Remove ads

The Last Daughter; Dragon-Blooded Sorcery School Quest

Reader mode
Gazetteer said:
You feel her relax under your touch. "It's nothing," she says. "Everything will be fine, I'm sure." Something about the way she says that worried you, just a little.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I do love Maia. She's turned out delightfully committed to Ambraea's safety as a principal.
Gazetteer said:
"It also wasn't meant to be forever, I don't think," he says, voice distantly wistful. "She couldn't bear the thought of anyone summoning me or winning my affections. I think she intended to let me out within a century or two — and in the event of her death, she very thoughtfully left a clause that the binding would fail the moment her predecessor came into their power. But, well, some issues with that mechanism were simply not foreseeable."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Lol. That is a funny way to end up caged for eternity.
Gazetteer said:
It's a popular opinion among many students that the reason Instructor Ovo is as unfriendly as he is is because of how unprestigious his house or bloodline is compared to theirs. Privately, you doubt it; you've seen him bey as unfriendly or worse to those students of his own house. Sometimes, a man is just unpleasant on his own terms. You almost respect it. So instead, what you ask is: "Is that what happened to your research, Nalri? Bad advice?"

Her companion stifles a laugh, the sound causing Nalri's shoulders to stiffen as, for just a moment, all her false affability boils away. She glares at you with genuine, open dislike. "Something like that," she says, at length.

"Well, I wish you good luck in the future," you say. "I hope to see you both at Professor Bashura's lecture." You feel her glare on your back as you walk away down the hall. This is how you know you've won the exchange.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I feel like Ambraea verbally kicking Nalri's ass could become a spectator sport. The entertainment quality is through the roof.
Gazetteer said:
Unfortunately, you're not quiet enough for Hylo to avoid overhearing, and he's not smart enough to pretend otherwise. "Listen to Ambraea," he says. "Try to show a bit of feminine restraint, if you can."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
End him Sola. It's not even vengeance, but rather a service to prevent contamination to the realms gene pool.
Raiseth said:
Aaah, Maia is going to take the matter in her own hands… does it count as yandere if Nalri isn't a romantic rival in any way?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Maia isn't particularly possessive when it comes to Ambraea, and has infact given permission for trists, even if it's influenced by dynast society, so not Yandere. This is just 100% over protective love interest.
Gazetteer said:
All around the villa, a torrential rainstorm had been falling for the past day. The calm had arrived with Sola, and was entirely localised to the building and the area around her while she was here. The dark rain clouds were still visible in the sky to every side. The weather working was unmistakably useful, even if the spell she'd used had alarmed her escort.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
@Gazetteer wouldn't the storm Calm around Sola, drawing attention?
 
Last edited:
Gazetteer said:
"It also wasn't meant to be forever, I don't think," he says, voice distantly wistful. "She couldn't bear the thought of anyone summoning me or winning my affections. I think she intended to let me out within a century or two — and in the event of her death, she very thoughtfully left a clause that the binding would fail the moment her predecessor came into their power. But, well, some issues with that mechanism were simply not foreseeable."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Shouldn't that be successor?
 
[X] During a demonstration that has the entire school distracted

All the options sound cool, but I'm most interested in what a schoolwide assembly looks like at the Heptagram
 
Last edited:
Randino Treviani said:
Ahh. The bull of heaven. He's going to fulfill the successor clause and Yoxien will be free.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
"Her successor" likely refers to whomever inherits her Exaltation after her death, since there's a certain level of continuity between Celestial Exalted and their past lives
I think 2e had a thing where Exaltations were supposed to be pruned and cleaned after every incarnation to remove past life memories
But 3e did away with that and now an innate connection to their past lives is just part of who they are

The Celestial Exalted often experience past lives.

When a Solar dies, the Exaltation unbinds itself from the soul and flows back into the cycles of heaven. From there it is directed by the Essence of the Unconquered Sun — which carries his energic will — to seek out a new hero.

A newly-Exalted Solar is the inheritor of a legacy. Her Exaltation has passed through the lives of many heroes to reach her, and it is often touched by those who once bore it. Past lives manifest to the Solar in various ways. One might have strange, unexplainable dreams. Another might experience a flood of emotions while standing in a place that was sacred to one of her past incarnations. Some Solars experience such strong dejà vu that it triggers a waking dream.

Nor are all such traces internal — the world responds to the Solar's past. The magic of old will seek her anew. Upon taking up a daiklave, she might swell with the memory of having wielded it in a past life. Upon entering an ancient ruin, she might recognize her own hand in its hieroglyphs. On stepping into a burial chamber, she might find its sorcerous defenses have been lowered in recognition of who she once was.

More a whisper than an echo, the old legends still resonate. The new Solar is also the return of the old. She is an incarnate shard of the Unconquered Sun. The Unconquered Sun is the avatar of all heroism, and so it is in the nature of Solar Essence to carry the Essence of heroes — both the heroes she once was, and the hero she aspires to be. The new-found Solar is a singular being, a new beginning for this epic prime motion. But she is also the link in a chain that stretches back into the dawn.

The Solar's ancient nature shines forth, even if she herself is not aware of it. Spirits — immortal purveyors of the soul — will often recognize the Solar for who she once was. A spirit who was the ancient enemy of one of the Solar's former incarnations may well be the new Solar's bane. Similarly, a spirit might feel compelled to make good on a debt owed to the former Solar by aiding the current one.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Though the reasoning behind that kind of escape clause in Yoxien's cage is probably a lot more prosaic
If she wase spiteful enough to want to ensure that she wouldn't see Yoxien until she wanted to and that he wouldn't be taken by another in the meantime
But also, wasn't quite vindictive enough to want to imprison Yoxien forever and worried that she might die before she could forgive him
Then the surest way for her enchantment to know for a fact that she was dead and to let Yoxien go would be to detect her Exaltation binding to a new host, since the only way an Exaltation ever leaves its host is by death

The Usurpation and subsequent imprisoning of Solar Exaltations in the Jade prison meant that her successor couldn't come into being though, and so Yoxien's been stuck for a lot longer than intended
His luck is going to turn around in approximately a few years though, give or take
 
Last edited:
Randino Treviani said:
Ahh. The bull of heaven. He's going to fulfill the successor clause and Yoxien will be free.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
If you're thinking of the Bull of the North, his Exaltation has been free the entire time, as it's one of the handful of Solar Exaltations that didn't go into the Jade Prison. He's the one who Sola's family is marching their legions North to go destroy. She's sure it will go well!

CrimsonOddball said:
I think 2e had a thing where Exaltations were supposed to be pruned and cleaned after every incarnation to remove past life memories
But 3e did away with that and now an innate connection to their past lives is just part of who they are
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That was a thing in 2e as well, the pruning/cleaning just made it so new Celestials didn't have perfect recall of their past lives (2e Infernals were the exception to that, so they all did). There was a background you could buy for it, versus 3e just treating it narratively.
 
[X] During a horrible storm

It just seems most in character for her. She's no idiot, she's well versed in sneaky shit and could do either of the other routes if needed. But this just makes me think "Yup."
 
Gazetteer said:
"I'm not some naive idiot, Maia," you say, a little sharper than you intend.

To your frustration, she flinches, "My apologies then," Maia says, tone going up several notches of formality, "I did not mean to overstep." For a moment, you're reminded forcibly of—

"No, I'm sorry." You reach out to her, your hand brushing against the back of her neck, soothing against the exposed skin. "I didn't mean to sound angry."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This is very interesting, and a cute way to do it. The thought comes close to finishing the memory.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top