[x] Manipulation, what lies should we be keeping track of?
Mare Internum: An Exalted Quest
- Thread starter Crumplepunch
- Start date
A delight to have this quest back! It's one of my favourites, and both exceedingly unique and exceedingly fun. The voting system also just feels perfect (as a reminder, only the first vote after an update counts!).
Hope all is well Crumplepunch.
Hope all is well Crumplepunch.
For A Better World 171
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Manipulation, what lies should we be keeping track of?
MANIPULATION: Oh, loads.
Alright. Maybe we can run through them?
MANIPULATION: Are you specifically interested in the lies you are telling other people, rather than yourself?
What do you think, Integrity?
INTEGRITY: Definitely other people.
Okay, let's do other people.
MANIPULATION: Okay, let's see. Well, Fincher poisoned us twice, and we're not telling anyone, especially Mei, what happened the first time.
What happened the first time?
MANIPULATION: You punched out Orison in a fit of paranoia and had to be transported to the camp under guard.
Oh, that doesn't sound very good.
MANIPULATION: Right, so we're not telling anyone who doesn't already know. Fincher lied to cover us, so she would get into trouble too.
Right, right. What about the second time?
MANIPULATION: Everyone already knows about that, don't worry about it.
Okay, I won't worry about it.
MANIPULATION: And speaking of getting Fincher into trouble, she has been insubordinate enough that you could at least get her commission reviewed once the campaign is over, but you haven't told anyone about it.
Why would we tell anyone about it?
MANIPULATION: Now you're getting it. Just keep lying to everyone!
Okay.
MANIPULATION: Rooster told you an embarassing story about Fincher that she specifically told him not to tell anyone, but he forgot. You could probably cause some trouble there if you wanted.
Why?
MANIPULATION: Again, good. Let's see. Technically we are lying about not having broken into the store room to steal our sword and attempting to steal a load of other stuff, but I think everyone figured out that it was us almost immediately anyway.
Alright, anything else?
MANIPULATION: Logris has been sneaking around camp and managed to get into the manse, which Mei didn't want her doing for some reason. She asked for your help to do that, but you were too busy having your arms broken. Anyway, we're not going to tell anyone that she did that.
Why not?
MANIPULATION: You find her devastatingly attractive.
Oh, I see.
MANIPULATION: Speaking of which, she said she slept with you during the voyage here in the last few months before we lost our memory. She probably doesn't want anyone else to know that.
What else?
MANIPULATION: Well, there's Brindle. He's some sort of weird Exalt with memory-altering powers who was stranded here on a secret mission. You and Fincher are the only ones who know about it and he wants to keep it that way.
That sounds reasonable.
MANIPULATION: He is also pretty confident that if you tell Mei she will kill him, so keep that in mind.
Wow, we're sure keeping a lot of stuff from Mei.
MANIPULATION: Don't worry about it, it'll be fine.
Okay, I believe you.
MANIPULATION: Then there's the Bane of Kadj, this guy.
What about him?
MANIPULATION: He's the only one in the camp who hasn't heard you have lost your memories, and he's talking to you accordingly. He's intimated that you two knew each other, you might be able to get something interesting out of him if you can keep him going. I think that's everything.
Alright. Is he still talking now?
AWARENESS: He's still talking about demon slaves. You've got time for a few more of these.
[ ] Appearance, how are we looking?
[ ] Awareness, what can we sense?
[ ] Craft, what do we have on hand?
[ ] Presence, how are we doing socially?
[ ] Integrity, how are we feeling?
[ ] Navigate, where are we?
[ ] Sagacity, what should I know?
[ ] War, what's the situation?
[ ] Wits, what's happening in here?
[ ] Physique, how's the body doing?
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[X] Sagacity, what should I know?
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- being near locations is my passion.
I wanna ask Navigate, because Navigate gives the best answers, but I fear that would be wasting an update on hilarious nonsense, as oupoosed to getting an update with hilarious useful nonsense.
@Crumplepunch, if we ask Navigate something, can it be a 'freebie', so to speak?
@Crumplepunch, if we ask Navigate something, can it be a 'freebie', so to speak?
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I wanna ask Navigate, because Navigate gives the best answers, but I fear that would be wasting an update on hilarious nonsense, as oupoosed to getting an update with hilarious useful nonsense.
@Crumplepunch, if we ask Navigate something, can it be a 'freebie', so to speak?
I think it's still first come first serve, just gotta be on the ball.
I hope there will be an option to continue to talk to our head while Kadj tries to get our attention.
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For some reason, I think we're actually in a ship.
This Manipulation guy is so trustworthy. And @BeepSmile silly votes are good votes too, and not always so silly.
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- Spain
Look, i know she is kinda shady, but her arguments are rock solid.
[X] Sagacity, what should I know?
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Hey @Crumplepunch , in the spirit of recapping, would it be cool with you if I wrote a quick summary of Vesper's backstory and other mysteries that have been implied but mostly remained in the background, as I understand them based on information we had up to this point?
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Sure, feel free.
I'm playing the limit pretty loose, I won't count it if it's not helpful.
For A Better World 172
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Sagacity, what should I know?
SAGACITY: Well, first, you should know that in the Time Before, the gods rose up and made war on the makers of the world.
Is that relevant?
SAGACITY: No, not really, I just think we should always begin lore recaps this way.
Alright, what else is going on?
SAGACITY: You're Exalted, one of the Dragon-Blooded. You have water elemental powers, superhuman skills and durability, and your natural lifespan is a couple of centuries.
That sounds like a pretty good deal.
SAGACITY: Dragon-Blooded Exaltation is passed down by heredity and most Dragon-Bloods are part of the Dynasty. They're an aristocratic group of families largely descended from the Scarlet Empress, the ruler of the Realm, Creation's largest empire. You are, somehow, an imperial magistrate. In theory you hold the Empress' authority as her plenipotentiary.
Oh, so I'm a Dynast?
SAGACITY: We don't know for certain, but it seems like you're one of the Lost Eggs, Dragon-Bloods who Exalt in the Realm to the lower classes, outside the Dynasty. Sometimes the heredity skips a generation or two, or ten. Lost Eggs become wards of the state and have to become monks for life or do a fifty year tour of duty as legionaries for the Realm's army.
So who's a Dynast?
SAGACITY: Logris and Usamir are Dynasts of house Peleps. Mei, Fincher and Rooster are Lost Eggs. We don't know what the deal with the Bane of Kadj is, but as a legion sorcerer he's got to be Dragon-Blooded too.
What else should I know about being Dragon-Blooded?
SAGACITY: The state religious institution of the Realm is the Immaculate Order. It promulgates the idea —
Isn't that a fruit?
SAGACITY: No, that's a pomegranate.
Right, okay, go on.
SAGACITY: It promotes the idea that the Dragon-Blooded are spiritually superior beings on the threshold of enlightenment who might surpass the physical world in their next incarnation.
Are we?
SAGACITY: Do you feel that you're on the threshold of enlightenment?
Not really.
SAGACITY: The Order also demands that everyone resist the Anathema to the best of their abilities.
What's an Anathema?
SAGACITY: The Exalted of the sun and moon. They are extremely dangerous. The Order says that they stole power they were never meant to hold and are driven to madness as a result.
Are there other Exalts?
SAGACITY: There are some, but they're very rare. They're chosen by gods. Brindle is one, he said his patron was a war god called Mars.
Okay, thanks for telling me about Exalted.
SAGACITY: We probably should have had this conversation earlier.
Do we have time for another one of these?
AWARENESS: He's talking about the demon city now, I'm kind of tuning him out. You're good for a couple more.
Okay.
[ ] Appearance, how are we looking?
[ ] Awareness, what can we sense?
[ ] Craft, what do we have on hand?
[ ] Presence, how are we doing socially?
[ ] Integrity, how are we feeling?
[ ] Navigate, where are we?
[ ] War, what's the situation?
[ ] Wits, what's happening in here?
[ ] Physique, how's the body doing?
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As someone with no Exalted background, that was actually quite helpful. Thank you Sagacity!
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Uh, that's actually quite interesting. Not many people knows this!
When and how did Vesper learn this?
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Well, for two reasons.
Firstly, while gods and other immortal beings are not perfect sources of information and will often give self-serving accounts, they will all know this story in broad strokes. Anyone who thinks to ask a god (or a demon) about world history will know this, so it's probably pretty common knowledge to anyone with some degree of education. Beyond this basic information, specific details of Creation's early history are likely obscure.
Secondly, it's a joke about the way a lot of old Exalted books over-focus on the setting's largely irrelevant ancient history to the exclusion of things that are happening in the modern setting.
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Okay, so, first, a brief timeline of major events we, as the audience, have seen:
Birth (date unknown; probably around RY 630-640, give or take a couple decades). Vesper's born, probably somewhere in the West. During her childhood, ships take her parents; she takes shelter in a temple and is spared. I think it's implied this was the Realm's doing, but one could also plausibly argue that they invaded later. (Thought: Unbroken Rushes)
Exaltation (date unknown). Vesper takes her Second Breath as a Water Aspect; typically, this happens around puberty. (Thought: Unbroken Rushes)
Years of fighting (date unknown). Vesper fights and steals and eventually carves out a little kingdom of her own. It is a reasonable interpretation that she was fighting against the Realm here, but not the only possible one. (Thought: Unbroken Rushes)
(Sometime during this period) Friendship with an Unnamed Tepet: in Thought: The Dweller in Chaos, we see Vesper being sent letters and gifts by someone from House Tepet, implying they're already friends (or possibly more than friends) at that point, which means their relationship must have started around this period. This person is referred to as "our wayward grandchild" by the spear-wielding woman in Thought: The Dweller in Chaos; if they weren't on board with the Realm's expansionist ambitions, that would explain both their friendship with Vesper and their ill reputation among family elders.
(I think a pretty strong argument can be made that the unnamed Tepet is a woman by the name of Tepet Laran, but I will make that argument in a separate post.)
The Coin and the Razor (date unknown). Eventually, Vesper loses the fight and is forced to join the Realm. (Thought: Unbroken Rushes) As a Lost Egg (a Dragon-Blood born outside the Realm), she would be offered a choice between the coin (service in one of the Empress' legions) and the razor (becoming an Immaculate monk for life). (Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought, p.101)
The Dweller in Chaos (date unknown; possibly during the 660s?). Venerable members of House Tepet visit Vesper in a place that is heavily implied to be Pasiap's Stair, a secondary school for Outcastes slated for service in the legions. She overcomes their trials and is gifted Chogatasu, the Knowing Lightning. (Thought: the Dweller in Chaos)
Note that training in Pasiap's Stair takes ten years. (Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought, p.91)
Service in the legions (date unknown; 670s - 720s maybe?). After finishing her studies at Pasiap's Stair, an Outcaste must serve fifty years in the legions before being allowed to retire. Lost eggs cashiered from the legions are penalized or assigned other services by the Empress. (Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought, p.102)
It seems possible to me that Vesper was dishonorably discharged from the legions at some point before her fifty years were up, whereupon the Empress assigned her to whatever nation-shaking task she had in Sibun, expecting her to fail and die there. (Thought: Maker, Builder, Breaker) However, I think that interpretation leaves little room in the timeline for the events depicted in Thought: the Opening Gate. So, I think a more likely explanation is that she did her 50 years of service and retired comfortably.
The Opening Gate (date unknown; during the 730s?): in Thought: The Opening Gate, we see a Vesper who has trained for decades to be the best blade in the Realm. At this point, she is a member of an established family and privy to its secret devil-slaying arts. She regularly attends the dueling grounds of Lord's Crossing - seat of House Tepet's power -, where she is considered to be the greatest swordmaster present. (Thought: The Opening Gate)
My theory is that after retiring from the legions, she either married into or got adopted by House Tepet, explaining her position of wealth and respect in this vignette. (It is also possible - likely, even, considering how classist Realm society is - that she has married into or got adopted by a lesser family, but we shouldn't discount the possibility of an actual, genuine love marriage between her and Tepet Laran.)
The Sibun Palace Incident (sometime during the mid-730s). Vesper fights the Anathema Izumherat in the Sibun Palace and either cuts off their head or witnesses someone else doing so, but she gets absolutely fucked up in the process. A figure who is strongly implied to be the Empress orders her underlings to save her. (Interlude: Izumherat 3, Thought: Maker, Builder, Breaker)
It is plausible that Vesper was already a magistrate by this time; her level of familiarity with the Empress in Thought: Maker, Builder, Breaker seems to hint at this. If so, that would explain her missing ring finger: Stealth says it was cut off in a manner consistent with an attempt to remove a ring (such as the ring of a magistrate), while Sagacity implies it happened a long time ago, at another juncture when Vesper was almost dead. (Intro 6) I would not be surprised if we encountered Izumherat wearing Vesper's shape and displaying her ring later.
Mysterious Stranger (somewhere around RY 737-740ish). Four years after the Sibun Palace Incident, Vesper convalesces in a temple of Danaa'd, Immaculate Dragon of Water. She does not believe in the Immaculate Faith at this point. An elderly monk who is extremely strongly implied to be a Sidereal tells her that she will meet a youth bearing a note with a familiar mantra in 26 years. (Thought: Mysterious Stranger)
Decades of praiseworthy service (late RY 730s/early 740s - RY 763). Vesper serves the Throne faithfully as a magistrate in the intervening two and a half decades. Or, at least, her superiors think she does. (For a Better World 70)
Dismissal (RY 763). The letter found in Vesper's trunk is written in RY 763, dismissing her from her duties until further notice. (For a Better World 70)
We do not know how much time passed between her receiving this letter and her washing ashore on Hoxiahn.
Interlude: Izumherat ("current year", ie. at most a couple years after RY 763). Izumherat attacks the ship (more specifically, Vesper). Vesper has her sword at this point, and she's not confined to the brig, but she is still drinking heavily. (Interlude: Izumherat)
The boat incident (current year). Vesper punches a naval officer and gets stuck in the brig. (The Proud Do Not Endure 5)
Monster attack (current year). Ship gets attacked by a giant (sea?) monster. Vesper loses her sword. It is probably in the creature's eye.
Washed ashore (current year). Vesper wakes up, the quest starts.
Later, I'll write up a summary of the ongoing mysteries (why does Mei hate us? what's the deal with our reflection? what have we done to ourselves?), but doing this sort of thing is pretty time-consuming if one wants to mark one's sources appropriately, so this will have to do for the time being.
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Vesper isn't the viewpoint character in The Opening Gate. Vesper is the drunk who stumbles in, wins a duel against the challenger to the lady who has studied for decades, snubs her offer of tutoring, and leaves. I'm not sure how you misread that memory to that extent.
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Good catch - the text of the memory itself is ambiguous (I'm sure the Blessed Isle could plausibly have more than one black-haired, habitually drunk swordswoman), but the description of the completed thought makes the situation clear ("It turns out Opening Gate isn't actually a very good sword style, but you are very good at it. You are also very good at making sword nerds depressed. Suck it, sword nerds.").
I guess this makes the dishonorable discharge theory sound a lot more plausible!