Not My Dream Vacation (Celestial Crab Bucket. First World, Exalted)

[TheLastOne]

A few new names have been added to the list of characters, under 'Others.'

 

[TheLastOne]

Broken Promises

---

Evening, 12th of Ascending Water, Jupiterday, Realm Year 762

They were more clothed than I was expecting. They had wrapped themselves in strips of torn cloth around their torsos and forearms. The ones without weapons had wrapped their hands. Blue, White, Red, Black, Green. Torn and bloody, obviously once part of something else, there was no order to how they wrapped themselves. Behind me, I heard battle start. Our encirclement was encircled. I swallowed, raised my spear, and prepared to defend my bodyguard.

"I don't think," one of them was on me, and I wildly lashed out, trying to keep the strange boy back. "there's anywhere I can run!"

His movements were fluid as he flowed around my strike, lashing out at me. Somehow his clawed hands slipped off me without bite, but I felt a jolt in my robes. Points where my clothes seemed to momentarily catch, and then tear loose, and suddenly some of the cold was cutting through them.

I whipped the butt of the spear upwards, trying to catch him with it, and it slammed into his ribcage with knocking him back. But he didn't make a sound.

Behind me, I heard Gale's Echo try to rise, and cry out in alarm.

Then something slammed into my back, and I was plowed into the snow. The force of the blow stole the wind from my lungs, but the cold made me lock up. I couldn't scream with it in my face even if I had breath. It was just a numbness, like my face was gone. Then another blow, and the weight was gone from my back as Zivzizov was lifting me to my feet.

I saw the Cold Roars were fighting a dozen of them. It seemed like I was the only one who got so perfectly ambushed, but both of the brothers were bleeding, and though they lashed out with their magics, they couldn't seem to find a grip on the Hushed ones. Every time they were struck, more of the tattered cloth frayed away, but… they were going to fall before they tore through those defenses. Then the Elnnti erupted into flames, and I wish they hadn't. Everything frozen numb suddenly could feel again, but the only thing it was yelling at me was pain.

I blacked out for a second, and when I came too again, Zivzizov was gone, fighting to drive the Hushed Ones back, and entangling six of them by themselves. Fönn had replaced them, and there were three pristine corpses at her feet. Whatever protection they had didn't seem to save them from her touch, because a forth one was struggling in her grasp. It hadn't come for free though. A saber was stuck through her head, and an arrow seemed to have been shoved through her chest. Neither wound had downed her, but she was visibly flagging.

She turned to me, as the one in her grip stilled, and I saw her eyes widen. I shadow fell over me. And I know.

I knew I was going to die.

I was going to die, because I couldn't refuse to come on this stupid hunting trip. Because we underestimated the Hushed Ones incredibly badly. Because I was caught up in reputation, rather than something important.

I was going to die because I was caught up in the expectations for 'A God of Calibration.' Because I obeyed the rules of that role, the unspoken promises that it carried.

I hadn't made those promises. I was going to die for promises I hadn't made.

I was entangled by them, like I was entangled by my own limbs, by this biting cold.

I was…

---

I saw a boy, laughing, "Don't you know anything? Never trust dragonspawn. I'll show you where you can be safe."

I saw a soulless husk, that had been a boy. I had watched and done nothing. I hadn't understood.

I saw a beautiful face and felt nothing but all consuming loathing.

I was standing, yelling, punching ineffectually.

I was…

The net was holding me. Entangling promises, enforced role, entrapping safety, and stolen truths.

The promises were killing me.

I cut them free.​

---

Broken things were holding me back. What if they weren't broken?

I was on my feet, energized and drained at the same time, and not cold. I stepped forward, and the hiss of air told me I had escaped the blow that would have felled me.

I less turned, and more was then facing the other way. This hushed one was a man, and his wrapping had worn all the way down to a tarzan getup. I studied him, then. Very very pale. Dark eyes that… I wouldn't call them soulless, but whatever was behind them was alien to me. Oddly perfect, though not in an attractive way. No scars, no extra body fat, a little too symmetrical.

Something predatory from chaos that wanted to eat people. Not a human. Not a person. I felt overwhelming disgust, seeing him. He reminded me of… I wasn't sure. Tip of my tongue, but I didn't care to chase the though down. I raised my spear, and he set himself. There was something casually disinterested in the motion, like he had my measure.

Then I was standing in front of him, less moved and more was just there, swinging wildly, not even trying to make sure the head of the spear cut him, just battering at him with it like it was a staff. He blocked it once, twice, thrice. The sound of impact was wrong, like a hand muffling the world every time his blade stopped me, and he wasn't casual.

Four times, five…

He missed a block, and my spear didn't care that I hadn't used the blade. It carved through him, leaving him to fall into three pieces that began tearing themselves apart into violet threads. There was the sound of impact behind me, and I turned to see two more of them being held back by scarlet… Ofuda? I was surrounded by burning Ofuda. Scarlet flames let from them, driving back two attackers, or knocking aside blows aimed at me. I leapt at one of them, rage and loathing driving me forward.

Again, I less moved and more was just there, in their face. They were one of the ones without weapons, just using hand-wraps, and that didn't block my spear at all as I carved them from crown to hip, the other one had…

Fönn was chewing something, and their throat was gone. Around me, the fighting was quieting.

The ambush had failed. And Gale's Echo let out a pained laugh.

"It seems your ascension is continuing to fix itself. Good job."

Sleet Wind inserted himself into the conversation. "It's good you did." He was dragged the body of one of the Hushed ones with him, like some grisly trophy. Good. They didn't deserve respect. Altogether to much like the Raksha, with their hunger for humans and looking like people without being them.

"It's good it happened. They were aiming for you. You were targeted. Hmm. If you fell we would have had to fall back. We would have had to explain." He tossed his trophy aside, then shrugged. "Also good for the dignity of court that your magic is coming."

He studied me for a moment.

"We must have a mirror. We must have a vanity. You should see, you should look at your ascension." He seemed to notice Gale's Echo's state them. "You did your job. You did good work. I'll see that a Healer tends you."

"Thank you, lord."

He nodded before wandering off. I just…

I just wanted to collapse. I felt drained in ways I couldn't really explain.

"I need to see?" I asked, raising my hand to my face. "Waht does he…

Blurring. And… I seemed to be jumping back and forth between one and three. I… didn't feel like I was moving, but I realized I was. It felt like shifting weight back and forth between my feet, but… everywhere, and in a direction I couldn't see. But…

Then I dismissed it.

"Do you need anything?" I asked Echo. "You saved my life. Anything that's in my power right now."

She gave me a mildly offended look, then shook her head. "You hired me. It's my job. Just let me rest until the healers get to me.

And so we did.

They cleared the bodies away, and then turned the clearing in front of the omen dog's den, and then Master Winter turned it into a castle of ice. They gathered the wounded together, and then he conjured it around them. Some of the gods started shedding… pieces of themselves, who seemed to solidify into lesser gods, and I was shooed away from Gale's Echo so that the healer gods could tend to the wounded.

About a dozen gods had fallen, and it wasn't clear if all of them were going to return. Those were god-killer weapons. And the unarmed Hushed Ones had evidently taken alchemical concoctions that made them more deadly to spirits.

---

"Well, that isn't what I was expecting at all."

Fönn had made that mirror for me. It seemed she was leaping on the opportunity that Gale's Echo being injured and Zivzizov being assigned to camp defense gave her, and saw it as a chance to get close to me. Which… she had defended me this time.

"Yes, my lord. Your visage is quite impressive."

I… was three people. One of them was constantly fading away, another constantly fading in.

The fading one was itself constantly… unsplitting? Like half a dozen even more faded images were merging into it, to give it their solidity, all of them doing something else before moving into alignment with it, and it was only by consuming these other images that it kept restoring itself..

The fading in image then was constantly dividing itself, spending away it's solidity to become more images, most of which then blinked out of existence, like it was constantly discarding them. And between them was…

The real me? I blurred, smeared. Like an anime trying really hard to tell you I was fast, even when I sat still.

She sat behind the real me, picking at my hair. My transformation had come with a new boondoggle. A fancy - hair net, basically - that had shown up on my head. Evidently my hair was suppose to be tied around it, and she was teasing it into place. I evidently needed to grow my hair out more to wear it properly.

"I don't feel like a bunch of eldritch nonsense."

Fönn blinked, and then let out what seemed to be a genuine giggle. "Now I know you were really a human. Anything as obviously divorced from normal existence as you is either the agent of the powerful, or something powerful themselves. The esoteric is not for mortals to touch."

She gave me a grin, and I realized she had shark teeth.

"You are glorious, my lord."

"Glorious."

I just stared at the icy mirror, wondering what I had lost, what I had severed, to get here.

Spoiler: Celestial Spending

Day Nine - The 12th of Ascending Water, Jupiterday , Realm Year 762
[Ruby="+50CP"](350CP)[/Ruby]
You receive 50 CP a day that you involve yourself in Plot - when you're actively engaging with the world, going out of your comfort zone, and otherwise tying yourself to events.

[Ruby="+50CP"](400CP)[/Ruby]
You recieve 50 CP whenever trouble comes to find you, and you don't back down or flee. Again, this is usually once a day - a series of engagements count as one (though if you face several of them before you flee, you may take the CP), while truly separate troubles seeking you out at the same time are counted separately.

[Ruby="+100CP"](500CP)[/Ruby]
Any true threat of ruin brings you 100 CP for surviving it, in whatever form you do. Try not to get this one too often. You can only win so many rolls of the dice, even if you weigh them in your favor.

Godspawned Wretch Purchases

Numen

Significantly More Powerful?: +50CP

Fundamentally Transform: +100CP

Base CP: +300CP

Total: [Ruby="450CP"](50CP)[/Ruby]

The numen are the strange not spirits of Domnica. Once they were Dragonsblood, and in some ways they still are. Yet they are also other. They have become what they carved out of themselves. In many ways, they are like spirits, or perhaps elementals. In other ways, they are still the Exalted they once were. Perhaps it is best to just say 'They are the Numen.'
A Numen is carved from an Exalted - normally only a dragonsblood, though if you are other you have somehow overcome that fact with your Exaltation intact - and shaped into what they asked to become. As you are paying for this transformation with the Prestige of the Rivers and Lakes, you may carve away as little or as much as you want, and uniquely, you can look upon yourself through both eyes, till you have honed in on becoming what you wanted to, rather than merely what you thought you wanted to become.
This transformation can reinforce and improve you on several fronts, though not on all fronts. You might become stronger and more beautiful and swifter… but you couldn't also become wiser and more observant at the same time.

Dex+••, Sta+••, Str+•

Second, you become something like a spiritual entity. You can dematerialize like an elemental. If slain, but your killer failed to use such magics that will permanently slay a spirit, you will recondense after a lunar month. By default during this link in your chain, you will reform in the heart of the Woods, but you may move your place of rebirth if you wish. If you have taken The Shape of Mist companion, you can entrust your place of rebirth to them.
Normally, a numen loses their element, anima abilities, and anima. As you are paying for this, you do not, but you gain complete control over your anima; it only manifests at your will, and only to the extent you wish it to.
The Numen are shapechangers. You can shapechange into any form within your 'theme' for a paltry cost of essence. While a Numen doesn't have a singular true form, they do have a set of themes their ascension displays itself through. Build your Numen form through one free purchase of Unnatural Glory at the 'obviously inhuman' level. Numen usually displays a multiplicity of limbs, so taking the Multiple Limbs mutation only costs 2 points; you can also freely add as many extra heads as you want, as that mutation has no real effect. A Numen can shapechange away their 'true' form piece by piece, but will lose access to its abilities while in such a reduced form, and must spend essence to regain a true expression of their ascension before regaining use of the mutation.

Unnatural Glory Whether it's a gift pulled from an ancient tome, the blessing of a powerful spirit, a carefully shaped mutation gained through Power-Questing, a sorcerous working, a generational eugenics program, or something stranger… You have abilities most unnatural. Alternatively, you can take fifteen points worth of Hearthstone Powers, thirty points of mutations, or some other equivalent unique and powerful ability. However, your form is permanently and obviously changed; people will know you aren't human without extreme effort merely by glancing at you. You will have to decide at the beginning of a jump whether you want to manifest these abilities on a given alt-form. 10 Hearthstone Points, 10 Mutation Points​ [Fire Version] Gem Of Perfect Mobility (Manse •••••) [Solar Version] GEM OF PERFECT MOBILITY (MANSE •••••) Inexhaustible (2-pt Affliction) Multiple Legs (2-pt Abomination) Gazelle's Pace (2-pt Affliction) Nathan appears something like a flickering flame. Not in being flamelike, but in the dancing inconsistency of position. He's something like a mirage, not in being immaterial, but in his position and movement being uncertain from moment to moment. His movements are blurred, like the smears an artist uses to represent speed, even when he doesn't move particularly fast. He stands upon six legs. Two from the past, two from the present, two from the future. But the past is hindsight as much as reality, and so Nathan moves and shifts to where he wishes he had been. Future Nathan is always in motion, always changing where he's moving to, never quite matching where present Nathan will end up. And present Nathan is dragged between the two. He never quite touches them. Even when the three Nathans overlap, they somehow don't touch… but past Nathan is drawn to become present Nathan, and present Nathan is drawn to become future Nathan. Despite their unreality, past and future Nathan's movements and motions seems to pull and push at Nathan, speeding him onward. If Nathan wishes to hide his hindsight and aspirations, and banish his future and past self, he lockes away Multiple Legs and Gazelle's Pace. Without his six legs, he can't move with the speed of past and future combined. If he wishes to still himself, to be able to stop moving, stop being drawn between past and future, he locks away Inexhaustible. His endless energy comes from being caught between those external agents. If he wishes to move naturally rather than flickering between places and moments, he locks away Gem Of Perfect Mobility. By letting his past begin a movement, he could cut the time to complete it in half, by letting his future complete a movement, he could do something else at the same time. Cut off from these, he moves like a normal man.

In addition, each Numen has advantages and disadvantages inherent to their state. Usually, you would permanently enjoy and suffer both, but you will only enjoy the advantages. Others can take on a shadow of this by invoking you through magic, and there may be other ways to sorcerously borrow your strength. By default, you cannot deny such imitation and invocation, though abilities you possess from other worlds might change this.

Boon: A sorcerer who summons Nathan Nozi's aspect receives one automatic success on Occult and Performance rolls. Furthermore, those outside of fate have a harder time perceiving them. They lose one success on all perception rolls to see or notice them. For instances of 'automatic' success, then now need to achieve one success. Agreements with Nathan fall under heaven's eye, a state a Sorcerer may also enjoy. They may witness any deal or contract, and in doing so make them binding. Anyone who breaks such an agreement will suffer one great stroke of ill fortune. Like Calibration itself, the sorcerer is outside the scope of his agreements, and is not bound. This will not prevent them from being bound to the agreement by other measures. Also, any such agreement will be recorded in heaven, though finding it is no easy feat these days. Bane: A Sorcerer who summons Nathan Nozi's aspect find themselves constrained by a role they do not fully understand. They become fated (as like a Decending Destiny, carving away every other possibility) to do some small task of repair for heaven. They rarely know what those tasks are, just that it foreclosed other possibilities. This will last until Calibration at the latest. During Calibration, Nathan's aspect may be freely called upon without consequence.

You also develop a unique set of abilities that focus your virtues through how you have redefined yourself, to share or inflict your perfection on the world. The stronger your essence, the more of these abilities you'll gain. Normally these are one-off abilities, but because you have paid for this you can treat them as the base of a chain and build charms on top of them.

Compassion: Highlight the Violet List (Repair Issue) Functions like Samathi Anja's Rot. Calibration makes the endpoint of many invasions of Creation. The time when such errors can be isolated and excised. Any weapon Nathan wields after invoking Blacklist takes on a violet sheen. Every noise it would make is 'undone', the air stilling as it cuts the sound from the air and a painful momentary deafness follows every blow. Valor: Itemize into the Red List (Read-Only) This functions like Virtuous Guardian of the Flame. To perform repairs upon the mechanism of reality, one must know the shape of reality. Nathan marks something as 'should exist as it is.' Efforts to change it struggle against the proper state of things. Those marked by Nathan are orbited by half a dozen burning crimson prayer strips. As one of them finishes burning, a new one appears. The crimson flames the prayer ships will lash out in all the shapes of war, to rip apart any attack made against the protected. Temperance: Escalate to the Blue List (Flag Issue) Functions like Iurka's Carve Away. Just as Calibration lets the Pattern Spiders mark errors to be removed, so planning out repair, so too are the flaws Nathan marks out condemned unwoven like snares in cloth. At his touch, light blue threads become visible, as if they were always there but only now revealed. They tighten about the flaw, which then 'falls away' as if it was never part of the object to begin with. Conviction: Deliver the Green List (Set Deliverables) Functions like Whirlwind of Fate. Costs Two Temperance Channels Many long term goals and plans are set during Calibration, while others happen right after on the black canvas it leaves behind. From the Wind Masters planning out the next year's weather, to adjusting individual fates to make sure they're still in line with the overall design. Nathan may set short term goals for himself, or anyone he touches who does not resist. For a moment, yellow script shines in their eyes.

You hear prayers directed at you, and if they're properly done can determine their source. You can bless those whose prayer you heard. Your blessing comes into play for activities and phenomena appropriate to your themes as a numen; it weights events somewhat in favor of the outcome you seek, nudging events. You are always under your blessing.
What you carved away from you becomes a small panoply, artifacts that are both part of you and something you can hand away. Design 1-2 interesting trinkets; they'll be more thematic than powerful. You can recall them to yourself at any time, or regenerate them if they're somehow damaged or destroyed.

The Promised Net A hair chain. A center ring sits over the forehead like a third eye, with seven chains extending from it. The two 'outermost' have a single charm on them, meant to be braided into the hair. Then the two more 'innermore' ones have three. Then five, while the final centermost chain has seven. Each charm is a small 'talisman' with oaths written in Old-Realm upon it in green. The 'one' charm chains have oaths appropriate to a god who would defend people against the dangers of Calibration. The 'three' charm chains have oaths for a god representing the dangers of Calibration. Then the five charm chains are protective, and finally the seven charm chain's oaths are all paradoxical and contradictory. By channeling Valor, the wearer of The Promised Net may tear a promise from it and cast it upon another. When they do so, they tie them to the promises of a role they labor under - or are presenting themselves as operating under. They take their temperance as a penalty to any action not in line with their 'role' until the next new moon, or until they spend three to overcome the effect. If performed during Calibration, this lasts through two New Moons, only fading on the third.

Unlike a 'normal' Numen, you are an independent existence. That said, the Mists will still welcome you and take you as kin.

 

[Brightsilver8]

Very evocative form. All the powers seem very cool. I like the power up in moment of crisis. It's a common trope, but it's a good one.

How likely is it for some sorcerer to call on him? Those seem like cool powers to invoke.

 

[TheLastOne]

Very evocative form. All the powers seem very cool. I like the power up in moment of crisis. It's a common trope, but it's a good one.

How likely is it for some sorcerer to call on him? Those seem like cool powers to invoke.

Click to shrink...

It wouldn't be hard to make the spell - that is, the spell to invoke someone like him already exists. Someone would just need to know he's a legitimate target for Connivance of Wood and Bone. That's somewhat unlikely, since that spell only works on Numen, and Numen are obscure.

That said, it wouldn't be terribly unlikely for a sorcerer meeting him to backwards engineer the spell. Magic calling upon spirits or elementals is common, so there's clearly some easy way to realizes what's doable here.

 

[Canadian Leprechaun]

I really hope the MC learns a Martial Art. It's Exalted, if you don't know at least one goofy or chuuni sounding way to fuck someone up with a teacup what are you even doing.

 

[Krule]

Well, being unbound from past and future is fitting to a god of calibration, even if that isn't quite fully what he is (which is also fitting to a good of calibration)

 

[Danieldhdy]

I really hope the MC learns a Martial Art. It's Exalted, if you don't know at least one goofy or chuuni sounding way to fuck someone up with a teacup what are you even doing.

Click to shrink...

... Goofy? Goofy?! Why I would show you the way of the cracking toad and transform you into Three possums, but I'm at work so you're safe... For now.

 

[TheLastOne]

Well, being unbound from past and future is fitting to a god of calibration, even if that isn't quite fully what he is (which is also fitting to a good of calibration)

Click to shrink...

You're the first one to get it!

I've gotten 'forth dimensional' (not really - it's more about 'hindsight' and 'foresight.' You're heading towards Oramus/the Yozi in general if you want 4d), or 'weird' (which just tells me people haven't read Forest Witches. The Forest witches are awesome! I would put Menderes, The Face Behind the Sky, as weirder).

 

[TheLastOne]

Kept Promises

---

Morning of the 13th of Ascending Water, Venusday, Realm Year 762

"While we are not experienced with the Hushed Ones, what records do exist on past conflicts with them is clear. They are certainly smart enough to do this - they are incredibly intelligent, and while few hives of them actually make things, few is not none."

It was the Elnnti. The Cold Roars had respectfully stood aside after the attack, letting Master Winter and the Elnnti take control after this shifted from 'pleasure hunt' to something more serious.

"They are capable of understanding speech - they have been known to disguise themselves as humans to sneak into villages and towns, to spy and kidnap. Whatever stops them from communicating back is not a lack of intelligence. No. The problem is twofold."

The speaker a handsome man, outside of the ashen crust across his face that made him look both wounded and dirty at the same time.

"No, the problem is that spying on mortals is a very different game from spying on gods, just in a logistical sense. They might have been able to observe that a hunting party of gods was making it's way in this direction - again, they are highly intelligent. But this ambush would take time to plan and setup. Without access to resources they do not have, they would have had to set this up before we ever left The House of the Nine Hearths of Emerald and Silver. And that's ignoring the alchemicals they used.

"While the weapons are suspicious, they might have just found a First Age cache. No, that's not the damning detail. They used three different rare consumables here. A potion that lets one see immaterial gods. One that lets you touch them. And one that infects you with a contagious curse - nasty thing designed to make wounds take longer to heal, but it can sometimes stop a god from returning from death."

Master Winter took over. "The alchemicals they had access to are completely implausible. Even if this group of Hushed Ones had delved into Thaumaturgy - something that to our knowledge has only happened thrice, the resources needed to make enough for the entire group that ambushed us… only the cursed moxibustion treatment is one that has any shelf-longevity, and sourcing all of the regents for making these… We Ennead would find it expensive to source all the way out here. Maybe in the East, or the Blessed Isle, but out here sourcing this much would be punishing for a nation. If the Hushed Ones had that many resources, they wouldn't be hiding on the periphery. They would be conquering the north by force."

The Elnnti War God nodded in thanks to Master Winter, before he continued. "But that's not the most damning detail. The armor they had. That was made from the robes of slain Immaculate Monks. The Hushed Ones are dangerous, but we would know if they had slain three full circles of the Sidereal's hunting dogs. More importantly, we do know of a major Immaculate contingent that was recently slain."

"It's how we knew of the Únôlpûr Aithanar incursion," Master Winter stated. "They drove them off the surface, but didn't understand how much stronger they grow when somewhere the sun hasn't shone for a hundred years. They chased them into the depths, and all were lost."

"This has changed from a surprise attack on a group of unprepared Forbidden Gods into one upon a group of them who not only are ready for us, but have begun a harassment campaign to whittle us down, and almost certainly will be entrenched by the time we arrive."

"Thoughts?"

"Should we even be continuing?" Zivzizov asked. "Our forces were enough for a decisive conflict with the Turrets of the Ice Blossom, but only if it hasn't received further support. They have a strong relationship with the Guild, and while it would be unusual, it's not unthinkable for them to hire mercenaries - that could take the form of Raksha mercenaries, mortal sorcerers, martial artists. There's a major company of ghosts wearing necrotech war engines that have been making a name for themselves in the area, and I know they hire out to the Guild."

"Hmm," Sleet Wind rumbled, "We shouldn't just think of mortal resources. We shouldn't just count the ones paid for by mortal coin. The Jet Court could get involved."

Master Winter made a sour face. "While I hold nothing but disdain for Princess Kyema, I don't think she would involve herself with the Únôlpûr Aithanar. She hasn't stayed on top of the Jet Court for centuries by exposing her back to knives. Since we were going after her anyways, it makes sense for Ellith. We were coming after her anyways. But Kyema has something to lose and nothing to gain."

Sleet Wind nodded his massive head and sank back down, deferring to the local expert.

"The specifics might be wrong, but the overall point is valid," Zivzizov sang. "The Guild is only the most obvious thread they could have pulled on. Raksha are highly social creatures. Connections are more real to them than matter."

At some point I had balled my hands into fists so hard my fingernails had starting biting into my palms. The Raksha were so disgusting. They should all die.The point was right though. There wasn't a reason for us to keep pursuing this - not the Court of Seasons. We were already doing the Ennead a favor as I understood it. Doing them two favors, including one as risky as this?

No. Still, when I was about to interject something to that effect, Master Winters voice echoed in my ear, carried there by some hidden magic.

Hold for now, and you will benefit.

I settled down. He had better follow through though, because I was done following along for no reason.

"The Guild simply wouldn't have had time to move mercenaries around, not in great numbers. Nor could the Únôlpûr Aithanar be too open. Any merchant that knowingly trades with them is unlikely to ever receive a Road God's blessing again. No merchant could afford that. They poured so many resources into the Hushed Ones ambush because it was their best chance."

Master Winter gestured at me. "Young Nathan here is both an important and seemingly vulnerable god. If anything happened to him, there's no way we could have continued on. We would be dealing with Censors, at the very least. They didn't prioritize maximizing damage with their attack - if they had attacked a few seconds earlier, they would have caught us in a worse position. But they waited until they could get a strong ambush on Nathan specifically. That was their move. They didn't have time to prepare something better."

"While they might have warned Turrets of the Ice Blossom, the Raksha are no more friendly to forbidden gods than they are to any of the rest of us. Maybe less. I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't raided Ellith already to steal them from her. The Únôlpûr Aithanar have a never ending hunger for slaves for the Undercity. They're competitors."

There were nods around the room, which… I didn't know enough to say what was and wasn't reasonable. But that hardly laid my core objection to rest. But I held my tongue. For now.

That said, it seemed to be enough to deflect the bulk of the objections. I wondered if hunting the Únôlpûr Aithanar wasn't a reason many gods had joined this Court of Seasons. I was starting to realize that the Court was known for its extravagant festivals… and Ascending Water in the far north had few grand ones, yet there were a number of war gods making up the contingent of the hunting party.

I wondered if we were being used to, well, launder the presence of so many gods whose presence would normally be seen as problematic. Or maybe something else. I didn't know enough to know what I didn't know.

---

"I am here to convince you to go along with continuing the hunt."

We were sitting in the room that I had claimed. Fönn and Zivzizov had cleared out - I was expecting them to approach me soon to make whatever relationship they were seeking formal - so it was just Master Winter and me.

"I hope you understand why that's unlikely. From my perspective this whole hunt isn't just looking dubious, but like it was dubious from the start. Was it ever the Cold Roars idea?"

He snorted lightly. "So you noticed?"

I shrugged. "I think everyone has by this point."

He shook his head. "They do hunts every year when it's their turn to head the court. We… the Ennead and the Elnnti… had always planned to use this to move forces across creation. It let us gather significantly more forces here than we could have normally gotten away with. That said, most of the gods on this hunt are genuine celebrants."

I raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged. "It's true. We weren't originally going to go after the Únôlpûr Aithanar until Resplendent Water. Some of the hunters would have delayed returning home to visit friends, or play tourist." He shrugged, "We didn't need them to stay very long."

"So why isn't that what happened?"

"You know why. The Cold Roar's decided to bring you on a hunt, and suddenly every god who thinks they can hold a spear wants to join up. It was going to be very expensive paying for all the mercenaries we would need. The Elnnti alone are costing…" he shook his head. "We aren't a rich pantheon. Borrowing the might of the Court of Seasons made everything simpler.

So he had made this trip - that I already hadn't wanted to be on - more dangerous for me, and then was going to leverage it to extract favors from me?

"That circles back to why I would go along with this? This feels like a lot of risk that I would be taking to help you, when as far as I can tell you're already in debt to the Calendar Court. I'll be honest and admit that I don't really like the fact that you set me up to be targeted here. From my perspective part of the point of my being placed where I was, was to ease my debut into divine society. One that's been partly ruined by your little conspiracy."

"Because we'll pay you."

I shrugged. "I'll be honest and say that I don't know enough to know what's a good deal or a bad one, and that after all this plotting I'm not going to take your word on it."

He frowned, then shrugged. "Fair. You want a negotiator. Who?"

I frowned a little. "Gale's Echo is the only friend whose motivation I know who's here."

He seemed thoughtful, but shook his head. "She's not been part of any high level politics. I could easily manipulate her into taking a terrible deal, and she would never know it. That's just setting us up to have a problem in the future. Do you have anyone else you trust?"

I frowned, thinking. Maybe The Three? I didn't really trust them, but they wouldn't want to cheapen the prestige of the Court of Seasons by letting outsiders leverage our reputation for cheap. I was about to suggest them, when I noticed… Light? Darkness?

The deepest, darkest blues and purples. Light that was blocking light, as my room grew darker and darker. The ground started bleeding little drops of silver that fell upwards. It was like deep waters, Faint at first, but it quickly grew thinker. Silver formed a film, a surface. We were under a lake. I was drowning.

No. No I wasn't. I was breathing air. I had to force myself to remember I was breathing air.

"I'll do it."

Far above, the surface of the 'lake' shattered for a moment, as something massive and dark swam through still waters.

"I was only gone for a day. I had to check some things out, see."

Master Winter's eyes were wide.

"Things weren't adding up in two directions. I suppose your little stunt answered one of them."

Vevin strolled out of the darkness, her thick tail lashing back and forth, a circle of silver filled with darkness burning like the blackest night upon her brow.

"Hello Master Winter. I know we just spoke a day ago, but allow me to reintroduce myself."

She smiled, and I realized that Fönn's grin was that of an amateur. I wasn't entirely sure how that many needle like teeth fit in a human sized mouth.

"Light… Lightless Darvne." He swallowed, "I greet the Moon Sage."

 

[TheLastOne]

Last chapter for a while. Have to go back to working on real life stuff.

 

[Vanbers]

but have begun a harassment campaign to widdle us down

Click to shrink...

I think you meant "whittle" here

 

[TheLastOne]

I think you meant "whittle" here

Click to shrink...

Yep. Thanks! Fixed.

 

[TheLastOne]

Under Pressure

---

Morning of the 13th of Ascending Water, Venusday, Realm Year 762

I wanted to say something like Vevin?, ask her What's going on. I didn't. I wasn't an idiot. She wasn't the god I thought she was. A moon god of some kind? I knew Luna was one of the Incarna. Black. The dark of the moon. Why did her presence feel like being at the bottom of a lake? I looked up and saw its surface far above.

The room wasn't that big.

But the nice thing about everyone knowing your ignorant, is that you just get to ask without embarrassment.

"Moon Sage?"

Her smile brightened a little, into something that wasn't quite so predatory.

"Ah, yes," her accent was different. Somehow more erudite, though I wasn't sure how I could tell. It just felt like it was more clipped, more vowels being properly pronounced, and somehow prettier. "I am, as they call us, one of the Anathema, and not a god. I haven't gotten to the part of your education where I would have talked about it later."

"I… I am just going along with the plan the Twisted Stone Conclave set out. I won't deny that I've taken a couple liberties, but part of planning things out is seeing…"

"I'm perfectly sure you did exactly what the Conclave intended," she cut him off, as she began circling the room. The… light? darkness..? it swirled around her like water, and I again had to struggle to breath, to remember this was air.

"I should note that," she began, her voice dropping lower, "while I'm here on their behest, we are not allies." Her voice had taken on a watery, almost serpentine sound. "I would more properly label them as my political enemies. I was doing them was not the favor they asked."

"I…" Master Winter seemed to be thinking over his words, "... am not a party to the infighting within the Silver Pact. I do not know what favor they asked of you, but I assure you I haven't worked against you."

"Oh," She said brightly. "It was the obvious one, which is why I didn't question it. 'Who is this new god of the Court of Seasons?' After all, the Court is associated with the Bronze Faction, and the Bronze Faction is an enemy of all Lunars."

I was sure he understood the implication, because he suddenly looked less scared and more sour. LIke he understood how he had been used, his lips thinning.

"I'll again assure you that I didn't know you were here, or that young Nathan here was your student."

"Which is why you're alive. I've killed my elders for playing games with my students."

He seemed to have found his spine, because he met her gaze then. Clearly, he had decided she wasn't going to kill him.

"The Twisted Stone Conclave had expressed a distintest in Nathan to me. I wasn't aware that they had also arranged to insert you to spy on him. I suppose it's obvious now what they were after. I take no responsibility for it. We are allied with the Twisted Stone Conclave, we are not their servants."

She stopped her circling equidistant between Master Winter and me, and grabbed…

Grabbed a chair out of midair and plopped it down backwards, before falling heavily onto it. She crossed her arms on the backrest, and let her head rest on them. "Yes. They intend to use me against the Únôlpûr Aithanar. They aren't willing to risk their own. They obviously had some grasp on Nathan's character. I wouldn't pretend to be a student to such a young lamb. That after taking the role of teacher to get close to him, I would be unlikely to abandon it. I'm infamous, after all, for how defensive I am about my students."

I wanted to protest that I wasn't a lamb, but then… didn't I almost just get lead to my slaughter?

"They will pay for using me this way, but they aren't wrong."

Master Winter nodded. "That's understandable. I would not forgive being used against the servants of Fides-Dumuzid so casually."

"Fides-Dumuzid has been seen on the surface."

Master Winter stilled. "Ah. That is… brazen."

"I suspect the Twisted Stone Conclave doesn't think they'll have to pay me at the end of this. They're wrong. Even if I do die against him so that my shard can go to someone more worthy, they'll still pay. I have made certain of that. But enough of that. We are speaking of how you will bribe my student to continue on this fool's errand."

He paused as if thinking, "I admit I had assumed you were going to talk your student out of it."

The dark-light started fading then, a gradual lessening of intensity.

She shook her head. "No, I'm going to bribe him as well. If he leaves, half these hunters will leave with him, and I can't magic up enough of an army on short notice. Fides-Dumuzid has been seen on the surface. If the Sidereals did their job the Wyld Hunt would be here instead of running down some poor kid in Great Forks who lit up a week ago. Cecelyne's teets, the Aerial Legion should be here. It will be, if he actually does something notable like kill those idiot brothers."

Master Winter did wince then. "Please don't get them killed. The rest of the Court of Seasons would hold it against us, and our legal situation…"

"That's not really my problem, now is it."

He quieted then. Then, "What do you need."

"Nathan's now a major god of the Haslanti."

"Done."

"He doesn't yet have a Sanctum. The Ennead will front the resources and manpower to build it. Alternatively, if his domain ends up manifesting one, you will support one major initiative of his within Yu-Shan."

He winced a little. "You know our current problems there."

She just raised an eyebrow. "Very well."

"Finally, Autumn Frost will act as keeper or guardian to anything Nathan entrusts to you for one hundred years."

This last one seemed to intrigue Master Winter, but he just said, "There must be limits."

She nodded. "A Kap. Autumn Frost doesn't have to drop everything when he calls, but must make reasonable accommodations to do this. We'll use Deus's Code reasonable."

"Fine." He nodded. "I'll show myself out."

I waited until he left the room before starting.

"Please explain. You're acting like you're on my side here, but you just admitted that you're using me yourself. Why should I trust you now? Also, why those three favors?"

She sighed, and her teeth had gone back to normal, though her tail was still there. I couldn't decide if it was fish-like, or serpent-like, but it bounced in time with her leg.

"Explaining the Anathema and all the politics around history around it would be… I'll get to that if I survive the coming conflict."

"As for the three favors?"

"You really do need a Sanctum. You might have a special kind of fallback through your Mantle, but it has a number of issues," it really did, "and a Sanctum is simply useful for a god. It also takes a lot of time and resources."

"The Ennead are an interesting Pantheon. I've only gotten into the shallow end of telling you about how god's work, but they're not a Terrestrial Court. Nor are the a Celestial one. They are a mixed group of Terrestrial and Celestial gods who have essentially banded together to jointly pursue their interests as a way of going around the bureaucracy of Yu-Shan. Their Joint Sanctum - The House of the Nine Hearths of Emerald and Silver - is in a gray zone. But it probably would not be found as legal if anyone got sufficiently interested. "

"So… they're politically weak in Yu-Shan."

"Yes," she smiled as if she scored a major point. "Why is that useful?"

"Ah." Why would that be useful. Their favor couldn't be worth much, and calling it in would make for some bad blood.

"Oh. It's blackmail."

"Um." She nodded. "They'll work hard to find something you want more, so that you'll give it up."

That… probably would make for some bad blood later, but after this stunt I didn't really care.

"And the last?"

"If you ever are killed and must use your own path of reincarnation, you're liable to lose every physical item you've acquired. While someone old like me has ways of hiding things away, you're too young. Autumn Frost is no Madame Marthesine, but Madame Marthesine would charge too much for the service. Hmm. A Kap is a unit for the possessions of the average mortal household - it uses volume and mass. Though it was set during the height of the first age, so a Kap is actually a reasonably large unit of storage."

I nodded. So she had gotten me things that were valuable.

"As for why you should trust me… do you want to hear about me, or about Fides-Dumuzid?"

Which would make me more inclined to listen to her? Fides-Dumuzid was obviously going to be someone terrible, so listening about him first could be used to excuse many actions. But she hadn't manipulated me and inserted herself into my circle at the start because of Fides-Dumuzid. She had as a favor to this Conclave.

"Tell me about yourself."

She nodded.

"Your areas of ignorance fascinate me. I'm almost sure you must come from some holdout colony that was setup in the first age - someplace outside creation entirely that a paranoid old Solar created in case Creation itself fell. There really is no other explanation for someone as obviously educated as you to have such massive areas of ignorance. That said, I will give you a high level overview, because many of the topics border other topics that would require weeks to just give a surface understanding of."

"I was Exalted, became one of the Chosen of the Moon, not long after the Usperpation. The Moonsilver Tattoos -" and for a moment, patterns of silver covered her - "that define our current social order didn't exist yet - wouldn't become common for another twenty years. I was born into an age of decline, where every year was marginally worse than the one before, and while the Shogunate performed regular purges on anything that might even hint at Solar influence. Often, that was other parts of the Shogunate, in an endless series of cannibalistic purges."

Her eyes were distant, and as the room continued to move back towards normal.

"I won't speak much of my early years. I became a sorceress before I became an Exalted, and I have always defined myself by my sorcery. I suspect the Silver Pact would have made me a Changing Moon if I wasn't so obviously a sorcerer first and foremost. I butted heads enough with my mentors, didn't have the approved mindset. But they also worked harder to pretend that Sorcery belonged to the No Moons alone in those days. Such efforts failed, of course. Salina's gift saved us from such machinations. I would have been a terrible Changing Moon, but many Changing Moons are terrible Changing Moons."

"I suppose my fundamental disagreement with them peaked during the Contagion and the Balorian Crusade. By then I was well established, and had years to see how their 'controlled' descent worked, their efforts to build a society that "didn't depend" on sorcery and the help of gods and Exalts. Those societies all died when the Crusade reached them, if they weren't already dead of plague. Not just directly - starvation and malnutrition, banditry, loss of trade, and a thousand other infrastructural dooms took as many as fell to the actual plague. The same continues to torment the Wyld barbarians some of my compatriots champion. Even groups like the Haslanti are two bad winters away from falling, and they could never defend themselves from a major Fair Folk invasion."

"Hmm… but I'm speaking of politics you don't have the context for. Let us just say that there is a simple answer for how to build a society that does not depend on the Exalted. That no one else champions it among the Lunars, when so many of us claim to be working to build a society that does not need us… Salina remains right, even if her approach had the flaws so many Solar's were defined by."

"What you should understand is that I have spent the last seven and a half centuries spreading knowledge. I have probably taught more mortals, gods, elementals, even Dragon Kings Sorcery than anyone in Creation. I've also taught Martial Arts, Thaumaturgy, and more. I would say I've done as much or more to slow the growth of the Realm than many of my peers who brag about it, and little of that came from me fighting them directly."

"So you're against the Realm?" I asked, "I keep getting mixed messages about them?"

"That's what you focus on?" She made a sour face. "Complex. Less so than many of my peers. Without the Scarlet Empress, Creation might have genuinely fallen, and while they have destroyed a lot of history, they have also preserved knowledge in many places where it otherwise would have been lost."

"I do oppose them, yes. Though the reason I oppose them and the reason many of your peers dislike them probably doesn't match up much."

"So… you're a famous sorcery teacher then?"

"Sorcery, whenever I can, yes. Also necromancy, though I find that less useful. Martial Arts. Thaumaturgy, when I didn't have time or opportunity to teach better. Economics. International relationship - I've taught a number of mortal princes over the years. Not to be immodest, but I'm probably the most famous Lunar teacher in Creation."

She paused, then. "Not the best, but I have no respect for him. He might teach you, but only to extract favors from you later, and he only properly teaches other Lunars."

"And so I should trust you because you're a great teacher?"

That wasn't a good reason.

"No. I'm going to use you here, and I got close to you to use you. You also don't know enough to really trust anyone. I will say that I wouldn't betray you here because it would be bad for my reputation. Pretty much the only good reputation I have is as a Teacher. Since I have revealed myself as your teacher, I wouldn't undermine that now. But you don't have the context to trust that."

"Why did you decide to teach me, anyways?"

"I wasn't going to. Not really," She shamelessly admitted. "The Twisted Stone Conclave claimed they couldn't put someone close to you because there were too many eyes watching them. So they would make sure everyone knew where they were while I would show up and investigate you in return for future favors. I was just going to spend a couple days investigating you, but… Well, frankly, you remind me entirely too much of many of the young Lunars I have mentored over the years. Once I pretended… I wasn't going to teach you poorly. And once I taught you seriously… It's against my nature to watch you sink."

"But no, you shouldn't trust me because what's going on is serious, even if it has nothing to do with you. I might die here, which is probably why the Conclave arranged for me to get involved. Another knife at my back. Fides-Dumuzid was seen on the surface."

"Fides-Dumuzid, the forbidden. Fides-Dumuzid, the loyal son. Fides-Dumuzid, the keeper of the gates. The Steward. Loyal servant to his exiled masters. After the Primordial War, it was unthinkable that he would manage to hide. After all, who could feel safe while he yet lived? Wouldn't he always be a blade hanging above the heads of the gods. Yet they grew used to the blade. Found ways to dull it, to cut him off from his domain more and more."

"Fides-Dumuzid, who took a minor breed of darkbrood gods and made them the Únôlpûr Aithanar. Fides-Dumuzid, the first City Father."

"Fides-Dumuzid. The God of Yu-Shan itself."