- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can't wait for Mass-Produced Bar Of Lye Soap to become our new companion, endlessly urging us to sacrifice it's body for sake of cleansing the impure (that is us, mostly).
Mare Internum: An Exalted Quest
- Thread starter Crumplepunch
- Start date
Honestly give us even odds of tossing it at Mei during the duel. 
- Location
- Seattle
Somebody Changed the Numbers
- Pronouns
- He
SOAP: The greatest glory is to sacrifice yourself for others, no matter whatHonestly give us even odds of tossing it at Mei during the duel.
Vesper: Thanks I will keep that I mind.
(At the fight)
(Chucks soap at Mei during fight)
Vesper: Take this sacrifice!
Mei: What?
Athletics: Passed
SOAP: WRONG SACRIFICE!
(Hits Mei in the face. It's not very effective)
(99% effective against germs, the remaining 1is effective against Mei)
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CASCADE OF CUTTING GRIME!
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Soap: You don't understand! Her impurity isn't on her skin (which is remarkably clean, I'd say). It's on the insides, in the soul!
Vesper: Oh, I see!
Also Vesper: *tries to shove the soap into Mei's throat*
Athletics: Still passed.
Soap: THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!
Vesper: Oh, I see!
Also Vesper: *tries to shove the soap into Mei's throat*
Athletics: Still passed.
Soap: THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!
Now That You Are Pure 97
- Location
- ?
There must be stuff to see outside the camp, right?
NAVIGATE: Maybe we could get to higher ground, see what our options are. Always nice to see new places.
You are walking near a low-lying section of the cliff wall that forms the east side of the pass in which Sulco camp has been pitched. A folding ladder has been set up to allow egress here, presumably so scouts can access the cliffs and do exactly what you are doing.
You climb the creaking ladder. Luckily, your dizzying headache does not impair you enough to damage your sense of balance at the moment.
Quite suddenly, as you crest the top of the cliff face, your senses carry word of the sea. The sea breeze ruffles your hair, you smell brine, hear the crash of waves. You walk to the edge and sea the Western ocean beyond.
Below, you see a grey-white beach, full of jagged, tooth-like rocks. A wrecked galley that must be Sulco's Spite lays on its side a short walk up the coast, surrounded by palets of timber and grey-cloaked engineers. Even from here you can see the deep rents in its hull.
In the opposite direction, the cliffs rise further, up to a spectacular craggy overhang, the highest point in the region save for the looming manse behind you. It must offer an amazing view.
From this vantage you can also see down into the rolling, gently forested plains of the island interior, on the opposite side of the camp. It might be interesting to strike out on your own now that you have a few hours to kill.
[ ] Go to the wreck of the Sulco's Spite.
[ ] Go to the cliff overhang for the view.
[ ] Go to the interior to explore for a while.
- Location
- ?
Yes. But now we're exploring outside the camp.
- Location
- ?
Going to take a couple of days off for the holidays. You have my permission to enjoy them or not in your customary manner.
Voting for the User's Choice Best Ongoing Quest closes in a few days, and Mare Internum is currently in last place among the nominees. This is probably deserved given that MI is less than two months old and less than a tenth the length of the second-shortest nominee. However, if you have been enjoying the quest, please consider casting your vote.
Finally, I want just say that I have been enjoying your collective contributions, despite the impression that I might give sometimes. Thank you for supporting this quest. I particularly enjoy your speculations about what is going on, so as a conversation opener, here's the list of questions from the Objectives screen. Guesses are welcome.
Voting for the User's Choice Best Ongoing Quest closes in a few days, and Mare Internum is currently in last place among the nominees. This is probably deserved given that MI is less than two months old and less than a tenth the length of the second-shortest nominee. However, if you have been enjoying the quest, please consider casting your vote.
Finally, I want just say that I have been enjoying your collective contributions, despite the impression that I might give sometimes. Thank you for supporting this quest. I particularly enjoy your speculations about what is going on, so as a conversation opener, here's the list of questions from the Objectives screen. Guesses are welcome.
- Location
- Halifax, NS
How did I lose my memory?
A Hecatoncheire/Behemoth ate it (If it exists, and it wasn't simply the fracturing of an uncomprehending mind witnessing all those dead bodies in the sea). Or its psychic assault was so horrifying your mind shut them away to protect you.
Who am I?
A former rebel or petty thief turned Imperial Magistrate.
Whose face is this?
Yours, silly.
Who cut off my finger?
Probably a syndicate boss, or the law. I mean, not literally, they both have henchmen for that, but they're somewhere in the causal chain. You were probably a criminal of some kind. Finger-chopping is a classic of debt collectors, crime bosses, and thief-catchers since time immemorial.
What was my name, before?
Empress only knows. Oh, and Mei. Mei knows.
What happened to the fleet?
The Hecatoncheire/Behemoth ate them, too. Either the monster itself or a powerful sorcerer defending the island summoned an unnaturally powerful storm to destroy the fleet, then the monster attacked while the fleet was in disarray, and both the storm and monster drove the fleet against the rocks.
Why was I sent to this island?
We don't have a lot to go on here. One might expect a Magistrate to be sent along with a pacification force to identify and prosecute the conspiracy that gave rise to the rebellion. Magistrates aren't in the business of recovering secrets lost, nor assassinating the Empress' enemies. You're here to investigate a crime that's attracted the personal interest of Her Scarletness. And yet your orders appear to have been secret, and you were dispatched surreptitiously. Perhaps the Empress suspects someone in the expedition of treason, and intended this as an elaborate test to ferret them out?
We have a bit of a conundrum here. On the one hand, the Empress is extremely competent, and generally allocates her resources wisely. She is almost certainly fully aware of your... foibles and capabilities. Your conduct, and the manner in which you advertised your authority (did everyone in the fleet know you were a Magistrate? It seems so, but perhaps you didn't flash the ring and only a few suspected) would undermine the secrecy under which you were delivered to the expedition. It's possible you're an incredibly good actor, and were behaving that way on purpose for some Empress-ordained end. If you were not acting, then the Empress didn't expect your behaviour to interfere with your mission, and your skills were to be directed elsewhere. Further, that implies the secrecy was intended to conceal your presence from parties outside the expedition. At home on the Blessed Isle? The rebels seem unlikely to care about the presence of a Magistrate amongst an already terrifying invasion fleet.
Why is the Raigi army so big?
If Hecatoncheire, possibly the dead walk amongst them. Alternatively, ancient war automata dug up and dusted off.
What's up with the weird unit in the Raigi siege force?
We've already been over that.
Why is the weather on this island so strange?
Magic. How does it work? Nobody knows. Oh, except the Bane of Kadj. He probably knows. And maybe Logris. But other than them, nobody knows.
Why is my body so badly injured?
You fought a giant corpse-leviathan in the middle of a hurricane and then said hurricane dashed you against the rocks for a few hours. Unless you mean the old injuries, in which case: because you were a violent criminal who went on to live a life violently apprehending other violent criminals. These violent delights have violent ends.
What is the nature of the Five Part World?
It's an elaborate training exercise created by an Immaculate monk, a wild goose chase for secret truths meant ultimately to teach the frustrated student that such quests are folly, and that the truths they sought were contained within the Immaculate Texts all along.
It's a heretical branch of the Immaculate faith, practiced in secret throughout the Realm, that considers the other planes 'parts' of the world on an axis perpendicular to the five elements of Creation, bringing the Underworld into the anointed cosmology and normalizing ancestor worship. They're responsible for this rebellion, and the Empress has sent you to root out their agents on the island.
I don't know - who am I, Mujū?
Who killed Fincher's scouts?
The peasants have the right of it. When your friend is found mutilated at the edge of the woods, it's demons*. Always demons.
*Demons may contain the dead, wyld monstrosities, elementals, bandits (possess by demons), war automata, and gods. Demons are known to cause cancer by the state of California. Check with your sorcerer to find out if demons are right for you.
Who changed the numbers?
You.
What did I do to Mei?
You gave her hope, and then you dashed it.
The Imperial Legions have a long and proud tradition of giving commands to effective rebels once the Empress has gently persuaded them of the error of their ways. Perhaps you and Mei were part of a Threshold rebellion, and you sold it out to the Empress?
If you met Mei after coming to the Realm, then perhaps she had designs on the throne herself, and you were her right hand woman. The Empress tends to take a dim view of such ambition when publicly expressed, so I don't think you revealed her treason. Perhaps she had less seditious goals. Forming her own Cadet House, or even a new Great House? That doesn't seem to offer obvious opportunities for betrayal.
Given Mei's high rank and reputation for competence, it seems likely her dream and your betrayal came before your arrival in the Realm, perhaps precipitating it. Scandals sink careers, and no one seems to know what she dreamt of doing or how you scuppered it. This one is a puzzle with some big missing pieces.
Whatever it was, you apparently regret it, profusely and embarrassingly. Did you regret it in the moment, or have the consequences only become obvious with time? Did you see no other option? Was it a moment of weakness? A crime of passion? No idea.
Where is my daiklave?
In the foetid belly of a corpse monster. Or on a beach somewhere. Possibly sipping mai tais. Speaking of which, you're in the West. Invent the Mei Tai, then have one on the beach to honour the brave sacrifice of your daiklave. Maybe a dozen, while you're at it.
What was the corpse monster Logris mentioned?
Nothing you want to run into in a dark alley.
A Hecatoncheire/Behemoth ate it (If it exists, and it wasn't simply the fracturing of an uncomprehending mind witnessing all those dead bodies in the sea). Or its psychic assault was so horrifying your mind shut them away to protect you.
Who am I?
A former rebel or petty thief turned Imperial Magistrate.
Whose face is this?
Yours, silly.
Who cut off my finger?
Probably a syndicate boss, or the law. I mean, not literally, they both have henchmen for that, but they're somewhere in the causal chain. You were probably a criminal of some kind. Finger-chopping is a classic of debt collectors, crime bosses, and thief-catchers since time immemorial.
What was my name, before?
Empress only knows. Oh, and Mei. Mei knows.
What happened to the fleet?
The Hecatoncheire/Behemoth ate them, too. Either the monster itself or a powerful sorcerer defending the island summoned an unnaturally powerful storm to destroy the fleet, then the monster attacked while the fleet was in disarray, and both the storm and monster drove the fleet against the rocks.
Why was I sent to this island?
We don't have a lot to go on here. One might expect a Magistrate to be sent along with a pacification force to identify and prosecute the conspiracy that gave rise to the rebellion. Magistrates aren't in the business of recovering secrets lost, nor assassinating the Empress' enemies. You're here to investigate a crime that's attracted the personal interest of Her Scarletness. And yet your orders appear to have been secret, and you were dispatched surreptitiously. Perhaps the Empress suspects someone in the expedition of treason, and intended this as an elaborate test to ferret them out?
We have a bit of a conundrum here. On the one hand, the Empress is extremely competent, and generally allocates her resources wisely. She is almost certainly fully aware of your... foibles and capabilities. Your conduct, and the manner in which you advertised your authority (did everyone in the fleet know you were a Magistrate? It seems so, but perhaps you didn't flash the ring and only a few suspected) would undermine the secrecy under which you were delivered to the expedition. It's possible you're an incredibly good actor, and were behaving that way on purpose for some Empress-ordained end. If you were not acting, then the Empress didn't expect your behaviour to interfere with your mission, and your skills were to be directed elsewhere. Further, that implies the secrecy was intended to conceal your presence from parties outside the expedition. At home on the Blessed Isle? The rebels seem unlikely to care about the presence of a Magistrate amongst an already terrifying invasion fleet.
Why is the Raigi army so big?
If Hecatoncheire, possibly the dead walk amongst them. Alternatively, ancient war automata dug up and dusted off.
What's up with the weird unit in the Raigi siege force?
We've already been over that.
Why is the weather on this island so strange?
Magic. How does it work? Nobody knows. Oh, except the Bane of Kadj. He probably knows. And maybe Logris. But other than them, nobody knows.
Why is my body so badly injured?
You fought a giant corpse-leviathan in the middle of a hurricane and then said hurricane dashed you against the rocks for a few hours. Unless you mean the old injuries, in which case: because you were a violent criminal who went on to live a life violently apprehending other violent criminals. These violent delights have violent ends.
What is the nature of the Five Part World?
It's an elaborate training exercise created by an Immaculate monk, a wild goose chase for secret truths meant ultimately to teach the frustrated student that such quests are folly, and that the truths they sought were contained within the Immaculate Texts all along.
It's a heretical branch of the Immaculate faith, practiced in secret throughout the Realm, that considers the other planes 'parts' of the world on an axis perpendicular to the five elements of Creation, bringing the Underworld into the anointed cosmology and normalizing ancestor worship. They're responsible for this rebellion, and the Empress has sent you to root out their agents on the island.
I don't know - who am I, Mujū?
Who killed Fincher's scouts?
The peasants have the right of it. When your friend is found mutilated at the edge of the woods, it's demons*. Always demons.
*Demons may contain the dead, wyld monstrosities, elementals, bandits (possess by demons), war automata, and gods. Demons are known to cause cancer by the state of California. Check with your sorcerer to find out if demons are right for you.
Who changed the numbers?
You.
What did I do to Mei?
You gave her hope, and then you dashed it.
The Imperial Legions have a long and proud tradition of giving commands to effective rebels once the Empress has gently persuaded them of the error of their ways. Perhaps you and Mei were part of a Threshold rebellion, and you sold it out to the Empress?
If you met Mei after coming to the Realm, then perhaps she had designs on the throne herself, and you were her right hand woman. The Empress tends to take a dim view of such ambition when publicly expressed, so I don't think you revealed her treason. Perhaps she had less seditious goals. Forming her own Cadet House, or even a new Great House? That doesn't seem to offer obvious opportunities for betrayal.
Given Mei's high rank and reputation for competence, it seems likely her dream and your betrayal came before your arrival in the Realm, perhaps precipitating it. Scandals sink careers, and no one seems to know what she dreamt of doing or how you scuppered it. This one is a puzzle with some big missing pieces.
Whatever it was, you apparently regret it, profusely and embarrassingly. Did you regret it in the moment, or have the consequences only become obvious with time? Did you see no other option? Was it a moment of weakness? A crime of passion? No idea.
Where is my daiklave?
In the foetid belly of a corpse monster. Or on a beach somewhere. Possibly sipping mai tais. Speaking of which, you're in the West. Invent the Mei Tai, then have one on the beach to honour the brave sacrifice of your daiklave. Maybe a dozen, while you're at it.
What was the corpse monster Logris mentioned?
Nothing you want to run into in a dark alley.
- Location
- Oregon, USA
If we're a liminal, then couldn't the corpse monster be a misunderstanding of our anima?
Edit: or an abyssal
Edit: or an abyssal
- Location
- Halifax, NS
Unlikely, given she reportedly dove into the water to fight it, daiklave in hand, and thus it was in the water before her. Anima banners are quite clearly centred on the person creating them, and although an anima banner that extended downwards into the sea instead of up into the sky would be pretty cool, that's not usually how they work. Oh, I see, you're thinking she dove into the water before Logris saw the corpse monster, Vesper's subsequent flaring created the corpse monster, and Logris inferred she dove in to fight it? Possible. Vesper went from 0-60 in a real hurry if she flared iconic immediately after jumping in. Whatever she was doing must have been incredibly difficult. I think the corpse monster is too large to reasonably be an anima banner, but we can't say for sure.
A Liminal is vastly more likely to be in the service of the Empress than an Abyssal. Since the Empress is still around, that suggests but by no means guarantees the Jade Prison remains unbroken, and if so, there are no Solars, Abyssals, or Infernals running around making a mess of things.
I think Water Aspect Dragonblood is most likely.
A Liminal is vastly more likely to be in the service of the Empress than an Abyssal. Since the Empress is still around, that suggests but by no means guarantees the Jade Prison remains unbroken, and if so, there are no Solars, Abyssals, or Infernals running around making a mess of things.
I think Water Aspect Dragonblood is most likely.
- Location
- Oregon, USA
Could be exigent.
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
My personal long-shot bet/hope is "Chosen of Journeys" but I concede that Water Aspect is most likely by far and Liminal is #2.
- Location
- Oregon, USA
Side note, this might be me being weird, but I love how relatable the main character is. Like, all of the more insane moments are all stuff I could see myself going through, and reacting similarly.
It's hard to make a relatable quest protagonist that doesn't easily slot into a stereotype, or one in a quest where things are based on chance. You've done both, and somehow nailed the feel of the character in a way that I've only ever seen in a few published books.
EDIT: wait, if someone tries to resurrect a dragon blooded, could they become a liminal? I mean, the multiple exaltation thing isn't an issue, since it moved on already. And the liminal would probably still have a strong spiritual tie to water, at least internally.
It's hard to make a relatable quest protagonist that doesn't easily slot into a stereotype, or one in a quest where things are based on chance. You've done both, and somehow nailed the feel of the character in a way that I've only ever seen in a few published books.
EDIT: wait, if someone tries to resurrect a dragon blooded, could they become a liminal? I mean, the multiple exaltation thing isn't an issue, since it moved on already. And the liminal would probably still have a strong spiritual tie to water, at least internally.
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Yes, liminals can be created from the corpses of exalts (one of the short fictions in the 3e core is actually about one created from a dragon-blooded hunting down the previous occupant's hungry ghost). However, unless some Word of God has already been stated elsewhere, we won't really have any idea what - if any - mechanical benefits there are until the liminal book is available.
- Location
- Oregon, USA
We haven't seen any mechanical benefits from water yet. Just quasi-spiritual ones. Actually, I'd argue what little we have seen that miiight qualify fits under the idea of biofeedback a lot better. Muscle fibers aren't blood, much less water.
Additionally, hedonism fits liminals in an interesting way, certainly much better than a dragon blooded who carries around a flask with a spiritual quote on it. The last connection to their former life works a lot better IMO.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Honestly at this point, "no but what if she's literally anything else other than a Dragon-Blood" gets a little tiresome. It's a quest in which the protagonist wakes up with no memories and discovers, among other things, that not only is she pretty awful, she's also a part of the Realm's Imperial machine. Yes, very technically she could be something other than Dragon-Blooded, but it would make that thematic element weaker.
Now That You Are Pure 98
- Location
- ?
The cliff face seems sheer at first, but you quickly locate a path by which to descend. It's narrow, rocky and requires a few small leaps and drops, but after a few minutes you make it down to the beach.
ATHLETICS: It sure is impressive that you can perform manoeuvres like that over a fall onto jagged rocks while you have a debilitating headache!
I'm not sure if that was sarcastic.
ATHLETICS: No, not at all, I'm just saying that this was incredibly dangerous and I admire your confidence in doing it without even thinking about it!
That was clearly sarcastic.
ATHLETICS: I just love our conversations.
Anyway. The rocks you saw from above are even more tooth-like up close, irregular, man-sized obelisks of glossy white quartz, tapering to jagged points. If there are more under the water, it's no wonder that the galley was badly damaged.
And damaged it is. The Sulco's Spite, clearly once a proud Realm naval galley, has deep cracks in its hull, and its mainmast sits ajar. Its battened red sails quiver in the breeze.
CRAFT: From a quick look, the damage seems irreparable. There's no way the boat's carpenter has enough wood to properly patch this hull, even if there was enough labour to do the job.
There's lots of wood around though, isn't there? You passed a load of trees not long ago.
CRAFT: Sure, if you're willing to wait six months. Wood for these kinds of repairs needs to be properly aged, or it won't seal properly.
WAR: Mei seemed to think the repairs could be done. She must get reports from her engineers, why would she think that?
CRAFT: Maybe she's operating off some bad information.
SAGACITY: Or maybe she knows something we don't.
The engineers you saw from above are huddled among the supplies a short distance from the wreck, conversing with one another. They probably haven't noticed your presence as unusual from this distance. You could probably climb on board or examine the exterior without bothering them, if you wanted.
[ ] Approach the engineers.
[ ] Take a closer look around the exterior.
[ ] Climb aboard the ship and explore.
ThatGazzer
Minds Eye Bind
- Location
- PNW
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Take a closer look around the exterior.
Now That You Are Pure 99
- Location
- ?
The galley is beached at a shallow thirty degree angle, dug deep into the grey sand. You approach it from the starboard side, out of the field of view of the engineers.
CRAFT: NORMAL
CHECK PASSED
There is some kind of grey detritus in the cracks. Mud? You touch it tentatively. It's dry, glossy, very slightly pliant and fibrous.
CRAFT: I think it's wood vomit.
What?
CRAFT: Well, sort of. Some species of insect chew up bark and plant stems and spit it out with their saliva to make a solid surface for their nests. This is like that, but with wood chips.
Right, wood vomit. And what would do that?
SAGACITY: Something much bigger than a paper wasp.
AWARENESS: Do you hear that? It sounds like wire brushes against the hull interior, dozens of them.
Oh, I don't like that.
???: Hey, you, what are you doing poking around back there?
You turn, ready to defend your reputation against more sceptical engineers, but nobody is there.
"Hello?"
???: Hello, yes! Don't you want to introduce yourself first? Come around the prow!
Still seeing nobody, you cautiously approach. The front prow of the boat looms above you, jutting out of the sand. The figurehead, a coiled dragon with a woman's face, plated in heavily patinated bronze, gazes down at you.
FIGUREHEAD: Ahoy there, how do you do?
"Oh, not bad, how are you?"
FIGUREHEAD: Well, perfectly dreadful, obviously. But company is nice, you know! Everyone else seems to be ignoring me.
"Really? That's weird, you're a perfectly nice figurehead."
FIGUREHEAD: Oh stop, you're making me blush. We both know I've seen better days. But where are my manners? Welcome aboard the Sulco's Spite, you dashing stranger, you.
"I'm Tenebrous Silken Vesper."
FIGUREHEAD: So mysterious! So suave!
"I thought so."
[ ] What do you know about this island?
[ ] Do you know anything about those strange repairs on your hull?
[ ] Any idea who is aboard you right now?
[ ] How was the voyage, aside from the bad ending?
[ ] You were carrying Dragonlord Mei, do you know anything about her?
[ ] I should get back to exploring.