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Mare Internum: An Exalted Quest
- Thread starter Crumplepunch
- Start date
Your vote is not formatted properly, you are missing the [ in the []
- Location
- ?
I have literally never used thread tools even once in this quest. I will survive an imperfectly formatted vote.
- Location
- Spain
Arguably voting for something and then changing your mind and editing your vote into something else is cheating, given how the quest works.
- Location
- ?
Let's chill with the accusations of cheating. Beepsmile posted a comment immediately after my post by coincidence, then posted again to vote a minute later. Nothing nefarious happened.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
Huh? That didn't read to me as an accusation, mainly because the thing that Broken described was not a thing that happened. (Broken, fam, that thing you described was not a thing that happened! If you think it was, please review 
)
I made a post, noticed a update, then voted in a doublepost post, then had a mild anxiety moment in which I explained why I chose to double post, and edited my explinatation into the first post. The core of my reasoning was related to timestamps
)I made a post, noticed a update, then voted in a doublepost post, then had a mild anxiety moment in which I explained why I chose to double post, and edited my explinatation into the first post. The core of my reasoning was related to timestamps
- Location
- ?
My bad, no problems here, nothing to see, move along.
Fair enough, it just isn't aesthetic you know.
And considering that I sort-of have your attention, Any thoughts on the way we are leading our mentally questionable protagonist? Like how are we doing compared on what you have planned and stuff like that you know.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
EVERYONE LOOK! CRUMPLEPUNCH MADE A RESONABLE MINOR ERROR! AND THEY DID IT ONLINE!
LETS ALL [rolls dice, checks table] GIVE THEM A HORSE AS A PRESENT!
(please note, the table mentioned above is an actual physical table.
Into which I have physically carved the image of a table.
And part of that image is a dice-roll table!
Pretty sure that's coming out the flat's deposit. :/ )
LETS ALL [rolls dice, checks table] GIVE THEM A HORSE AS A PRESENT!
(please note, the table mentioned above is an actual physical table.
Into which I have physically carved the image of a table.
And part of that image is a dice-roll table!
Pretty sure that's coming out the flat's deposit. :/ )
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- Location
- ?
Despite being someone who ostensibly works as a professional writer, I have structural problems with writing stories. I can rarely stick to a plan. I have a vague string of loosely sequenced goals with multiple routes of approach and no interconnective tissue. I know my characters, and how they react, but little about what they will react to.
All of this is a terrible detriment to writing a good novel, but it's perfect for a quest like this, where I can abnegate any responsibility for good structure and let questers rampage around doing whatever they like while I figure out ways to approach the meat of the plot points.
By all means, continue.
I accept this horse in the spirit it was given.
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- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
The spirit?
This is a horse that a reasonable person might expect to get. Noble, Brave, Three years in a leading role on Broadway and is Probably not a Llama (idk, I've never seen this movie, so I'm sorta guessing relevant facts)
This is the horse I've got*, and I'm tired of feeding it. 'gratz for accepting it fam!
*I say 'I'. It's your headache now! (Note that this horse hates spiders, cheese and anything involving helpfulness or utility. Enjoy)
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thelordofmango
may be stupid
- Location
- under a rock
Having read this with zero knowledge of exalted, I can confidently say I know exactly what is going on.
What exactly did Yonris do?
What exactly did Yonris do?
mothematics
How wide is the concept of "you"?
- Location
- the bottom of a coffee cup
- Pronouns
- She/Her
she failed the vibe check
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
ah, so unlike tenebrous silken vesper, who has done nothing except pass vibe checks : )
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
She presumably said the Scarlet Empress's real name out loud, in a context that led to the Empress noticing and killing her for it.
Parabola
Divided Loyalties Librarian
- Location
- The Destination of Fate
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Long ago the Dragon-Blooded had a Shogunate going on, which lasted for centuries. It ended when there was a world-spanning supernatural plague, the Great Contagion, accompanied by the invasion of the Fair Folk, the Balorian Crusade. This period of instability was ended when a small group of Dragon-Blooded soldiers ventured into an ancient and dangerous manse to attempt to seize control of one of the most powerful weapons ever created, the Sword of Creation. The sole survivor of this group of five used its destructive energies to lay waste to the armies of the Fair Folk, blasting cities off the map, raining down stone and iron on them, causing tsunamis and all sorts of other elemental phenomena from across the world. (The Great Contagion, meanwhile, wound down to its natural conclusion over years.)
That soldier, who now had the world's most powerful singular weapon in her command, found it hard to let go of it. With the Shogunate in practical shambles, she was approached by the local illuminati jedi, the Sidereal Exalted as led by Chekop Kejak, and offered their support in exchange for serving as a stable ruler for what remained. She accepted, and then declared herself as the Scarlet Empress.
There were a handful of former Shogunate military leaders, would-be warlords who saw this, confided in one another, and decided they could divide a lot of territories between them and their armies, not wanting to bend to the Empress. These were known as the Seven Tigers. We have been told Yonris was one of the Seven Tigers but I think she might be quest-original. After some further attempts at diplomacy, the Empress proceeded to use the Sword of Creation against them. Any further resistance swiftly evaporated. (One of the drawbacks of the Sword of Creation being used is that it causes great earthquakes to the Blessed Isle, so these uses were not made lightly.)
CuttleFish2.0
Friendly neighborhood cuttlefish
- Location
- Seattle, Washington.
And/or did something stupid and dangerous enough while being enough a 'problem' for the Empress to claim to have done so, or rather do nothing to dissuade people from believing it is.
Logris did specifically say it was 'legend.' So it doesn't entirely sound like the Scarlet Empress is loudly claiming credit. Granted, given that SAGACITY then called out similar stories that Vesper is aware of, there seems a good chance its true.
Or at least resembles something like the truth... could be we are Yonris and the Empress didn't so much kill us as save us from our own stupidity and bind us to her service.
Note: not a serious theory , I also know little to nothing of Exalted that wasn't picked up from internet discussions, quests, and wikis.
Parabola
Divided Loyalties Librarian
- Location
- The Destination of Fate
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It's entirely possible that "she spoke out the Empress' name" is code for "attempted sorcerous cursing which really pissed the Empress off" - cursing someone using their name sounds... about right. Then again, yes, it's a legend. What we do know is that the isle has a volcanic lake and that it presumably didn't use to, and that the Sword of Creation could certainly facilitate that via extreme violence.
- Location
- ?
I have been very negligent in making this quest accessible to newcomers to Exalted. If I were redrafting this I would include a lot more Ability inputs filling Vesper in on setting information as it is introduced, but it's too late for a good first impression now. I'll try to keep this variable in mind going forward.
All of the feats of the Empress are essentially legendary. It's probably not even common knowledge in setting that the Empress' ability to unleash incredible desruction anywhere in Creation is related to the Imperial Manse. Which of her feats are intrinsic and which are external to her and worked through her vast array of artifacts and other magical tools is largely unknown and irrelevant, except to the very few Dynasts powerful and ambitious enough to have designs on taking her place.
The Empress noticing when her name is used is in a small way canonical. In Crow's tale from 1e's Aspect Book Earth, a Fair Folk prince gloats over a defeated legionary after a battle south of Paragon and unwisely uses the Empress' name. This results in the entire Fair Folk host in the region being destroyed.
This implies that:
1) The Empress' name (unstated in canon) is common knowledge.
2) Everyone knows not to use it.
I enjoyed the implications of this enough that I thought it deserved reference.
All of the feats of the Empress are essentially legendary. It's probably not even common knowledge in setting that the Empress' ability to unleash incredible desruction anywhere in Creation is related to the Imperial Manse. Which of her feats are intrinsic and which are external to her and worked through her vast array of artifacts and other magical tools is largely unknown and irrelevant, except to the very few Dynasts powerful and ambitious enough to have designs on taking her place.
The Empress noticing when her name is used is in a small way canonical. In Crow's tale from 1e's Aspect Book Earth, a Fair Folk prince gloats over a defeated legionary after a battle south of Paragon and unwisely uses the Empress' name. This results in the entire Fair Folk host in the region being destroyed.
This implies that:
1) The Empress' name (unstated in canon) is common knowledge.
2) Everyone knows not to use it.
I enjoyed the implications of this enough that I thought it deserved reference.
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- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The Empress is like that one fact about bears in European languages, essentially.
- Location
- Finland
I think it's thematically appropriate for people without Exalted knowledge to be as lost with the world as Vesper is with everything. If anything, I pity Exalted-knowers for not enjoying the disorientation that the rest of us get to have!
Context clues have also generally provided what information about the setting we have needed, IMO, so it's worked out.
Thought: The New Black Jade
- Location
- ?
Yonris Ur-Kadun, the last sage of Melthasine, master of the four keys of Yatan, sorcerer-tyrant of the South and the Seventh Tiger. A legendary warlord of the late Shogunate, she ruled over the scattered isles of the Southwest with an iron fist. She defended her domain from the endless tides of the Fair Folk when they rose to swallow Creation, and when an Empress rose on the Blessed Isle to burn those endless tides away and demanded fealty from her new subjects, Yonris Ur-Kadun would not kneel. She joined an alliance of like-minded rebels against the new order and prepared to take the Isle for herself.
Her allies' fleets were crushed, burned in their invasion ships or executed on the steps of the new capital. The imperial histories say that Yonris fled north with her Baihu fleet, to the remote isle of Hoxiahn. She subjugated the native Raigi and entrenched herself against possible invasion. It was, the imperial histories say, the last resort of a rebel opportunist and coward.
But this makes no sense. Yonris had a well defended position, a fortified series of principalities across the coast of the Meiyu sea and the islands beyond. What could she hope to gain in some gloomy backwater that she did not already possess in her treasuries and fortresses? What possible strategic advantage existed in Hoxiahn, so far to the north, and so remote from the supplies that fed her armies?
It is said that Yonris Ur-Kadun stood upon the towers of Domdaniel, Where the Rainbow Ends, and pronounced a doom upon the Empress. The challenge was answered with fire that scorched Domdaniel to its bedrock. Nothing was left of the great manse or its master.
But this too is suspect. We have only the Setoris family accounts and the Raigi oral histories as sources, and they differ in specifics. The Raigi say that she is waiting under the lake, having encorcelled herself to a magical sleep that will end with the death of her hated foe, the Empress. And how could anyone who witnessed the specifics of her death have survived to give an account in any case? Domdaniel certainly existed, and a volcanic lake which locals call the Grave of Yonris lies in its place. Yonris certainly vanished on Hoxiahn in the earliest years of the Realm. Beyond these facts, history remains opaque.
Is it possible that you are Yonris Ur-Kadun, the Seventh Tiger, returned from your grave Where the Rainbow Ends? In a word, no. Although histories agree that Yonris was a water aspect, they also agree that she was inhumanly tall, with full-body jade tattoos. You're pretty sure you don't qualify.
Still, there is something there. You feel a connection to this place that goes beyond memory. Something primordial and ancestral whispers in your blood, the same blood that carries your Exaltation. Yonris had children, and you share an ethnicity with her claimed descendants. It's not completely impossible that you could be related. Maybe.
Does it matter? Even if you could prove it, who would care? But it isn't for others, is it? It's something to hold in your heart. A connection to the world that has left you adrift. Maybe.
Her allies' fleets were crushed, burned in their invasion ships or executed on the steps of the new capital. The imperial histories say that Yonris fled north with her Baihu fleet, to the remote isle of Hoxiahn. She subjugated the native Raigi and entrenched herself against possible invasion. It was, the imperial histories say, the last resort of a rebel opportunist and coward.
But this makes no sense. Yonris had a well defended position, a fortified series of principalities across the coast of the Meiyu sea and the islands beyond. What could she hope to gain in some gloomy backwater that she did not already possess in her treasuries and fortresses? What possible strategic advantage existed in Hoxiahn, so far to the north, and so remote from the supplies that fed her armies?
It is said that Yonris Ur-Kadun stood upon the towers of Domdaniel, Where the Rainbow Ends, and pronounced a doom upon the Empress. The challenge was answered with fire that scorched Domdaniel to its bedrock. Nothing was left of the great manse or its master.
But this too is suspect. We have only the Setoris family accounts and the Raigi oral histories as sources, and they differ in specifics. The Raigi say that she is waiting under the lake, having encorcelled herself to a magical sleep that will end with the death of her hated foe, the Empress. And how could anyone who witnessed the specifics of her death have survived to give an account in any case? Domdaniel certainly existed, and a volcanic lake which locals call the Grave of Yonris lies in its place. Yonris certainly vanished on Hoxiahn in the earliest years of the Realm. Beyond these facts, history remains opaque.
Is it possible that you are Yonris Ur-Kadun, the Seventh Tiger, returned from your grave Where the Rainbow Ends? In a word, no. Although histories agree that Yonris was a water aspect, they also agree that she was inhumanly tall, with full-body jade tattoos. You're pretty sure you don't qualify.
Still, there is something there. You feel a connection to this place that goes beyond memory. Something primordial and ancestral whispers in your blood, the same blood that carries your Exaltation. Yonris had children, and you share an ethnicity with her claimed descendants. It's not completely impossible that you could be related. Maybe.
Does it matter? Even if you could prove it, who would care? But it isn't for others, is it? It's something to hold in your heart. A connection to the world that has left you adrift. Maybe.
Diamond and Thunderbolt
The highest calling of any Dragon-Blood is to fight the Anathema. They are some of the few adversaries in the world who can outmatch you in single combat, and a material and spiritual threat to the order of the world. Those who have slain one of these terrible creatures have a unique place of respect anywhere the Realm or the relicts of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate hold sway. Could you be one of these heroes? Is your secret mission to slay the human demons that haunt this island?
War -1 (Personal Deeds Only)
24 hours.
The Dweller in Chaos
You had a daiklave. How did you obtain this precious treasure? What is its history? Where did it go? Is there any chance you might be able to get it back? Probably not, honestly, but surely an outside chance of having a cool sword is better than nothing.
Craft +1 (Contemplate the Material)
Integrity -1 (Memory Hole)
12 hours.
Mysterious Stranger
Someone has changed the numbers. What does it mean? You have to know. Someone is here today who wasn't yesterday. Do you remember their face from before they were here? Will you remember them tomorrow? Why are they here, what are they planning? You have to know.
Integrity +1 (Someone Has Changed The Numbers)
Presence -2 (Wild-Eyed Paranoia)
10 hours.
The Prisoner's Dilemma
You asked for the gag back. Why? Did you derive some value from it? Was it the joy of violence? The warm satisfaction of eating well? The exhilaration of surviving danger? Was it perhaps that it was just funny? Is it possible that it might be some other, mysterious, fifth thing, heretofore unknown to you? Take some time to ponder the gag thing. Then talk to Fincher about it.
Integrity +1 (Do You Know What You Want?)
Sagacity -1 (Obviously Irrelevant)
8 hours.
Those Jagged Peaks
The Realm sucks pretty bad, just generally. The Dynasty in particular sucks dick. But why does it suck dick? What destructive incentive structures are at play? What about its systems of power perpetuate inequity and injustice? Is it possible that it actually sucks dick for everyone, including those that ostensibly benefit from it? Formulate a structural critique of imperialism and aristocratic power structures. Then talk to Logris about it.
Embassy +1 (Systems Are Important)
Presence -1 (Thought Over Action)
Physique -1 (Enervating Nerd Energies)
12 hours.
The Wolf and the Falcon
Why did you introduce yourself as the Wolf of Sibun? Did you have something to do with the disaster that destroyed the winter palace thirty years ago? Did you once know what happened there, and why? Is it at all possible that you secretly an Anathema? To the last one, no, you are absolutely not, but have a good think about that other stuff.
Embassy -1 (Revel in Infamy)
20 hours.
The New Black Jade (Complete)
You are definitely not Yonris, so I hope you didn't waste too much time thinking about that. Still, it was interesting to contemplate. The other stuff you learned might be important later. And maybe you have some connection to this island. Maybe.
Navigate: +2 (I Know This Place)
Craft: +1 (I Know Its Works)
Sagacity: -1 (Still Can't Believe You Thought About This)
Special: Gain additional dialogue options about your possible ancestry.
Unbroken Rushes (Complete)
The Realm has taken everything from you, and it has done it more than once. Then you were made to visit its horrors on others. What could you have been, if not for this? The memories remain hazy, but the lesson is clear. Never let go of the hate.
Stealth: +2 (We Act in the Shadows)
Navigate: +1 (Know the Better World)
Presence: +1 (Revolutionary Fervor)
Embassy: -1 to Dynasts and Realm patriots only. (Offputting Intensity)
Presence: -2 to Dynasts and Realm patriots only. (Misplaced Loyalties)
Special: Gain additional subversive dialogue options.
You are currently thinking about Unbroken Rushes (Complete), Maker, Builder, Breaker (17 hours), and The Opening Gate (23 hours). You can change your thoughts when you sleep.
The highest calling of any Dragon-Blood is to fight the Anathema. They are some of the few adversaries in the world who can outmatch you in single combat, and a material and spiritual threat to the order of the world. Those who have slain one of these terrible creatures have a unique place of respect anywhere the Realm or the relicts of the Dragon-Blooded Shogunate hold sway. Could you be one of these heroes? Is your secret mission to slay the human demons that haunt this island?
War -1 (Personal Deeds Only)
24 hours.
The Dweller in Chaos
You had a daiklave. How did you obtain this precious treasure? What is its history? Where did it go? Is there any chance you might be able to get it back? Probably not, honestly, but surely an outside chance of having a cool sword is better than nothing.
Craft +1 (Contemplate the Material)
Integrity -1 (Memory Hole)
12 hours.
Mysterious Stranger
Someone has changed the numbers. What does it mean? You have to know. Someone is here today who wasn't yesterday. Do you remember their face from before they were here? Will you remember them tomorrow? Why are they here, what are they planning? You have to know.
Integrity +1 (Someone Has Changed The Numbers)
Presence -2 (Wild-Eyed Paranoia)
10 hours.
The Prisoner's Dilemma
You asked for the gag back. Why? Did you derive some value from it? Was it the joy of violence? The warm satisfaction of eating well? The exhilaration of surviving danger? Was it perhaps that it was just funny? Is it possible that it might be some other, mysterious, fifth thing, heretofore unknown to you? Take some time to ponder the gag thing. Then talk to Fincher about it.
Integrity +1 (Do You Know What You Want?)
Sagacity -1 (Obviously Irrelevant)
8 hours.
Those Jagged Peaks
The Realm sucks pretty bad, just generally. The Dynasty in particular sucks dick. But why does it suck dick? What destructive incentive structures are at play? What about its systems of power perpetuate inequity and injustice? Is it possible that it actually sucks dick for everyone, including those that ostensibly benefit from it? Formulate a structural critique of imperialism and aristocratic power structures. Then talk to Logris about it.
Embassy +1 (Systems Are Important)
Presence -1 (Thought Over Action)
Physique -1 (Enervating Nerd Energies)
12 hours.
The Wolf and the Falcon
Why did you introduce yourself as the Wolf of Sibun? Did you have something to do with the disaster that destroyed the winter palace thirty years ago? Did you once know what happened there, and why? Is it at all possible that you secretly an Anathema? To the last one, no, you are absolutely not, but have a good think about that other stuff.
Embassy -1 (Revel in Infamy)
20 hours.
The New Black Jade (Complete)
You are definitely not Yonris, so I hope you didn't waste too much time thinking about that. Still, it was interesting to contemplate. The other stuff you learned might be important later. And maybe you have some connection to this island. Maybe.
Navigate: +2 (I Know This Place)
Craft: +1 (I Know Its Works)
Sagacity: -1 (Still Can't Believe You Thought About This)
Special: Gain additional dialogue options about your possible ancestry.
Unbroken Rushes (Complete)
The Realm has taken everything from you, and it has done it more than once. Then you were made to visit its horrors on others. What could you have been, if not for this? The memories remain hazy, but the lesson is clear. Never let go of the hate.
Stealth: +2 (We Act in the Shadows)
Navigate: +1 (Know the Better World)
Presence: +1 (Revolutionary Fervor)
Embassy: -1 to Dynasts and Realm patriots only. (Offputting Intensity)
Presence: -2 to Dynasts and Realm patriots only. (Misplaced Loyalties)
Special: Gain additional subversive dialogue options.
You are currently thinking about Unbroken Rushes (Complete), Maker, Builder, Breaker (17 hours), and The Opening Gate (23 hours). You can change your thoughts when you sleep.
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1337Procrast
Fire Emblem Enjoyer
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I NEED THIS SO BAD PLEASE.