The Book Of Earth/The Hidden Forest

== THE FOREST HIDDEN BY THE TREES ==

The Forest Hidden by the Trees is the third Solar training camp established by the Sidereal Gold Faction. Wheras the first two training camps took their cues from the nature of the Zenith and Dawn castes, the Forest takes its lead from the Night caste. Located deep in thick Eastern forests near Haltan territory, it is disguised through cunning camouflage and bargains with surrounding Elemental spirits. Guarded by animal & spirit servants, regular stealth patrols, and clever traps and pitfalls, it is an exceptionally easy area to get lost in and never come out of again.

Solars graduating from this school prefer not to call attention to themselves, but still tales are told of swiftly racing figures, leaping through the trees, clad in forest camouflage by day and black by night. They are always disguised, either by hood, scarf, or mask, instead relying upon mundane (though Charm-enhanced) throwing weapons such as shuriken, knives, and needles, as well as firedust and sleep grenades. They also prefer more exotic weapons such as kama, nunchaku, garrotes and sai, as well as chain, rope and restraining weapons, to swords. While they are expert in the Artifact versions of these weapons, they will usually only use such in dire emergencies.

In addition to the above, the following Artifacts are also often used by Forest Solars, working either alone or in teams: Amulets of Shadow Walking, Automaton Assassins, Slings of Deadly Prowess, Discreet Essence Armor, Heaven Glory Shrouds, Gauntlets of Distant Claws, Solar Seals, Everyman Armor, Switchklaves, Recorders of Everlasting Glories, Torcs of Unified Action, Ultimate Documents, Ultimately Useful Tubes, and many more. Those of a more sorcerous bent also use such spells as Assassin's Fatal Touch, Becoming the Wood Friend, Disguise of the New Face, Private Plaza of Downcast Eyes, The Faithful Ally, Unity of Dreams and Whirlwind of Fate. As of yet, no Hidden Forest Solars know Solar Circle Sorcery.

They wear little in the way of armor, unless it's light or silken, preferring to simply avoid getting hit. Many seem to have an exceptional rapport with animals, which leads some to suspect Haltan involvement in the camp's developement. Only the trees know for sure, and they are oath-bound not to stay silent on the matter...

The School of Stealth Unlike the other training centers, The Hidden Forest is not centered in any one building, but appears to be a small, moderately prosperous village with a population of a little over a hundred. The people appear just as townsfolk do all over Creation, and are quite friendly and welcoming. The town has all the standard buildings any town must to survive: Town Hall, Market, Hospital, various stalls for refreshments, and shops for tailors, barbers, and craftsmen to sell their services and products. These buildings, like the people, are all a well-constructed facade. Warded from scrying and riddled with hidden rooms, false walls and trapdoors, the entire village rests upon an elaborate network of tunnels that lead to immense caverns where the real work of the school is done. If need be, the entire population can vanish within moments of a serious threat, leaving behind only a mysteriously abandoned ghost town...

The Role of the Hidden Forest The founders of the Hidden Forest believed that the Solars would best serve the world secretly, thereby avoiding the massive hubris and corruption brought on by fame and glory that led to the Usurpation. To that end, all Solar initiates are taught to attract as little attention to themselves as possible. Their enemies and targets should never know that they were around, unless it is a deliberate ruse, meant to deceive them.

This branch of the Cult travels widely, and often visits other Cult sites secretly to test their security, only announcing themselves once they've successfully breached their defenses; needless to say, the other schools are not amused. Still, they are always grateful for the highly detailed intelligence the Forests' Scouts bring them from their farflung web of contacts all across Creation...

Like the other schools, the Hidden Forest has its own style of Tiger Warriors, who have more in common with the elite rangers of Lookshy or the Haltan Commandos than the zealous hordes of the other schools. No less devoted than their brethen, however, they focus on Supernatural Martial Arts (Falling Blossom and Fivefold Shadow Hand Styles, among others), as well as setting traps, ranged weaponry and Thaumaturgy, especially the Arts of Spirit Beckoning, Elemental Summoning, Husbandry, Alchemy and Enchantment.

Geography The Sidereal founders choose the particular spot of the Eastern forests that they did because it was hard to find, easily defensible and provided excellent survivalist training. Unlike the other schools, the Forest is not located on a Manse, but near several demenses and Wyld-zones, which gives the area a bad reputation while also providing plenty of supernatural targets for the trainees to test their skills on. Many of the indigenous and lethal flora and fauna found in the East here, and the Solars are well-educated in their lore.

Training New Solars are secretly brought to the camp through highly convoluted routes while restrained and blindfolded, both to show trust in their captors and to prevent its location from being known. Unlike the other schools, no great honors await her. She is usually ignored by the villages' populace as they go about their daily routines and is left to her own devices. After a few hours, she is brought to a secluded room, where she is shown all of the personal belongings that were lifted from her person by the denizens throughout the day without her knowledge.

At this point, one of the Sidereals explains the true purpose of the school and the cult. When the Solar agrees to join, they are stripped of their worldly goods, and told to find new ones. Thus begins a long process of learning by doing, as the Solar tries to gain the food and clothing she needs to survive through stealth and trickery in the town, while constantly having the few belongings she succeeds in acquiring taken when she isn't looking...

Academy Personnel

The Hidden One, Chosen of Endings, Secret Master of the Academy: A legend among the Sidereals, this ancient one long ago sacrificed his very name upon the altar of duty; through unknown means, he literally Ended his own name, to the extent that it no longer exists, even within the secretive records of the Forbidding Manse of Ivy (the similarity to similar practices of the Abyssals is not lost on his fellows). As one of the most influential of Saturn's Children, he brings much support to the Gold Faction and his own hidden school, and subtly uses both as a means to his ultimate goal: The End of the Second Age of Man. He has foreseen that he will not see the dawning of the Third Age, but believes that his death will be a key event in bringing it about...

An unassuming elderly man with an absent-minded grandfatherly air, The Hidden One spends his time in the camp in many of his Resplendent Destinies, most of which are unremarkable folk like shop-owners or gardeners. Indeed, discovering that he even exists and finding him is one of the unspoken tests of the school, which only a small handful of Solars have so far accomplished; these he binds to him as his inner circle (he is even strongly considering initiating them into Sidereal Martial Arts!). However, he often pops up to offer advice and direction to all those under his stewardship, and although he realizes such attachments are not wise, he has come to accept and love this little town and all the people living there as his true family. Which will make his eventual sacrifice of them (if need be) all the more painful...

Sable Swan, Night-caste Assassin: Of all the graduates of the Forest, first and foremost is Sable Swan. Her poisoned needles, wires, and carefully staged "accidents" are said to have dispatched more enemies of the Cult than all the Tiger-Warrior armies led by Solars of the other schools together. A loner, few have knowingly ever seen her unmasked, and she counts fewer still as true friends. One of the first and few who successfully found The Hidden One, she truly loves him like a father, a passion rivaled only by her regard for her mischevious "little brother"...

No one can say for sure how attractive Sable truly is through her ever-present mask, although her visible eyes and pony-tailed hair are certainly alluring, and the comely form she displays through her mesh-like Silken Armor is definitely captivating (although few who see either are in a position to appreciate their aestethic qualities). Expert in the entire arsenal of ranged weapons, especially with her collapsible wrist crossbow, she is also quite skilled in the use of explosives, smoke and poison and is only a few Charms away from mastering Ebon Shadow Style (she has mastered Night Breeze and Ill Lily Style Martial Arts).

Ricket the Casteless: This youngster was eking out an existence in Nexus, using his shapeshifting abilities to earn money via spying and petty theft, before being rescued from the streets by Sable Swan. After going through the requisite Cult training, she claimed him as her Lunar aide, a role he relishes. The only thing cooler than helping Sable take down the bad guys in inventively deadly ways, is being able to act up and get away with it because he's her loyal partner! Although he often goes just a bit too far, earning himself a friendly rap on the head from her...

Despite being well-cared for by the Cult, Ricket still somehow manages to suggest the poor ophan beggar he grew up as, with a headful of mousy-brown tusseled hair, plenty of plasters on his scratched-up body and well-worn patched up clothes (a large pair of front teeth are the Tell of his Totem, the mouse). Boistrous and loud, he enjoys filling the silence of his partner with laughter. His cheerful and overeager disposition, however, overshadows all of that; he's just as good as charming his way out of trouble as he is getting into it. About the only thing that can make him behave himself is a stern word or look from Sable.

The Shade of the Sun, Abyssal Day-caste Infiltrator: Upon learning of the existence of the Forest, The Shade's Deathlord sent her to infiltrate it. Doing so was no easy feat, but she loves the challenge, as well as the irony that she has become one of the Cult's best Infiltrator agents. She certainly has no problem with using her great beauty and wiles to influence and sabotage the camp's enemies, who all too often are her Liege's rivals, as well. Meanwhile, she studies her "allies" for patterns and weaknesses and prepares to strike where it will hurt them most. Unknown to her, her deception was discovered from the start by The Hidden One, who likewise studies her for clues to defeating the Deathlords, and who believes that he may be able to subtly turn her to the path of renegade...

Easily the most beautiful person in the Forest, The Shade (or Summer Shade, as she's known there) balances her time between sussing out the secrets of the village and cultivating her very own flamboyant cult of personality. She must also find the time to renew the Charms that enable her to impersonate a Night-caste Solar. She has a nemissary servant who takes her reports back to their Liege, often in the body of a quick-flying bird. When she must kill, she enjoys using her long, lustrous hair to garrote her victims to death...

Kite, Dawn-caste Scout: Kite is the very model of the Forests' philosophy: Results unseen. While Sable Swan and The Shade of the Sun may have more acclaim due to their more visible (at least to the Forest) successes, Kite's success is that the safety and security of the camp go unchallenged. So long as he does his job properly, no one will ever know that he's doing it at all. The Captain of the Scouts, he is just a short way away from graduating but doesn't see his life really changing afterwards. Unlike many Solars, he does not burn with the passion to reshape the world outside, but only to protect the only home he's ever known. His one weakness is the growing love he feels for "Summer Shade"; she could quite easily trick him into lowering his guard, and thusly, the guard of the entire school...

Kite is rarely seen, but when he is, he is invariably dressed to match his surroundings, thanks to the adaptive camouflage subsystem of his Yoroi Armor given to him by the Hidden One (Stealth +3). The best Thrown specialist in the Forest, he is never without his Orichalcum Skycutter, wears his twin Perfect throwing axes mounted on his back, and always wears his Ghost-Seeing Blindfold over his eyes when on duty.

Miro, Outcaste Instructor: An Air-Aspected Terrestrial, Miro is quite bemused to find himself an instructor of Solar Anathema. Formerly a member of the infamous Grass Spiders, he found the Hidden One's offer to help shape the next great assassins of the future irresistible (although he still wonders if he was tricked or coerced, somehow). While most of his students can outperform him in raw power, few can match his unbelievably devious penchant for devising tragic, unavoidable, and yet strangely humorous "accidents". Sable Swan is one of his best students, and he greatly enjoys hearing about her work.

CHARACTER CREATION: Identical to the Character Creation process in _Cult of the Illuminated_. Characters from the Hidden Forest must meet the following ability levels:

• Athletics •
  
• Awareness •
  
• Dodge •
  
• Investigation •
  
• Larceny ••
  
• Stealth •••
  
• Thrown •

Students of the Hidden Forest gain, at no cost, Ox-Body Technique, Graceful Reed Stance, and 2 Charms from any of the following five Martial Arts Styles: Ebon Shadow, Fivefold Shadow Hand, Ill Lily, Night Breeze, and White Veil.

CALLINGS

Assassins: The long arm of Solar and Cult justice, these Solars strike quickly and silently in the night. Night, Twilight, and Dawn caste Solars tend to gravitate to this Calling.

Calling Abilities: Archery, Athletics, Awareness, Larceny, Stealth

Calling Charms: There Is No Wind, Accuracy Without Distance, Monkey Leap Technique, Foe-Vaulting Method, Any Awareness Excellency, Keen (Sight) Technique, Lock-Opening Touch, Door-Evading Technique, Easily Overlooked Presence Method, Invisible Statue Spirit

Infiltrators: Agents under deep cover among the Forests' enemies, allies and rivals. Some may even be in one of the other schools...This Calling is normally filled with Night, Eclipse and Zenith caste Solars.

Calling Abilities: Investigation, Larceny, Linguistics, Presence, Socialize

Calling Charms: Any Investigation Excellency, Evidence-Discerning Method, Any Larceny Excellency, Flawlessly Impenetrable Disguise, Any Linguistics Excellency, Letter-Within-a-Letter Technique, Hypnotic Tongue Technique, Irresistible Salesman Spirit, Wise-Eyed Courtier Method, Mastery of Small Manners

Scouts: The fieldmen of the Forest, performing duties from patrolling the surrounding area to ambushing intruders. The few times Foresters are called upon to do upfront fighting, these are the stalwarts who do it. Often Dawn, though a few Nights also join their ranks.

Calling Abilities: Athletics, Awareness, Survival, Thrown, War

Calling Charms: Spider-Foot Style, Monkey-Leap Technique, Any Awareness Excellency, Surprise Anticipation Method, Trackless Region Navigation, Unshakable Bloodhound Technique, Observer-Deceiving Attack, Returning Weapon Concentration, Any War Excellency, Rout-Stemming Gesture

COMMENTS

Much thanks to Trithne for input!^_^
--Dex