Darzoni/CampaignsTimeOfTumultS2
Session 2
The old Sidereal had another task for them. They wondered when they would do more important things with their time, but it turned out that the Sidereal had a pretty important task today.
"There is cause for a celebration, my friends." the Sidereal said with a grin, "Somebody is going to experience Exaltation in this region very soon." He had the map out again and was examining the region they were in for a specific dot. He pointed to a town. "This is Refuge, home to several tribes of barbarians. Somebody there is going to Exalt."
"Do you know what kind of Exalted it is?" asked Gyoukou.
"Not really. The stars indicate that it is probably a Lunar, but nothing's perfect. I simply want all of you to keep an eye out for any Realm expeditions in the area so the Lunar gets a chance to escape to his own kind." The Sidereal saw that Golden Exalt of Yugash and Byron were arguing again, so he took the opportunity to hit both of them upon the heads with his alabaster staff. "Pay attention you two!" He had to strike Byron a second time before the young Terrestrial shaped up.
Gyoukou considered something. "When is this happening? Will we get there after the Exaltation or just before?"
"I already thought of that. It will occur within a day of your arrival at Refuge if you leave today. Prepare wisely."
The four prepared for the journey, and the Golden Exalt was arguing with Byron again in short order while Gyoukou and Oblivion Bandit left, leaving them to play catch up in a few moments.
The Circle arrived at where Refuge should have been, but they saw no village. Until Gyoukou looked up to see vine catwalks and a village among the trees. At this distance, the people looked inhuman, covered in fur and possessing wicked-looking claws. There were no ladders, but plenty of time since the morning was young. The Golden Exalt simply used his Charm to walk up the tree trunk, carrying the other three.
Oblivion Bandit frightened more than one child during his brief tour of Refuge, and the Golden Exalt fascinated the children. It turns out they were not Wyld barbarians, but humans who dressed in furs and wore claws to help them climb the trees easily. Byron and Gyoukou canvassed the town for rumors and discovered that the Autochthonians had been causing problems for these people too. Their hunters had been conducting daring guerilla raids against the outsiders, but they were advancing towards the village. A deal was struck- the Circle would deal with these invaders and the tribes would show them the secret paths in the forest to get to the outsiders quickly.
The secret paths led the Circle to a patrol of the Locust Crusaders, led by an Alchemical that the Golden Exalt recognized as Excessively Righteous Blossom, a self-centered jerk of an Alchemical ("A waste of materials if you want my opinion"). With Byron and the Golden Exalt hiding above in the trees, Gyoukou and Oblivion Bandit met the scourting party. Gyoukou had decided that they would only fight if necessary, and told the other two to wait for a signal.
Being an arrogant self-assured type, Excessively Righteous Blossom did not handle the negotiations well. He struck at Oblivion Bandit because of an impertinent comment, missing his mark, and ordered his men to attack. Of course, this was the signal Byron and the Golden Exalt had been waiting for. Byron used his Earth Dragon Charms to break off the limb of one of the trees, sending it crashing below into the Locust Crusaders. It missed Righteous Blossom, but did cause the men to break formation.
And that left Excessively Righteous Blossom alone against four angry Exalts. The Golden Exalt struck first, while Gyoukou fended off the crusaders that had swords with his staff. The Oblivion Bandit struck, and landed a telling blow, nearly severing the Alchemical in half with his daiklave. Righteous Blossom called a retreat and fled. Unknowingly, the Circle had set an alternate sequence of events in motion, preventing the Lunar Exaltation entirely. However, the Circle had let it slip that there was a village in the area, and this would prove to be a tragic mistake.
The Circle returned to the tribesmen triumphant, success reported by the myriad scouts and hunters who had been watching and harassing the Locust Crusaders' scouting party. There was much celebration, with dances and wine, and roast forest boar. Thinking a disaster had been averted, the Circle simply kept an eye out for anyone who may have Exalted. Finding none, they settled down for the night.
They awoke to the smell of fire in the early hours of the morning. Outside, there was a massive Alchemical wearing a suit of superheavy steel plate and a soulsteel grand daiklave, and she was directing the troops. Accompanying her were six other Alchemicals, who were rounding up escapees and cutting down the trees. The Golden Exalt identified the leader as Unhesitatingly Loyal Weapon, a Soulsteel caste Alchemical who had experienced the entirety of the Elemental War and was a respected general. Gyoukou and Byron attempted to help the tribesmen escape and protect them from the Autochthonian mauraders. Sadly, many of them were captured by the waiting ground forces.
Meanwhile, the Golden Exalt and Oblivion Bandit attempted to distract Loyal Weapon. Loyal Weapon laughed at their attempts to distract her and swatted Oblivion Bandit away with the flat of her great daiklave. The force of the blow threw Oblivion Bandit against a tree, where he remained, dazed and badly battered.
Above, Gyoukou faced a large Jade caste Alchemical, and knocked him off the catwalk onto the one below him, then set about looking for a way down to the ground. Byron was fortunate enough that the Jade landed near him, and that Loyal Weapon, on the ground below, had her back turned. Seeing a way to save his Circle mate from certain death, Byron made use of his prodigious strength and tossed the dazed Alchemical at Loyal Weapon's back. Down the Alchemical general went.
The Golden Exalt took advantage of this momentary weakness and activated his Faultless Precision Upgrade and struck with his grand daiklave, striking the seam between the shoulder pauldron and the breastplate. It wounded Loyal Weapon, in more ways than one. Her pride had been wounded, and she struck back, activating her own Faultless Precision Upgrade. The Golden Exalt was struck down, cut in two by the flawlessly executed swing of the soulsteel blade. A fountain of golden essence fled from the melting body, sparks showering forth from exploding charms.
There was no time to reflect on the loss of a comrade, however. Byron managed to scoop up what little remained of the Golden Exalt; the diamond soulstone, a few intact charms. Gyoukou continued to try and liberate what captives he could from the Crusaders, but there were so many. It was around this time that he noticed that it was as bright as the noon sun in the forest area, but it was only just now dawn.
A Starmetal Alchemical was trying to keep control of a young boy, no more than 16, who had the unmistakeable sign of the Unconquered Sun about him. His anima was almost too bright to look at, and his caste mark burned the eyes to stare at overlong. The not-so-subtle shape of a great bear was flickering within the boy's anima. Gyoukou knew that this is who they had been expecting. The boy broke free of his captor and that gave Gyoukou the opportunity to strike. Angry at the death of a fellow, the Dawn Caste was determined that this particular Alchemical would not survive this battle. He beat the Alchemical with his orichalcum staff, shattering the metal bones and delicate charms. With the last blow the Alchemical's clay flesh fell away and his metal parts melted from the sudden surge of free essence.
Byron and Oblivion Bandit had managed to secure a captive. The very jade alchemical that Byron had selected as an impromptu weapon. They left, not wanting to give Loyal Weapon any more reason to hate them, and hurried back to the old master's place.
