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Dynasty of Dovak	By : JohnDoe Category: +A through F > Exalted RPG Views: 4983 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Session 42 – Ganan (95XP 76DX, 91XP, 72DX; 2WhP 0GP 10SP) and Melody (95XP 76DX, 75/60 spent) – She Who Cares Most, Wins

Ganan stands in royal gardens with Melody and Reya. His sister, Cynis Jinabar is imprisoned within the Wall.

“I should have just stayed in my tower…” Reya complains.

“Don’t be like that, m’lady.” Melody teases, she turns to Ganan, “So how do you want to play this?”

“Plan A was to get Tinkara to pardon her, but that… doesn’t seem likely. So… jailbreak?”

“Jailbreak.” Reya nods.

“Jailbreak!” Melody punches the air, “Great, you kill half our troops, I’ll kill the other half!”

“We’re not killing anyone. I still have The Gift’s belt. I walk in with my tools, remove some of the stone blocks and we slip out.”

“And the noise of you chipping away stone blocks is covered by?” Melody asks.

Ganan looks at Melody, “You two. Obviously.”

“Us two doing what?” Melody asks, exasperated.

“That’s between you and the Dragons.” Ganan throws his hands up.

“Eww.” Reya buries her face in her hands, “How about a fight? ‘You can’t go cursing the royal family!’ ‘Tell that to my fireball!’”

“Perfect.” Ganan and Melody agree in unison.

****

As they approach the jail, Ganan turns immaterial, dissolving into shadow. Reya and Melody enter the jail and begin making a scene.

“You can’t just curse the royal family and burst prisoners from jail Danireya!” Melody hollers.

The Mnemon guards look up from their posts, preferring not to get in a fight with Danireya.

Ganan slips into the prison in shadow form, and enters Jinabar cell and turns material once more. Jinabar says nothing, but raises an eyebrow then starts stuffing the bed to make it look like she’s sleeping. Her scribe, locked up with her, does the same.

“Melody, you have no idea what you’re talking about!” Reya shoots back, readying her shield. She speaks the burning name, sending flames shooting over Melody’s shoulder, “That was a warning shot!”

“‘Warning shot’! YOU’RE CRAZY!” Melody fires an arrow that rings of Danireya’s shield and Ganan gets to work removing stone blocks. With Masterful Dragon Expertise, Ganan’s stone carving fingers and expert tools make short work of the blocks as Melody and Reya noisily play fight.

Jinabar and Ganan slip out and Ganan starts to repair the damaged prison cell. His anima starts to glow as he slips the blocks back into place, speeding the repair with his Flaw-Finding Examination (4WP). In a matter of minutes, the wall is fixed (3GP 1SP).

“You know what Melody, you’re right. I’ve been foolish. I apologize.” Reya abruptly stops fighting.

“It’s fine,” Says Melody sincerely, “You’ve been under a lot of pressure.”

The fight ending as quickly as it started, leaves the guards scratching their heads with confusion, but seemingly none the wiser.

Reya and Melody walk outside and rendezvous with Ganan and Jinabar.

Ganan introduces his sister, “Mnemon Alinos Gracious Pealing Melody, may I introduce my sister, Magistrate Cynis Jinabar. Jinabar, this is Melody, you remember Danireya.”

Melody extends an arm, and Jinabar shakes hands with her.

“Pleasure.” She says curtly.

“Oh!” Melody exclaims, “Ganan is the chatty one. Makes so much sense now!”

Despite herself Jinabar smiles, “I’m sorry. I came here chasing a book, and found myself in a grimy cell. He’s definitely not the chatty one.”

“Chasing a book? Straight to jail! Dynasts are weird.” Melody shakes her head, “What book?”

Ganan answers “Let me guess, ‘A Lover Clad In Blue’. Nanals has it.”

Jinabar shakes her head, “Mnemon Nanals. That explains the straight to jail.”

Reya interrupts, “Nice as it is to see you, sister. Perhaps we should go somewhere more private to talk. They’re going to realize you’re missing.” Reya summons up a Stormwind Rider and blasts out for Urza Arcus.

“Catch me up.” Jinabar barks on the way over the noise of the wind, as Reya steers for the hidden tunnels. “I heard both of the twins Exalted.”

“EIGHT YEARS AGO!” Melody shouts, outraged, “Gan, do you just never write to your sister?”

They plunge into the hidden tunnel and race along in the darkness

“Of course not! Where do I send the letters? The Imperial Palace? She’s a magistrate. Yes, both the twins Exalted. Muli graduated the House of Bells. Nula graduated the Heptagram. We’re very proud of both of them.”

Jinabar considers, “House of Bells, eh? You must be devastated. Especially with no more Imperial Legions.”

Ganan grunts noncommittally and shunts more motes into his anima blazing up to supply more light.

Reya deftly steers them through the ever branching tunnels, eventually coming up under the throne room in Urza Arcus. She takes a seat on the throne and starts to monologue: “Right, let me get you up to speed. Ragara Haseti was a diabolist who tried to unleash Sondok to kill my family. He’s the one who ordered the book be brought to Dovak. Mnemon Nanals thwarted his plan, setting Sondok on an Anathema and getting banished to hell – with the book on her person. Haseti was killed in a battle with the bearfolk. When Nanals resurfaces, we’ll take possession of the book and send it back to you. Mnemon is appointing me Satrap and Bekara is returning to the Blessed Isle. So nice catching up Jinabar. You can lie low here until Bekara leaves for the Isle.”

“I don’t buy it.” Jinabar folds her arms across her chest and turns to Melody, “You seem like a straight-shooter Mnemon Melody. What’s going on here?”

Melody shrugs, “It’s exactly like Reya says.”

“And she says it very well. So do you, by the way, but I know my brother. That’s the face he makes when he’s trying to keep a secret.” Jinabar points to Ganan, who is, indeed, pulling his poker face.

Melody lays a hand on Jinabar’s shoulder, “Everything Reya said is true. There’s a lot more than that going on in Dovak, but to be honest, I just met you and I’m not going to share the details of my personal life with a stranger I just busted out of jail – magistrate or no magistrate. So… top marks for intuition, tell your brother not to play cards, enjoy Urza Arcus.”

Jinabar considers her options, “Fine. Mott and I are grateful for the rescue.” Jinabar’s scribe bows deeply, “I’ve got some questions for a Guildsman – Brightsky – but they’ll keep until Bekara has left.”

“And you don’t trust us to send you the book.” Ganan adds.

“Where would you send it? The Imperial Palace?” Jinabar snaps back.

“Come on, tower next to mine is for visiting dignitaries. You can have that one.” Ganan leaps the way out of the palace.

“You mean I don’t get a room here?” Jinabar follows behind, taking in the architecture.

Ganan makes another noncommittal grunt and leads his sister outside to a nearby tower. It’s been partially renovated: most of the bearfolk furniture removed to air it out. Ganan walks her through the layout of the tower and asks if there’s any renovations she needs doing. Jinabar lays out a list of demands for walls and floors to be knocked through which Ganan jots down before getting to work. With Essence backed speed, Ganan reckons on the work taking a day.

Meanwhile, back at the Palace of the Bear:

“I don’t like it,” Melody says to Reya, “I don’t want an uppity magistrate snooping around my business!”

Reya rubs her temples, “It’s not exactly a dream come true for me either.”

“We could kill her.” Melody offers, “Bekara was going to. The jailbreak gives us some plausible deniability. I don’t think Ganan cares that much.”

“I’m sure by now Ganan would be fine with that. He probably regretted saving her the moment she mentioned the twins. I’m not. We’re not murdering anyone unnecessarily. Especially not a Dynast, Melody. Get some rest, we’ll go back to Dovak tomorrow and see where we stand.”

“Tomorrow?” Melody questions, “Aren’t your parents leaving today?”

“We said our goodbyes.” Reya has a look of confusion on her face – Melody was standing right there.

Melody, still thinking that Reya should see her parents off, wish them a good trip, maybe even hug her father, walks away shaking her head, “Fine, I’ll be getting some target practice in if you need me.”

Ganan works on Jinabar’s tower, he incorporates Mott’s ideas much to the young scribe’s relief. Working with Essence backed speed, Ganan wraps up the work by nightfall.

The next day, Reya, Melody and Ganan ride one of Reya’s Cloud Elementals from Arcus back to Dovak. They descend into the middle of the city, the native Dovaki scattering in fear and awe.

“So do we go to the Satrap or what?” Melody asks.

Ganan shrugs, “Best get it over with, I guess.”

The trio enter the Wall and proceed to Bekara’s chambers. The Satrap welcomes them in.

“I don’t care and she’s your problem now.” The Satrap intones, not looking up from a pile of paperwork.

“Weren’t you going to kill her?” Melody questions.

Bekara looks up from her papers and sets her pen down, “Magistrates are not beloved on the Blessed Isle and her questioning was inconvenient. Death in a Threshold backwater provides plausible deniability. And I do not have a… reputation for personal formidability in combat – insinuating that I killed a Magistrate would change that.” Bekara checks off her fingers, “Solve the immediate problem. Win political favor. Increase my own reputation. Yes, I was going to kill her: after seeing if anyone cared enough to rescue her. You care, I don’t. So you win. She’s your problem.”

The trio excuse themselves.

“That was surprisingly easy.” Ganan confesses.

Reya shrugs, “I wouldn’t want to fight us. Even if Bekara really wants Jinabar dead, she’s not going to come out and say that directly to our faces.”

Melody shrugs, “She seemed pretty sincere to me. Story checks out.”

“So… we should be looking for Nanals, right?” Ganan says, carefully.

“Isn’t she...” Melody points at the ground. “She could be anywhere.”

“Well we know she’s not here. But I had an idea. Fly us home.” Ganan says.

Reya calls down her elemental and they pick up Jinabar before heading for the Gateway Tree.

“Nanals was caught up in the magic of this site. So I think we can use it to go forth into Malfeas. It’s never been a top priority: Malfeas is a big place, I have no idea how we are to find Nanals. And using the Gateway means unleashing unbound demons on the world. But I don’t have any other ideas. If I set everything up as if we are summoning a Blood Ape, and Jinabar travels through, then we can go through one at a time, taking out the demons as they appear. Then there will be four of us in exchange for one demon.”

“That’s a terrible plan, but I don’t have a better idea.” Melody confesses.

“First, a defensive position.” Ganan announces, shrugging off a load of bricks from his back. With deft speed he constructs a low wall. “Stand there Mott.” Ganan gestures to the relative safety of the wall, and Mott scurries behind it.

Ganan begins setting up the ritual to summon a Blood Ape. Jinabar holds her own council about summoning a demon in the middle of the day. At the conclusion of the ritual, Ganan holds up the Gateway Key and speaks “Malfeas.”

The tree once more transforms to metallic Malfean vegetation. Jinabar passes through (after Ganan passes on Nanals’ breathing advice). A Blood Ape emerges.

Melody, already aiming at the tree unleashes an arrow, staggering the ape back.

Ganan closes in, grappling the demon, hoisting it up then decisively throwing it to the ground with a crash.

Enjoying the Principle of Motion, the blood ape rises and tries to maul Ganan, but Ganan Becomes the Hammer, easily battering aside the lone demon’s attacks.

Melody unleashes a killing shot, taking the demon by the neck.

As the dead body crashes to the ground, Jinabar emerges from the Gateway Tree.

Breathing hard, the magistrate puts her hands on her knees, doubled over. She straightens up, then backs away from the tree. “That... was... terrible.” She chokes out between breaths. “Thanks for pulling me back!” She catches sight of the dead demon, “You didn’t pull me back. You killed the demon… and that brought me back.”

Ganan drops to one knee to inspect the body, “Interesting. I didn’t account for that. Well… in some ways this is easier.”

“Sure,” Melody sarcastically agrees, “Instead of searching hell for a needle in a haystack, we just have to find a demon in Creation. A demon who has a month’s head-start on us and can kill us all in her sleep.”

Jinabar face-palms, “Do I even want to ask why you’ve left one of our kind in hell for a month, and let a killer demon run free for so long? Don’t any of you have an ounce of loyalty to your duty to Creation? To the Dynasty? Pack your things, we have a demon to catch!”

The Alinos look at each other, “We have a kingdom to run. We’ve killed a Lunar Anathema. We’ve still got a Deathknight on the loose. We can’t just drop everything and chase down a demon.” Ganan says, “But you’re a magistrate – this is your job, hunting demons, bringing rogue Dynasts to justice. If you kill Sondok, we’ll apprehend Nanals and turn over the book to you. Happy hunting.”

“Don’t let the door hit ya where Pasiap split ya!” Melody chimes in, the vulgar Low Realm saying losing something in translation.

“You can at least help fill in some more details. Like Sondok’s last known location. Exactly where and when Haseti summoned her. And you’ll help me track her to the edge of the Satrapy, and provide aid as befitting an Imperial Magistrate.” Jinabar insists.

Ganan and Melody look at each other. Ganan speaks, “It’s that or kill you here. Blame it on the demon.”

Mott shirks back in fear.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Jinabar draws herself up imperiously.

“Bet your life?” Ganan hoists his tetsubo menacingly.

“Enough.” Reya cuts in, “Your request for aid within the boarders of Dovak is reasonable. Sondok was summoned 36 days ago, during the gibbous moon, at this very site... by Nanals. Haseti was already dead. Sondok had eight days to track down and kill Mishra. This is what happened the last time we saw her…”

****
Ganan spends 8XP to train Deep Listening Palm.
Ganan spends 1XP4DX to raise Craft from 3 to 4.
Ganan spends 2GP to start a superior project to rebuild Dovak.
Ganan gains 3SP for using Craft Chapter 2.
Ganan gains 3SP for using Craft Chapter 3.
Ganan gains 9GP, 4SP for building the wall in the Far Side.
Ganan gains 3GP 1SP for repairing the door to the Palace.
Ganan gains 3GP 1SP for repairing the prison
Ganan gains 9GP, 4SP for remodeling the tower
Ganan gains 6GP, 3SP for building the defensive wall for Mott.
Ganan spends 10GP 1WP to make his first roll to finish rebuilding Dovak for 10 successes (Threshold 5 – 6 Net). And gains 1 SP.
Ganan spends 10GP 1WP to make his second roll to finish rebuilding Dovak for 13 successes (Threshold 8 – 15 Net).
Ganan spends 10GP 1WP to make his third roll to finish rebuilding Dovak for 15 successes (Threshold 9 – 25 Net).
Ganan spends 10GP 1WP to make his third roll to finish rebuilding Dovak for 15 successes (Threshold 9 – 25 Net).
Ganan spends 10GP 1WP to make his third roll to finish rebuilding Dovak for 10 successes (Threshold 6 – 31 Net).

Dovak is rebuilt – 2WhP awarded.
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Dynasty of Dovak