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Lumi Quest: Where Even Death Will Not Save You From Paperwork (Exalted, Sidereal)

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Character Sheet: Luminous Sky
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    • Luminous Sky
    Chosen of Serenty
    Sidereal Exalted
    Age: 23

    Motivation:     To make the Old Man give her a genuine smile.

    Essence 3

    Virtues:
    Compassion 4
    Temperance 3
    Conviction 2
    Valor 2
    Willpower 8





    Attributes


    Physical:

    Strength 2
    Dexterity 5
    Stamina 3

    Social:
    Charisma 4
    Manipulation 3
    Appearance 5

    Mental:
    Perception 4
    Intelligence 4
    Wits 3


    Abilities

    Journeys
    Resistance 3

    Serenity
    Dodge 5
    Linguistics 3 (Old Realm, Riverspeak, Watertongue, Firetonge)
    Performance 3
    Socialize 5

    Battles
    Presence 5

    Secrets
    Investigation 4
    Larceny 4
    Lore 3
    Occult 4
    Stealth 4

    Endings
    Awareness 4
    Bureaucracy 5
    Integrity 2
    Martial Arts 5
    Medicine 2





    Specialties
    Bureaucracy (Commerce) +2
    Performance (Singing) +2





    Astrology:
    The Ewer (House of Leisure) 3
    The Messenger (House of Journeys) 2
    The Pillar (House of Leisure) 1
    Thje Sorcerer (House of Secrets) 1





    Charms:


    Awareness

    Fateful Awareness Excellency

    Prior Warning

    Second Awareness Excellency



    Bureaucracy

    First Bureaucracy Excellency

    Icy Hand



    Dodge

    Absence

    Duck Fate

    Second Dodge Excellency



    Investigation

    Efficient Secretary Technique

    Second Investigation Excellency



    Linguistics

    Abandoned Words Curse

    Second Linguistics Excellency



    Lore

    Methodology of Secrets

    Second Lore Excellency



    Occult

    First Occult Excellency



    Performance

    Heart-Brightening Presentation Style



    Presence

    First Presence Excellency

    Force Decision

    Presence in Absence Technique

    Second Presence Excellency



    Socialize

    Cash and Murder Games

    First Socialize Excellency

    Shun the Smiling Lady



    Stealth

    Blinding the Boar


    Martial Arts

    First Martial Arts Excellency

    Second Martial Arts Excellency


    Backgrounds:


    Backing 2


    Connections- Sidereal 3


    Mentor – Sidereal 2


    Salary 3


    Sifu 3





    Intimacies:


    Leaping Sky (adopted brother)


    Happiness (Duty)


    Paperwork (It's a necessity!)


    Apartment (Sanctuary)


    Adopted family (love)


    Boss (Respect)


    Yu Shan (Kind of a home)


    The Five Score Fellowship (Family)





    Who are you?

    You do not remember your original, birth family. Something happened when you were too young to remember, and your family- those that raised you, those you remember- found you on the outskirts of a Shadowland. They raised you alongside their son, naming you Luminous Sky because of your sunny disposition. You and your brother, Leaping Sky, were inseparable. You were curious and kind, and he was protective and brave. So much so that when you went on an ill-advised foray into ruins near your home and got jumped by monsters, he Exalted as a Dawn Caste protecting you.

    You were there when your brother discovered his power, his calling, and were still by his side when he met others like him- his Circle. They knew you mainly as Sky's little sister. At least, until on the day of your eighteenth birthday, you Exalted. But not like Sky or the others. You were different. You were a Sidereal.

    You could help.

    So for a year, you helped the Circle- one of them despite not being a Solar, or the beast men Lunars. You found your calling with paperwork and spirits seemed to recognize what you were, but you had no idea what you were really doing. Until five other Exalts- in Yellow, Blue, Green, Violet, and Red came to the burgeoning city the Circle had created, looking to take you with them. Sky was, of course, protective. He probably would have won the fight if you didn't stop it yourself. But you agreed to go with the others- the Sidereals- because you knew that your family had found you.

    For the last four years you have been training with them, leaning things you've forgotten and understanding Destiny, the Loom, and Fate. You've found your niche- paperwork, lots of it, and you dove right into it with aplomb. Because this was the paperwork which made the world work, and you understood the necessity of it.

    Much to the concern of your fellow Sidereals and your mentor.

    But as your fourth year closes, you are called to take part in Calibration, and assigned a new duty towards a single god. Which you are fully confident you can handle.
     
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    • I will say that this is a powerful motivation. Also, that the odds Lumi's ever going to get to E4 by fulfilling it are faaaaiirly close to nil. Poor gel.

    In other news, NEW GREGG QUEST! ... Are we going to solve everything with paperwork the way we solved everything with Demons in the last one?
    ...
    ...
    ...
    I can get behind that!

    And now, ON WITH THE PLOT!

    [x]Start heading towards Metagalapa and figure out why it fell from the sky.
     
    [X]Start heading towards Metagalapa and figure out why it fell from the sky.

    My guess? Something along the lines of 'it was fine until this savage beast just started reading at it!'
     
    Creation is huge and that means it has huge guts
  • Threadmarks
    • [X]Start heading towards Metagalapa and figure out why it fell from the sky.




    You     hope your Sifu isn't angry at you. Given, she's always angry, all the time, but you have yet to be the target of her anger.

    Yet.

    "Eeeeeehhhhhh."

    You rub your forehead, and concentrate. Banishing worry. Failing. Sifu is a scary lady and you never want to be on her bad side.

    "Right. Where am I?"

    You turn to the closed Gate, tapping your foot. Chewing on your lip, you remember your training on what is in Creation, and landmarks that are associated with the celestial gateways.

    "Right. Gate 19. I'd says that's...about five hundred miles."

    You let that hang off your lips.

    "Five hundred miles."

    On average, a person who is traveling unencumbered can travel up to three miles an hour. Considering normal travel times and the the normal hours a day one can walk from one point to another, it would take you...hmmmmmmmmmm.

    "Two months to get there from here. Oh no no no nonono."

    You'll probably go insane before you get there just from the sheer boredom, but you have to get there if you want to get back into Yu Shan and put this all behind you. So you look down to the satchel that was placed next to you before the Gate closed, and then sit down to assess what supplies you have.

    You rifle through the bag.

    "Okay, let's see..."

    You take out a small bag, shaking it and hearing the tinkle. "Local currency. Sound like silver."

    You take out two rolled up strips of paper.

    "Prayer strips. One looks like orichalcum, save that for emergencies."

    A collapsed rod. "Extendable walking staff. Looks mundane. Fancy, though."

    A sleeping roll, definitely magic because it folds up to fit in the satchel, and a similar collapsible tent. A manual on Thaumaturgy. A subject you haven't studied and yet you are cast in the Resplendent Destiny of. Cute. And rooting around a bit more, you hit paydirt.

    A rope with three knots.

    "Sorcery capture cord. Wonderful. What's in it?"

    No notes. No writing.

    "I have no idea."

    Dammit.

    "Save that for emergencies." You put everything back in the bag. Mostly. You put the money in a smaller bag on your belt and check your clothes. Nothing fancy. Tan long jacket, normal blouse, skirt. Definitely doesn't look like you're from Yu Shan.

    You extend your staff and start walking.

    You need to get to Metagalapa, that much is obvious, but you don't want to take two months to get there, so the solution is obvious.

    You need to a find a god. Or a horse. Or a god that is a horse. Or at very least transportation.

    So what do you do?





    (Note: we have:


    Supplies


    A sorcery capture cord with three unknown Terrestrial Circle Spells


    One mundane resources 3 prayer strip


    One Orichalcum resources 5 prayer strip


    Resources 2 in money


    Walking stick


    Thaumaturgic Manual to one unknown Thaumaturgic Art)





    []Write in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Pray to the God of Metagalapa for more information.

    Nothing says Lumi has to go there to solve the problem, right? With enough prayer, remote-filed paperwork and astrology Lumi can probably solve it from here. Maybe. Hopefully. :V
     
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    Author's Notes: Sidereals
  • Informational
    • So, one thing to remember about Sidereals:

    Solars are Direct.
    Sidereals are not.

    A Sidereal Exalted has many tools in their bag, but many of them are not used for what they appear to be used for.

    That, and Sidereals have an advantage- they don't bully gods, but bribe them. An Essence 2 God would be glad to have a Sidereal owe a favor to them in return for a ride. Or even a handful of Quintessence or a the like. Think of it as the carrot and the stick- because Sidereals are educated in how to deal with gods (and 'deal' with them), they usually go to gods to help them.

    And as Creation is Animist as Fuck, that means that literally everything around them has a god that can be prayed to or bribed.
     
    Last edited:
  • Informational
    • Maybe we could find a river god to ferry us along, geography permitting.

    [X] Find a river and barter with its god for transport.
     
    The narrative role of Sidereal is that of the characters that facilitate other character performing their role. The mentor that passes on knowledge, the guy who provides the tool they need to go on, the advisor to the villain, the random dude the the background.

    A Solar is the protagonist, a Sidereal is a good chunk of the minor supporting cast that you forget about by the next session that grease the wheels of the plot in the direction it needs to go.
     
    GreggHL said:
    Chewing on your lip, you remember your training on what is in Creation,
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Miiight have been a good idea to study a bit more. Or at least buy a guidebook at some point in the past.
    GreggHL said:
    "Right. Gate 19. I'd says that's...about five hundred miles."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Looks like we're going to be walking five hundred miles...
    GreggHL said:
    "Five hundred miles."
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    ...and then walk five hundred more.

    Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles-

    [X] Find the nearest Big Tree, get the god's attention within, and get some directions/word on the last time a horse or something rideable went past in return for a minor favor or a piece of silver.
     
    [X] Find the nearest big tree/mountain/river/rock formation, and ask its god where the nearest human settlement is in return for a minor favour or a piece of silver.

    thirdexalt.fandom.com

    Mount Metagalapa

    As the Fair Folk invasion ended and the Contagion died out, few noticed the miracle that occurred in an Eastern mountain range. Mount Metagalapa, the greatest of the Ravanashi Peaks, somehow ripped free from its earthen roots and soared several hundred feet into the sky, where it remained fixed...
    thirdexalt.fandom.com thirdexalt.fandom.com
    What's the flight range of a Metagalapan Hawkrider or Hawkman? If where we are is in range how the locals will react to Metagalapa can differ quite greatly, since the Metagalapans have more enemies than friends.
     
    'What would my mentor do' involves violence, generally
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    • [X] Pray to the God of Metagalapa for more information.





    Mount Metagalapa     is a thing, and it is in Creation, and so in theory it should have a god. You muse on this as you unfurl the more mundane prayer strip. Mundane compared with the Orichalcum on, but still. Mount Metagalapa is five hundred miles away, but you don't necessarily have to go there to fix this.


    Still, a part of you wonders what will happen. There are theories over Mount Metagalapa. Theories over what it is, many of them conflicting, and you're not sure which ones are true.


    Some theories point to it being a lost flying fortress of the First Age.


    Some point to it being an Unshaped, trapped in Creation after the Balorian Crusade.


    Some point to it being a lost Primordial Behemoth.


    Some point to it being a very old, very sleepy, and very big Lunar Exalted.


    So if it's the last one this may not do anything, or it could hear someone talking in the back of its head and then charge over to where you are to silence you. Which would still mean you didn't have to travel five hundred miles!


    On the prayer strip, you masterfully write the situation- you have seen the Mountain descend and want to know what has happened. Walking over to some stones, you take out the flint from your survival pack, placing the strip on the stone, and strike the flint on your metal staff.


    It sparks and you pray, and the prayer strip vanishes in flame. And it may take some time for a prayer to get through, so there's the question of what plan B is...








    It's not a question of 'what would your mentor do,' as you don't have a starmetal mace. It's more a question of what the standard operating procedure is among Sidereals in this situation.


    And you know the standard operating procedures. It was one of the first things that was drilled into your head.


    Walking down into the forest, you find a convenient stump to stand on. Climbing onto it, you tap your staff and flare your caste mark.


    "Hello! I am looking for a ride to Mount Metagalapa! Who wants me to owe them a favor?"


    The dense, overshadowing ceiling of the forest rustles. The branches around you move and a strong, supernatural wind blows through the grass. From it comes the first- small and plantlike, like petals animated by strings.


    Then beings start walking out of the trees, bark and sticks given form.


    Then the droplets of water from the trees, the condensation upon the leaves, gathers together. It becomes a twirling spiral, then a shape with legs and arms and...a floating throne of condensation, holding aloft the translucent figure staring you down.


    "Oho, Vizier," it booms, its voice bass and salty, "Welcome to my forest. You come here seeking to owe me?"


    "That depends on whether or not you're offering me a ride?"


    You really should have done practical field lessons on dealing with gods. Then again, these are terrestrial gods.


    Yokels.


    "Are you the leader of the local Terrestrial Court?" you ask.


    The moist figure raises a hand towards the canopy. "I am Dewdrop On Leaves, God of the Condensation of this forest, and there there is no leader-"


    "That's a stinking lie!" a voice that for some reason is pitch perfect to a human baby shouts. The source of it turns out to be a large boulder. On smaller, bouldery legs and with bouldery arms, stomping into the field and pointing a bouldery hand at Dewdrop.


    "You know well enough that I'm the leader of the Terrestrial Court because all the mortals make offerings on my rock!"


    The rock turns to you.


    "My apologies, Vizier. I am Rolling Moss Stone, and I would be glad to work with you."


    "Yes, if you don't want to get anything done, they're a perfect choice."


    Welp. Arguing and bickering terrestrial gods. You did expect this. You have the training.


    So how do you cut through water-versus-rock argument?





    []Cash and Murder Games to make Dewdrop subservient to Rolling.


    []Icy Hand to beat some honesty into them.


    []Shun the Smiling Lady to make one of them pariahs.


    []Write in.
     
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