The Rim and the Hammer (Exalted/Warhammer Quest)

[DragonParadox]

Elemental Matters ​

To the uninitiated, the ill educated all the works of the Chosen, all efforts that are as much of the soul as they are of soul as they are of the body seem as 'magic', they are of the unseen and unknowable. In the hour of their Second Breath all Chosen learn that this is folly, that a charm which conjures fire is no different from a exhalation of warm breath and one which conjures a windstorm bears a kinship to the motion of a lazy fan. Having so drawn back the veil most are content and to not seek the next veil and the next, even those who turn their hand to the Procedures of Creation which most call simply Thaumaturgy do so in a simple instrumental manner, enhancing innate talents, empowering ancient artifice as the rain flowing through long delved channels turns the wheel of the mill grinding seconds minutes, hours and days.

It would be madness to seek delving one's own channel, unnatural some claim, dangerous and liable to lead to ruin. You had heard it all, from parents and from honored mentors, from peers and rivals alike. But what the fear of true sorcery is, you have found, is an understanding of new limits to replace those which the Chosen of Mela fly past in the moment of Exaltation .

Everyone' knows' that the Lawgivers had arts that you cannot match, their their craft is to yours as the glazed and fired urn of a master is to a child shaping a cup out of wet mud, but there is knowing and there is knowing, one that ripples on the surface of the mind and the other which pierces the soul. That is the price of sorcery and that is the beginning of its wonder, for that which cannot be simply willed into being or by a weaving of Essence manifested can still be contemplated and by subtle persuasion and cunning threats bargained for.

The flames of Gaia may not burn as pure nor yet as deadly as the sun, but they burn still in Sezekan and in this world also, you feel it in the earth, you taste it in the water, you hear it rustling among the trees, you see it in the dance of flames, you smell it in the air, just as there are gods in this realm, strange and tainted so too are the elementals, wild and untamed, knowing not the mandate of the Chosen.

No messenger will bear a stroll of summons through the Dragon Lines, summoning by vows imperishable the spirit to your command and yet you have no doubt that they will hear for the words of the spell speak of the nature of all five elements: Wood to grow and water to flow, fire to burn and earth to endure... air most familiar of all to freely blow.

Perhaps those faint of heart might say that feeling the strangeness of this realm one should turn back... but the faint of heart are rarely sorcerers.

What Element do you invoke seeing out a spymaster for your city?

[] Earth, enduring and invested with the slow wisdom at the roots of the world

[] Fire, pyre of destruction and purification, well shall it serve you to burn away the taint it might find

[] Water, swirling, flowing serene clarity and murky depths alike, that which drowns and which reveals, liar's greatest friend and foe

[] Wood, growing strong and ever-changing, what but life would know the living?

[] Air, to you most dear, most familiar and fair, far it sees and far it travels ware only that it not miss that which is nearest to hand

OOC: I was going to give you guys plates from Scrolls of Glorious Divinity, things like 'the Hunter' or the 'Courtesan', but the thing is that would not fit on two levels, one the one hand you are not an Old Realm or even a dynast sorcerer with access to their formalized understanding of elemental templates and on the other you are not even in Creation. So pick an element of three and we will see by the rolls what sort of spy you get.

 

[DragonParadox]

Star's Herald ​

Sharp is the tip of the tower, a spear to graze the heavens highest of high, tall and stately its windows wrought in the form of cradling wings, far reach the songs to beseech and beguile, to bind and command. They fall under the branches of the trees and whisper to the faceless Glimmers face-stealers of living and dead, they echo through cold mountain's heart where an old old wolf stirs and snaps at the darkness before falling back to sorrow-slumber, they climb the snowy shoulders of the mountains were frost-winged death roosts, they echo off the sheen of stolen mirrors whence thronged scales slither. Many are the ears turned to it and many are the spirits ensnared, swift-shadows before the dawn and wind cold north wind that steals the life of all it touches, but swifter still than all of these is one who flies not on airs high or low, but on the wings of times itself.

They come garbed in a cloak of night, the stars like grains of sand upon their visage cast and shards of broken moments in their wake trail. Brighter than any stars their eyes are insight unspeakable in vestment of mystery. They were of that moment born and yet they had always been, they had been begotten in moments yet to come and yet they had not foreseen this hour.

With tongue of ecstasy and inspiration with words in nameless tongue by all understood they called upon the foolish magi who had dared call them: "Who art thou stranger with eyes clouded that see to summon the stars 'neath roof of stone?"

"I have called yet you have answered," comes your answer held to courtesy by the skill of long practice "Thou art guest so it is meet that thou shall answer foremost."

"Who are we Now-and-Now?" the spirit sounds amused, as though they cannot quite believe that any would dare ask ask them such a thing. "We are Ever-Seer Now in Mantle of Fallen Stars, child of dreams and midwife of prophecy, guide of seekers wisely-lost. Once-and-Still the Children of the Earth called us a scion of Blue-Mantled Azyr for their ayes cannot see the timeless night for the haze of their own breath. It pleases-amuses us to be called such "

Spoiler: Ever-Seer In Mantle of Fallen Stars

"I am Sharp Gust of Insight, heir to those who marched in the War of Liberation, to cast down the Holy Tyrant and his deathless kin, I am the ward and the keeper of the Gaia's peace, guardian of those who dwell upon her, I am one with the air, granted wings by craft imperishable and wisdom untarnishable, I am the Voice of Sezekan, seeking understanding of this strange land that I might guide my people through it. By the Lordship of Mela Petitioner of Clouds Accordant to the Call of Battle I summon your to serve with true honor and with... all the skills you now possess. "

Your voice wavers a bit on the last words, for normally in that part of the ritual the sorcerer is meant to enunciate the skills of the spirit called and bound, but you do not know what the skills of this being might be. Dare you hope for some form of astromancy from one who calls themselves 'seer'?

Even as you speak your Anima flares around you, a lashing storm and yet in this place and in this time one which does not even disturb the griffon feathers set in the corners of the altar. Heady incense flies on the wings of your power, enough to dull the senses of one who comes upon it unprepared even among the exalted, certainly among elementals of air whose nature is inescapable curiosity.

"Kin you are and yet not of the winds over the world blowing, flesh you are yet not upon the Crucible wrought, Broken Winged Messengers Set to fly." It laughs, its voice like the clink of bells and the silence between them, yet it does not seem mocking, but amazed, as a child might be in the face of an unexpected gift.

Rather than seek to fight the binding the elemental accepts it, its starry nakedness now shrouded in layered robes of silk and cloth of gold.

Summoning Roll: 92

Occult Excellency Re-roll: 157

Gained: Ever-Seer In Mantle of Fallen Stars (Azyr Elemental)

OOC: Whelp, you guys got lucky on this one. I initially rolled a 3 and a 1 for your rolls and then I realized that I had marked Gus' learning as 35, not 34, so I redid them properly and you got what you see.

 

[DragonParadox]

Worst of Both Worlds ​

Shadow That Dances with the Lighting Arcs couldn't make heads of tails, or front or back, of the strange creatures that haunted the cold northern moors and woods. At first glance they looked like beastmen, creations of the Lawgivers Lunar mates which, treasonous slander aside, had been wrought by the same arts which had given birth to the People of the Air, an attempt to merge the intelligence and dexterity of man with the gifts of beasts. One might question the success of the endeavor or the need, but the intent at least was clear, even from the fragmentary accounts which had been preserved here in Sezekan.

The... creature whose butchered corpse lay strewn before her did not make near as much sense, its hands were clawed, joints stiff such as would make most fine tool-use difficult, its mismatched eyes were more adapted for the faint light of the long northern winters than to see color or pick out detail and yet on this specimen at least they were not slitted and had no reflective backing.

The circulatory system was engorged in some places and vestigial in others without any obvious sense to it, tumors were common and often... exotic. One of the healers had been in tears from assisting her after one such growth was shown to have the form of a perfectly shaped human newborn which seems to have grown inwards into the bowls of the beast. Another man had to be rushed out of the operating room after they cut into a fungal sack under the ribs of Specimen Five and Shae herself had gotten poisoned when the scorpion like tail of Specimen One had arced to sting her driven by, seemingly, an entirely separate nervous system.

Even now she could not put the pain of that sting into words, it would have in all likelihood killed a mortal outright, for her efforts it had been 'merely' crippling. As she stared at the fractal pattern of the mosaic above her bed she could not help but wonder if it had been in some way... intended. It sounded mad really, Specimen Seven just happened to be more unstable than had been assumed and the oily substance that poured from its sores just so happened to contaminate the specimen containment to the point where only fire could cleanse it... surely.

After all, what manner of spirit would have power over the bodies of the dead which had never left the sight of the Sezekanians? What manner of sick intelligence would create a being whose skull had cracked lengthwise into a bony second jaw that was seemingly designed to devour the brains of others?

This was creation upside down, not merely the senseless recombination of traits and qualities that were so often the fruit of the Wyld, there was something sick about it, like the creak of rotten boards underfoot about to give way or the screech of a rusty latch about to give way. Yet when Shae looked back at her notes all she found was meandering scrawling that she could barely make sense of, the words 'Malevolent Design' underlined so many times the paper was starting to fray.

Mutant Autopsy: 4 + 27 (Learning) + 15 (Wyld specialization) = 46 (Success?)

Result: The mutations appear to be designed to actively harm the creatures thus mutated and, Shae begins to suspect, to harm the very researchers who are working to unravel the mystery.

Shae's suspicions are as outlandish as they are likely to cause panic and yet you cannot being yourself to dismiss them out of hand. Who do you share them with?

[] No one, it is probably just a lingering effect of the pain and lack of sleep

[] Just the council (Your Fellow Councilors are spooked; they may attempt to verify matters by their own means)

[] Make it public, something this insidious must be brought under the light of the sun (-1 Morale)

OOC: The only reason this was even this much of a success was because of the Wyld specialization, without it you would have had your learning advisor out of action for 1d3 turns from the poison, but Shadow That Dances with the Lighting Arcs has dealt with enough weird stuff to have Exalted Grade anti-toxin on hand during a seemingly routine examination.

 

[DragonParadox]

Rumors Year Two​

Blood Wolf Rising: A warrior from the distant east Yargul of the Flayed Pelt became master of the Wolf Moot, all those who did not submit to him died under his claws or else fled into the night howling in terror and in dread. He claimed to have seen visions of Wolf-Father Kjorn, leading him through a ravine of flesh and blood into the lands of the Norsi where would be king by the law of the axe. Yet when the last champion lay broken and bleeding at his feet the prize that aught to have been his, long sought and little seen, had vanished from its place and none of the shamans could say for certain who had stole it, though some blamed the greed of the Raven. They claimed to have seen one of his get take it... oddly enough a winged man. Perhaps the tales of your people travel further than you think. If so you would be careful of new guests

Time of the Axe: Countless villages among the mountains to your east have been put to the sword, their people taken as thralls by the northerners. On a clear night you could see the flames of their encampments upon the flank of the mountain like burning tears and you could hear the wailing of the prisoners being carried off. Yet they say some lingering bands of southern warriors still contest the peaks while others have fallen back as far as the sea and the walls of Aarvick

Traders from the Great River: Though the name 'Marianburg' means little to you it is said among the tribes to be a great city on the water, a port far to the south under the dominion of merchant guilods and under the protection of the 'knife ears' which make such a fearful showing in the children's tales of the Norsi. One would think that servants of the monsters of bedtime tales might be ill received among the Skorlmsings. One would be wrong. Many of your traders heard of the wealth of the free-handed Marianburgers and and practically overnight the offerings for your goods have increased... almost as if they have a buyer in mind. Perhaos it behooves you to seek out your own deals

Raids upon Raids: if anything the warlike southern realm, servants of the Hammer God, or perhaps ancestor spirit, though the Norscans insist than he is no ghost, Sigmar continue to raid in his name, counting among their particular foes those among the tribes who have the ear of the spirits... and the touch of their strange magics.

Late in the year a company of three, ragged and snow-beaten comes to the gates of the city seeking entrance, not traders though they bore many goods upon their backs, all their worldly possessions it would seem. Three women they were grandmother, mother and daughter all of the same blood and all with the touch of power to them seeking sanctuary.

Their clan had been killed by the Empire-Men they claimed, but they were willing to serve 'the winged lords' if you would take them in. If you would not, the eldest of them said, then they would stay by your walls until they froze and may your unkindness have the company of their unquiet ghosts.

What do you do?

[] Take in the trio of norscan spirit talkers

[] Do not take then in, you can deal with ghosts well enough

[] Try to get them a place in the nearest village

OOC: Sorry this is so late guys I was distracted by Divided Loyalties latest update, but I did promise you guys an update so here it is.

 

[DragonParadox]

Of Principles and Principalities Unknown ​

To say Shadow That Dances with the Lighting Arcs was displeased to be summoned in the middle of the night to deal with a trio of foreign spirit whisperers would have been an understatement as might be inferred from the expression of the grizzled Wyldguard wilting under her quelling gaze. But the worthy in question would have been wrong about the cause, it was not that dreamy slumber the messenger had interrupted but a process far more delicate, the warding of five Jade Prongs, ad hoc thaumaturgic anchors for the wards around the new enchanting workshop, the House of the Wise, it was supposed to be called. For her part Shae would settle for 'the house of the still living.' She had almost died while not counted among the most sturdy of the Azure Dragons she had in full the resiliency gifted to all that breed's power to withstand the winds of the world. How much worse might a mortal have fared? Dead or worse than dead.

So she had put all her effort into wards and protections into seeing that those curious minds minded to follow the path of the Wonder-Technician would not be squandered... and she had flown right into the proverbial cliff-side. At first it had seemed like small variations inherent to the taint, like ripples in the air on a cold clear night distorting the face of the stars, but the more she looked at the results of formulas derived from decades, centuries of engineers before her the less sense it all made. Rather than simply a directional destruction of the fabric of the world pointed wyld-wards whose shifts could be catalogued at least if not wholly understood this seemed to be omnipresent.

Metal was harder than it aught to be when used by those of meticulous mind
Fire inclined one to acts of passion and rage
Prayer to the small gods cleared the mind with songs of crystal singing
Shadows fell significantly more diffuse than they aught to be at dusk and dawn...

Of course it had been in the middle of that fudge, as Shae was attempting to purify and clear the ritual space for the ninetieth time that she met Ever-Seer In Mantle of Fallen Stars, so much more than the sky god in gaudy cloak that she had assumed him to be. They were instead the spirit of the wind that-was-not-wind of the song-unheard with the ear.

Azyr they called the power they had been born of and hinted that it was more than simply some aspect of the the heavens, more than a lens for the uninitiated to see the Maidens through. Of course that was true, the Maidens were not here, but the implications...

Not Five elements but Eight

Once that thought has burrowed into her head Shadow That Dances with the Lighting Arcs had started to wonder not why this world was so different from the Creation she knew, but why it was so similar. A world functioning under fundamentally different principles should have am altogether different order just as the whirring of a water turbine which draws essence from water is from the hiss of an air tap drinking the wind.

So the wards had been left half-made, so even the ship that had filled her dreams for years was not yet ready for flight, though that one was more because she did not want to risk the air boat upon untested currents.

Surely these three would be of some use, she thought. Hope was the old saying went, was the last to fly away.

The eldest of the woman spoke, "Hail Winged-one, the coming of your folk to the cold mountain teeth has been marked from far off. As you have given succor to those whom you thought poor and feeble know that you stand before the envoys of the High Chieftess of the Gospodar by the grace of Dzah Lady of the Kreml Palace and Czarina of all Kislev to the Land sworn, Daughter of the Daughters of Miska, Kattarin Romanoff."

A Ship of the Air: 71 (Failure. Locked for one more turn)
Enchanting Workshop: 31 (Failure. Locked for one more turn)

OOC: As you can imagine a city dropping into the world is something nearby magicians would have noticed.

 

[DragonParadox]

Year 3 After Arrival​

The more you learn about this world the less sense it seems to make... and hence the more invigorated you are by it. True it is dangerous, more dangerous perhaps than even life on the Rim in the teeth of the Age of Sorrows, but your kind had been made for peril, forged in the flames of war that defied imagination, sharpened by the hand of peerless generals. Come what may you will be ready for them, twisted beasts, savages and wyld-touched monsters.

Ah... but what about the twisting? The effects of the Wyld on this world are bizarre and inconstant, an autopsy should not have proven a danger to Shae particularly of a creature that had never left your sight to begin with. Any spirit or thaumaturge able to so throughly infiltrate Sezekan would logically been able to use far more direct vectors to cause harm, ones more likely to work. But what if they are not logical? The question pains you, like a thorn through the hand. That which does not act logically cannot be anticipated, though it might perhaps be foretold.

That brings your mind around to Ever-Seer In Mantle of Fallen Stars, an elemental by any metric you would care to use, but also a being with dominion over fate. What kind of demented distortion of the Creation Ruling Mandate would give elementals, a being fundamentally bound to the fabric of the world power over the fate of the world. That is not to say elementals capable to reading fate are wholly unheard of. A Water Child born of the drowning of an infant can always tell when someone has committed the sin by which it was begotten, and it can always recognize familiar links, a fact which was very useful to the dynasties of old and for all you know still practiced by the traitors to the False Realm, but the one calling himself Ever-Seer in Mantle of of Fallen Stars appears to have true understanding of what will come to pass or perhaps what may come to pass, he claims that his power is... limited or perhaps meddled with by a bevy of other beings and that such meddlers congregate around important events making his visions even less reliable, just as his... fellows, brothers, cousins, kin? They claim to be part of an Elemental Court which exists in correlation with seven others.

Population Change: +35 (Population Growth of 0.5%) > Population now 7056

What manner of world are you living in? What manner of world are you bringing new life into

Martial: Auspiciously Broken Haywain is a likable fellow and skilled in matters of war and husbandry alike, mayhap not the most creative of souls, but that is what he has subordinates for. Faced with a land unknown with perils unguessed the tasks of the Wyldguard will be many

Choose Three:

[] Patrolling: With your maps now worth less than the paper they are made of it falls to the Wyldguard to fly out and make new ones, bold of wings are the scouts and perilous is their path. Specify which direction the scouts should fly in.
-[] West, into the lands of the Skaelings, find what manner of tribes are the enemies of your new trade parteners
-[] North where the peat bogs lie, in that flat land a scout on the wing can see for leagues without the cover of the trees or of ravines getting in the way, but so too might they be seen
DC ???
Reward: Information
Cost: None

[] A people exiled: The Ungols who once worshiped the hearth spirit now in your company have been ensnared in an evil not of their making, drive it back and give them aid
DC: 66
Reward: Grateful Villagers; potential subjects
Cost: Risk of your army

[] Wyldguard Hunters: The other, more immediate source of food is to simply hunt the local beasts, the local gods grown surly and over-mighty in the company of naught but barbarians might object, but you will set them aright
DC 50
Reward Hunting Grounds 15/Food/ year
Cost: None

[] Training the Guard: These are far more peopled, far more dangerous lands. perhaps the time has come to train the guard to a higher standard
DC: 58
Reward: Higher quality Wyldguard units, options to further specialize
Cost 40 Wealth

[] Direct Diplomacy: Having begun relations with Skorlm by proving your might in the blood of their shaman , perhaps you could gain warmer relations by doing likewise in the blood of their foes. They certainly seem to need all the help they can get with the southerners sailing to war.
DC 26
Reward: Improved relations with the Skorlmlings +10 Wealth/turn
Cost None

[] Release the Relic Finders: Trying to keep a Relic Finder in one place is like trying to keep lightning in a bottle, possible with the right skills, but probably ill advised over the long run. Having found themselves in a new land they wish to search for more relics and treasures that are their stock in trade
DC 50
Reward: Information, +1d50 Wealth
Cost: None

[] Hunt for Offerings: Just as the Wyldguard can look for beasts to hunt for food and meat so too can they hunt or rather those rare plants and animals filled with potent Essence which help fuel works of Thaumaturgy or even sorcery.
DC 65
Reward: 1d3 Rare Reagents which provide a +10 thaumaturgical or spirit negotiation actions
Cost 18 Wealth

[] Raise more Militia: Though the present militia already outnumber the Wyldguard more are needed to meet the challenges of this new land to know how to defend their home
DC 33
Reward: Raise 500 more Militia
Cost 30 Wealth

[] Hatching Griffons: The beasts are fierce and proud, fit companions for a warrior, if you can gain their respect, and a good addition to your limited numbers
DC 40
Reward: A pair of Griffons will fight for you
Cost: None

[] To Skin a Wolf: This Yargul beast seems a danger to all who come against him, all the more so for gathering many of his barbarous kin to his flayed banner, but mighty though he be he is also the fracture point. Kill him and the horde breaks. Are you not children of Mela>
DC 40
Reward: Prevent a skinwolf army from forming
Cost: None

Diplomacy: In spite of his lingering sickness Sigh of the Flutes through the Willow Branches has taken up the task of chief diplomat of Sezekan

Choose Three:

[] Speak to the Strangers: Rather than going blade in hand to deal with the Ungol villagers send out envoys to reveal that they have been deceived
DC: 45
Reward: Give warning to the villagers
Cost: Risk to the envoy

[] Traders from the South: It is said that traders from the land of the soft southern land are sailing hither. If you were to make a guess that also means 'more interested in sharing your wealth through trade than taking it with axe in hand'. On the other hand they are also said to 'hate all gods but their own' as bizarre as the notion is to your ears
DC: 50
Reward: Contact with southern traders
Cost: 17 Wealth

[] A trade in Flesh: Disquieting as it may be to bring more folk into the city your attempt to free the 'dawi' has shown there is lore to be hand in buying and then manumiting the slaves your barbarian neighbors bring. Who knows who else you might stumble over
DC: 37/63/95/100
Reward: more slaves bought and freed

[] Friends of your friends...?: Find out who the Skorlmlings deal with in peace and how you might contact them without misunderstanding
DC 33/66
Reward: More friendly contacts
Cost: 15 Wealth

[] Give a Speech: Fly out before the people to raise their spirits and offering them reassurance and a vision for the future
DC 45/60
Reward: Increased +1/+2 Population Morale
Cost: None

[] Ulfsland mercenaries: The 'kingdom' is little more than an assortment of bandits and thugs and one fallen on hard times besides, but that same desperation might be useful to you, in spending their blood rather than yours and in the end who knows, they might even grow civilized, not quite as unlikely as the singing horse of tales.
DC: 35
Cost 30 Wealth/Turn
Reward: 500 Ulfsland Mercenary Bondsmen to serve Sezekan in peace and war

[] Southern Contacts: You have heard enough about the southerners to be able to find their ships on the wing. Attempt to peacefully contact one of them with the intent perhaps to send an envoy to their princes and warlords
DC 60
Cost: 8 Wealth
Reward: Contact with a southern ship, information

[] Petty spirits of the air: Little Flute has always had a gift for conversing with and gaining the confidence of the lest elemental spirits, perhaps in another life he would have been a sorcerer, in this one he is a whisperer whose voice carries far. From small spirits great things may be heard
DC 55
Reward: Learn more about the local gods and elementals
Cost: None

[] Converse with the Mad Mutant: The creature which was once a stag, reforged into something more akin to man, though not truly human presents a fascinating conundrum. What else beside its strange language has it learned in its dark enlightenment
DC: 66
Reward: Information ???
Cost: None

[] Converse with the Strange trio of Magicians: You do not think a land which holds sterile ice in such high regard has much to trade with and you miskike being 'tested', but perhaps the trio which showed up at your door can be of some use
DC ???
Reward: Contact with Kislev
Cost: Free

Stewardship: Singer of the White-Gold Dream is a diligent and punctual worker, but you are very glad indeed that you are his superior and not his underling. Rushing along hither and yon fit to loose feathers as your mother would say he has far more ideas than time to implement them

Choose Three:

[] An accounting of the Cerulean Lute: People especially relic finders are not going to enjoy it when you ask them to show you all their 'loot' as Cunning Sage of Serendipity put it, but a good accounting of what you have could be vital to seeing what you can fix
DC 25
Reward: List of Utility artifacts of the Sazakanians
Cost: None

[] Waterworks improvement: It has been half a century since the last time the city's ever degrading water management systems have been repaired, but between the large number of Exalted you have available and the ability to call forth elementals you are quite sure you can do more than simply patch it up. Entire apartment blocks could be reconnected, not to mention the possibility of using the old water works to connect the Essence engines of the city to more simple but still serviceable technology, mills and forges alike
DC 67
Reward: Improved Water Management; +2 Population Morale; +20 Wealth/turn in Tax
Duration 3 Turns
Cost 250 Wealth (Unavailable until the Ice Creatures have been dealt with)

[] Nest Industries: Many Clans of the Sazakanians work to produce one thing, be that pottery, knives or a fine woolen shawl from raw resources to finished product. That is by Dream's account a waste of time and labor. Before the Great Contagion the so called 'Nest Industries' worked to ensure specialization of young air-folk in specific professions, much as one might a healer or an engineer. With the population having finally bounced back you can try to reintroduce the system
DC 66
Reward: +40 Wealth/turn More efficient good production; -1 Population Morale
Cost: 300 Wealth

[] Found Lumber camp: While Sazakanisns no great need of wood as a construction material it is of vital importance in keeping warm and safe though the long cold winter months
DC 53
Reward: Gain Lumber camp +10 Wealth/turn; Gain Lumber as trade good
Cost: 35 Wealth

[] Brewing rice wine: An old proverb says that man cannot live by eating rice alone, one must also seek enlightenment, the nourishment of the soul, the jest with which it is oft replied is that the speaker must not have tried drinking rice as well
DC 28
Reward: Rice wine as trade good +1 Population Morale

[] Fire up the forges: For a long time you have had far more capacity for forge weapons and tools than you did hands to use them, odds are the locals would be more than happy to buy weapons off you, if you are willing to become a supplier of weapons in their wars and raids
DC: Automatic
Reward: Tools and Weapons as Trade Good
Cost: 50 Wealth

[] Aerie Growth: It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the most fundamental limitations you will face in this new world is a lack of people. One of the things Dream Suggests to deal with this fact is to help young families set up in new apartments without needing to work long hours or count on the support of their clan matriarch or patriarch. No doubt there will be come grumbling over it in the short run, but it should pay great divides in the long run
DC: 30
Reward +0.1 Population Growth +1 Population Morale
Cost: 75 Wealth/turn

[] Bottoms Up: Now that you are not in any danger of starving, perhaps it might be worth turning your cultivation to more festive purposes, rice can be brewed as well as eaten
DC: 60
Reward +2 Population Morale Rice Wine as trade good
Cost: 75 Wealth/turn

Piety: The light of the sun is a comfort even in this far off land, though it seems distant you know that no matter where the Wyld may have deposited you while men strive towards excellency the eye of the Sun shall be upon you. In the meantime though you shall take counsel of lesser gods and learn where you had come to be and how this land came to be so tainted
2 Rare Reagents Available, may select actions to grant +10 to

Choose Two:

[] Festival of the Sun: Honor the Unconquered Sun, through whose light all things are made excellent that the people may rejoice and the land should know you for your true allegiances
DC 44
Reward: Festival to the Unconquered Sun +1 Population Morale ???
Cost: 22 Wealth

[] Converse with the gods of the Mountains: Nearest to Sazakan and likely the most mighty of the gods of the nearby realm the mountain gods are also likely to be the most perturbed by what has gone on. Mountains do not like it when other mountains move
DC: ???
Reward: Can bargain with the god in question
Cost 20 Wealth

[] Converse with the god of the nearby river: Not as mighty nor as unforgiving as the mountains river spirits can nonetheless be capricious in their moods, moving from wrath to good cheer and from formality to seduction
DC: ???
Reward: Can bargain with the god in question
Cost 15 Wealth

[] Tame the Gods of the Forests: You managed to catch a petty spirit last time and almost get one of your advisors killed, maybe you can find something more substantial
DC: ???
Reward: Can bargain with the god in question
Cost None

[] Da Wei's aid: With Relic and ritual, with sacrifice befitting of his nature and stature beseech the aid of the City Father of Sezekan to the work of the city
DC Automatic
Reward: +15 to chosen Stewardship action
Cost: 50 Wealth

[] Question the Locals about their faith: The magic of the shaman was strange and troubling beyond any charm and spell you have ever seen, you would learn more of the locals half-Wyld faith
DC40
Reward: Information
Cost: 15 Wealth

[] A Study in Cults: The Exalted as much as gods can draw power from mortal faith, given the awe that your coming has had on the people of Skorlm that may present an opportunity
DC 66
Reward: A greater understanding of how to found a cult among mortals
Duration: 2 Turns
Cost: None

[] A Cure for the Spirit: With Little Flute's sickness lingering it has become clear that more than simple healing herbs and incense are needed to cleanse his body and Essence. A Ritual in honor of Luna whose ever changing form no sickness can overcome seems the most likely to rid one of this affliction
DC ???
Reward: Sigh of Flutes through the Willow Branches is cured
Cost: 30 Wealth

Intrigue: Ever-Seer is a far more skilled spymaster than any you have had before, he is the first to tell you so. Now if only he would remember the hours of his meetings

Choose One:

[] A better Class of Spy: Listening in on rumors in the longhouse costs nothing and gains you little, what you would rather have is an ear nearer to the ear of the local tribal leaders
DC 75
Reward: The beginnings of a spy ring among the Norscans
Cost: 50 Wealth and 15 Wealth/turn Upkeep

[] Inner Network: perhaps the time has come to formally pay one's informants, that you may receive more than rumor from the city
DC 33
Reward: internal Rumor Mill

[] Investigate Councilor (Write in which): You do not know that much about the people whom you share a council chamber with. For good or for ill you would learn more (Can be taken multiple times)
DC: 20+ the Target's Intrigue
Reward: information on the Target's plans and any hidden traits
Cost: 25 Wealth

[] Attempt to scry one of the factions you have heard of: With eyes afar you can learn of powers near and far
-[] the Norscans
-[] The Empire of the Hammer God
-[] The Underground Folk
-[] The Ice Realm
DC: Variable
Reward: Information
Cost: 10 Wealth; Rare Reagents may be applied

Learning: The domain in which you feel the most at ease and yet also in which you have the most skilled councilor. Granted Shae can be a little intense at times, but that is a small price to pay for such dedication
2 Rare Reagents Available, may select actions to grant +10 to

Choose One:

[] Ship of the Air: Well alright more of a boat but the Fast Courier Excellent Air Boat has the potential to solve one of the most pervasive limitations of your military, which is only being able to carry what they can take on their backs into the air [Shae Project]
DC: 80
Reward: Fast Courier Excellent Air Boat ready for deployment
Duration: 2 Turns
Cost: 100 Wealth [Will finish in One Turn]

[] Dragon Armor Survey: The Armor of the Immaculate Dragons is a precious and potent armor of the First Age... it is also of no use in pieces. Yet in spite of that fact many Dragonblooded keep those pieces as mementos, not to mention that certain suite were kept by the descendants of Azure Dragons who never took their second breath. There might even be intact armors out there... though you doubt it
DC: 35
Reward: An accurate accounting of all the power armor in the city, no functional though it might be
Cost: 50 Wealth

[] Delve into the archives for lore: A treasure trove guarded not by mad gods and dangerous automata, but by the sheer disorder that comes upon any hall of learning many centuries old. Still this is the place without which you never would have learned to cast sorcery and so you are inclined to respect the gamble of seeking
DC 25
Reward: Some form of First Age lore

[] Scavenge Essence Pumps: one of the most complex pieces of technology in the city, clearly eclipsed only by the Reality Engine, the four great Essence Pumps once powered a city of a quarter of a million people. Now only one remains in operations, but until now no one has dared scavenge the other three
DC 65
Reward: Greater understanding of Essence infrastructure, a chance to restore another pump?
Cost: None

[] Higher Education: If there is one thing you lack more than anything else it is... Exalted, but next to that you really lack thaumaturges. It will be costly, but you can train more of them for the good of the city
DC: 20
Reward: Increase the standard of Education +5 to all engineering actions from the greater number of skilled hands
Duration: 3 Turns
Cost: 400 Wealth

[] Mobile Essence Lanterns: Of all the works of the Old Realm, the humble Essence Lantern is the most well understood. Shae thinks she knows enough to make a portable version including a crude Essence capacitor. Such a thing could be of use to scouts and Wyldguard on patrol, but most importantly it would serve as proof of concept for more advanced artifacts
DC 70/90
Reward: Mobile Essence Lanterns
Cost: 150 Wealth

[] Enchanting workshop: a Savant of the Old Realm would weep to hear you call it that, bit for your purposes a spear that is a little sharper or armor that is a little harder could save a life
DC: 45
Reward; Improve the quality of the Wyldguard
Duration 2 Turns
Cost: 20 Wealth [Will Finish in one Turn]

[] Gears of Ice: Shae suspects the icy creatures in the reservoir are construct servitors of a sort who are either following some purpose now forgotten or have gone rogue. Understanding their programing could be key to deactivating them, or perhaps even harnessing them, though as with all the great workings of the Old Realm it will be a perilous undertaking
DC: 85
Reward: Deal with the Shard Creatures
Cost: 10 Wealth

Personal Actions: Now that you do not have any additional responsibilities you can finally get back to some of your own projects
Choose 2

[] Summon an Elemental: Your first attempt in this new world has gone oddly, but not poorly, perhaps you could try again for another purpose
-[] Write in propose

[] Go Relic Seeking: You are sure you can steal some days to go looking at the mysteries of this world first hand
DC: Varies [Interlude]

[] Get to know one of your councilors
-[] Write in which
DC: Automatic

[] Improve your skills: You are exalted, in your chosen domains few match you, in those you have not chosen... less so. Now that you are a leader perhaps it is time to change that
-[] Write in any skill besides Learning
DC Variable (lower skills are easier to raise)

OOC: And done.

 

[DragonParadox]

Against the Flayed Lord ​

One would think that the Wyldguard would be uneasy at the prospect of hiring themselves out to one band of wingless to fight against another. After all, it had not been so long ago that their kind were only seen carved in stone or woven in the fine silks of yesteryear. Who is to say if they would not betray their new neighbors to their fellow barbarians when the time came? One would be wronger than a man who doubts the love of Luna, Auspiciously Broken Haywain knew,, thought as he looked over his his high flying company, each of them armed with two quivers worth of arrow each set with their own wing feathers and with a bright tipped pole weapon should any beast dare the sky against them, be it dagger axe, pear or halberd. A few, the young and enthusiastic had loaded themselves down with side arms as well, as though this would be a short patrol with the shelter of the Outer Towers never more than a few hours away. They would learn, the commander thought grimly. They would learn or they would die.

Everyone always over burdened themselves on the first long patrol, a lesson best learned in the doing... mostly at least.

"What in the name of the Veiled Face of Mystery do you think you are doing with that cup?!" Gold was far more common in Sezekan than in most of the outside world, the metal one of the few mundane substances able to endure intact from before the Usurpation. That did not mean that it made a good drinking vessel for traveling light.

It sounded like a lot of his newer recruits thought it would be a good idea to turn a flight into battle into a trading expedition. Bastards didn't know what was coming for them.

Auspiciously Broken Haywain did not know what was coming either.

The town they had been asked to protect was set within a ring of timber-made-as-stone, either by the sorcery of the locals or by the whims of the Wyld. like a grey crown upon a hill of crumbling shale. In the middle of it stood the meadhall and temple, in the shape of upturned ships and mayhap as many as fifty houses, as boats on the bizarre fleet with fires lit all between them and men prepared for battle in heavy fur and rings of black iron. Bold they seemed these kin to the skolmings at first and fierce their war masks in the guise of scowling beasts, but beside the thing which came against them they seemed as men cast into the teeth of a blizzard unclothed.

Chariots six times six pulled not by horses but by some unholy abomination with the head and shoulders of a wolf and the forelegs of a lizard with whipping tails, in each of them an archer, man or woman which would seem eerily beautiful to the eye if they had not been flayed alive and ever bleeding. Hey could not name the light of their eyes and he was not sure he wished to, more than the lust for battle, more than the passion of life, the cup that overflowed.

It was all the stranger than alongside these creations of what must be a mad rashka 'artist' six giants with skin of ice heads slung low, hardly seeming to notice or care whence they are going, holding in their hands crude flails made from the whole drunks of young trees and the bones of some beasts larger even than them.

Yet it was not the ice-skinned giants which the locals called 'troll' which most drew the eye from above, for all their stature they seemed to pale into insignificance before the master of the host, the one who had proclaimed himself with wailing tongue with the first days of dawns. He was 'clothed' as his fellows were naked wearing the flayed skin of man in every hue, pale and dark ruddy and sallow, their braided hair his belt, theirs polished bone the studs of his armor and skulls set into every joint

"The Flayed Lord, for your unmarked skin and your pretty feathers!" These were the words spat into the air then with malice and mad mirth.

Against them were arrayed perhaps a six score of the locals, a hundred of the sezekanians on the wing... and ten of the children of Maela, the wind beneath their wings and the light of their souls burning cold like the threat of judgement and damnation.

How do you fight?

[] Pepper the trolls with arrows, see if you can enrage the beasts before they reach the walls

[] Provide support to your Norscan allies, be ready to meet whatever trickery the slaves of the Wylkd unleash

[] Auspiciously Broken Haywain challenges the champion to a duel

[] Write in

OOC: Well that mercenary work certainly.... worked. Now would be your chance to choose charms for Auspiciously Broken Haywain same rules as for the main character, but only if you want to. Otherwise I will choose a set myself. I know it can be tricky to make so many distinct choices for a system many may not be familiar with.

 

[DragonParadox]

Pride's Price ​

So they watched and wheeled overhead as the giants drew near as the drums beat louder to the tempo of stomping feet, crushing roots and fallen branches, splintering the barricades of the southerners like kindling before and avalanche, their reek heavy upon the air. It was not foul, though perhaps it would have been better had it been so, it smelled of flesh, of musk and black spirit-berries, of rot not of the flesh but the mind. By the time the giants fell upon the ranks of the defenders hands had gone slack upon weapons and eyes were left staring at visions none could name. It was... a slaughter, a feast it was a breaking of the heart amid the screams of pain and ecstasy.

Charge: 80+14 (Troll Combat) +10 (Alluring Scent) = 104 vs 52 +12 (Norscan warrior Combat) +5 (Hearth and Home) = 69

Not all of who stood with the black iron hird fell, some stood their ground, casting javelins and heavy throwing axes upon the beasts, aiming for their eyes, for the tender skin behind the ears some even for the roofs of their mouths, for all the good it did them. the line had been broken, their courage would only buy them a chance to die on their feet.... as the chariots screamed forth amid the baying of unearthly beasts and the all too human war-cries of the flayed.

Whistling fell the arrows in high and deadly arcs, like the voice of some predator that had not been seen in this land before, straight shafted and tipped with points of steel reforged of broken wonders. Against another foe upon another day they might have sown terror and confusion, but these were the servants of the Serpent, swift and unrelenting. Even when the points bit into the bloody flesh it seemed to only drive unhalowed beast and man made more beastly still further.

Chariots under Fire: 33+15 (Wyldguard combat) = 48 vs 46 +28 (Chaos Chariot Combat) = 84

From sky unmarred the lighting fell.. down, down, down onto the tainted earth and thence it was ensnared. The power divine born of Ancient Creation snared by the appetites of the greatest of all gluttons, only a gleam of the meal to come. The lightning did not burn but was consumed and foul were the fruits of this feasting. From the shoulders of the Flayed Lord burst a pair of wings like onto those of the people, golden like a miser's hoard, their tips red and blood, from his ribs the man's toned skin peeled itself off into wings like those of bats and upon his ankles grew like spurs the wings of a wasp or some other dreadful insect.

Elemental Attack vs Gleam magic = 1+16 (Auspiciously Broken Haywain)+ 20 (The Mantle of Stranger Powers) = 37 vs 71+ 17 (Chaos Champion Piety) = 88

Filled with the pride of his new blessing the champion ascended, blasphemous prayer upon his lips mingled with words of his own aggrandizement, spoken so shrill and so swift as one word could not be told from another, but the commander of the Wyldguard knew the meaning of it as sure as he knew the light of the sun on his face, a bloody challenge had been cast and he would have to answer it, or the thief would escape with something infinitely precious.

He chooses to:

[] Face the enemy alone (Guarantee the Flayed Lord will stay and fight, no bonuses for the duel)

[] Bring forth the might of every exalted in the patrol against this foe

[] Write in

OOC: You guys did not have a lot of luck in this, if you had rolled anything other than a one Gleam magic would not have worked nearly as well, but it did and now you kind of have to kill this guy before he runs off.

 

[DragonParadox]

High as Heaven​

Higher and higher rose the damned soul, on wings stolen glory carried aloft by hateful gale . This was no man, not even so far as those who had been consumed by the Wyld, adapted to its fickle currents, no this was a hollow thing, a flesh puppet distorted by the talon-ed hand that bore it aloft and its name was Pride. Having stolen that which was beyond price, on skinless lips laid the blood of the divine what could it most desire if not to consume more and more of the strangers hopes and dreams, minds and souls?

And so he did the calling out mokery and spite against the Chindren of Mela. , in one hand a many headed whip that writhed like serpents and in the other a sword grown from the bone of dragon driven to agony exquisite. Heavy was the scourge and as red ruin the weight of the blade, the youngest and boldest of the Sezekanians falling in the first exchange, lightning guttering in his hands even as he summoned it, the winds scattering tither and yon, yet as he dove to strike the killing blow another of the Wyldguard, grown cunning in his duty and wise from defeat as as much as victory drew from a hidden pouch five knives, one for every finger of her hand, casting them not just with hand, but mind and raging soul. Steel forged long ago by the humblest arts of a Realm most grand bit deep and true into the flesh of the daemon-ridden man's chest above where his heart would have been

A lesser warrior might have been struck dead then and there, yet that was not to be. He laughed, his voice fair as a poisoned dream of poppy:

"Is this your Might Chosen of Absent Gods"

Absent? Hey would have laughed had he the breath for it. In the First of all Wars even the Most High had been absent, bound against himself by oaths to the Primordials who would make cruel sport of all creation. Still the Exalted had won, not in spite of the absence, but because of it. Theirs had been the Creation Ruling Mandate and it was time for this mad dog to understand .

The Azure dragons did not move where the wind blew them, but the wind blew as they commanded, not leaves in the storm but hailstones cast by a vengeful gale, a pattern long practiced, a pattern by each understood. Now above, not below, to his left to his right, never giving him peace, for their wings might not be as swift nor as as the gift of the Tempter, but they were used with skill unmatched

"Stay still that I might caress you!"

Thus he commanded and it seemed to those listening that there was some enchantment to it, some lassitude not of the flesh but the spirit and befuddlement of the senses.

Alas for it that its foes knew well the tricks of the rashka, they knew when to feign weakness and when to strike like thunder from the blue. This time Hey did not invoke the elements, but cleaved instead the Flayed Lord from the top of his head to his groin in one dreadful blow. As he split apart it upon the right side of his face was an expression of vast and uncomprehending surprise and upon the left something that might have been relief.

The battle that followed was no less bloody for the fall of the Champion, his followers all too willing to throw themselves against the hiyrd in the hope of being noticed by their foul master as he had been and as to the trolls, it was anyone's guess if they even had the wit to run. But in the end they died,m one and all, blood and other less readily recognizable fluids staining the earth.

As the last troll collapsed, arrows through its eyes the norscans started to... kneel. Only then did Auspiciously Broken Heywain notice that their chief had fallen in the battle. It seemed them to his eyes that the very substance of the light ha changed, that he could feel their breath from afar and then as he looked into the eyes of mortals not just warriors, but elders children all, he understood. It was worship.

How does the Commander of the Wyldguard react to incipient worship?

[] Accept it, a cult could empower him and these people need guidance

[] Refuse it, it is not the place of the Terrestrial Exalted to hold such sway over the hearts of men

[] Write in

OOC: No rolls in this one because they broke the flow of the narrative something terrible.

 

[DragonParadox]

Savage Wings ​

Soon as they had come out of the egg the creatures were as fierce and ravenous as the tales of the barbarians had painted them as. When they weren't screeching for their next meal like a hatchling hawk they were scratching at the door of their stables, putting half-inch marks in steel. Some of the Wyldguard assigned to the tasks were starting to mutter that there might be something to the notion of chaining the beasts down, no matter how majestic their snow white wings or fierce their eyes of molten gold, as Brush of a Thousand Seasons, the would-be poet of this lot, had put is.

There always seemed to be would-be poets in the new batch of Wyldguard, drawn to the romance and the danger of flying out to distant lands and facing strange monsters. The old hands were not sure which officer had decided to put this one on duty mucking out the aerie of the dangerous beast right here in the Morn Towers... but they had to admit it was funny listening to the kid, when he wan''t trying to feed himself to the beasts to prove a point at least.

"For the last time, they aren't any smarter than a bird and they see flaring wings as a threat. It's not that they are waiting for the one with the right feathers to bond with or some other tin scroll-nonsense," Stolen Storm Feather practically roared. "We were just here to make sure the thing gets fed, gets its exercise and damn well wait for the Chosen to tame them in Mela's name."

"The Chosen, the Chosen!" the boy shouted. "How do you think they get to be chosen?"

Oh, one of their lot, Daystar watch over fools for they will not watch out for themselves. The officer sighed, but only to himself, bad for morale otherwise. "You cannot force your fate, the gift of the Dragons will kindle or it will not, best you can do is make your mark on the world with the tools you have to hand lad."

"In times of gravest import, of greatest peril those who are called to sacrifice their lives..."

"Mostly die," Stolen Feather cut him off, the words underscored by the sound of a griffon crunching down on bone. "You don't throw yourself into peril hoping to exalt for the same reason you don't throw yourself into raging rapids hoping the local river god fell in love with you and was just to shy to say so."

The kid mumbled something about the expectations of ancient breeding, but he was quiet.

As soon think the beasts themselves some manner of noble, Stolen Feather shoot his head. There weren't near enough of the people left to for some to rise up over the others eating hothouse dates. Oh sure the official like was that they were all of the nobility of Creation crafted of finest form by the Lawgivers themselves in the days of glory, but no one over the age of twelve took that at face value. Sezekan didn't have nobles for the same reason why there was room to put a pair of raging beasts in the old sky-ship docks with room enough to fit another hundred of them in the cavernous hall.

In the end the Chosen came and they flew with the beasts, swift as an arrow cast from a bow and a hundred times as graceful. One more card in a hand grown far too empty.

Hatching Griffons: 65 + 22 (Martial) = 87

OOC: And with this we are done with the martial actions as well as presenting some of the socio-cultural background of Sezekan.