SJE/Session22
Exalted Session 22
1 Calibration
So, some mad fun tonight and the return of an old face or two.
The Captain wakes from his drunken stupor, much the worse for the wear. Any bad dreams he had were obliterated by 100% proof alcohol, but his Essence shard ebbs even lower. He also has a vague memory of something he should be remembering. ‘Something to do with another drinker…. Cheerful, boisterous, back-slapping fellow- yep… definitely Cathak Aron. What had he agreed to do? No… not hunting.. something similar… Ah ha! A Duel to the Death. That was it…. ‘oh dear’…. Maybe Aron would accept a raincheck?’
Alana now rides across the Dune Sea, her loyal troop of 30 Tiger Warrior fedaykin riding behind her, sand robes fluttering dramatically behind them. She has been trained in the Way of Illumintation by Warmaster Michael Himself. Taken deep into the Wyld to a Kether Rock training facility where time runs faster, she has received a years training in a few weeks. For the Cult knows that the Golden Age future draws near, only so long as the present survives to see that glorious Dawning ....
Jaq has been spending a little time with the oft-forgotten Lucita (the demon-child). He finds her staring out the Granite Watchtower window at some point to the south east?
“Do you feel them? The door is open. My family is on its way. Cant you feel them?”
“Er… I feel its warm” says a puzzled Jaq.
“They are all coming here. On their way… here to visit, here to play!”
“Who is arriving?” Asks a confused Jaq.
“Mummy and my friends, the Bad Man and the Dancer and the Living Tower and all my cousins…”
OOC- YerMum hearing this- “Oh FUCK! We are so dead!”
“Well that’s nice” says Jaq and after making sure she’s fine, heads off, completely forgetting to mention this to anyone…
The five in Gem (Rav, Jaq, Captain, Orchid & Brand) get together to discuss their options. Rav is due to die in 3 and a half days unless Ssseth is appeased. Brand has 8 hours before his time to settle his affairs expires and Master Tanaka comes for him and Jaq. The Captain is slowly losing his Exaltation. Orchid cast her horoscope this morning and found no has a future in Gem to read. Oh, and Paragon is besieging the city and Demi-Prefect Shania of the Paragonese Embassy is holed up in the consulate up to no good…
Rav, Brand, Orchid and Captain decide to try to fix him first and head down the lava tunnels into the dark interior of the mountain and nephwrack Temple where the Captain now dreams of a rebuilt Monstrance. Jaq offers to go steal the Despots Yasal Crystal Collection (the 2nd of Ssseths Tasks) and spy on the Paragonese embassy.
I now try to run these 3 scenes (Alana in the desert, Jaq at the Diamond Palace, the other 4 in the Darkness Below) near simultaneously, hoping to keep everyone involved and hoping to find out what next, so apologies for the next section of scene-swapping.
Alana spots a pillar of green light glowing from across the horizon. Heading toward its sickly hue, she sees it comes from an oasis surrounded by a strange hamlet- organic looking buildings with 3 protrubences to other towers and dunes dominate the skyline, the green light shines up from a gap in Creation where presumably the oasis once lay. Alana tries to mark this place in her maps, but no sooner has she added an ‘X’ than it seems to fade, the ink sinking into the parchment and disappearing from site. Perturbed, she writes directions instead, but again the words fade into the paper. Worried, she sets out around the abandoned oasis (they don’t call it Forgotten for nothing!) and sees that the dunes appear to have parted, creating a trail running north west- towards Gem!
Jaq tries to get in the Palace with a servants uniform and Easily Overlooked Presence Method. Unfortunately the guard at the servants entrance knows all the servants by sight and challenges the “new maid”. Jaq umms and ahhs and gets accused of being a Paragonese infiltrator yet again, so he takes to his heels as the guard is summoned. Thinking to lose them in the Peak District, he heads down an sure-fire escape route alley and botches yet another Survival & Wits roll- the alley has been blocked off and is now an inescapable dead end. 4 guards round the corner on him!
The spelunkers have discovered that someone (not using tools) has cleared a narrow tunnel through the rockfall of the lavatube leading to the Shadowland. Rav goes on ahead in mouse form and finds the path leads all the way to the now half-destroyed Temple of Shadows, with its obsidian pillars and somebody scratching around inside- haunting whispers emanating from the shadowed interior. Brand, Captain and Orchid head down and the Captain loudly attempts to arrest whoever is down here for trespassing.
From inside a ragged, hunched form in a rough brown smock emerges. The Whispers down here get louder- blasphemies, dirty secrets, vile sins, names of the Malfeans. The creature keeps hitting its head, shouting “OUT, OUT, YOU’RE NOT REAL” in a raspy voice. Noticing at last the Captains racket (who is now poking the unfortunate with a stick) the creature looks up, revealing a dreadful skull- face- it looks like something has clawed the skin of the face away, leaving only a dreadful ruin and two eyes blazing with unholy energy. “THE THIEF COMES! GIVE ME BACK MY SOUL!” with that, the Creature leaps at the Captain, 3 bloody tentacles bursting from the hump on his back and turning into razor edged Blood Chains!
Alana flogs the horses faster and soon she sees on the horizon a great procession of unholy beasts, grey skinned jabbering demons, bloodthirsty monkey apes, weird stilt-legged Hopping Puppeteers and cloudlike arsenals. Silver flames follow a demon dancer in a cavorting dance around the column and the Living Tower slouches toward Bethlehem/Gem.
Racing ahead, she and her Fedaykin outdistance the demonic army and finds itself before besieged Gem. How will she overcome the Paragonese encirclement?
Jaq kicks in Flow Like Blood and ducks, dives and atomises around the guards weapons until at last he can duck down an alley and lose pursuit. Getting his mojo together he quickly buys an “I’m not here” Charm and heads back to the Palace. This time the guards don’t notice him and he saunters in, searching for the Crystal Collection. He seeks them high, he seeks them low, but nowhere are they to be found…
Brand, Orchid and the Captain engage the monstrosity- Brand parrying with his direlance, Orchid shouting “Flurry of August Leaves Concentration!” and sending 3 warfans whizzing the monsters way. The Captain twirls and twists, striking with his poleaxe- one blow catches, another misses, but the third hits the floor so hard (botches) that it shatters the poleaxe shaft to flinders! The creature meanwhile lashes out with its blood tentacles with sickening speed, one burrowing into the Captain and sucking the blood from his wound! Rav meanwhile sneaks into the Temple and finds the hideous monstrance has been bent back into shape. Blasphemous runes and wards are scratched into the stone around it, restoring its power. So terrible is this perversion of Exaltation that he cannot yet approach it, though its sheer wrongness allows him to muster his anger and rage at such an abomination.
Alana has reached the Paragonese encampment and is challenged by the guards. Kicking in her new Cult-taught Charm, Respect Commanding Attitude, she commands… well, respect. The soldiers ask her what her businesss is and she lies through her teeth (Masterful Performance Exercise- 10 successes) claiming to be a Realm Observer sent by House Cathak. OF course the guards believe her. Of course, they give her an honour guard escort straight to the Generals tent…
Jaq has identified a few guarded rooms that he’ll have to access by heading to the windows and leaping from one outer ledge to another. It’s a hard jump, but he makes it and finds himself in something of a memory room. A stuffed animal sits on a small chair, theres a rocking horse, bookshelves of books, a sand sledge hanging from the roof, toys and childhood clothes and games. OOC- YerMum- “And a teddy bear called Bo-bo?”
Moving on, Jaq makes for the next window. He misjudges the leap and winds up falling through the window, tearing the silk curtains and crashing through the checkers game of the Despots Harem!
Alana is introduced to General Peleus of Paragon (looking slightly beaten up), the sorcerer Blacken and again manages to fool them into thinking shes a Cathak Dynast. Keeping her tone imperious, she sneers about their camp destruction from ‘bovine saboteurs’ and demands and inspection. This they do, revealing some of their plans to take Gem with sappers, siege engines and a full assault tonight. Alana decides to confide in Peleus that a Demon Army approaches and he quickly demands verification from the scouts and sorcerer. Confirmed, his face pales and he sends an Infalliable Messenger to the Perfect, requesting new orders…
Down in the depths, Rav gathers enters a righteous fury and leaps at the Monstrance of Celestial Portion, bringing his moonsilver Direlance in a overhead swing bash. But the cage too is made of Magical Materials and the lance bounces off with a tremendous “BOING!”
The Captain is in dire straits. With no weapon in hand, he cannot use Parry Melee charms to save his ass as chain whips out, circles round his neck and lifts him from his feet, while draining the blood from his jugular. Brands and Orchids attacks are mostly blunted by Flitting Shadow Form (until we find out Power Combat nerfs Abyssal Entropics by limiting die pool reduction to Essence minimums). The Abssysal screams “SON OF CROWS WILL HAVE HIS SOUL BACK!” , his iconic anima a skeletal hangman with noose in one hand and rotting, poisonous grapes in the other, a dark reflection of the Captains dimming Bacchanalian anima.
Meanwhile Jaq comes up from his roll and sees 3 astonished middle-aged concubines staring at him. Apparently they were a gift to him from the Western Isles back in the 50’s when Harems where the in-thing. He doesn’t really partake, so they’ve been neglected for the last few decades, though he does come round occasionally to chat and play checkers.
“What is going on?” asks the green haired one.
“I’m the Black Mouse and I’m here to steal the Despots Yasal Crystal Collection” says Jaq nonchantly
“The Black Mouse!?!” gushes the blue haired maiden of a certain age.
“The Famed Lover of a Thousand Women?” exclaims the blonde in orgasmic hope
A certain look comes into their eyes as our table erupts into laughter as Jaq lands right in the proverbial.
We draw a curtain over the scene that follows as the 3 lust filled concubines descend on the cross-dressing sister of the famed lothario. But the curtain just as quickly re-opens to shrieks of discovery and then lots of giggling. While disappointed that Jaq doesn’t have the equipment needed for Casanovaing, they soon treat her as one of the girls and start gossiping about the Despot. Unfortunately they don’t know where the Crystal Collection is, though they have seen his Jewelry showcase room…
Alana stands with her Fedaykin as the Paragonese sound horns. It is for “Retreat”, their battered army unlikely to withstand a demonic onslaught, they are fleeing now, siege engines and supplies abandoned. The Walls of Gem celebrate at the sight and Alana at last approaches the Gate to warn of the coming danger.
In the depths, the battle teeters on a knife edge. Lances thrust, warfans fly, blood chains knocking them from the air, parrying and dodging- all the while, a solitary chain is squeezing the life from the Captains throat. As one of Orchids stray fans flies buy, the desperate, unarmed Captain grabs it from the air and slices it through the blod chain! The link parts and he falls to the ground! At once, Son of Crows is upon him, tentacles tearing flesh, his claw like hands and teeth tearing at the Captains face, trying to turn the Solar into a ruined mirror image of the Abyssal. Razor tipped tentacles surge into the Captains gut, seeking the heart! Spotting this, Orchid (possibly to her eternal regret hearafter) launches another barrage of war fans with Flurry of August Leaves. They spin end over end, speeding up and penetrating into the skull cavity of the Abyssal!
With an enormous roar of effort the Captain reaches up. “FINISH HIM!” Spitting blood, he grabs the impaled war fans and wrenches them around and up. Son of Crows head is corkscrewed off as the Captain tears skull from neck!
Dark shadows seep out of the Abyssals headless corpse and scurry back to the nearby monstrance. But Rav is ready for them, and with tremendous effort, his DBT form enhanced strength brings the righteous silver justice of his Direlance down through the locks of the cage, pinning the slithering shadow essence to the floor! Sinews and claws flex and twist and somehow the Lunar tears apart and destroys the abomination that is the Monstance of Celestial Portion. Golden motes of Essence escape from it and imbed in the Captain who re-experiences a moment of Exaltation before collapsing to the floor, chest still torn open.
Alana meanwhile enters Gem to a heroes welcome, trumpets and General Dragonroar (looks and sounds like Brian Blessed) who proudly declares
“One Watchman, One Army! That’s all Gem needs to beat these Paragonese! They Don’t Like It Up ‘Em!”
He embraces an embarrassed Alana, who whispers the news of the coming demonic invasion. He blanches and flees for his chariot to warn the Despot. As the celebration continues, Alana finds herself a little lost in the crowd, separated from her Tiger Warriors… The path parts ahead and she finds herself stepping on the familiar cobbles of the Lower Shades, redolent with the unique scent that makes Gem her beloved adopted home.
But there is someone up ahead as the road begins the climb up the mountain. Squinting around the lens flare of the scarlet haired-figure silhouetted against the noon sun. Two red daiklaives glitter in her hands as Cathak Anaria screams “And now I wipe away your shame, disgrace to the Family!” She leaps forward, hate contorting her features, blades glittering in the sun!
Freeze that frame. Because we end there.
So ends Session 22.
Return to SJE
