Darzoni/CampaignsReflectionsNotesShogunate
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Changes made to Lookshy and the Shogunate in the Reflections Campaign.
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Survival of the Shogunate
Excerpt from the historical records of the Shogunate:
- The Contagion came, and we survived though it tainted our record, for one of the dread Anathema came bearing us a cure for the Contagion. This miracle elixer we spread as far as we could in the East, as no one should suffer the agony of the Contagion. In return, she only asked that we spare her life and allow her to continue working worthy miracles for the Shogun's blessed state. As constant as our surveillance was of the Anathema, she did not once betray us to the darkness she surely carried within, causing our Immaculate priests to reconsider the dogma regarding the Anathema.
- The Anathema, whom we named Pandora after a particularly infamous Anathema who set loose many evils upon the world, guided our artificers and taught them the ways of crafting minor wonders of the Golden Age that came before. Great forges were erected and brought forth warstriders and miraculous armor that even mere mortals could make use of. Skyships came from the Aviary inside Deleheshen (SP?), growing a fleet that the Shogun would be truly proud of had it not stemmed from a tainted source. But this was not to last.
- The Fair ones marched, plaguing Creation and eating away at it with their alien sorceries; the Contagion made manifest some said. Our Legions were forced ever back, a slow fighting withdrawal to Deleheshen (SP?), where the Sixth and Seventh Legions were forced to make a final stand. Our forces were committed, and the siege began. The walls of the city were wracked by Wyld-born energies, often erupting with such strange magic as to do things to man and Exalt alike that no thinking being should ever need witness. The fighting took place during Calibration, and we savants agree that this was signifigant, for on the fifth day of Calibration at sunset, Pandora strode out upon the battlements of the city. If there had not been so many witnesses, there would scarcely be reason to believe the incredible event that occurred. Pandora began weaving a sorcery so potent that the darkness of Calibration was dark no more as she became a towering entity made of living sunlight with four arms, each bearing some symbol of the ancient god of the Anathema; the Unconquered Sun. The being led the charge against the army of the Fair Folk, rousing the Legions to arms, and routed the Fair ones. Their siege weaponry was broken against the sword of the entity, their armies frightened by the mere countance into fleeing for their very lives. The fields were littered with their dead and dying.
- Pandora lay upon the field dead when the apparition faded. The Anathema had given her life to protect those who would have killed her. She was buried deep within Lookshy Manse, given the burial of one who was a great hero of the Shogunate, as befits an Anathema who ultimately redeemed herself. Her sacrificed saved many men and conserved much equipment, which we are even now using to re-establish our protectorates...
The Shogunate
- The Dragon-Blooded Shogunate is a nation that rivals the Realm in martial and political might. Although much smaller than the Realm in land area, the Shogunate has proved that they can hold their own against the military ambitions of the Scarlet Dynasty. Judicious use of the wonders of the First Age coupled with our rigourous military training proved to be a formidible barrier to those who would wish the Shogunate ill-will.
- There are currently twelve legions serving the Shogunate, several of which are of interest. The First Legion is comprised of proven veterans who won their positions through merit and hard-won experience. Nobody is politically appointed in the First Legion, since they are the first line of defense for the capital. The Sixth and Seventh Legions have a long-standing history of excellence, and anyone who joins these legions will not be mollycoddled or babysat by the officers. The Sixth and Seventh Legions are often where parents of unruly Exalted will place their children in hopes of them shaping up.
- Lookshy is the capital of the Shogunate, a Fortress City where the elite First Legion dwells. Occupied by the remnants of what were the Sixth and Seventh Legions of the Shogunate after the March of the Fair Folk, the descendants of those Legions make up the bulk of the city.
Pandora's Confession
- I write this confession in haste, but I pray to the Unconquered Sun that some future generation discovers it and knows of my penance.
- I find it a strange twist of fate that these Terrestrials have named me Pandora, despite not knowing my true identity. They name me for Pandora, the Twilight who unleashed a thousand horrors on Creation. Pandora, whose crimes were so egregious that the Solar Deliberative stripped her of her possessions and condemned her as one of the Lost. Pandora the Damned.
- The truth is, I am indeed that Pandora. My time in the wilderness granted me a vision from the Unconquered Sun, which was truly a new experience to one as old as I. I was granted a chance to atone for my crimes, for there was a great Contagion loose upon Creation, and I was the last Solar who possessed the knowledge to cure the horrific thing. I studied this Contagion for a time, and developed a means to counteract it. I traveled to Deleheshen (SP?), where I knew the Terrestrials would have sufficient resources to distribute the cure. And I ensured the survival of countless people in the Eastern Threshold.
- My time of servitude was not yet over. I felt I truly owed it to mankind to help them regain what they had lost. To nurture and encourage what few embers of the Golden Age remained into a fire that would burn Creation anew. I taught the Terrestrials of Deleheshen many things that they could use. I worked tirelessly to burn away my guilt and made myself anew; casting off my mantle of Pandora the Damned.
- Then the Fair Folk marched upon Creation. I heard the news and shut myself in my chambers to meditate upon the matter. The vision came upon me in the twilight moments of the last day of Calibration, today. I know now what prayer I must invoke to cleanse my sins from me. In forgiving me, the Unconquered Sun will allow me to do one last deed in his name.
