the history of the future. In order to accomplish the first task, the applicant must unearth a piece of ancient knowledge, buried somewhere in the realm, and gift it to their peers. In order to finish, they must master and further a craft, a school of knowledge, create new knowledge that would serve as a foundation to those who will come next – on Earth that would be an equivalent of earning a doctorate.
The test of the City of Pleasures is by far the longest. Many of those few who try it consider it the cruelest. The first part is simple. It is, just like in all the previous trials, a matter of obtaining, and then proving, one's skill – this time by creating a piece of art good enough to become known as a masterpiece, to prove that one understands the society of the Five Cities enough that their creations resonate with everyone, not just a select few. It is the second part that breaks most who attempt it. For to succeed one must love, raise, and finally leave behind a child. Whether it be by adoption, or through means more natural, a child must reach adulthood and succeed on their own merits under the tutelage of the one walking this path. And when that child sincerely says that everything they have is thanks to the pilgrim, it is then that the pilgrim must leave them behind, to walk to the next city, without looking back. Thus their Sacrifice is complete.
The Silent City's trial is, in comparison a mercy. It is also, a final warning. First, the walker must participate in all the aspects of the ritual of Ending. They must try and talk someone out of finishing themselves, and when they fail, they must learn what the Final death is like, and grant it with their own hands, for if they are incapable of doing so, then no hope exists for them in the cruel world of outside. And when they understand death, they must nurture the fear of it inside themselves, for only the final death exists in the outside, not the brief embrace of renewal they are accustomed to. And it is out of that fear they must take a sacred vow not to seek their end, which forever denies them the mercies of the Amethist City. Once the vows are complete, they start on the final leg of their Journey.
And when they end it, they stand before the Golden Gate of the First City. They carve their name into it with their weapon – and there's plenty of room left still on it. And after the celebration to remember, they leave, more complete then when they started, and perhaps prepared to what lies next.
To date, no one has completed this road.
…
Or you could actually try and escape this hell of a reality, instead of meekly following the paths prepared for you. How? When they let you out to throw yourselves against the maelstrom, you could turn around and sneak your way to the foundation of Her Majesty's shining castle in the sky. Study every last draconic scale, as you climb upwards, clinging to them. Read and put to memory the blasphemous writings written on the scales of the prismatic dragon that can be seen only in their reflections in the polished ebon scales of its brother, under the light of the changing moon. Spend hundreds, thousands lifetimes learning to read and comprehend the message in one go, as with your every fall, the message changes. Do not speak of it to anyone, for should they learn of your attempts, you will never be able to try again. Discern the painful truths from hurtful lies entwined in this secret writ. Follow that knowledge to unlock the doors nonexistent, and you shall be free.
The whispers in shadows recorded by the acolyte of Her Divine Promise battle order shortly before she abandoned the order to become an inner ring explorer
The realm of your heart is, beyond everything else, a hell, to which souls of mortals are confined. It is thus its nature to be escapable, and of those souls in your kingdom to attempt escape. Yours, however, is not the world of one of foolish and greedy Yama Kings, and there are paths made intentionally available to each of your kingdom's denizens. They number four in total.
The first, and, sadly, by far the most travelled to its destination, is the path of surrender, leading to the end of struggle and nothing more. When a citizen tires of existence, they travel to the amethyst clad city in the west, and submit themselves to the priests living there with but a single request – to end it all. Should counselling, therapy, prolonged rest and meditation on the beauty of living not help, they are then subject to a solemn ritual. In a quite chapels, silent priests would write strange, arcane symbols on their bodies, give them ice wine fermented from the fruits only growing in the darkest outermost edges of your realm to lull them to sleep, and then, shedding tears of regret, murder them with ritualistic daggers. Unlike any other death under the light of the moon and lightning, this one does not permit returns. The soul slips quietly into the Maw of Oblivion.
The second route is for those burning with the lust for battle, enticed by religious fervor and the promises of glory. To follow it, one must devote themselves to training. Join one of the monastery-forges of the Red City, practice diligently one's katas and recite fervently one's prayers to the Empress-to-Be. Rise through the ranks of monks and win a right to join the honor guard of Her crystal palace – that is the ticket to salvation through servitude. For it is amongst those in her guard that the Empress is prophesized to select the men-at-arms who will do battle in her name outside this realm once the time comes. And if one is lucky enough, skilled enough, distinguished enough, survives enough of these battles, then they can pray to the Empress for a permanent release, to take them into the mortal world and release them from her service.
The third road is the shortest one, and, perhaps, the hardest. If one wishes to escape the kingdom of five cities, one needs but to take a train to the City of Journeys, and to declare it so. No obstacles will be laid before them, and they will be swiftly taken outside the city. From there on, everything will be in their own hands. They will just have to walk to the outer edges of the world, to climb the razor-edged forests, to pass through the iron hurricane and to traverse into the uncertain Ways of the unreality. It is not an easy task. To attempt it is common, for it is human nature to seek escape from the place of confinement. It is a sign of strength to crack one's cell open, rather than bow one's head and succumb to punishment. Many try, and most fail, nurturing the outer fields with their lifeblood, only to draw breath once more in one of the cities. Those few who would succeed are declared Anathema, their names added to the rolls of the enemies of state. For to succeed is to cast away the bonds of family, companionship and faith that define the nations of this world. It is to become a hungry dead, and to forevermore prey on the inhabitants of the worlds.
The fourth and final way branches off from the ones already described. It is not the way of many, rather it is the path of select few, for whom other roads are not suited. If, after throwing oneself against the outer storms time and time again, one learns humility, and yet doesn't desire the ending granted in the silent chapels of the Amethyst City; if they do not have the trust and faith in their heart to dedicate themselves to the Empress-to-Be in the promise of salvation… Then, on a new escape attempt, they can walk in a different direction. Not to storm in the direction of the rim, but to move in the direction of the Red City, evading beasts and traversing forests in the way. Once they reach the next city, their pilgrimage, and the trials accompanying it, truly begin.
In the city of saffron and forges, they are faced with two tasks. First, to master their body, and to prove their strength. To do so, they have to defeat one of the grandmasters of the martial art sects of the city in unarmed combat, demonstrating that they have mastered the first weapon everyone has – their own body. Then, as the second part of their trial, they are to forge and master a weapon, apprenticing. Their creation has to be acknowledged as a masterwork by the Ring of Smiths that control the weapon manufacturing of the realm, and their skill in wielding it by a grandmaster of the art. Only when these two tasks are done, their trial is considered complete, and the doors of City of Rubies open for them, so they can, once again journey the circle of life on the path to the city of Secrets.
Once they reach the Verdant City, their trial of History begins. Its two mirrored parts are to learn the history of the past, and to create the history of the future. In order to accomplish the first task, the applicant must unearth a piece of ancient knowledge, buried somewhere in the realm, and gift it to their peers. In order to finish, they must master and further a craft, a school of knowledge, create new knowledge that would serve as a foundation to those who will come next – on Earth that would be an equivalent of earning a doctorate.
The test of the City of Pleasures is by far the longest. Many of those few who try it consider it the cruelest. The first part is simple. It is, just like in all the previous trials, a matter of obtaining, and then proving, one's skill – this time by creating a piece of art good enough to become known as a masterpiece, to prove that one understands the society of the Five Cities enough that their creations resonate with everyone, not just a select few. It is the second part that breaks most who attempt it. For to succeed one must love, raise, and finally leave behind a child. Whether it be by adoption, or through means more natural, a child must reach adulthood and succeed on their own merits under the tutelage of the one walking this path. And when that child sincerely says that everything they have is thanks to the pilgrim, it is then that the pilgrim must leave them behind, to walk to the next city, without looking back. Thus their Sacrifice is complete.
The Silent City's trial is, in comparison a mercy. It is also, a final warning. First, the walker must participate in all the aspects of the ritual of Ending. They must try and talk someone out of finishing themselves, and when they fail, they must learn what the Final death is like, and grant it with their own hands, for if they are incapable of doing so, then no hope exists for them in the cruel world of outside. And when they understand death, they must nurture the fear of it inside themselves, for only the final death exists in the outside, not the brief embrace of renewal they are accustomed to. And it is out of that fear they must take a sacred vow not to seek their end, which forever denies them the mercies of the Amethist City. Once the vows are complete, they start on the final leg of their Journey.
And when they end it, they stand before the Golden Gate of the First City. They carve their name into it with their weapon – and there's plenty of room left still on it. And after the celebration to remember, they leave, more complete then when they started, and perhaps prepared to what lies next.
To date, no one has completed this road.
…
Or you could actually try and escape this hell of a reality, instead of meekly following the paths prepared for you. How? When they let you out to throw yourselves against the maelstrom, you could turn around and sneak your way to the foundation of Her Majesty's shining castle in the sky. Study every last draconic scale, as you climb upwards, clinging to them. Read and put to memory the blasphemous writings written on the scales of the prismatic dragon that can be seen only in their reflections in the polished ebon scales of its brother, under the light of the changing moon. Spend hundreds, thousands lifetimes learning to read and comprehend the message in one go, as with your every fall, the message changes. Do not speak of it to anyone, for should they learn of your attempts, you will never be able to try again. Discern the painful truths from hurtful lies entwined in this secret writ. Follow that knowledge to unlock the doors nonexistent, and you shall be free.
The whispers in shadows recorded by the acolyte of Her Divine Promise battle order shortly before she abandoned the order to become an inner ring explorer
The rules on kingdom making state that the has to exist a path to escape the hell you make. Exaltations deal with perfect effects. Why couldn't it make a perfect prison? I started to think why, and trying to fit this with a Watsonian explanation.
I came up with two explanations. One from the Dresdenverse side of the crossover, and the other is from Exalted perspective, which can also be used in an ExWoD game. The Dresdenverse explanation is that within existence Free Will is absolute, and exists in some way. A perfect prison with no escape denies the prisoners the choice to escape or, really, any choices. Thus, by the almighty power of the White God, such perfect prison is rejected from existing.
The Exalted answer is that the creation of the kingdom is the power of Infernal Exaltation. It is an act of an exalted growing from human to something like a primordial in their soul structure, and it is a mirror of primordial host making the Creation. However, and it is very important, an infernal exaltation was created by the yozi, not by primordials. We create not just a world, but a hell – the distant shadow of Malfean realm of the ages past. The exaltation carries the charms of its creators, parts of their self. It is, at the very core of itself, their hope for escape. And no yozi can truly abide the existence of a perfect, inescapable prison, for they are the ultimate prisoners, and the exaltation is the ultimate lock pick. To create a hell without hope would run directly counter to the very themes and purpose of infernals existing. And so, the infernal exalt's inner world has to be escapable.
Next, I decided to look into the ways of escape. The rules are clear – walk to the outer edge of the realm, and you are free (and, for the dead condemned to the hell, probably become a hungry dead variant). However, this is clearly not the only way to escape. The realm I made was inspired by the Maidens, and clearly features in-story references to old lore. So, I devised five paths:
1) To die. This is the path of Endings, and, since I used Endless Suffering in the build, requires a ritual. Because this is a world with advanced culture and society, to get to that ritual, one has to pass through extensive therapy and counselling.
2) To join Molly's entourage and get summoned/taken outside. This was discussed before, and clearly the players want to have some option to do so. "Summon a strike team from your inner world" being a possible charm. This path was made to explain how the strike team is selected. I mean, the population of the world is in the millions. Who gets called? Thus, the religious order of warriors, dedicated to the Empress-to-Be on the promise of getting to see the outer world. This is the path of War.
3) Walking outside. This is the path of Journeys. It's the one encoded into the canon text of the kingdom making charm. I simply added the flavoring and social repercussions of how leaving behind the society with "committed" loyalty to the infernal would not be taken well, but trying to do so would be treated as normal.
4) This is the one I had to work most for. This is the path of Serenity, and it is also heavily inspired, as readers might have noticed, by the initiation into sorcery trials. Since I made a door in the north-most city that leads to an easy exit, I had to justify why people wouldn't use it, and how it could be used. I also wanted a way to make heroes in this realm, if really needed. Not Molly's honor guard, but someone independent. Thus, this idea. It is basically a socially acceptable way to escape into the outer world. By following the steps of the path, the applicant prepares themselves (learning to fight, getting education mundane and occult, becoming intimate with the concept of death), and society (creating new knowledge, art, and a member of society) for their disappearance.
The followers of the third path diminish the world by leaving it, while the followers of the fourth path enrich it through their journey and becoming heroes of the people.
5) The final path, presented as an in-story scribbling, is the path of Secrets, and is left vague. It is even harder to follow than the fourth path. It is there, because this is hell. There's a giant twin statue of Oramus and Ebon Dragon in the middle of it. There has to be blasphemous knowledge hidden somewhere and a way to sin against the world.
I came up with two explanations. One from the Dresdenverse side of the crossover, and the other is from Exalted perspective, which can also be used in an ExWoD game. The Dresdenverse explanation is that within existence Free Will is absolute, and exists in some way. A perfect prison with no escape denies the prisoners the choice to escape or, really, any choices. Thus, by the almighty power of the White God, such perfect prison is rejected from existing.
The Exalted answer is that the creation of the kingdom is the power of Infernal Exaltation. It is an act of an exalted growing from human to something like a primordial in their soul structure, and it is a mirror of primordial host making the Creation. However, and it is very important, an infernal exaltation was created by the yozi, not by primordials. We create not just a world, but a hell – the distant shadow of Malfean realm of the ages past. The exaltation carries the charms of its creators, parts of their self. It is, at the very core of itself, their hope for escape. And no yozi can truly abide the existence of a perfect, inescapable prison, for they are the ultimate prisoners, and the exaltation is the ultimate lock pick. To create a hell without hope would run directly counter to the very themes and purpose of infernals existing. And so, the infernal exalt's inner world has to be escapable.
Next, I decided to look into the ways of escape. The rules are clear – walk to the outer edge of the realm, and you are free (and, for the dead condemned to the hell, probably become a hungry dead variant). However, this is clearly not the only way to escape. The realm I made was inspired by the Maidens, and clearly features in-story references to old lore. So, I devised five paths:
1) To die. This is the path of Endings, and, since I used Endless Suffering in the build, requires a ritual. Because this is a world with advanced culture and society, to get to that ritual, one has to pass through extensive therapy and counselling.
2) To join Molly's entourage and get summoned/taken outside. This was discussed before, and clearly the players want to have some option to do so. "Summon a strike team from your inner world" being a possible charm. This path was made to explain how the strike team is selected. I mean, the population of the world is in the millions. Who gets called? Thus, the religious order of warriors, dedicated to the Empress-to-Be on the promise of getting to see the outer world. This is the path of War.
3) Walking outside. This is the path of Journeys. It's the one encoded into the canon text of the kingdom making charm. I simply added the flavoring and social repercussions of how leaving behind the society with "committed" loyalty to the infernal would not be taken well, but trying to do so would be treated as normal.
4) This is the one I had to work most for. This is the path of Serenity, and it is also heavily inspired, as readers might have noticed, by the initiation into sorcery trials. Since I made a door in the north-most city that leads to an easy exit, I had to justify why people wouldn't use it, and how it could be used. I also wanted a way to make heroes in this realm, if really needed. Not Molly's honor guard, but someone independent. Thus, this idea. It is basically a socially acceptable way to escape into the outer world. By following the steps of the path, the applicant prepares themselves (learning to fight, getting education mundane and occult, becoming intimate with the concept of death), and society (creating new knowledge, art, and a member of society) for their disappearance.
The followers of the third path diminish the world by leaving it, while the followers of the fourth path enrich it through their journey and becoming heroes of the people.
5) The final path, presented as an in-story scribbling, is the path of Secrets, and is left vague. It is even harder to follow than the fourth path. It is there, because this is hell. There's a giant twin statue of Oramus and Ebon Dragon in the middle of it. There has to be blasphemous knowledge hidden somewhere and a way to sin against the world.
"Life here will begin out there". I didn't write these words, on the velum pages made from my own skin, with ink made of burnt bones of ancient monsters, under the light of candles burning green. In fact, I, nor my parents nor my child and wife, exist at all, as the devils I call forth from the hells unlike this one, and monsters summoned from further still, gleefully tell me. We all are but a backstory to a play yet unwritten, existing as a possibility among an infinity of its peers. They offer me this knowledge freely, gladly, safe in the knowledge that this is not happening. They desire that I despair, break and blaspheme, that I utter oaths unbreakable even if they are, in fact, unspoken, sell myself and all to follow me to their masters for the surety of becoming, and in doing so transform myself into a hidden poison at the heart of my future mistress.
They are fools, who see little, and understand less. They fail to grasp that even as they are safe to speak, so I am safe to question, fearing not to offend the realms they come from by conduct unbecoming, daring to betray ignorance and weakness without terror of discovery. They do not see this time-not as the gift it is, the opportunity to prepare, not one blind chance of history, but the infinity of different past probabilities coming together coming together to craft the perfect future.
From the secret diaries of the Mirror of the Changing Moon, the founder of the Covenant of Empress-to-Be, dated ten thousand and one lunar cycle Before Her Arrival.
The Covenant of the Empress-to-Be is a monotheistic state religion of the five cities world. At its core lie the "Prophecies of Arrival" which state that at some point in the future, a divine figure, "Empress-to-Be" will arrive, and grant her followers life.
This is perhaps the most counter-intuitive precept of the church. According to its mystics, the world of five cities does not truly exist prior to their goddess' arrival, and merely represents one of the infinite possible backstories for the real world to come, ignited by her divine spark. Following from that revelation, lie the doctrine that preaches that their followers and the society as a whole has to live their lives in a way that would make their history be the one chosen by the divine empress in their subjective future. The followers of the Covenant are to better themselves continuously, to improve their utilitarian value, live their lives interestingly, to increase their entertainment value, and to undergo the right of Ending if they "write the story of their life into a corner with no way out".
The different specializations of the five cities are in many ways, reflections of their religious doctrine, where the City of Swords chapels preach that the Empress will need loyal soldiers, while the City of Fountains seeks to please Empress's senses.
Historical research indicates that the concept of paradoxical "existence before beginning" is likely a legacy of the older Cult of Twin Dragons, which existed before the Covenant's rise to power.
The Covenant heavily incorporates scientific research and method into their doctrine, such as using the theory of evolution to prove that humanoid population couldn't have arisen in this realm, and was willed into being by divine power. Historical research into the world's seemingly long and sometimes buried past is seen as a way to enrich the "world building" and keep the Empress interested.
"Unbiased review of the state religion", part of the briefing documents prepared for her Divine Majesty, twenty lunar cycles before her Arrival.
They are fools, who see little, and understand less. They fail to grasp that even as they are safe to speak, so I am safe to question, fearing not to offend the realms they come from by conduct unbecoming, daring to betray ignorance and weakness without terror of discovery. They do not see this time-not as the gift it is, the opportunity to prepare, not one blind chance of history, but the infinity of different past probabilities coming together coming together to craft the perfect future.
From the secret diaries of the Mirror of the Changing Moon, the founder of the Covenant of Empress-to-Be, dated ten thousand and one lunar cycle Before Her Arrival.
The Covenant of the Empress-to-Be is a monotheistic state religion of the five cities world. At its core lie the "Prophecies of Arrival" which state that at some point in the future, a divine figure, "Empress-to-Be" will arrive, and grant her followers life.
This is perhaps the most counter-intuitive precept of the church. According to its mystics, the world of five cities does not truly exist prior to their goddess' arrival, and merely represents one of the infinite possible backstories for the real world to come, ignited by her divine spark. Following from that revelation, lie the doctrine that preaches that their followers and the society as a whole has to live their lives in a way that would make their history be the one chosen by the divine empress in their subjective future. The followers of the Covenant are to better themselves continuously, to improve their utilitarian value, live their lives interestingly, to increase their entertainment value, and to undergo the right of Ending if they "write the story of their life into a corner with no way out".
The different specializations of the five cities are in many ways, reflections of their religious doctrine, where the City of Swords chapels preach that the Empress will need loyal soldiers, while the City of Fountains seeks to please Empress's senses.
Historical research indicates that the concept of paradoxical "existence before beginning" is likely a legacy of the older Cult of Twin Dragons, which existed before the Covenant's rise to power.
The Covenant heavily incorporates scientific research and method into their doctrine, such as using the theory of evolution to prove that humanoid population couldn't have arisen in this realm, and was willed into being by divine power. Historical research into the world's seemingly long and sometimes buried past is seen as a way to enrich the "world building" and keep the Empress interested.
"Unbiased review of the state religion", part of the briefing documents prepared for her Divine Majesty, twenty lunar cycles before her Arrival.
At the level of "committed" loyalty, religion is going to play an important role in the world's life. In fact, it is likely that theocracy would be the order of the day. When combined with "advanced technology" and "advanced society" it is also likely that wide use of magic and scientific research would be present. "human population" choice explicitly mentions history stretching to before creation of the exalt's kingdom. In Dresdenverse, summoning and NeverNever are all very much a part of magic. And there's a giant Oramus statue in the center of the world.
All these facts need to be reconciled. Thus, the Covenant of Empress-to-Be. Basically, it's a state religion that is aware of how history only really begins once Molly arrives.
Lunar cycle = one months. There are no seasons I could think of easily, so, full lunar cycles would be the measure of time.
All these facts need to be reconciled. Thus, the Covenant of Empress-to-Be. Basically, it's a state religion that is aware of how history only really begins once Molly arrives.
Lunar cycle = one months. There are no seasons I could think of easily, so, full lunar cycles would be the measure of time.
- Location
- washington
a running theme in my mind is use the crown molly use the crowwwwwwn every time we are in between updates, every time we come upon something, or someone new, my thoughts go to the crown. It really is a slippery slope and I'm slipping.
- Location
- washington
technically this guy or even just his lawn is enough for our crown to probably get a map of every rage spirit (or the identity of everyone in chicago using them) being used in the city. It'd be pretty funny if we get hundreds of dots on a map if we asked that question though and concerning not surprising though.
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[X] Follow Harry's lead
Harry does this stuff for a living, and Molly is sketchy enough to people with supernatural senses that we probably put him on edge just being around. Having a known quantity like a white council wizard doing the talking at first is probably a good plan, even in the case where this guy doesn't like them for some reason.
Harry does this stuff for a living, and Molly is sketchy enough to people with supernatural senses that we probably put him on edge just being around. Having a known quantity like a white council wizard doing the talking at first is probably a good plan, even in the case where this guy doesn't like them for some reason.
- Location
- washington
true though I would like to ask harry once this is over his advice on questions to use our crown on. Make it clear how bullshit our crown is as well.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Yeah, this isn't the time for us to butt in and try to show off. This is Harry's show for the time being, and will remain so until shit hits the fan and we can meaningfully contribute without making his job harder than it needs to be.
[X] Follow Harry's lead
Also, I think the Demon Wagon needs a theme song. I propose...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqOXNsIOroQ
[X] Follow Harry's lead
Also, I think the Demon Wagon needs a theme song. I propose...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqOXNsIOroQ
- Location
- Germany
[X] Follow Harry's lead
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Here's a simple test charm I'm adapting (Earthscorpion's Szoreny Charm Cinnabar Blossom Inhalation). There's a root Szoreny charm that infuses the infernals flesh and blood with quicksilver sap.
Cinnabar Blossom Inhalation
Hell: Hell of Upside Down Sinners
Dot Rating: 3-4 Dots
Description: As Instant Treatment Methodology for Solar Exalted. In addition, the Infernal Exalted may emit quicksilver vapors from a self inflicted bruise worth 1 bashing damage as a substitute for conventional medical tools. These vapors constitute 1 ingestion of quicksilver sap on the patient. The Infernal Exalted may treat themselves using this charm.
Quicksilver Sap: Quicksilver Sap is a Toxicity 2 Difficulty 9/Threshold 1 Toxin. Unresisted damage is a permanent dice pool penalty to all actions for mortals barring supernatural treatment
Edit: Quicksilver Sap does lethal damage I forgot to add.
Edit: Here's Instant Treatment Methdology(3 Dot) for reference
Cinnabar Blossom Inhalation
Hell: Hell of Upside Down Sinners
Dot Rating: 3-4 Dots
Description: As Instant Treatment Methodology for Solar Exalted. In addition, the Infernal Exalted may emit quicksilver vapors from a self inflicted bruise worth 1 bashing damage as a substitute for conventional medical tools. These vapors constitute 1 ingestion of quicksilver sap on the patient. The Infernal Exalted may treat themselves using this charm.
Quicksilver Sap: Quicksilver Sap is a Toxicity 2 Difficulty 9/Threshold 1 Toxin. Unresisted damage is a permanent dice pool penalty to all actions for mortals barring supernatural treatment
Edit: Quicksilver Sap does lethal damage I forgot to add.
Edit: Here's Instant Treatment Methdology(3 Dot) for reference
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If we do end up allowed to use custom charms and selected this, what would the plan be for dealing with the heavy metal poisoning?
- Location
- washington
is that part of the charm? If not well magic?
- Location
- Germany
No, the charm clearly states it's still poison.
If I read the Charm correctly we don't have to use the quicksilver, it can be used to substitute for medical instruments, doesn't have too.
But even if we do have to use it, we as Exalted will heal from it, other people might prefer a mercury-poisoning to treat in the future before bleeding out right now.
What do you mean? My read of the charm was that if you don't have medical tools then you can choose to inflict magically enhanced mercury poisoning on the patient(s) to active the charm.
I'm not sure if tool transcending constructs would actually apply to this sort of thing, and we probably won't have medical tools all that often, so it could come up.
Mortal magic is bad at healing, so if we can't fix it they need to rely on muggle medicine and wizards can't stay in hospitals for more than a few hours at a stretch without causing issues.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
I don't know and would have to adapt more charms from Earthscorpion's Szoreny line to find out.
Quotes from ES on his Szoreny charms for educational guidance(General Exalted Thread)
Heartsap is like Quicksilver Sap but doesn't count as poison for game mechanical purposes and can only be self-inflicted.
General Exalted Thread
So, with regards to these: STD is just plain worse than TWT. It trains the same things, but it has a lethal health level cost and as it stands you could replace it with "this Charm works like Tiger Warrior Training Technique, but inflicts lethal damage on the trained". That's boring. MSM, on...
forums.sufficientvelocity.com
General Exalted Thread
Okay, time to address people's comments and make the necessary changes to the document as I go. Outside of scope for that theme, I'm afraid. However, if you want that, you might want to look at Invidious Forest Shintai. That's really outside of scope for the Charm. People are already...
forums.sufficientvelocity.com
General Exalted Thread
So, you remember how pretty much exactly a year ago over I had a bit of leave and so I finished up Oramus? I had some leave last week. So here's another Yozi Charmset, modelled after the way @Revlid does things (and my previous Oramus), and specifically my notes earlier in the thread about...
forums.sufficientvelocity.com
Finally here's Szoreny's Excellency as written by Earthscorpion
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Fair enough. The charms are interesting in it of themselves, but for my part I don't particularly like the themes.I don't know and would have to adapt more charms from Earthscorpion's Szoreny line to find out.
Quotes from ES on his Szoreny charms for educational guidance(General Exalted Thread)
Heartsap is like Quicksilver Sap but doesn't count as poison for game mechanical purposes and can only be self-inflicted.
General Exalted Thread
So, with regards to these: STD is just plain worse than TWT. It trains the same things, but it has a lethal health level cost and as it stands you could replace it with "this Charm works like Tiger Warrior Training Technique, but inflicts lethal damage on the trained". That's boring. MSM, on...
General Exalted Thread
Okay, time to address people's comments and make the necessary changes to the document as I go. Outside of scope for that theme, I'm afraid. However, if you want that, you might want to look at Invidious Forest Shintai. That's really outside of scope for the Charm. People are already...
General Exalted Thread
So, you remember how pretty much exactly a year ago over I had a bit of leave and so I finished up Oramus? I had some leave last week. So here's another Yozi Charmset, modelled after the way @Revlid does things (and my previous Oramus), and specifically my notes earlier in the thread about...
Finally here's Szoreny's Excellency as written by Earthscorpion
Maybe it's a dumb distinction to draw, but I find even an arrogant Malfean asshole more palatable than the idea of a two faced bastard like Szoreny.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Completely Understandable. Also in the process of my research I discovered the Szoreny Charm Outer Self Alchemy lets one make a quicksilver sap penalty suppressant that lasts a month among other options, to make it more obvious what kind of solution the Szoreny charm tree has in mind for helping people with Quicksilver sap poisoning. Perhaps the Quicksilver sap penalty suppressant crafting ability should be folded into Cinnabar Blossom inhalation. I dunno.
Here's the text of the charm in question in 2e mechanics
- Location
- washington
charms are really fun offhand how many infernal charms are there for the infernal vs wod stuff?
- Location
- Germany
- Location
- washington
what is that like 1000 exp? We'll never get them all of course there's so much room to grow though. God I love this quest.