FrivYeti/DragonsS5IC

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Friv[8:54:38 PM]: The night has set, and the stars twinkle in the skies above. Hadren's men have a few small campfires going, as (I presume) do Tiger's. The men don't show any particular inclination to mingle with one another at the moment, though.
Friv[8:55:26 PM]: Hadren, for his part, is sitting near the Havenite Exalts. His daiklave is sheathed back on his back, and he is currently cooking some meat and herbs in a small pot that was produced.
Friv[8:57:31 PM]: He looks around the group, thoughtfully. "Where should I start...?"
Moonsword[5:57:46 PM]: Quietly, faintly, Valeria murmurs, "At the beginning."
Friv[8:58:54 PM]: "Easy to say..." Hadren trails off thoughtfully, before nodding and beginning his tale. "Well, let's see. You went into the Wyld about a hundred-odd years before everything changed."
Moonsword[5:59:32 PM]: "Changed?" she whispers.
Friv[9:00:07 PM]: Hadren nods. "Scholars now call it the Time of Tumult. According to reports, it was monstrous."
Friv[9:00:50 PM]: "It started with the dead. They rose from the shadowlands to attack the living. Thorns, Gem, Gethemane... one by one, great cities of the living fell before their advance."
Friv[9:01:27 PM]: "Then the Anathema struck. They'd worked alliances with the dead, and as Lunar hordes struck from the edges of the world, the Solar Anathema rose up from forgotten corners to strike at our most vunerable points."
Dakura[6:01:28 PM]: "Couldn't the armies of the Realm stop them?" asked Errant Tiger.
Friv[9:02:22 PM]: He shakes his head. "The Realm was in chaos. The Empress entered the Imperial Manse to rally her powers against them, and failed to return. For years, the Dynasty struggled to do battle without them, but there were enemies on all sides."
Friv[9:02:53 PM]: "The Time of Tumult lasted for ten long years. It ended when the Empress escaped the confinements that the Anathema had placed on her and returned to the Realm."
Friv[9:03:57 PM]: "At this point..." Hadren pauses, embarassedly. "Well, no one knows exactly what happened next. There weren't many witnesses."
Friv[9:04:31 PM]: "But what is known is that the Empress tried to reach the Imperial Manse again, to turn its powers against the enemies of the Realm, and a veritable army of Anathema tried to stop her."
Dakura[6:04:22 PM]: "Weren't many witnesses, or weren't many witnesses left to tell of it?"
Friv[9:04:40 PM]: "The latter."
Moonsword[6:04:51 PM]: "An army? Of those demons?" Valeria whispers, shocked.
Friv[9:05:10 PM]: "Stories say that entire neighbourhoods of the Imperial City were destroyed in single blows, and that devastating sorceries were unleashed against her."
Friv[9:05:34 PM]: "But she succeeded." Hadren smiles grimly, now. "She gained access to the Imperial Manse, and she brought its powers to bear. And then..."
Friv[9:05:45 PM]: "And then it never turned off."
Moonsword[6:05:58 PM]: "Never... turned... off...?"
Moonsword[6:06:03 PM]: "What was it doing?"
Friv[9:06:30 PM]: Hadren shrugs again. "Some people say the Empress died of her wounds inside the Manse. Others say that this was a deliberate action on her part."
Friv[9:06:54 PM]: "Either way, the Manse's energies scorched across Creation, burning the shadowlands away, and shattered the hold the Anathema had on their powers."
Friv[9:07:12 PM]: "It is said that a thousand pillars of light rose up into the air that way as their hosts were freed of their influence."
Friv[9:08:40 PM]: "Since then, there hasn't been a single Anathema seen in Creation. Their power is gone forever."
Moonsword[6:08:53 PM]: "Forever... is a very long time..." Valeria whispers.
Dakura[6:09:09 PM]: "Does that have something to do with the Sky Dragons you mentioned before?"
Friv[9:09:34 PM]: Hadren sits back, nodding. "Indeed."
Friv[9:10:40 PM]: "In the weeks and months following the activation of the Manse, people began to awaken across Creation with new powers. At first, it was thought that they were the Anathema returned, but though their powers seemed similar, they were far weaker, and lacked the markings of the demonic ones."
Friv[9:10:45 PM]: "Allow me to demonstrate, if I may."
Friv[9:12:17 PM]: Hadren closes his eyes for a moment, and then opens them. A thousand points of soft red light dance within them. A moment later, along his skin, in the same patterns held by the Dragon-Blooded, but instead of glowing elemental sigils, he has hundreds of soft points of light glowing their presence.
Moonsword[6:12:44 PM]: Valeria's eyes widen as she straighten up abruptly.
willcoon[6:17:26 PM]: Skein is... intrigued by this development.
Dakura[6:19:10 PM]: "Do the color and patterns mean anything?" Tiger asked, gesturing to the display Hadren had just shown them.
Friv[9:20:26 PM]: Hadren nods. "The patterns, perhaps. Each of us is different. The colour marks which of the Sky Dragons mark my destiny."
Friv[9:20:44 PM]: "I am of the Aspect of War, a defender of Creation set against those from beyond it."
Friv[9:21:12 PM]: "There are four other Aspects of the Sky Dragons, each attuned to a different purpose."
Moonsword[6:21:19 PM]: "Sky... Dragons...?" Valeria asks, staring at the patterns and trying to discern some hidden logic within them, drawing on the information her father drilled into her as a child.
Friv[9:22:13 PM]: "The Immaculate Texts speak of it, in passing. The Anathema stole their powers from the Sky, draining away the great gods therein in a grotesque mockery of the Elemental Dragons of Creation."
Friv[9:25:30 PM]: Hadren smiles, now. "With the Anathema destroyed, that theft is undone, and the powers of the Sky are bestowed again."
Moonsword[6:26:00 PM]: "And what of us?" Valeria asks softly.
Moonsword[6:26:14 PM]: "The blooded children of the Five Dragons?"
Friv[9:26:43 PM]: "They remain, although many of the greatest died when the Imperial City was destroyed."
Moonsword[6:26:44 PM]: "What became of our kind?" the Terrestrial asks, fearing the specter that they are the last of the Dragon-Blooded.
Friv[9:27:08 PM]: Hadren chuckles, then, once. "In truth, you still outnumber our own Exalted four to one. The Terrestrial blood remains strong..."
willcoon[6:27:07 PM]: "So you're saying you are Exalted of a dragon kin to the Immaculates?"
Moonsword[6:27:20 PM]: "The greatest were merely the oldest," Valeria notes. "In time, their loss could be replaced."
Friv[9:27:28 PM]: "Kin to the Elemental Dragons, rather."
willcoon[6:30:21 PM]: "... to the Elemental Dragons, then."
willcoon[6:30:30 PM]: "Quite curious."
Friv[9:31:13 PM]: Hadren nods. "Here, we have organized into the Arbiters of Fate. Although the Wall that the Imperial Manse raised around Creation is strong, others still slip through the cracks at many times, and our powers seem uniquely suited to fighting those who are not of Creation."
Moonsword[6:31:05 PM]: "Were not the Elemental Dragons children of a greater being yet?" Valeria whispers, trying to remember.
Moonsword[6:31:14 PM]: "A... mother... of sorts?"
Friv[9:31:46 PM]: Hadren shrugs here. "Perhaps. I must admit, theology is not my strong suit."
Dakura[6:32:11 PM]: "So this Wall protects from intrusion from the Wyld?"
willcoon[6:32:13 PM]: "How beneficient. What manner of Wall is this, then?"
Friv[9:33:02 PM]: Hadren gestures. "It is a wall of elemental Essence, stretching around Creation. I have never seen it myself, but some Exalted have ventured deep enough into the Middlemarches to find it."
Friv[9:33:22 PM]: "Pockets of Wyld energy still exist within Creation, on this side of the Wall, but they are weaker than they once were."
Moonsword[6:33:55 PM]: "Elemental...?" Valeria trails off curiously. "Then somehow, the power of the Five Dragons was awoken..." she muses, shaking her head and turning her attention back to Hadren's story.
Friv[9:34:32 PM]: Hadren nods. "Unfortunately, the secular world did not fare so well as the spiritual after the Empress's passing."
Friv[9:35:00 PM]: "When the Imperial City was destroyed, the leaders of all of the Realm's Great Houses were killed with it. With no clear succession, the Dynasty splintered."
Friv[9:36:02 PM]: "As it stands, there are dozens of feuding daimyos scattered across Creation. Few have the power to hold more than a few major cities."
Friv[9:37:15 PM]: "I don't know how many Dragon-Blooded there are in your legion, but you may be quite the power bloc yourselves."
Friv[9:39:51 PM]: He pauses, checking his food, and then ladles it out onto a plate, offering the pot to the rest of the group.
Dakura[6:44:12 PM]: Dakura[9:37:01 PM]: Errant Tiger frowned as he considered. "The Wall might be what created the passage from Scarlet Haven back to Creation... but that was only a year ago it happened..."
Friv[9:45:28 PM]: Hadren considers Tiger's words thoughtfully, chewing on a piece of meat. "Well, the Wyld shifts locations as time passes. Perhaps your city drifted through the Wall, and protected as you were, you did not see it?"
Friv[9:45:47 PM]: "Or perhaps another force opened the passage..."
Dakura[6:47:55 PM]: The Wood-Aspect sighed and shrugged. "I certainly wouldn't know. I learned how to fight what comes from the Wyld, not study it."
Friv[9:49:17 PM]: "Regardless, I suppose you'll have to decide what your next course of action is."
Moonsword[6:50:32 PM]: Valeria shrugs. "We were told to make contact with the Realm once more."
Friv[10:03:51 PM]: Hadren nods thoughtfully in response to Valeria's comment. "That could be difficult, depending on how you define it."
Friv[10:04:08 PM]: "Across the Inner Sea, there are still those who consider themselves part of the Realm..."
Dakura[7:05:30 PM]: "That's much too far for us to go, just for contact..." Errant Tiger said. "Do they have any outposts or embassies reletively close?"
willcoon[7:06:22 PM]: "And who is in charge of this supposed Realm?"
Friv[10:07:11 PM]: Hadren considers. "The last time I heard, the Realm considers their leader to be Ragara Jacun."
Friv[10:07:31 PM]: "He's a little over two hundred and twenty, so he wouldn't have been born yet when you entered the Wyld."
Friv[10:07:49 PM]: "I believe they have an embassy in Cherak, which is only about 8 or 9 hundred miles south of here."
Moonsword[7:07:45 PM]: "A cousin of mine, then, it seems..." Valeria muses.
Dakura[7:09:27 PM]: Errant Tiger shook his head. "Still too far. Maybe if only a few went they could make the distance in good time, but with all the soldiers under my command..."
Friv[10:09:57 PM]: Hadren nods thoughtfully. "Well, there are always the two local daimyos."
Moonsword[7:10:16 PM]: "How closely linked are these daimyos to the Realm?" Valeria asks.
willcoon[7:10:21 PM]: "And yet, we can't turn back at this point. We should probably continue on to Mela's Blessing for the time being."
Friv[10:10:47 PM]: "Well..." Hadren pauses and makes an uncomfortable expression.
Dakura[7:10:47 PM]: "More important, how would they likely receive us?"
Moonsword[7:11:17 PM]: "Yes...?"
Friv[10:11:32 PM]: "Oh, I imagine they'll both be delighted. At first."
Friv[10:12:05 PM]: "Well, Daimyo Yukong considers the Realm to be dangerously degenerate and lacking in proper understanding of the Immaculate ways."
Moonsword[7:11:53 PM]: "At first?" Valeria probes.
Friv[10:12:47 PM]: He pauses. "Look, I can't give much in the way of advice about Yukong. In my experience, he's a power-mad fanatic without the common sense I would ascribe to a leek."
Moonsword[7:12:46 PM]: "A fanatic. Lovely," Valeria hisses under her breath, barely audible.
willcoon[7:12:57 PM]: "I see. And what do you think, then? Where lies your order's allegiance?"
Friv[10:13:20 PM]: Hadren's laugh is harsh.
Dakura[7:13:21 PM]: "And the other Daimyo?"
willcoon[7:13:45 PM]: "I see. We'll have to be careful with him, then."
Friv[10:13:52 PM]: "Yukong has publically stated that he considers the Arbiters to be "stealing Exaltations from their true recipiants".
Friv[10:14:03 PM]: "He considers us Anathema, and has standing orders to kill us on sight."
Friv[10:14:20 PM]: "Never mind how that's even possible..." He mutters the last under his breath.
Moonsword[7:14:34 PM]: "And how, exactly, would someone manage to steal an Exaltation from a being kin to the Elemental Dragons?" Valeria says doubtfully.
willcoon[7:14:44 PM]: "It certainly would be an impressive feat..."
Friv[10:15:23 PM]: "Damned if I know." Hadren shrugs. "Yukong's attempts to breed himself an army of Dragon-Blooded aren't working, possibly because he doesn't actually have anyone worthy of BEING a Dragon-Blooded, so he reaches for excuses."
Friv[10:15:29 PM]: "We are... convienient."
Friv[10:15:39 PM]: "As for Urichos..."
Friv[10:16:09 PM]: "Daimyo Urichos has little love for anyone with more might than himself."
Friv[10:16:17 PM]: "However, he is friendly enough aside from that."
Moonsword[7:16:24 PM]: "Are these Daimyos Exalted?"
Friv[10:16:53 PM]: Hadren nods. "Yes, and both have been Exalted since before the Wall rose."
WillCoon: "That is interesting. We'll have to be careful, but they could prove useful."
WillCoon: "Now, as to your own organization, where is it located? You are allied neither with the daimyos nor the 'realm'?"
FrivYeti: Captain Hadren nods, finishing his food. "Well, it varies from area to area. The Arbiters are a sort of Wyld Hunt, except that instead of hunting Anathema, we mostly fight the fae, and occasional demons that slip
FrivYeti: through the cracks of the world."
FrivYeti: "In some areas, whenever possible, this means co-operating with daimyos, without joining them."
FrivYeti: "We're understood to be non-political."
FrivYeti: At this, he chuckles. "That said, nowhere near all the Dragons of the Sky are Arbiters. Maybe a third or so."
FrivYeti: "The rest have joined political organizations and generally entered Dragon-Blooded society."
Moonsword134: "Then perhaps we would do well to contact your organization," Valeria says, frowning.
Moonsword134: "What do you think?" she asks, turning to the other Dragon-Blooded.
WillCoon: "Indeed. The Arbiters vouching for us is sure to deflect potential suspicion."
FrivYeti: Hadren smiles wryly. "With many. It will also make you instant enemies with others."
FrivYeti: "Yukong, for example."
Moonsword134: "From what you've said, Captain, it seems there is little we could do to avoid such a fate in any case."
WillCoon: Skein shrugs. "Certainly, but he doesn't need to know we have your approval."
Wakoid2: Errant Tiger looked at Hadren. "What might we expect in the way of support, if we did form an alliance with the Arbiters? What could be done for Scarlet Haven?"
FrivYeti: "There is that." The captain leans forwards, thinking intently. "Well, we would have to map the region around your town. Depending on how secure it is, we could either set up patrols and trade routes, or evacuate
FrivYeti: the population into a more stable part of Creation."
FrivYeti: "We could also help set up a line of communication to the Realm. I'm sure they would be happy to have you back."
FrivYeti: "And they _do_ speak with us, if a bit diffidently."
WillCoon: "Assuming they are still acceptable as representatives of the Realm."
Moonsword134: "Are they friendly to the Arbiters, then?" Valeria asks.
FrivYeti: "Well... neutral."
Moonsword134: "And, yes, there is the question of how the Realm has changed in the time we've lost..." Valeria notes.
FrivYeti: "They don't trust us, because we haven't sworn allegiance to them. But we do work that they want done, so they grudgingly allow us passage."
FrivYeti: "As for the changes... well, I wasn't alive back then. You'll have to judge that for yourself."
Moonsword134: "None of us were, either."
FrivYeti: "Fair enough."
WillCoon: "There are many possibilities, here. We stand at a crossroads."
Wakoid2: "I'd rather not deal with Yukong. From the sound if it, if we aren't found in favor of his interpretation of the Immaculate Way, we're likely to end up in a bad situation with
Wakoid2: him anyway," Errant Tiger said.
FrivYeti: Hadren looks around thoughtfully. "Indeed. This is certainly not what I expected to find when I rode out here. If I might ask, how large _is_ your legion?"
WillCoon: "As for the other Daimyo?"
Moonsword134: "I'd just as soon not deal with fanatics in any case," Valeria mutters darkly.
Moonsword134: "Most of our forces remained behind in Scarlet Haven," Valeria offers in response.
Wakoid2: "Scarlet Haven has a population of about 10,000 men and women. Roughly a quarter of these are full time soldiers, and there are 27 Children of the Dragons, ourselves
Wakoid2: included."
FrivYeti: Captain Hadren Marell successfully chokes on air.
WillCoon: Skein raises an eyebrow.
FrivYeti: After a moment, he catches his breath and stares at the company, wide-eyed. "Ten THOUSAND?"
Wakoid2: "Is something wrong?" Errant Tiger asked, concerned.
Moonsword134: "I'm impressed," Valeria replies.
Moonsword134: "Yes...?"
Wakoid2: "Yes... I think that was the last survey report on the population..."
Moonsword134: "It sounds right to me," Valeria tells Tiger, shrugging.
FrivYeti: "You... there..." There is a short pause, as he gathers himself. "I'm sorry, it's just that you've been referring to yourself as the remnants of a Legion. I thought that there might be a few hundred,
FrivYeti: with most of your Dragon-Blooded... well... here."
WillCoon: "... Yes, how many did you expect?"
Moonsword134: "Err, no," Valeria answers.
FrivYeti: He sits back, still looking shocked. "Twenty-seven Dragon-Bloods. Dragons guide us..."
FrivYeti: "You've just doubled the local Exalted population."
Moonsword134: "...doubled?" Valeria says dubiously.
Wakoid2: "A number of our elders died due to... a reaction to the passage opening, but..." He also looked up at the comment of 'doubling.'
FrivYeti: Hadren nods firmly. "Fourteen in Mela's Bounty, nine in Urichos, and six Dragons of the Sky in this region."
FrivYeti: "That's twenty-nine."
Moonsword134: "A mere twenty Exalted?"
FrivYeti: "Is that odd?" Hadren raises an eyebrow.
Moonsword134: "Err, twenty-nine? Why is this region so sparsely populated?"
WillCoon: "... Then how many, altogether? In Creation?"
Moonsword134: Valeria shakes her head for a moment, thinking.
FrivYeti: "Sparsely..." Hadren trails off. "There are half a million people between the two nations. That's fairly standard for the north."
Moonsword134: Valeria can't quite get a grip on the information she was looking for.
Moonsword134: Perhaps a lingering manifestation of the migraine...
FrivYeti: "Exalted in Creation..." He trails off thoughtfully. "Oh, I don't know. Perhaps twenty thousand, maybe twenty-five."
FrivYeti: "Why?"
Moonsword134: "How large a region are you talking about, then?" Valeria asks, realizing that there may be some confusion over what exactly is going on.
Wakoid2: "I suppose that partially explains why the man you spoke to was so awed, Skein, if Dragon-Blooded are reletively uncommon in presence."
FrivYeti: Hadren pulls out a map, which is mostly written over in Snowtongue, and spreads it out. "Well, this is the North. Cities are a bit further between one another. "Mela's Bounty covers these six city-states..."
WillCoon: "Indeed. Perhaps it was a reasonable response, if we represent the largest force in this region."
FrivYeti: "And Urichos is spread over these three here." He marks off areas of the map.
Wakoid2: Errant Tiger shook his head. "Our leaders are always a bit disappointed with the number of Exaltations that took place... but looking at this and seeing the numbers..."
WillCoon: "Then shall we make preparations for constructing an outpost of the Haven?"
Wakoid2: "An outpost. By the Dragons, what for?"
WillCoon: "To begin the relocation?"
FrivYeti: "Uh...."
FrivYeti: Hadren coughs politely. "That might be a bit more difficult than I had thought."
FrivYeti: "Ten thousand people are a touch harder to find room for, you see..."
Wakoid2: "We have yet to make a decision as to whom we would ally ourselves with, Skein, if we are to at all. And such a decision would be up to our leaders, not ourselves."
Moonsword134: "Nor, for that matter, do we have enough information to even begin making a decision in the first place," Valeria whispers.
WillCoon: "... The passage through the wyld may be closing even now."
Moonsword134: "Then we must move _quickly_," Valeria replies.
Wakoid2: "I worry more about the Fae, than the passage itself. It's been steady for a year, after all. Not to say it may not change, but still..."
FrivYeti: Hadren stands smoothly. "I think you all have a lot to discuss, and you'll probably discuss better without me. I'm going to check on my men; will you tell me when you come to a decision?"
WillCoon: "I have a question, Hadren, regarding the defense grid."
Wakoid2: Errant Tiger nodded. "We will look for you if we have any further questions, as well..."
WillCoon: "Do the Arbiters have any way of stabilizing the region of the passage to buy us time? Old technology, perhaps..?"
WillCoon: "In case it begins to deteriorate."
FrivYeti: Hadren shakes his head. "Not in any real amount. Some Sky Dragons have Charms to stablize the Wyld around themselves, though, by sneaking Creation through the gaps, and I'm sure they'd be happy to come and help."
FrivYeti: "If the Wyld starts to encroach, we can certainly continue moving people through."
WillCoon: "Excellent. Thank you, Hadren."
Moonsword134: Valeria nods but says nothing more.
FrivYeti: "It's the least I can do after our rather embarassing introduction." Hadren smiles easily, but there is a hint of embarrasment in his voice.
Moonsword134: "You had little enough reason to expect a scouting party from a lost legion to come trhough," Valeria replies, the dryness in her tone clear even at the volume she speaks.