BogMod/RisingSun1

Rising Sun, Session One

ST-Mod - Today is the last day of Descending Fire, and within your homeland at the end of every season there is a holiday and celabration. The four of you decided that you would all meet for a picnic on the hillside before going back into town to watch the evening fireworks.

ST-Mod - The afternoon is bright and light when Orchid and Grace first find the spot they plan to enjoy the picnic at and settle down to wait for the others whom I will send in in due time. And yes, Calibration is tomorrow.

ST-Mod - Game begins.

Orchid is constantly in motion, even when sitting, arraning things on the picnic mat, changing her mind and redoing the order, humming little pieces of music, changing her posture, looking about, neating her sheer and very little covering blouse and short skirt.

ST-Mod - And by all means share descriptions of one another to the others.

Grace is not irritated or overly concerned with Orchid's figeting, simply content to have lovely company on a lovely day. "It's so warm, I could take a nap. It'd be a shame to miss such great scenery, though."

A few birds take flight nearby thouh, signalling the arival of another of your friends. Haraka sets out from behind a tree, having just now arrived.

Hekaton is a slim young man his late teens, pale-skinned with only a hant of Eastern olive, big and intense eyes mar his handsome appearance, of which he seems unaware of. Hekaton stands a little above average height. He moves gracefully, speaks softly and dresses simply, in a robes reminiscent of that of a monk, most often bearing signs of long travels or life in the wild.

And who is that with him? Why its one of the local healers and another man you all know, Hekaton.

Haraka is currently dressed for the celebrations today. The tall, mostly-Southern looking young man having just shaved his head to help it look clean and upkept. He is wearing a nice silk shirt and canvas pants, the bright colors and patterns on them a change of pace from his usual wardrobe, but fitting the occassion.

Haraka waves to everyone as he approaches, picking hup his pace some and grinning widely as he approaches.

Hekaton follows a few steps after Haraka, greeting everyone before he offers to help with the picnic.

Grace sits up from her lounging on the blanket, and flashes a slight smile to her friends-- never overly demonstrative. "Good to see you two."

Orchid sees the newcomers and settles down with a deep breath, sending a look and a smile to both the boys as they close and neating her long snowwhite hair.

Haraka slows down as he comes within a few feet of the girls, and bows his head politely as he comes near, "Evening ladies."

Orchid nods to Haraka, eyes glittering caladioscope hues as they savor the treat of his and his friends looks.

Grace - "Afternoon, Haraka. This should be a splendid place to watch the fireworks, don't you boys agree?" Grace idly picked random blades of grass.

Hekaton bows a little awkwardly, but smiles warmly at the girls. He gracefully sits down on a corner of the blanket.

Hekaton - "This is an excellent place. I've seldom seen fireworks, so I'm looking forward to them."

Haraka looks over the landscape and the evening sky for a moment, staring a bit at the beauty of the colors, clouds, and geography, "Yeah. Its a great spot." He stands for a moment as Hekaton sits, then slowly takes to the blanket, sitting down, and folding his legs.

Grace - "They're really quite beautiful, Hekaton. It almost makes up for the gloom to come."

The food is nice, the weather amenable and the company pleasent to talk with. Everyone starts to settle in and down to have a little relaxation with friends before the main event. Always a good way to end the year, its been a long tradition to use fireworks.

Orchid reach forward and picking up the jug of wine, fills everyones glasses.

Orchid - "Always so glomy, Grace." She chuckles. "It will be an exciting time. As usual."

Hekaton - "What gloom are you speaking of?"

Hekaton - "Did something happen?"

Grace - "The unluckiest, most drab time between years. Calibration."

Haraka nods as he accepts a bit more wine, "Well, as long as you asked the shamans or the mages to put some wards up, only the really worse can happen atleast."

Orchid - "And give it the colors you want it to have."

Grace grins ruthlessly and takes a long drink of her wine. "Well, as long as only the WORST things can happen to us."

Orchid shakes her head, smiling as she leans back and fans herself.

ST-Mod - And finally the last of the number arrives, your fifth friend Hopeful Dream

Hopeful_Dream - "Sorry, there was some business that kept me from showing up yet."

Orchid waves the final member. "It's fine. We only just passed around the wine. Come, take your glass."

Grace whirls around, picking up the closest pointy object-- which happens to be nothing more useful than a knife brought to cut wedges of cheese. "Did you hear that?"

Orchid - "Hear what?"

Hopeful_Dream looks around, perked.

Orchid looks around lazily.

Grace - The girl leaps to her feet. "Something.. strange.. is coming up the hill." Grace seems very agitated, which is very unlike her.

ST-Mod - You all hear it now she points it out, the faint sounds of snarls and growls, mixed with a not human laughter starting to come up the hill...towards you.

Orchid - "Anyone invite more friends or barbarians?"

Grace merely raises an eyebrow at Orchid."

ST-Mod - Then you see it! Great 8 foot tall beasts with matted fur and claws that seem to be dripping in blood. Their eyes are fixated on you, glowing a dull green as they come.

Orchid - "Oh great, there goes my makeup. Feel like running, or do you think they will pass by?"

Haraka lets out a bit of a curse as he quickly gets to his feet, turning his head to Orchid, "Looks like they aren't friends."

Grace - "They're looking at us like they haven't eaten in weeks. I doubt they'll pass a picnic. What do you want to do?"

Hopeful_Dream stands back up and puts down the glass. "I just got done working."

Hekaton jumps up to see if the beasts have spotted them.

ST-Mod - Oh yes they have, their eyes are on the group as they start to clamber up the hill.

Haraka crouches down and quietly whispers to the others, "Guys, I think this is an opportunity to flee."

Orchid begins humming again as she rolls the picnic blanket up around the food and utensils.

Orchid - "Indeed it is."

Hekaton - "Um, Orchid, maybe we should leave the food..?"

Haraka shakes his head, "That won't work."

Grace - "Good idea, friend. I'm glad to know your dear shamans have been good about putting up the wards." She glances down at the creatures. "On the count of three, lets run?"

Haraka nods to Grace, "Sure. Sounds like a plan."

Hopeful_Dream - "Three?"

Orchid blinks. "But Grace helped me bake this bread for you..."

Hekaton - "No, I mean they look like they want US, not our wine. Let's run back to town now!"

Hekaton tries to pull Orchid away without being rude.

Grace - "THREE!" She skips the one and the two, waiting to make sure her friends run off before doing so herself.

Hopeful_Dream turns and takes Orchid's other arm.

Hopeful_Dream starts running.

Orchid just smiles at the touch and lets herself be pulled, carrying the ball of the blanket and things on her back.

Haraka stands and blinks for a moment at Grace's take on the action. But seeing as its better to agree then get mauled, he turns high-tail and springs with all his might.

Grace sprints like the wind.

Hekaton sprints after the others.

ST-Mod - The beasts are sadly between you and the town though.

Hopeful_Dream makes sure that Orchid is moving and forces herself to the limit of her speed, a speed that has run down many a man.

Hekaton desperately tries to remember if he's seen any soldier encampments, watch towers or some such near our location.

Orchid lets herself be led, chuckling a little, then speds up to run next to Hekaton, whispering something in his ear.

Orchid - "Want me to show you a secret place?"

Hekaton glances at Orchid as he runs besides her. "Secret... Place? For hiding?"

Orchid - "Of course. What else would it be?"

Orchid smiles pleasantly, eyes twinkling green and yellow.

Hekaton - "Is it safe from demons?"

Orchid - "Dunno. Might be."

Hopeful_Dream looks over at Orchid and Hekaton, "While I don't mind your plans for a tryst, could you wait till perhaps we don't have monsters chasing us? We need breath to run."

Hekaton looks confused. "Tryst? But... Where are we running?"

Orchid - "Follow me."

Haraka looks over his shoulder to see the progress of the demons.

Orchid begin leaping over roots and branches, squirming past bushes and only occasionally stopping to wave to squirrels and other wildlife, as she leads the others towards some of the secret paths she often uses to get to and from the cities unnoticed.

ST-Mod - You run first away to try to get out of their sight before trying to flee back to the safety of the city. Orchid knows some secret paths though, learned in the years she has spent as an outcaste. You take to hidden paths she knows of, running with your hearts pounding in your ears. Breaking free of the trees you come to a lake.

ST-Mod - Within this ancient lake in the mountains are 3 great white marble ziggurats. They have been there for as long as anyone can remember, never entered or broken into by any scavanger that tried. There is no path to them and people who have wanted to go to them had to make rafts or boats. You run along the shore, trying to cut through this open area as fast as possible.

ST-Mod The ground suddenly shakes and a series of stones rise from the base of the lake to make a path to one of the stepped pyramids. A great door opens up in it and as you check behind you the demons burst from the trees, starting to gain.

Hekaton turns to follow Orchid, not quite as agile, but obviously used to moving in the wild.

Grace - "Unless you guys come up with a plan QUICK, I'm gonna do something stupid!"

Hopeful_Dream looks over at the other two, and decides to run to guide them. "Look, I know this area better than most, follow me. I have an idea."

Orchid - "Hmm... they never did that before."

Orchid stops to study the new stone bridges.

Orchid - "You guys saw that?"

Grace points to the open door. "Let's just get the hell in there." She begins running in the direction of the ziggurat.

Orchid shrugs and runs after Grace.

Haraka whistles in awe at the sight of the structure, before running in after the girls.

Hekaton almost trips as he slows down to look at the pyramids, and then turns to follow the others, looking worried up at the ancient structures.

Hopeful_Dream moves after, "You know, there's nothing saying they can't follow, so maybe we'll need to set up a guard or two at the bridge?

Hekaton - "Let us try hiding before we fight them."

Grace - "How about this, Dream? Once we get inside, they can only enter one at a time if they can enter at all, so we can try to knock 'em out there."

Hopeful_Dream - "Look, I know this way a bit better... you have to pick your spot to fight, otherwise they're winning before we even start."

ST-Mod - You enter the great structure, and see the demons hesitate at the shore, shuffling their feet and snarling at you. You find yourself in a great pillared hallway. Lying at your feet are some treasures you have never seen before. A great hammer that seems as if worked from quicksilver. Bracers of gold with sunbursts worked on them. Jewels of flawless quality.

Hopeful_Dream shrugs and keeps after.

Haraka hmms, and turns to look at the demons as the stop on the water, "Wait a second...."

Grace stoops to pick up the hammer, figuring a weapon would probably be a good idea. Too bad she finds it to be way too heavy.

Orchid - "Now this is riches. Too bad we won't get out to spend them, right. Lok for another exit?"

Hekaton - "Did they stop following us?"

Hopeful_Dream picks up a jewel and pockets it thinking about how this can pay for the treatments for a long time.

Haraka pushes the circuler-rimmed glasses up a bit to look along the waterline some, curious about the situation.

Haraka looks to Hekaton a bit and shrugs his shoulders, "I really don't know to be hoenst."

Grace quickly get engrossed in the beautiful jewels. "Theseare even more masterfully cut than ones by my father.."

ST-Mod - The touch triggers a reaction. Everyone feels as if their soul is afire, the world becomes a sea of golden light that blinds and comforts and burns with all the intensity of power. You feel the light burn its way into your forms and frames, joining and becoming one with you. A sudden influx of knowledge and might fills your brain and memories try to flood with them but slip by and past before you can take hold of them.

ST-Mod - Your eyes stop bleeding light and the world comes into focus, on the shore you see most of the demons have been burned, their forms disintigrating into dust and ashes. The few that remain seem ready to flee...but like there is some master holding them at the leash they turn and start to come across the steps for you.

Orchid - "...."

Orchid - "I was... I am..."

Grace grabs up the hammer. "Yes. I am ready."

Orchid moves to the entrance and sets down the picnic set, finely arranging the utensils and foods and drink on the blanket again.

Orchid - "One drink. Let the dear spawn of Malfeas see a distinct lack of fear."

Haraka blinks as he feels the power move into him, and shakes his head to clear his mind. He then looks down out the door at the approaching demons, "Ummm....guys...they are still on their way...." He backs into the room and instinctively grabs the bracers, pulling his knives out of the sheath on his side, and moving them a bit mroe gracefully then he thought he could.

Haraka - "Okay."

ST-Mod - The demons finish crossing the stone walkway as you take your drink and leap at you to try to break your flesh and drink the marrow from your bones. You raise your hands and blades and weapons and the battle is joined.

Haraka moves one of the knives in his hand gracefully, twiriling it between his fingers as he activates his first Charm, feeling it unite himself with his blades.

Hopeful_Dream grabs up a stick and looks at it... then places her mouth to the end painted red and blows towards the beasts.

Hopeful_Dream remembers her old tool.

Hekaton seems to be lost in daydreams for a moment, before blinking confused and looking at himself. Then reality comes back in full, and he notices the advancing demons.

Grace - Essence surges through Grace's arms as she remembers. "My wife gave me this hammer. This is not be the first demon to be smote with it, nor will it be the last. She leaps, throwing the entire weight of her small frame behind a deadly blow to the first blood ape.

Hekaton, looking grim and worried, sinks down into a ready stance, but surprises himself when his body, drawing on memories inaccessible to himself, executes the katas needed to activate Mantis Form.

ST-Mod - The sound of thunder echoes through the chamber and the blow stops at the hit to its chest. For a moment the strike seems to have done nothing then with a sudden burst the beast flies back and out of the chamber, disappearing into the waters outside.

Haraka continues to accustomate himself to the blades in his hands for a few brief seconds. As he does so, the blades seem to move between his fingers in a odd twirl of steel and leather, before he stops, each knife between a pair of fingers. The young Exalt then steps a few feet foward, and with a graceful twirl, throws the three blades at one of the demons all at once, trails of ghost-white light following along their path.

ST-Mod - The beast, seeing what happened to its friend from a single mighty strike from the exalted hurridly leaps aside in hopes to keep its own time on this dimension longer.

ST-Mod - Though the beast is fast and light the three knives find its heart this night. Your choice of attack was surely best for you have laid this demon to rest.

Haraka 's anima flares in a briliant pale-white carona around him as the last knife leaves his hand. And as the trails of light leave his body, it swirls into the shape of a regal cheetah running after them very quickly, fading like a ghost back into the anima.

Hopeful_Dream spins the tube in her hands, presenting it, and with a pair of quick puffs launches a pair of darts that appear from the tube with a furious speed and small barbs. The darts move with a speed almost faster than the eye of an Exalt can see and place themselves in the left eyes of two of the demons. She exhales softly with satisfaction at seeing the targets roar and curl in pain, unable to fight on.

ST-Mod - One falls down, not dead but in too much pain to do anything but gibber madly. The other snarls and keeps coming, trying to furiously blink the blood from its eyes.

Orchid sits quietly strumming a zitar with one hand, glas of wine in the other, as the foul demon charges snarling at her, then, just as it is about to set foot on the picnic blanket, she moves her hand. She grabs the blanket, pulls it hard, sending the demon into a wailing pioruette, then continues the pull all the way round and replaces the blanket on the floor where it was before - without a single crease, and again grabs the glass of wine which did not have time to fall one inch. Not a single glas, item or foodstuff is displaced even the slightest from their positions on the blanket.

Orchid - "Coarse wits is no match for culture and grace."

ST-Mod - Their is a piteous whimpering sound as the demon tumbles backwards over the fallen corpse of its friend and disappears into the placid waters of the lake.

Orchid - !me has the symbol of the night glittering faintly on her forehead.

Orchid has the symbol of the night glittering faintly on her forehead.

ST-Mod - The demon with claws of blood and black lashes out to score its claws along Dreams flesh.

Hopeful_Dream cries as the claws dig in, her face turning to reveal a pale circle of gold on her forehead.

ST-Mod - Hekaton extends a hand and the burning might of the Sun fires like a bolt into the beast and like fire on oil the beast ignites and is consumed to leave nothing.

ST-Mod - The demons are now all dead and gone, and with the heat of the battle now fading you can step back and realize what you have become...what has happened to you all.

Orchid nods. "Delightful." and plays a few more notes before stopping.

Haraka 's blades come out of the demon that he felled, returning to his hand. He quickly twirls them and resheaths them grinning to himself for a moment.

Grace - "Well, that was entertaining."

Hopeful_Dream grabs the ends of the tube and stretches it out to 6 feet, the tube becoming a simple staff. Then she looks at her tattered shirt and the wounds.

Grace - "Are you all right?"

ST-Mod - There you all stand in a hall no one has trod in 1500 years, the marks of the Deceivers, Wretches, Unclean and Blasphemous on your brows.

Hopeful_Dream - "This is not how I wished to start the day. I'm going to need to bandage this up.

Hopeful_Dream - "What was that light... behind me?"

Haraka - "Peachy."

Hopeful_Dream looks in shock at the symbols around her, and Haraka glowing with a terrible light.

Haraka looks around at his fellow friends' foreheads for a moment, glancing at the demon marks upon everyone's heads. "Well, I guess the worse that could happen is over with for now, eh?"

Orchid holds up another glass towards the others. "Wine? Slightly stirred, but otherwise fine."

Haraka hmmms as he thinks about the situation for a moment, seeing the room's apparent illuminaiton, and then pulling a dagger out ot look at himself in the surface to see his Castemark, "So then. I guess we got some thinking to do tonight odn't we?" He looks voer to Orchid a bit, "First off, why haven't you turned all ugly? No offense."

Orchid blinks in mock incomphrehension. "Because I a beautiful?"

Hopeful_Dream looks at her arm in the sunlight... after seeing her own reflection in the mirror-like polish of the metal of this room "Yes, I think we do."

Orchid gives her radiant smile, its warm light equalling the coronas of divinity playing about her.

Grace raises a brow at Haraka. "You're a thinking man, right? The simplest answer is usually the right one. Apparently, the Immaculates did some embellishing."

ST-Mod - There are also some changes throughout the group. Enhanced attributes come with exaltation so some such as Orchid have probably gained a bit of beauty from all this.

Haraka hmms, nodding a bit as he looks back at his reflection in his knife, "Good point there. Frankly, I don't feel like much of a lying decietful bastard."

Haraka thinks a second on that, "Atleast no more then us merchants have to be to get buy."

Orchid - "You are for sale?"

Orchid looks interested.

Haraka blinks a moment, "Ummmm, not In that sense, sorry."

Orchid - "Too bad."

Orchid calmly takes another sit of wine, never having moved.

ST-Mod - The temple you are within has this great hall leading to a large central chamber. The ceiling is enchanted to be transparent so that the sun can be watched at all times in its progression through the skies. The chamber is sparesly furnished though, mostly statues of noble figures and stone benches by crystal clear pools of water.

ST-Mod - At the back of the central chamber is a stone throne upon raised steps. The entire place has a quiet dignity to it.

Haraka resheaths the knife in his belt and looks at the bracers now on his arms, "Got to admit, I also don't feel like causing the country to fall apart or bribe gods or anything. Interesting." He walks over to the central chamber, once again giving a whistle in awe at the look of htings.

Hopeful_Dream walks leaning on her staff.

Grace carefully begins picking up the jewels on the ground and placing them in her bag.

Grace walks up to the throne, in curiousity, and examines it carefully.

Hopeful_Dream looks at the throne carefully.

ST-Mod - It could use a cushin.

ST-Mod - The sun is almost set now, the back wall of the manse illuminated by its light and bringing to light a mural showing scenes of great battles.

Haraka looks about the room curiously, looking up at the statues, and figures around, "Wonder who these guys are."

Grace - "Well, I suggest we go back to the city and not tell anyone what happened." Grace speaks to everyone, but keeps her eyes trained on the mural in the back-- though she'd taken up painting as a hobby years ago, she felt as though she'd never be able to paint something as exquisite.

Orchid - "No idea. Been sitting by this lake more often than i can count, wondering what was inside these places. But even when I swam out here there were no doors to be found. Nothing of it was made to be seen by guests, that is for sure."

Hopeful_Dream - "I'd like to point out that Haraka is glowing like a brand at this moment, so I think that not all of us can leave."

ST-Mod - The fires of your animas have started to die down by now, and you remember enough to know they will fade shortly.

Grace - "I didn't mean right now." Grace's orange eyes glittered with the beauty of her surroundings. "Just that, when we go.. discretion is probably for the best."

Haraka looks down at himself, and smiles a bit, "Yeah, good point. I don't think my ability to be a successful merchant is helped by a Deciver Mark on my forehead."

Hopeful_Dream looks to Grace. "Would you help me banadage and clean these cuts?"

Grace gestures to Hekaton. "I could, but I'm no good with that sort of thing. I think Hekaton is probably better at binding wounds."

Haraka hmmms, "Hey guys. I think she'll be fine. Just clean it up so it doesn't get infected."

Hopeful_Dream goes out to the lake to bind her wounds and clean them, and then comes back in after a few minutes

ST-Mod - all anima flare is gone now.

Haraka hmms, looking about on the statues, wondering if there is text or something to say who is whom.

ST-Mod - Their names are unknown.

ST-Mod - Night has now fallen...but you see no fireworks come from the town.

Orchid finishes the wine, looks around a bit and pockets a few valuable looking trinkets. Then packs the picnic down and gets up.

Haraka stands up after he sees he's stopped flaring, and stretches a bit. He pulls the sleeves to his shirt out of the bracers and pulls them over the bracers, "Guys, what about the town anyways? I don't think those would be the only apes."

Orchid - "Stay here and maybe get a bath? The water's nice. Or go back and see if the lack of fireworks is because of more of those demons?"

Grace - "The lack of fireworks is not a good sign. We'd better go check out the town."

Haraka nods.

Hopeful_Dream - "I'm thinking perhaps these weren't the only ones... perhaps the fastest of us should run and the rest make sure these demons are disposed of."

Orchid - "If you insist. It is far and i doubt we can do much anyway. The water *is* nice."

Hopeful_Dream starts off over the stone bridge.

Orchid looka over at the others.

Haraka looks confusedly at Orchid, and follows after Dream. On his way, he spots a rectangular object against the inside of the front room. He picks it up and dusts it off to discover its apparently made of crystal. To the side there is a small jewler's lense device. Quickly clipping it to his glasses, he runs off agains after the Night.

Hopeful_Dream is running quick, though slowed a bit by her wounds.

Orchid shrugs, gives Grace a light pull, then runs after the others.

ST-Mod - You return to town and there is a great group of people gathing at the Temple of the Bell. The crowd is quiet and murmering back and forth as a priest of the Bell comes out to make an announcement. "My friends...someone, some traitor, some enemy of us all has broken the bell."

Grace sprints to keep up with Dream.

ST-Mod - And we end there tonight.

Orchid instantly seeks cover in the shadows, knowing full well who will be blamed if she is spotted.