GregLink/ExMod

So the ExMod setting is wonderful, right? Ok, now that we've got that out of the way, while I love the concept of the world-shaking effects Exalts could have on the 'modern' day, I hate to start a game in-situ, with things like the Roadkill Cult, the Quin corporation, et cetera, already in place. So I'm starting off pre Conjugation, with a slightly different start. Note that my particular setting has no WoD included either - it's all pure modern day, with a slow descent (or ascent?! Who will know!) into an Exalted setting.

The game starts with XXX mortal PC's, living out their mundane lives. They'll all be 'heroic' mortals, or at least non-mooks. They are named, after all.

Shift to thousands of years ago - about 8000-9000 years, to be precise. This puts us perhaps 1000 years (give or take a millenia) before the Egyptian cultures that put the Pyramids together really even got started. The setting is in "Creation" proper. We've got a war going on, people, as the Age of Sorrows is in full swing. We've got Autocthonians running rampant, Autocthonia invaded by the Deathlords, Solars running around being heroic, and a whole lot of Sidereals very unhappy that like every other person they meet is now outside of fate.

This can't be allowed to stand. More importantly, it can't stand. With the millions upon millions of beings now in Creation that just muck up fate by their existence, fate is going out of control. Things are going horribly awry. The battles raging across Creation are taking their toll on the spiritual courts, with weaker beings, such elementals and lesser Gods taking the brunt of the damage. The Fey are attempting (aren't they always?) to push the boundaries of Creation yet tighter, reclaiming it for the Wyld. If left unchecked, these problems will consume Creation. Even without their foresight, any Sidereal can see this. With their use of Astrology, and their prediction abilities thrown into the blender, the Sidereals are left with only actual intelligence to foretell the future.

And this is Creation's salvation. For once, multi-thousand year old minds of distinction stop and actually think for once. They've got to actually analyze behaviour, motivations, and situations, and try to figure out a fix. A good one. This took time. Lots of time. Days, weeks, and months passed, as each remaining Sidereal scoured Creation for this information, thinking, analyzing. When they returned, each had a report, containing their findings, to be compared, and discussed. For the first time in history, they all agreed. Whether it was because they all formed independent opinions, or because they no longer relied on the (faulty?) orders of the Maidens, each report was, at its core, identical. They all noted that there was little to be done. Creation, as they knew it, could not stand. There were too many enemies, too many problems, and too few capable of dealing with them. Any force capable of 'saving' Creation would, in turn, be destroyed by the forces attempting to destroy it. The two sides would destroy each other, nearly to the man. If the loss of knowledge and ability due to the great Contagion was bad, this would be 10,000 times worse. Nearly anyone and everyone with significant knowledge or power was going to inevitably lost to the war. Secrets would be lost, and with the machinery of order already beyond the breaking point, Creation would no longer be able to sustain itself. The question of who would survive would not be answered by certainty, but instead by chance, with the dozens of eventual survivors having been selected only by pure chance. This might mean the Deathlords could win. The Fey. Even the Autocthonians might end up as the surviving force. In all situations, however, it was not a good outcome - Creation would be lost.

And thus the second Usurpation was planned. The Sidereals, loath to see Creation fall, knew what needed to be done. While painful, a Sidereal's life is full of tough decisions. Rather than attempt to save Creation, the Sidereals were divided into factions once more. Those allocated to the newly formed "Order of Endings" set about to the destruction of all forces they came across. Rather than plan wars, fight for attrition, and work for the salvation of any force, they set about inciting brutal, bloody battles, simply to reduce the size of the existant armies. The eventual outcome was the planned hastening of the moment at which only a few survivors were left, and an attempt to allow each side to kill each other, with as few deaths of Sidereals as possible. The other group, the "Order of Serenity" set about to a different goal. Only 9 members in size, they broke off into three circles of three members each, and fled. Fled as far as they could, and hid. While the Order of Endings set about its brutal task of arranging for every surviving Exalt and supernatural being in Creation to fall, the Order of Serenity worked in secret, planning for a resurgence. In the course of the next few years, the Order of Endings did their job, and did it well. Directing Dragon-Blooded armies against the Fey, led by Solar leaders, the battles were spectacular, but attrition, as expected, took it's toll. Providing knowledge and assistance to the Autocthonians, the chosen of Autocthon were able to take the fight back to the Deathlords, leading rather spectacular campaigns into the Underworld itself, newly improved Soulgem technology allowing the refilling of the Ewer of souls with the armies of the dead, drastically reducing the power of the Deathlords.

Still, time passed, and many died. After almost 11 years of fighting, the armies of all sides were decimated. Creation itself had been greatly expanded due to the wars against the Fey, but the numbers left alive to fill it were few. At this point, the Order of Endings began their final action. While originally considered small in numbers, the Order was now larger than most existant armies, and certainly had a higher caliber of member. Scouring Creation, the Order destroyed everything they came across, turning Manses to dust, razing cities, and killing not only those with the spark of Exaltation, but even those who might, one day in the future, be suitable for it. It was with great sorrow that they eventually hunted down the Order of Serenity, carrying out the duty assigned so long ago. As the last of Creation was scoured, becoming a nearly lifeless shell of its former glory, the Order of Endings set upon itself, and with Chejop Kejak's death due to old age, the Age of Sorrows ended a completely mundane place.

Over time, the lesser Gods were reborn, and elementals began to return to their tasks. With no interference, the pattern spiders were once again able to weave fate without problem, destinies being carried out flawlessly. The complete and utter lack of Essence in Creation affected not only the workings of fate, but the workings of the Wyld. With the ebbs and flows of Essence, the Wyld itself retreated and shriveled, slowly becoming more and more orderly. At the moment of the Wyld's death, it became a perfectly normal place, finally succumbing to the laws of Creation, and drawing the elemental poles into nothingness. This brought Creation into a stable configuration, with one elemental pole now leading directly and smoothly into more Creation, and back to another pole, in a perfect sphere. The center of Creation remained the elemental pole of Earth, central to the new Creation, while the other poles scattered themselves about, pushing apart as best they could, resulting in a sphere, floating in the middle of 'nothing', with the Wyld now gone.

This mundane and lifeless Creation, now firmly rooted around the concept of 'earth', was retitled as civilization once again began, with the surviving mortals attempting to rebuild. At first, they began in the ways of their ancestors, with Sun worship, and large structures constructed in special places in an attempt to gain 'power', but with the Essence flows of this "Earth" now stabilized, and the pattern spiders having complete control over fate, they found that Manse construction was now pointless, and the Gods were unheeding of their call, with no one of any power to sanction and support their prayers.

Time passed. Empires rose and fell, and all the while, the Underworld shriveled, and the Yozis decayed. With no Exalts summoning demons, the Yozis lost all connection with Earth, and with it, finally went insane, allowing themselves to war, and die. The Underworld, expanding with the entry of yet more Malfeans, remained an empty shell as the spirits of those dead simply passed into Lethe, with no reason to remain.

And thus we find the modern day. Essence free, boring, and stable, the Creation we live in is safe, secure, and orderly, but somehow... tarnished. Removed of its former glory.

And thus our story begins, with a question:
What was the purpose of the Order of Serenity?

No one living knows. Dead for thousands of years, their carefully laid plans have been lost to the ages. Or at least they were until about five minutes ago.

You see, about five minutes ago, a few people on this Earth just vanished. Where did they go? Well, it doesn't really have a name. "Elsewhere" might be close, but that's not quite right, as elsewhere is a place, and they went nowhere. No, they went to something that might be more accurately called "Elsewhen". A carefully designed construct, Elsewhen was created for a single purpose - to defy the laws of time. As travelling in time is impossible, even to the primordials, Elsewhen was created as a place where time has no meaning. Having no meaning, those entering Elsewhen can easily meet with all others in Elsewhen, regardless of what time anyone calls home. And it was the creation and use of this Elsewhen that the Order of Serenity was tasked with. 8000 years ago, the Order ventured into this realm, and with powerful magics, reached out of Elsewhen, and pulled. They pulled in our cast of mortals, and in that moment, made a connection between the mundanity of the modern day and the glories of old. Releasing the Shards of Exaltation that they had brought with them into Elsewhen, and with only those from "Earth" not being Exalted already, a bit of that glory was passed into these mortals. A quick initiation and training session using Sidereal methods was next, as the Order struggled to maintain the sorcery that created Elsewhen in the first place. Finally, as the 'place' collapsed, those in it were ejected back into their own timestreams, with the Order of Serenity now able to die peacefully, knowing that in time, Creation would one day regain its glory, while the Order of Endings had ensured that no enemies would remain to create further problems.

This brings us back to the current moment. As those newly trained Exalts are replaced back into our world, never having missed a moment, our world is no longer free of Essence. Like a small stone dropped into a pond, these Exalts will have the ability to affect the very foundation of reality. With the sparks of Demenses waking again as the rivers of Essence once again have a concept of 'downhill' to flow from, and the Bureau of Destiny about to have a very very bad week, things will change.

What tales will the future tell of the day that Essence returned to the world?

Comments

Wow, that's a very well written setting.
--DarkWolff

Amazingly nice.
-- Darloth