Or maybe they've always existed and were just discovered?
Mare Internum: An Exalted Quest
- Thread starter Crumplepunch
- Start date
Now That You Are Pure 126
- Location
- ?
"Please, the more practice I get the better I will be able to control it."
Logris purses her lips.
LOGRIS: "Very well. Let us attempt some warmup exercises. Just show me a few simple motions. Hit a tree, if you like. Pretend you are fighting a Raigi marauder."
"Alright, I think I can hit a tree, and also pretend things."
LOGRIS: "Good, very good."
Does anyone have any advice?
PHYSIQUE: Some say the tongue is the greatest muscle. This is a lie. The tongue is a muscle with the gift of language. Your arms are full of the language of murder. Your arms are full of tongues! Learn to harness them, use your arms sensually, like a lover, specifically for the purposes of murder.
That doesn't seem very helpful.
PHYSIQUE: I was trying to construct a metaphor. Bodies aren't very good at that.
Alright, here goes.
You try to replicate the palm strike you saw the reflection making earlier in that vision. First, you face your opponent. The apple tree mocks you impassively.
PHYSIQUE: Show that stupid tree who's boss!
You spring forward and slam the heel of your palm into the tree's trunk, exerting force through your legs and back and through your arm for maximum impact.
The tree looks unimpressed. Stupid tree.
LOGRIS: "Hmm. An unusual stance, but we can make do. How would you like to proceed?"
[ ] Maybe I can just keep hitting this tree, it has it coming.
[ ] Let's spar to first contact, best of five.
[ ] Spar to submission seems like the best move.
[ ] Let's fight with swords and see what happens.
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unObservant
Just drifting along, really
- Location
- USA
Hmm. Well if Vesper, in all her insightfulness and objectively-correctness, thinks that the tree has it coming... what heinous crimes could she have picked up on that we missed?
I had been assuming that its existence being measured in the span of, like, an hour would limit such things, but clearly I was a fool.
Maybe Physique had a point with the violence-language? Maybe punching it allowed us to comprehend the history-spanning vegetal plot passed down through the seeds of Fincher's previously-pickled apples and its forebears before it; or find evidence of the 7 potentially-very-useful bugs it has maliciously squished with falling apples so far; or discern an ill-formed branch poised to fall upon us in a vicious retaliation should we strike the tree again?
The tree is Fincher's subordinate, and Fincher has definitely done crimes. It's guilty by association.
hugh_donnetono
No use to complain
- Location
- Caught Out In The Rain
- Location
- Oregon, USA
The tree IS the numbers.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I binged this whole thread and I have give give huge kudos. I really didn't think someone would be able to nail the aura of Disco Elysium this well. The vibes are impeccable, and I can more or less hear the stupidly skilled narrator say each written word. The nonstandard dialogue is a huge help for that. Each character has a unique voice and WOW does Vesper absolutely capture the bumbling chaos of a The Detective.
I have much more to say, and gush about, but it is an hour past my bedtime. Which will likely be full of Exalted flavored dreams like the past few days, lol.
I have much more to say, and gush about, but it is an hour past my bedtime. Which will likely be full of Exalted flavored dreams like the past few days, lol.
Now That You Are Pure 127
- Location
- ?
"Maybe I can just keep hitting this tree, it has it coming."
LOGRIS: "If that would help you warm up, then by all means, go ahead."
You take a couple of experimental swipes at the tree, flailing your hands in its vague direction. You succeed only in embedding small pieces of bark in your skin. Memories of your lost combat abilities do not surface.
You speed up, hammering your limbs against the wood like they are bellicose fish you are desperately trying to incapacitate before they wriggle free. No effect.
TREE: "Excuse me."
"What do you want?"
LOGRIS: "Pardon me?"
TREE: "I was wondering why everything is grey."
You shrug.
TREE: "I can't see you shrugging. I don't have any eyes."
"Right, sorry. Well, we don't know why everything is grey."
TREE: "Alright then."
LOGRIS: "Vesper, are you talking to the tree?"
FINCHER: "Yeah, earlier she was talking to her fingers."
TREE: "Is it possible that we are on the moon?"
"Hmm."
[ ] The tree is wondering if we are on the moon.
[ ] I think we should burn this tree for sedition.
[ ] Fincher, why did you make this tree so weird?
[ ] Maybe we should just move on.
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ThatGazzer
Minds Eye Bind
- Location
- PNW
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] The tree is wondering if we are on the moon.
Edit: ah damn
Edit: ah damn
Now That You Are Pure 128
- Location
- ?
"Fincher, why did you make this tree so weird?"
FINCHER: "I am not going to take the blame for conversations you have with this tree."
"I was just going about my business punching it, the tree was the one that started asking questions."
FINCHER: "Well, I guess that's awkward. It's like two hours old, you are punching an infant."
"Logris, is this true? Did you bring me here so you could coerce an imperial magistrate into assaulting a baby?"
LOGRIS: "I am not going to dignify that with a response. Please just finish whatever episode you are undergoing."
[ ] Okay, but the tree has this theory that we're on the moon.
[ ] You're right, this is stupid, I should finish my workout.
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Theaxofwar
Definitely not a Bunny Cat in disguise.
- Location
- Standing right behind you
[X] Okay, but the tree has this theory that we're on the moon.
Maybe we are on the moon.
Maybe we are on the moon.
Does Creation spins around Luna or is it the other way around? Does space exists in Exalted? Can you send a rocket into the Deep Wild?
Parabola
Divided Loyalties Librarian
- Location
- The Destination of Fate
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Creation doesn't spin; the Wyld is the closest thing to space in Exalted due to the difficulty of existing there, only it has narrative aliens instead of a vast nothingness; probably yes but results may very.
Thought: Maker, Builder, Breaker
- Location
- ?
Time passes slowly.
The towering vaulted arches of the Sibun Palace processional hall stretch above you, cracked like the ribs of a great beast devoured by scavengers. Through the jagged hole in the porphyry dome, snow settles on your body. You are already too cold to feel it. You feel only the sting of smoke on your still-open eyes.
You watch the sun set.
After a time, though you cannot say how long, you hear voices. Your left eardrum is ruptured, making it difficult to gauge distance. Boots on broken glass, the tumbling of disturbed rubble.
The voices grow closer. You can't catch every word, it feels like they are echoing inside your head.
"-did all this-"
"-find the head-"
"-that her?"
You feel like that last one was closer. You are aware of shadows over you. You open your mouth to speak.
"Wait, did she just-"
You draw in a breath, the first in hours. It sounds like a death rattle. The shadows scatter, panicked.
"Is it done?" you croak.
There is no answer. The shapes have withdrawn, muttering prayers and wardings.
"Is it done?" you hiss, louder. You feel blood bubbling in your throat and suppress it, forcing it to recirculate.
There are alarms, shouts of panic. They will give you no answer.
Four new shadows approach.
"Well?" says the first.
"She is dead." says the second.
"No, she is breathing." says the third, curiosity in his tone.
"Regardless." replies the second, leaning in. "She is using some kind of suspiration technique to regulate her blood flow. She will die the instant she loses consciousness."
"The captain said she was talking." says the first.
"Impossible, she-"
"Is it done?" you repeat. Your voice scours your throat. Your lungs feel full of ash and needles.
A brief pause.
"Regardless, she cannot be saved."
You start to sit up. Your spine gives out as soon as you try to exert it. Your right arm does not respond.
"Can you try to stabilize her?" asks the first shadow.
"Even if we could, she- look at her, minister. I don't know what you could hope to salvage. I do admit her endurance is extraordinary. Perhaps some tissue samples could assist in my-"
The fourth figure holds up a hand, and the others fall silent.
It glides towards you, a star-devouring void against the night sky, spreading like a pool of blood. You know who it is.
"Is it done?"
In that moment you feel her pitiless gaze, though you cannot remember her face or the color of her eyes. In that moment you know that she expected you to fail and die here. You feel what she feels in that instant because she lets you. Worse than disappointment. Indifference.
But now her whims have changed, and the world with them. All is ever as it was meant to be.
"Fix her." she says.
"Grandmother, we do not have-"
"Fix her. Whatever it takes."
It shouldn't mean anything to you. It shouldn't hurt you. Who are you, to think yourself more than a pawn to her?
But she wanted you to know.
She is already departing. Her pronouncement has been made.
The first shadow lingers a moment, then turns to follow her mistress. The second and third remain.
"Light a flame to keep her awake, and prepare her for heart surgery. If she survives that we'll have a chance. I'll send for my bag. And look for her arm, I suppose." The second shadow withdraws.
You are alone with the third shadow. You fancy you see the sheen of a bald head against the starlight. A monk?
"Did I do well?"
You don't mean the battle. You mean your life. You want to die knowing it all meant something. You have never paid close attention to your Immaculate lessons, but you do know you are meant to work towards something greater. It has to have been worth it, somehow. You feel tears well in your eyes at the thought.
The monk works swiftly, silently, cutting away the remains of your tunic and armor with a dagger to expose the extent of your wounds. Finally, he replies.
"Your work here today will shake nations. But your work is not done."
"When- when will-"
He strikes a flint and tinder to light a candle, briefly illuminating a face you cannot focus on, damaged as your eyes are.
"It will be many years, I think. You will perform miracles. But first you must be saved with one. There will be pain."
You say nothing. You knew that much.
"We all have our part to play. Trust in your fate."
The fire burns your fingertips, bringing you back to sharper focus. You breathe the winter night into your broken lungs.
"Trust in your fate and remember these words: Survival is fury."
The towering vaulted arches of the Sibun Palace processional hall stretch above you, cracked like the ribs of a great beast devoured by scavengers. Through the jagged hole in the porphyry dome, snow settles on your body. You are already too cold to feel it. You feel only the sting of smoke on your still-open eyes.
You watch the sun set.
After a time, though you cannot say how long, you hear voices. Your left eardrum is ruptured, making it difficult to gauge distance. Boots on broken glass, the tumbling of disturbed rubble.
The voices grow closer. You can't catch every word, it feels like they are echoing inside your head.
"-did all this-"
"-find the head-"
"-that her?"
You feel like that last one was closer. You are aware of shadows over you. You open your mouth to speak.
"Wait, did she just-"
You draw in a breath, the first in hours. It sounds like a death rattle. The shadows scatter, panicked.
"Is it done?" you croak.
There is no answer. The shapes have withdrawn, muttering prayers and wardings.
"Is it done?" you hiss, louder. You feel blood bubbling in your throat and suppress it, forcing it to recirculate.
There are alarms, shouts of panic. They will give you no answer.
Four new shadows approach.
"Well?" says the first.
"She is dead." says the second.
"No, she is breathing." says the third, curiosity in his tone.
"Regardless." replies the second, leaning in. "She is using some kind of suspiration technique to regulate her blood flow. She will die the instant she loses consciousness."
"The captain said she was talking." says the first.
"Impossible, she-"
"Is it done?" you repeat. Your voice scours your throat. Your lungs feel full of ash and needles.
A brief pause.
"Regardless, she cannot be saved."
You start to sit up. Your spine gives out as soon as you try to exert it. Your right arm does not respond.
"Can you try to stabilize her?" asks the first shadow.
"Even if we could, she- look at her, minister. I don't know what you could hope to salvage. I do admit her endurance is extraordinary. Perhaps some tissue samples could assist in my-"
The fourth figure holds up a hand, and the others fall silent.
It glides towards you, a star-devouring void against the night sky, spreading like a pool of blood. You know who it is.
"Is it done?"
In that moment you feel her pitiless gaze, though you cannot remember her face or the color of her eyes. In that moment you know that she expected you to fail and die here. You feel what she feels in that instant because she lets you. Worse than disappointment. Indifference.
But now her whims have changed, and the world with them. All is ever as it was meant to be.
"Fix her." she says.
"Grandmother, we do not have-"
"Fix her. Whatever it takes."
It shouldn't mean anything to you. It shouldn't hurt you. Who are you, to think yourself more than a pawn to her?
But she wanted you to know.
She is already departing. Her pronouncement has been made.
The first shadow lingers a moment, then turns to follow her mistress. The second and third remain.
"Light a flame to keep her awake, and prepare her for heart surgery. If she survives that we'll have a chance. I'll send for my bag. And look for her arm, I suppose." The second shadow withdraws.
You are alone with the third shadow. You fancy you see the sheen of a bald head against the starlight. A monk?
"Did I do well?"
You don't mean the battle. You mean your life. You want to die knowing it all meant something. You have never paid close attention to your Immaculate lessons, but you do know you are meant to work towards something greater. It has to have been worth it, somehow. You feel tears well in your eyes at the thought.
The monk works swiftly, silently, cutting away the remains of your tunic and armor with a dagger to expose the extent of your wounds. Finally, he replies.
"Your work here today will shake nations. But your work is not done."
"When- when will-"
He strikes a flint and tinder to light a candle, briefly illuminating a face you cannot focus on, damaged as your eyes are.
"It will be many years, I think. You will perform miracles. But first you must be saved with one. There will be pain."
You say nothing. You knew that much.
"We all have our part to play. Trust in your fate."
The fire burns your fingertips, bringing you back to sharper focus. You breathe the winter night into your broken lungs.
"Trust in your fate and remember these words: Survival is fury."
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)
10 hours. (Halved for completing Maker, Builder, Breaker)
Maker, Builder, Breaker (Complete)
You almost died. Perhaps you almost died many times. You never knew the name or face of your mysterious saviour, but they left you with words to remember them by.
Physique: +2 (Survival is Fury)
Sagacity: +1 (Trust in your fate)
Embassy: -1 (It is not done)
Special: Remember the words.
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 (Complete), and The Opening Gate (6 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)
10 hours. (Halved for completing Maker, Builder, Breaker)
Maker, Builder, Breaker (Complete)
You almost died. Perhaps you almost died many times. You never knew the name or face of your mysterious saviour, but they left you with words to remember them by.
Physique: +2 (Survival is Fury)
Sagacity: +1 (Trust in your fate)
Embassy: -1 (It is not done)
Special: Remember the words.
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 (Complete), and The Opening Gate (6 hours). You can change your thoughts when you sleep.
mothematics
How wide is the concept of "you"?
- Location
- the bottom of a coffee cup
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The Scripture of the One-Handed Maiden
Once, there was a maiden…
….who struck an iron wall until it shattered her hand.
She did not stop, though cracks spread through her bones.
She did not stop, though blood sprayed her eyes.
She did not stop until she shattered the wall.
"Survival is fury," she said.
Once, there was a maiden…
….who struck an iron wall until it shattered her hand.
She did not stop, though cracks spread through her bones.
She did not stop, though blood sprayed her eyes.
She did not stop until she shattered the wall.
"Survival is fury," she said.
- Location
- NYC
Damn so she is the wolf of Sibun … or fought with them?
