You are Ciara Dunbar, and things have gone somewhat awry in your peaceful life.
You had it all planned out–with the full support of your family and the backing of the estate after all. With no head for politics, you could happily seclude yourself into the bureaucracy, where your companions were books, documents, and reams of wonderful paper and vast quantities of ink. You were low in the succession, so you didn't even have to worry about disaster unfolding and bumping off your competition. One? It could happen—and even has, the ruling Dunbar Clan has had to wrestle with peril from time to time, even with the great Caer Wyrdstone warding off the threats beyond what the clans could ward off with spell and talisman. Three? There was an outside chance, especially with the scraps of news coming from the Lowlands through the occasional trade caravans of the Realm's present weakness and internal focus.
But seven? Seven separate misfortunes that would disrupt your wonderful, peaceful life of scholarship?
As it turns out, it only took one sufficiently great calamity to put your wonderful plans in grave peril. One demagogue to inflame the mob, to drag them up and out of their ordinary lives and push them to take things just a
little bit further. You wouldn't even be particularly against that, if someone had good ideas and the ability to make them happen? More power to them, greater wealth is greater prosperity, a virtuous cycle.
But no, instead, he turned the clans and the people against Clan Dunbar, dragging up every little nagging irritation that existed in life and speaking as though it was all some terrible conspiracy by
them, the ones who ruled, the ones who held the reins of power. Never you mind that the Highlands have ever been a place where the Clans cooperated, where everyone had their fair share of the land. No, apparently everything was the fault of Clan Dunbar, and he was eloquent enough and fast talking enough to silence any suspicion as to ulterior motives.
It wasn't long before he had an army at his back, it wasn't long before he laid siege to Wyrdstone–and it wasn't long after that before the gates had been cast open by weak minded traitors, succumbing to honeyed words for a share of the wealth.
The castle-town was set ablaze, the people either joining the mob or being cut down by those who were already at it. Brother against sister against cousin as kinstrife ran amok. And at the head of it all was the Golden Man, clad in fine mail, bearing the arm-rings of a king upon his bare arms.
Father stood against him, along with the remaining members of the Knights of the White Rock. He drew the ancestral blade and tapped into the powers of the old High Kings of eld, a hidden reserve left behind in the case of the Land's ultimate need.
His efforts were for naught, as the Golden Man's skin could not be pierced, the magic of Moralltach meeting iron fists and finding no purchase. His chest was pierced, and his heart torn beating out from his breast, as the Golden Man dedicated the victory to his pagan god.
Your survival in the subsequent purge was a matter of luck alone, none would see the mousy schoolgirl as one of the former Clan's scions, and few enough had seen you in the first place to recognize you in the first place. But you were nonetheless cast out from your home with the rest of the help, and left staring alone in the alleyways, what was once a successful town having been cast to ruins, with people celebrating in the ashes.
Even now, you had heard the Golden Man had taken up Moralltach for himself, the throne of your Clan for himself, and even now was leaving words of this being 'Just the Beginning', and that the Highlands of Alba would be the nucleus of a new power in the region. All the wealth and gold of the world would be theirs for the taking.
In the end, all of your plans for a happy, peaceful life were in ruins. Your home was smouldering, and even the rain didn't dampen the spirits of the people that were even now preparing to turn themselves to the task of reaving their neighbours.
You felt… Conflicted.
Your heart
burned to set things right, but you were ultimately a single young woman, you had no connections, no money, and no power of significance. You faced what had once been a proud people so easily suborned into a bandit kingdom, not even considering the Golden Man's wicked tongue and immortal strength.
You were just you, Ciara Dunbar. Powerless, useless.
An umbrella casts you into the shade–you cannot help but look up.
A woman of straw hair, clad in garments of bleached leather, close fitting save for an open white coat. Yellow eyes with an amused expression, and a pointed hat of the same material. She had a strange chemical sent to her, and there was something off about her feet–but you had no time to analyse this before she spoke.
"Rough day, huh?" She observed, a smug grin on her face. "Bet you'd like to do something about this, wouldn't you?"
Of course you would, but what was to be done? Those who had forgotten more about battle than you had ever learned were as children against him.
"But what if you had a chance to make things right?" The woman added. "What if you had the chance to fix this?"
Well, given unlimited power? You'd clean up your house, put your office in order, and then find skilled professionals to do the unimportant stuff for you. It might involve no small amount of violence, but sometimes stains needed a little extra work to be pulled out.
The woman's grin grew a few sizes–unnaturally so. Rounded feet step back, as she offers a gloved hand to you. "Well, you're in luck then. I am
Hekate, called 'Distillery Witch' by some. I am authorised to make you an offer, on behalf of the True Lords of Heaven and Earth. The exchange is simple, take up a measure of their power–and in exchange, you are to strive to
set things right, for the world is broken—torn asunder by usurpers, traitors, and false officials. You are to break this false order through whichever means you see fit."
You stare upon the hand–this was your fairly textbook Devil's Bargain, you were certain of it.
You take the hand up anyway.
Hekate's grin widens–and you are certain now that she is no mere human, by the fact you can see her face opening up. "Good choice," She says. "This might be a little uncomfortable, but few good things are."
A tide of vitriol flows forth, and what remains is but a
dream.
But Some Dreams endure even into the waking hours…
(Select Three Styles)
[ ] You Remember your martial education, the self-defence techniques expected of all children of Clan Dunbar. But something is different, a smiling old man of exotic features, carrying a staff of black iron testing you and your footwork. You are quite certain these are not the techniques of your youth, but their power cannot be denied.
[Acquire Royal Guard Style–A Martial Style that excels in holding position, counter-attacks, and efficient killing blows incorporating a mixture of clinches and sabre strikes. Wields an Armored Gauntlet and a Fencing Sabre]
[ ] You Remember your Military Education, the lore taught to the scions of Clan Dunbar on the best use of the muster of the Highlands in battle. You don't recall the board games though, nor the bald youth with a box who constantly stared at you in a knowing fashion, but you showed skill in the field regardless.
[Acquire Wyrdstone Commander Style-A Command Style that makes best use of soldiers native to the Alban Highlands. A combination of shock cavalry charges and greatsword armed infantry assaults has tremendous striking power, especially in combination with entrenched fortifications.]
[] You Remember your days at School, where your ambition to be a scholar-princess was at its height. The White Spire Academy may not have been one of the true great schools of Creation, but you learned a lot there–most importantly, the need to keep your true feelings hidden from those who would use them against you. Especially when the suspiciously golden young lady showed up to relentlessly tease you at all times at the slightest reaction.
[Acquire Cold Faced Heiress Style–a Politics Style that excels in concealing one's inner thoughts and emotions from those who would seek to find levers in you presenting only vague disinterest to the outside world, regardless of inner turmoil or lack thereof.]
[ ] You Remember Your first time visiting the Great Library, the azure shelves holding knowledge upon knowledge, in such volumes that you could read for a lifetime without so much as scratching the surface. Glass eyes guided you to every place of your whim, and the librarian–a strange figure indeed–granted you all the guidance you needed to become wiser and wiser still… Now that you think about it, you're not sure the Library was quite that grand, but this is a better memory anyway.
[Acquire Fortress of Books Style–a Lore Style that excels in an eclectic knowledge of history and trivia, representing a voracious hunger for knowledge that you can process into true Wisdom. This also provides assistance in research and investigations taking place in a library of any sort.]
[ ] You Remember Your First Inspection, accompanying the Magistrate and his ivory knives through the territories of Clan Dunbar, there, you meted out justice, ensuring that disputes were resolved and bandits suitably punished for breaking the peace. You just could not understand why people did such a thing–would all matters not work out better if people worked together? None of this made sense, the value one gains today would come at the cost of so much more later. You could not reconcile any of this with your understanding of the word, and all of your questions were met with "That's just how it is." Why though, why does this work out this way? Why can't people just
work together without being coerced?.
[Acquire Bleeding Heart Style–a Presence Style that excels in expressing your passions and feelings upon others. By speaking from the heart, only the most jaded figures can truly remain unmoved.]
[ ] You Remember a City of Green Light, and this is precisely why you know this is not one of your own memories, but it is fascinating regardless. The skill of breaking down the material of nature, discarding what was useless, and extracting what was most important to concoct potions and solutions of Power are those gifted only to those born from the Great King's ancient dreams, and of those, only few have risen above their base and content nature to truly excel. You are one of them, and your talents have risen to the point where you have been given a mission of the utmost importance. That it gives you a chance to step out from the Laws that you have already broken is just a bonus.
[Acquire Empyreal Alchemist Style–an Occult Style that inherits the skills of the Distillery Witch, employing the Element of Vitriol to refine base material into their Ideal State, where they can be combined together to create effects beyond what nature could allow for. What wonders could be wrought, free of the chains of the Law that binds all the Serfborn of the Demon City?]
[ ] You Remember your First Day at your Study, your education complete and the Work of a scholar begun. Even a small nation generates tremendous quantities of paperwork, and the Highlands are no exception. You took to your tasks with great relish, your quill resolving petitions, correcting errors, and cleaning up the ever ending pile of Work and Inefficiency that inevitably develops over time, casting the errors into the great crevasse that yawns open beside you. What remains is nothing but perfection, a harmonious order that brings peace to your heart. What a wonderful day it will be, when the Work is complete.
[Acquire Loyal Bureaucrat Style–a Bureaucracy Style that excels in the day to day Work of an organisation. Corruption is excised, and Order dominant under your watch, and through this, your land will run as a tightly oiled machine. Once you have claimed it of course.]
The Miracle of Exaltation is something poorly understood, the elevation of a simple human mortal to a Champion of the Powers invariably results in some degree of distortion to the ordinary Rules that govern the world, and sometimes you can get a result without a corresponding cause. You are fortunate, in that you have benefitted from this very principle, receiving a boon to your rising cause.
Select One Boon
[ ] A Boon of Refinement: The interaction of an Enlightened Metody, an Exaltation, and a dying city have boiled away the impurities of what little you have stolen away in the darkness, refining them to new heights. Your clothes have hardened to the consistency of steel without losing flexibility, and your sabre has hardened to the point where it can clash even against god-forged steel without giving ground. The mysteries of these newborn Artifacts will be tied to your own rising Mythos, and their strength may give you the edge you need to survive the early days.
[ ] A Boon of Knowledge: Hekate has broken more than a few laws in her life, and you have inherited a measure of the fruits of her deeds. While much research will need to be done to reach your full potential, you are a natural Sorcerer, and can impose your Will upon Reality to forge Wonders, Horrors, or Novelties as your needs require. You gain access to Sorcery, skill of which will grow with you as your enlightenment expands. Your paradigm is the Soul-Perfecting Alchemy, an art of brewing potions and medicines that can further perfect your body and soul, at significant material expense.
[ ] A Boon of Support: You do not stand alone against the Golden Man's acts, and Hekate has had the good fortune of acquiring skilled allies before approaching you. They have granted you shelter, and with your awakening, will give you a small–but talented–base of cultists and supporters who resisted the Golden Man's wicked words. Whether your choice is to strike out immediately or to build your power first, you will have many more options to work with, no longer being alone.
There will be some time to take stock of your situation, but you will not have the leisure of days to make your decision, as events are firmly in motion. How should you set about your task of casting down the Golden Man?
[ ] Strike While the Iron is Hot: Your home is burning, and the embers still smoulder. This will not stand. Remain in Caer Wyrdstone and begin your operations in the heart of the Highlands' power, before the Golden Man can tighten his grip and remove the less committed folk from power.
[ ] To the Wilderness: It would be folly to face the Golden Man head on, even with your new power. Withdraw into the frontiers of the Highlands and gather support from the fringes. You concede the initiative, which will have problems of its own, but in doing so, you gain the luxury of time to familiarise yourself with your powers, and information to measure your plans with.
[ ] Ciara's Inferno: It takes little time to learn the provenance of your powers, even if Infernalism isn't in your area of expertise. If you are to be a champion of the Lords of Hell, perhaps you might be able to wrangle some support there? Far worse than merely conceding the initiative, this is straight up surrendering the opening of the campaign, but the resources of the Demon City are limitless, and the opportunity to fete a new Prince of the Green Sun will grant you no small amount of ability to trade favours and accumulate power enough to simply hammer through the Golden Man's plans with raw force of arms. But the nearest entrance to Hell is months away, and simply reaching it would be an adventure of its own–and you doubt the Golden Man will sit idle the entire time…
Vote By Plan, Moratorium of 2 hours to discuss options and get to know each other.
Glad to be back in the saddle folks, this is a story I've wanted to be a part of for some time now, but I've not found any opportunities for it. So I guess the best way to get what I want is to just do it myself.
This is my own take on Creation, heavily inspired by Third Edition and some of the homebrew versions like @Aleph and @EarthScorpion 's work on Kerisgame. I don't claim to be on their level, but I like some of their ideas and have subscribed to their newsletter, so I hope this all works out nicely. Don't expect things to be exactly adherent to the Core Books of any edition, as a result.
But I hope you all enjoy the ride, one way or another! I'm quite happy with what I have here so far, and with any luck, once I've gotten started, I'll be able to keep the momentum flowing long enough to tell a satisfying story.
You can discuss the update on my Discord and the new channel there, found here
Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Customize your own space to talk, play, and hang out.
discord.gg
Or of course, react in thread too! I'm not picky, activity is activity, and I not only encourage, but demand speculation and discussion! I cannot do this alone after all, and if I hope to grow as a person and a writer, I need to draw on the power of the community to support me and my own limitations.
Please hold on posting until all the prep work is up!
