Difference between revisions of "HumbleLunars/TheLunars"

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(overwritten, and not done....but I think you might like it.)
 
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Oh, so very very much in progress.
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<b>Prehistory</b>
  
At night, the Suns sleep and remember of past and future glories.  The Stars lie in their lonely bed and dream of thinks to come.  The Chosen of Luna lie awake at watch, and the dreams that come to them are old indeed.
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At first Gaia drew two great circles, dividing Creation up into three regions.  The center region was the largest and most plentiful, and this the Primordials took for themselves, setting it up as their private playground should any wish to remove themself from the Games of Divinity.  The second circle, what is now the Threshold, was given to the Dragon Kings and other favored children of the Primordials.  Farthest out in a place that today has been lost to madness was a region given to the Gods to do with as they saw fit.
  
Long ago the  
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The Gods still toiled in the service of the Primordials during the day.  But at night, they called forth their great winged chariots and rode out to their own domains.  They lovingly created all manner of life.  The Gods did not call the land forth carelessly as the Primordials had done, but lovingly crafted every detail.  Every tree was made to carry beautiful flowers and delicous fruit.  Beasts were both strong and tame, rivers were filled beautiful and with fishes.  Even the tigers of that land would not hunt except in play, drawing all the food they needed from fleshy plants planted for this purpose.  And finally, when the Gods thought they could create no greater wonder, man was born.
  
----
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Humanity prospered in the outermost circle of Creation.  They built great living cities high in the trees.  They sang great poems, and wrote them in sand in the desert, the Gods allowing no wind to disturb the stories of their people.  The stones in the river were arranged in a pleasing manner. 
  
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The Gods looked upon their creation, and marveled at humanity's ingenuity.  They thought to make another part of Creation, farther out, for humanity to rule and mold as the gods themselves had done.  The petition was drawn up and presented at the jade pleasure dome.  But the Primordials thought it vain for the Gods to compare themselves with the Primordials in such a way, and dismissed them to return to their games. 
  
The First Age Lunars were pretty darn niceSome of this was simply what they didn't do - they didn't limit break monsterously as the Solars didOften, they were champions of people and causes the other Exalts forgot or found beneath their noticeSometimes they tried to keep the Solars under some kind of control - but only sometimes.   
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The small gods were furiousWhile they sat among themselves and vent their wrath, the Incarna came among themThe Unconquered Sun spoke first, saying that the gods were no less than the Primordials, and ought to be able to shower gifts on their creationsHe spoke with a golden voice of the plans Autochthon had drawn up for the Solar Exalted.  The Gods looked at the Solar shards and dreamed of giving one to a favored mortal, dreamed of how glorious their children might be with such a thing.   
  
The Lunars sinned by ommission in a big way.  Some of them loved their spouses too much.  Some of them had other causes, often very noble ideas, that distracted their attention.  Think of it as curing cancer while Rome burned.  Also, they just wern't that organized.  The First Age Lunars often didn't like each other and didn't see any reason to organize.  Some Solar set up a "Lunar Deliberative", but it didn't do much.  The Lunars kept in touch via smaller meetings, interlocking circles, and sorcery.  The Lunars did nothing, so the Sidereals had to act.  
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Next the Five Dragons rumbled from among the crowd of Gods, each speaking in its own way.  They showed the Gods the plans for the Dragon Blooded, and showed how they would stoop to serve the Gods.  
  
A lot of Lunars were killed, and more than a few followed their mates into the Jade Prison.  Some of them fled to the edges of the worldThere had always been a sizable minority of Lunars who ruled strange kingdoms near the Wyld, and they welcomed their fellows.   
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The Five Maidens spoke in unison, and said that the victory of the Gods was forseen, if only they would act soonWith deafening whispers they fortold the wisdom of the Sidereal Exalted, how their wisdom would make things easier for the Gods and better for the world.   
  
Time passed, the Fair Folk invadedAnd I'm skipping a few years =P
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Finally Luna spoke, and said that Gaia groaned under the rule of  the other Primordials, and would greet the Gods as liberators.  Luna painted shimmering illusions with her words, showing them how beautiful Creation would be when ruled by the Lunar ExaltedShe showed how the Lunars would change and sway with the moon, their Castes not fixed but changing to fit the every needs of Creation.  When the Gods saw how beautiful the Lunars would make the world, they could not help but weep.
  
<b>Setting</b>: This brings us, sort of, to the present days.  The setting is the Threshold, with a *very* Dark Ages feel.  The focus on poverty, "ordinairy folk", and the ruins of the first ageBarbarians make an appearance, for sure, but they're not the focusRead the Iliad, read King Lear.  This is going to have a more miedival Europe feel than some parts of the gameThere's one huge exception, though - these people arn't ignorant.   
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Thus filled with dreams and thinking their victory assured, the Gods at once agreed to war.  The Exalted were created and trained, Autochthon forged weapons, and all was made ready.  The Sidereals planned the attack, the Solars lead the battle with Dragon Blooded riding at their sides.  The Gods too wished to join the fight and earn honors.  And so the Lunars were set as great guardians of humanityThey would stay in the outermost ring of the world and guard humanityThe Primordials mustered their forces in the center, while the war was raged in the domain of the Dragon KingsAs the Solars went off for battle, they joked that they would come back covered in scars, but their spouses would stay safe at home, untouched and beautiful when they returned.   
  
There are lots of ruins, and  they contain the relics of the first ageThese are mostly relatively mundane objects that just happen to have been made out of imperishable materialThere are a few warstriders, but  there are more imperishable houses that provide shelter from the snow.
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The Primordials were cleverer than expected.  They sent their counterattack in great winged ships that sailed over the Exalts defensive line and struck at the third ring.  Great terrible monsters rose up, and humanity was tortured in all ways. The Lunars fought with their backs to the wall.  The Solars fought on the front lines, but they had the forces of the Dragon Blooded and the machines of autochthon backing them upThe Lunars had nothing, but still they fought, and still they won.  The Guardians of Humanity stood firm, destroying the invadersAs they did so, the other Exalts likewise pushed the forces of the Primordials back.
  
This needs to be handled with extreme care, or it will end up looking like some cheesy sci fi where everybody is living in a bombshelter and worshipping a broke down chevrolet.  Avoid portraying the Threshold dwellers as being ignorant or having no understanding of how their technology works.  They understand perfectly well how their technology works, probably better  than the average Lookshy Engineer understands his warstrider.  The problem isn't that they're ignorant, the problem is that they're fucking poorThey know how to operate the airplane, they know what its supposed to doBut they'd need three hearthstones and a part that can only be made by a Solar, so there it is.
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In the midst of a last great battle in the center of the world, the Fair Folk sent an invasion.  The Lunars fought even harder now, but their ranks were all but decimated from the earlier battlesDesperate and unable to call for backup, the Lunars evacuated humanity from its birthplace as chaos overtook the outer part of the land.   
  
I'm not sure this can work, and we may have to puntBut that's a thought.   
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When the Gods realized what had happened, they were furious with the Lunars.  They rebuked them for having given up their posts too easily.  They demanded that the Lunars be punished, saying that from now on, Lunars should Exalt from the greatest failures of humanity.  They blamed Luna, saying that if the Lunars' had not been allowed to flow and change so easily, they would not have been so eager to desert their postsThe Solars were ordered to carry out the punishment, to brand the Lunars so that their castes would be tied in place.   
  
The Lunars are born into this poverty and shit, and they have to put  the pieces together.  Its similiar to the Solar setupExcept the Solars can get beyond it, just by walking onto the stageThey can make the 14 successuss Craft roll to make the Thousand Forged Dragon goThey can make the 14 successus Performance roll to unite an army.  They can rebuild the world.   
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The Solars knew that this was wrong, for they had seen the scars on their lovers and knew that the Lunars had fought wellBut worrying that another war would break out between Gods and Exalts, the Solars carried out the edict anywayAfterwards, some claimed the Solars had not protested loudly enough, or that they were interested only in their own positions with the GodsBut most accepted the punishment, out of guilt or resignation, and returned to their lovers afterwards.   
  
Lunars can'tThey can help people or  they can kill people or they can change people.  They can challenge the Deathlords and the Fair Folk and the Realm.  They can make the world a better place.  But at  the end of the day, they would still be ruling over the Second Age.  A much nicer Second Age, but still the Second Age.   
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The Lunars screamed for days as their Essences were fixedThe Gods in their madness that devised an elaborate categorization for what flaw had caused the Lunars to betray their posts.   
  
Does that make any sense at all?
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Some, they said, had deserted because of they could not bear to be away from their spouses.  They were cursed to be stunted and waste away, just as the third ring had vanished from the earth.  They were branded under the sign of the Crescent Moon, so that they might vanish to nothing even as their spouses heaped love on them.
  
The Lunars are alien gods and forces of nature....yet strangely human.
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Some, the Gods claimed, had deserted their posts because they did not care enough for humanity. These they cursed to wander the earth, just as they had wandered from their posts. They were braned under the Half Moon, so that they would be ever between worlds, but never able to find home in one.
  
The Silver Pact plays a reduced role, being something of a foil.  Its there, but....well, the Lunars are 300 people with no home base and very mixed transportation and communication networks, spread out over an area the size of Creation.  They don't really have any way to hold a meetingInstead, it tends to be more of a rumor networkYou run into another Lunar, you fill each other in, you move on.
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Some were said to have deserted out of simple stupidity.  They were cursed to foolishness to remind them of their foolishness in deserting humanityThey were brander when there was No Moon, so that their heads would always be filled with emptiness.   
  
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Some were accused of deserting out of cowardice.  They were branded under the Gibbous Moon, which no poet ever sings of, so that they would always look with ugliness upon their own selves.
  
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Finally, some were accused of betraying out of outright treason and anger at the Gods.  These were cursed with the heavy weight of the Full Moon, so that their souls would always burn with hatred. 
  
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The ritual was painful, and the screams could be heard as far away as Malfeas.  Gleefully, the Malfeans decreed that even as they were punished for deserting their posts, the Lunars would be cursed with excessive loyalty from then on. 
  
----
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<b>The First Age</b>
  
History's most triumphant failures, Lunars stand proud in the darkness or languish kingly on garbage thrones, ruling empires of nobodies at the edges of Creation or among the unloved places of the cities. Since the fall of the last age some have wandered Creation, tired and ragged eyes dragged after their tireless ancient bodies. Barbarian Kingdoms are raised amid the ruins on the Threshold, poor and despised mortals and forgotton Chosen looking on each other with eyes to sad to judge.  
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Gradually, the wounds healed and the Lunars grew to strength.  The Solars carved more Creation from the Wyld, appeasing the Gods' wrath. The Chosen of the Sun sat down to build a world. Time passed.
  
That, minus about 50 adjectives, is the story of the Lunars. Solars exalt in a moment of boldness that seeks victory, and their lives are a triumph and a glory. Lunars exalt in a moment of hard earned failure. Theyir mortal lives were full of struggle and hardship. They did everything they could do to fight and survive, but events were stacked againist them, and they lost. When it is all but over, Luna embraces her Chosen. Some roar with rage, giants crushing towers that had loomed over them a moment before. Some, their battles already lost, withdraw from society to find better things in the wilderness. But all are well aquanted with just how nasty Creation can be.  
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The Lunars, too, built up a world.  Some traveled to the edge of Creation, building cities near the edge of the Wyld. These acted as import centers between Creation and the Wyld. Filled with the goods of madness, they were fabulous places. Tall towers were made of silk, flowers and trees grew in all the houses. Glamours allowed mortals to swim through the air as though it was water. All was protected by from the Wyld by great refracting crystal domes that scattered rainbow light throughout the cities. Even the Solars, it was said, did not have cities such as these.
  
In this, they are not unlike their elders. The Lunars of the First Age knew well the crimes of their spouses. They knew something horrible would follow. They could have stopped the horrors wrought by the Solars and thus avoided the Usurpation and what followed. But they did not.  
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Other Lunars joined their Solar mates.  They rested quietly, raising brilliant children and supporting their spouses in all that they did.  They quietly worked to prevent the worst of the Solar excesses, and many thousands were spared by their efforts. Lunars worked to help the world in other ways as well. They cured diseases to small for the Solars to bother with, made sure the regions outside the Deliberative's rule were looked after, cleaned up after wars, and generally made the world a better place to live.
  
During the first age, many Lunars lived in the Creation spanning empire of the Solars. They stood besides their spouses, their humility lending a human touch to thier spouses might. They championed moral causes that were too uninteresting or too small to attract their spouses' attention. Perhaps they worked to protect Gaia againist the ravages of First Age industry, perhaps they fed the unpopular Barbarians living outside the Deliberative's reach. Perhaps they devoloped cures for diseases that killed relatively few - Cystic Fibrosis rather than AIDS. No Solar would appear to protect a traveler from bandits - but a Lunar might stoop to do so. For this, the Lunars became the most popular Exalts of the first age. They were Saints and Boddhisattvas, and when they spoke, all of humanity listened.  
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In all this the Lunars were the most beloved Exalted of the First Age. Mortals found the other Celestials aloof, and knew too much about the Dragon Blooded to really love them. But the Lunars were sympathetic figures, and the mortals looked to them for guidance. These pleas for guidance became more frequent as the Great Curse took hold over the Solars.
  
They saw clearly the madness of the Solars, but they did nothing to stop it. Some loved their spouses too much. Some were afraid of their spouses. Some simply did not like their fellow Lunars and so did not organize as the Sidereals did. As the Solars became more and more terrible, Lunars withdrew further into their pet causes.  
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But the Lunars were bound by their love.  Some cared too much for the Solars to truly see the terror, even as they dealt with it on a daily basis. Some were too wrapped up in some great but transiet moral cause to see what was going on. Some feared the Solars and saw little reason to risk further punishment. The Lunars did not act.
  
Not all Lunars submitted themselves to the Solars. There had always been those who did not take a Solar spouse, but instead journeyed into the lands near the Wyld. Their they built frontier kingdoms, populated by the most adventurous mortals from Creation. Alien fauna roamed as beautiful gossamer architecture dominated the cityscapes. These Lunars too knew the crimes of the Solars, but they thought it would mean nothing to them, self-sufficent at the edge of the world.  
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And so the Sidereals did. The Chosen of the Stars gathered the Dragon Blooded and overthrew the Old Realm. Many Lunars were killed in the fighting. Some fled to the cities of their fellows at the edge of the world. Others quietly went underground, doing their best to pretend that nothing had happened at they could continue to serve their causes. 
  
And so in the end, the Lunars left little mark on history. They knew but would not act. When the Sidereals and Dragon Blooded came, most Lunars fought and died protecting their Solar lovers. A few stood aside weeping or fled into the wilderness, their to join their brothers at the edge of the world. Some of them sought to marshall armies from the Wyld, some of them tried to build new lives. Great alien kingdoms ruled the edge of the world, a counterpoint to the Dragon Blooded Shogunate in the center.  
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It was during this time that the Silver Pact was formed.  The Lunars were subdued, but hardly lost.  Quietly, Lunars met on mountain tops across Creation or near the edge of the world and formed pacts to share secrets and resources with each other.  Gradually, these connections coalesced into a secret society spanning the entirety of Creation.  The Lunars aided each other in their quiet causes or bid their time, waiting to take their revenge.  In its day the Silver Pact was an impressive organization.  It did a great deal of good at times, taking up causes the Sidereals would not or looting the relics of the First Age and taking them to safe keeping in the Great Cities at the edge of the world.  It never posed a serious challenge to the rule of Sidereals, due to the independant nature of the Lunars, but still it persisted.
  
Then the Contagion struck and the Fae came. Lunar society was virtually destroyed, although the Lunars themselves survived, as they always had. Some wandered the earth, some started over with Barbarian people in the Threshold.
+
Then came the Great Contagion and the invasion of the Fair Folk.  The great cities at the edge of the world now sit in ruins or isolated outposts of stability buried in the madness of the Wyld. The Silver Pact has lost its influence, although most Lunars are still honorary members.  The First Age Lunars died of age, and their causes died with them.
 +
 
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Now, in the ruins at the edge of the world or the crumbling cities at the center or the wilderness everywhere, the Lunars are being reborn.  Each comes to life having experienced bitter defeat at the hands of something he could not control.  Each feels his Castemark burn and scream in his soul, a bitter legacy of incredible power.  The Lunars are weary, and angry, and ready to strike.

Latest revision as of 08:36, 29 May 2005

Prehistory

At first Gaia drew two great circles, dividing Creation up into three regions. The center region was the largest and most plentiful, and this the Primordials took for themselves, setting it up as their private playground should any wish to remove themself from the Games of Divinity. The second circle, what is now the Threshold, was given to the Dragon Kings and other favored children of the Primordials. Farthest out in a place that today has been lost to madness was a region given to the Gods to do with as they saw fit.

The Gods still toiled in the service of the Primordials during the day. But at night, they called forth their great winged chariots and rode out to their own domains. They lovingly created all manner of life. The Gods did not call the land forth carelessly as the Primordials had done, but lovingly crafted every detail. Every tree was made to carry beautiful flowers and delicous fruit. Beasts were both strong and tame, rivers were filled beautiful and with fishes. Even the tigers of that land would not hunt except in play, drawing all the food they needed from fleshy plants planted for this purpose. And finally, when the Gods thought they could create no greater wonder, man was born.

Humanity prospered in the outermost circle of Creation. They built great living cities high in the trees. They sang great poems, and wrote them in sand in the desert, the Gods allowing no wind to disturb the stories of their people. The stones in the river were arranged in a pleasing manner.

The Gods looked upon their creation, and marveled at humanity's ingenuity. They thought to make another part of Creation, farther out, for humanity to rule and mold as the gods themselves had done. The petition was drawn up and presented at the jade pleasure dome. But the Primordials thought it vain for the Gods to compare themselves with the Primordials in such a way, and dismissed them to return to their games.

The small gods were furious. While they sat among themselves and vent their wrath, the Incarna came among them. The Unconquered Sun spoke first, saying that the gods were no less than the Primordials, and ought to be able to shower gifts on their creations. He spoke with a golden voice of the plans Autochthon had drawn up for the Solar Exalted. The Gods looked at the Solar shards and dreamed of giving one to a favored mortal, dreamed of how glorious their children might be with such a thing.

Next the Five Dragons rumbled from among the crowd of Gods, each speaking in its own way. They showed the Gods the plans for the Dragon Blooded, and showed how they would stoop to serve the Gods.

The Five Maidens spoke in unison, and said that the victory of the Gods was forseen, if only they would act soon. With deafening whispers they fortold the wisdom of the Sidereal Exalted, how their wisdom would make things easier for the Gods and better for the world.

Finally Luna spoke, and said that Gaia groaned under the rule of the other Primordials, and would greet the Gods as liberators. Luna painted shimmering illusions with her words, showing them how beautiful Creation would be when ruled by the Lunar Exalted. She showed how the Lunars would change and sway with the moon, their Castes not fixed but changing to fit the every needs of Creation. When the Gods saw how beautiful the Lunars would make the world, they could not help but weep.

Thus filled with dreams and thinking their victory assured, the Gods at once agreed to war. The Exalted were created and trained, Autochthon forged weapons, and all was made ready. The Sidereals planned the attack, the Solars lead the battle with Dragon Blooded riding at their sides. The Gods too wished to join the fight and earn honors. And so the Lunars were set as great guardians of humanity. They would stay in the outermost ring of the world and guard humanity. The Primordials mustered their forces in the center, while the war was raged in the domain of the Dragon Kings. As the Solars went off for battle, they joked that they would come back covered in scars, but their spouses would stay safe at home, untouched and beautiful when they returned.

The Primordials were cleverer than expected. They sent their counterattack in great winged ships that sailed over the Exalts defensive line and struck at the third ring. Great terrible monsters rose up, and humanity was tortured in all ways. The Lunars fought with their backs to the wall. The Solars fought on the front lines, but they had the forces of the Dragon Blooded and the machines of autochthon backing them up. The Lunars had nothing, but still they fought, and still they won. The Guardians of Humanity stood firm, destroying the invaders. As they did so, the other Exalts likewise pushed the forces of the Primordials back.

In the midst of a last great battle in the center of the world, the Fair Folk sent an invasion. The Lunars fought even harder now, but their ranks were all but decimated from the earlier battles. Desperate and unable to call for backup, the Lunars evacuated humanity from its birthplace as chaos overtook the outer part of the land.

When the Gods realized what had happened, they were furious with the Lunars. They rebuked them for having given up their posts too easily. They demanded that the Lunars be punished, saying that from now on, Lunars should Exalt from the greatest failures of humanity. They blamed Luna, saying that if the Lunars' had not been allowed to flow and change so easily, they would not have been so eager to desert their posts. The Solars were ordered to carry out the punishment, to brand the Lunars so that their castes would be tied in place.

The Solars knew that this was wrong, for they had seen the scars on their lovers and knew that the Lunars had fought well. But worrying that another war would break out between Gods and Exalts, the Solars carried out the edict anyway. Afterwards, some claimed the Solars had not protested loudly enough, or that they were interested only in their own positions with the Gods. But most accepted the punishment, out of guilt or resignation, and returned to their lovers afterwards.

The Lunars screamed for days as their Essences were fixed. The Gods in their madness that devised an elaborate categorization for what flaw had caused the Lunars to betray their posts.

Some, they said, had deserted because of they could not bear to be away from their spouses. They were cursed to be stunted and waste away, just as the third ring had vanished from the earth. They were branded under the sign of the Crescent Moon, so that they might vanish to nothing even as their spouses heaped love on them.

Some, the Gods claimed, had deserted their posts because they did not care enough for humanity. These they cursed to wander the earth, just as they had wandered from their posts. They were braned under the Half Moon, so that they would be ever between worlds, but never able to find home in one.

Some were said to have deserted out of simple stupidity. They were cursed to foolishness to remind them of their foolishness in deserting humanity. They were brander when there was No Moon, so that their heads would always be filled with emptiness.

Some were accused of deserting out of cowardice. They were branded under the Gibbous Moon, which no poet ever sings of, so that they would always look with ugliness upon their own selves.

Finally, some were accused of betraying out of outright treason and anger at the Gods. These were cursed with the heavy weight of the Full Moon, so that their souls would always burn with hatred.

The ritual was painful, and the screams could be heard as far away as Malfeas. Gleefully, the Malfeans decreed that even as they were punished for deserting their posts, the Lunars would be cursed with excessive loyalty from then on.

The First Age

Gradually, the wounds healed and the Lunars grew to strength. The Solars carved more Creation from the Wyld, appeasing the Gods' wrath. The Chosen of the Sun sat down to build a world. Time passed.

The Lunars, too, built up a world. Some traveled to the edge of Creation, building cities near the edge of the Wyld. These acted as import centers between Creation and the Wyld. Filled with the goods of madness, they were fabulous places. Tall towers were made of silk, flowers and trees grew in all the houses. Glamours allowed mortals to swim through the air as though it was water. All was protected by from the Wyld by great refracting crystal domes that scattered rainbow light throughout the cities. Even the Solars, it was said, did not have cities such as these.

Other Lunars joined their Solar mates. They rested quietly, raising brilliant children and supporting their spouses in all that they did. They quietly worked to prevent the worst of the Solar excesses, and many thousands were spared by their efforts. Lunars worked to help the world in other ways as well. They cured diseases to small for the Solars to bother with, made sure the regions outside the Deliberative's rule were looked after, cleaned up after wars, and generally made the world a better place to live.

In all this the Lunars were the most beloved Exalted of the First Age. Mortals found the other Celestials aloof, and knew too much about the Dragon Blooded to really love them. But the Lunars were sympathetic figures, and the mortals looked to them for guidance. These pleas for guidance became more frequent as the Great Curse took hold over the Solars.

But the Lunars were bound by their love. Some cared too much for the Solars to truly see the terror, even as they dealt with it on a daily basis. Some were too wrapped up in some great but transiet moral cause to see what was going on. Some feared the Solars and saw little reason to risk further punishment. The Lunars did not act.

And so the Sidereals did. The Chosen of the Stars gathered the Dragon Blooded and overthrew the Old Realm. Many Lunars were killed in the fighting. Some fled to the cities of their fellows at the edge of the world. Others quietly went underground, doing their best to pretend that nothing had happened at they could continue to serve their causes.

It was during this time that the Silver Pact was formed. The Lunars were subdued, but hardly lost. Quietly, Lunars met on mountain tops across Creation or near the edge of the world and formed pacts to share secrets and resources with each other. Gradually, these connections coalesced into a secret society spanning the entirety of Creation. The Lunars aided each other in their quiet causes or bid their time, waiting to take their revenge. In its day the Silver Pact was an impressive organization. It did a great deal of good at times, taking up causes the Sidereals would not or looting the relics of the First Age and taking them to safe keeping in the Great Cities at the edge of the world. It never posed a serious challenge to the rule of Sidereals, due to the independant nature of the Lunars, but still it persisted.

Then came the Great Contagion and the invasion of the Fair Folk. The great cities at the edge of the world now sit in ruins or isolated outposts of stability buried in the madness of the Wyld. The Silver Pact has lost its influence, although most Lunars are still honorary members. The First Age Lunars died of age, and their causes died with them.

Now, in the ruins at the edge of the world or the crumbling cities at the center or the wilderness everywhere, the Lunars are being reborn. Each comes to life having experienced bitter defeat at the hands of something he could not control. Each feels his Castemark burn and scream in his soul, a bitter legacy of incredible power. The Lunars are weary, and angry, and ready to strike.