Dynasty of Dovak | By : JohnDoe Category: +A through F > Exalted RPG Views: 4983 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: White Wolf, Exalted and Exalted 3rd Edition are all trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and official characters, names, places and text are copyrighted by White Wolf. I do not own Exalted and I'm not making money from this fiction. |
Session 50 – End Chapter 4 – Reya (130XP 104DX, 127/103 spent; 9GP 11SP), Melody (130XP 104DX, 123/95 spent), and Ganan (130XP 104DX, 123XP/103DX spent; 2WhP 22GP 19SP)
A handful of days pass.
Cynis Ganan repairs the damaged sections of the Wall. Mnemon Muli treats Ganan and Danireya’s wounds. The real Tinkara Dovak returns with her new Royal Guard. Ganan and Melody meet the new Satrap Advisor – Ledaal Ludila – at a meeting with the Satrap and her advisors in The Wall.
“Get the hell out of here Udi.” Ganan growls dangerously.
“Cynis Ganan, play nice.” Danireya shoots at Ganan with a warning tone. “Ledaal Ludila is Mnemon’s personal appointment as my advisor. She arrived whilst you were in the South.”
Ludila blows Cynis Ganan a kiss and winks.
“Of course, there is still an Anathema out there.” Danireya says offhandedly, “So I don’t imagine there will be too many questions asked if she were to… disappear?”
Ludila clears her throat and casts her eyes downwards.
“The matter at hand is what to do with Mnemon Nanals. An Imperial Magistrate has attempted to arrest her on a charge of infernalism – for unleashing Sondok on Creation. But we have it on good authority that Sondok was, in fact, summoned and bound by an Anathema. And further the Magistrate has left on… other business?” Danireya looks at Ganan, who nods the affirmative. “Thoughts?”
Melody shrugs, “Not much we can do except to let her go, right? Ledaal Ludila?”
“To be clear, there’s no actual evidence of wrong-doing?” Ludila says, Melody and Ganan nod, “Then as Mnemon Nanals is a registered sorcerer, and one of the Exalted, we can’t very well imprison her for exercising her duties.”
“Agreed.” Mnemon Nula says, looking to her father.
“Although it might be prudent to keep her away from the Gateway Tree. Just in case.” Ganan concurs.
“To be honest,” Tepet Agoram states bluntly, “Arresting her would be more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Good.” Danireya says with some finality. “Now the matter of ‘uncursing’ the royal family.”
“Wait, you still haven’t done that!” Ganan says, shocked, leaning forward in his seat.
“Let’s take it as read that Cynis Ganan supports this measure. Ludila?” Danireya smiles pleasantly.
“The Dovaks are god-blooded. This makes them powerful but their power must be tempered. At the Heptagram, I had the finest teachers… (with maybe one exception), and they taught us that sorcery is our birthright. Our finest tool. If it works, I say we employ it. The curse stands. Nula?”
Mnemon Nula clears her throat and looks straight ahead, not making eye-contact with Ganan and Melody, “If it hurts our family… that is to say, the Realm’s interests here, we shouldn’t do it.”
“Rey, you need-” Melody stops speaking, suddenly feeling violently ill. “I agree with Ganan.”
“A compelling speech, I can see why you’re in charge of keeping all of us alive.” Ludila needles, “Tepet Agoram?”
“I am not privy to the specifics of this ‘curse’ but I’m given to understand the Satrap herself laid it? If that’s the case, then I trust the Satrap’s judgment.”
“Then the motion falls and the curse stands. Thank you all for your sound council. You may leave.” Danireya brings the meeting to a close. Ledaal Ludila, Mnemon Nula and Tepet Agoram all leave.
“Garrison Commander, Advisor Ganan, is there something more?”
“Thank you for your support, Melody.” Ganan curses bitterly, “I need you and your mouth words good!” He grunts in frustration “What the hell was that!?”
“Well Ganan,” Melody begins, “The truth is that R-” She immediately disgorges a stream of maggots all over the desk.
“You cursed Melody too? What’s wrong with you!” Ganan sighs, “Please, beloved, undo it. If not on the Dovaks, then at least on your sister. For me.”
Danireya wrestles with herself, “My love, you mean everything to me. You were there when I needed you the most. But you are just going to have to trust me.”
Ganan broods for a moment and stands to leave. Melody follows him out. “Follow me.” Ganan instructs as he leads Melody back to his and Reya’s original quarters before they moved into Bekara’s old room.
“This is going to be… unpleasant.” Ganan says as he makes the mudras of undoing, focusing his will against Danireya’s spell, “What did she bar you from talking about...”
Melody feels nauseated, but somehow able to talk, “Oh, you know Rey-Rey. What’s the one thing she cares about more than you?”
“Our children.” Ganan says immediately, without thinking.
“Just your children or...” She gestures more widely.
“She wants her own Great House.” Ganan blurts out, nakedly stating his wife’s innermost secret ambition. Melody looks at him to continue, “So naturally she cares about her nieces and nephews...” Melody smiles at him encouragingly, Ganan screws up his face in confusion and concentration, “Your children?”
“Whose children?” Melody asks, the nausea intensifying.
“Yours and Ferad’s…” Melody looks at him pointedly. Ganan looks at Melody’s belly. “Melody, who is the father?”
Melody shrugs emphatically, “Who can tell these days! Ferad is always busy. I’m always… sparing.”
Realization begins to dawn on Ganan, his furrowed brow turning to a look of shock and dismay, “Melody… you didn’t… But… how did Tinkara find out?”
“Oh she doesn’t know.” Melody says, and immediately the look of confusion returns to Ganan’s face. Melody sighs exasperatedly, and immediately regrets it as the nausea becomes painful and she can feel wriggling in her throat. She places Ganan’s hand on her belly. “Ferad is going to have another child.”
“Well he thinks it’s his… Wait… you don’t mean… but he wouldn’t sleep with a...” Ganan can’t bring himself to say ‘god-blooded’, “I mean surely he wouldn’t waste his Essence… which he thinks he’s already used on you. Ferad has sired a bastard in Tinkara?”
Ganan’s wards finally snap under the pressure of Reya’s spell and Melody disgorges maggots all over the floor.
Danireya stands in the doorway, “I’d forgotten how good you are at sorcery, my husband.” Her hands immediately flash through the mudras of binding and control needed to cast the curse of Corrupted Words.
Ganan’s hands twist in automatic response, siphoning away the mystic energy Danireya is gathering, “And I you.” He says with a smile, “You are truly skilled my wife. But I my power is as strong as yours, and my skill is as great. You have no power over me.”
Danireya struggles to make the spell take hold as Ganan meticulously dissipates the energy she is gathering.
“I don’t need to eat or sleep, beloved, the Earth itself will nourish me. Can you say the same? Give it up, I can check your power forever.” Ganan says, even as Danireya starts to make slight gains over him.
Melody lays her bow in her lap, facing Reya, “Rey, give it up.”
Danireya looks at the gleaming orichalcum and drops her arms, allowing the accumulated mystic energy to dissipate harmlessly. Wordlessly she walks over to Melody and reaches into her mouth. “Daref.” She pronounces as she pulls free a slimy egg-sac full of squirming larvae.
Melody feels the weight of the curse lifted from her. “Thanks,” she smiles.
“I’m not uncursing the royals.” Danireya says decidedly.
“Ganan and I understand. And we respect your decision. Don’t we Ganan?” Melody says, she nudges Ganan hard in the ribs, “Don’t we Ganan.”
Ganan pouts, sulkily, “I don’t understand… but I trust you.”
“That’s all I ask for.” Danireya says, “As soon as you left, the Princess sent word that she would like to meet with us – Melody and I,” She clarifies, “In the Tower of Air, now.” She considers for a moment then lays a hand on Ganan’s chest, “You’d better come too. But be ‘Strong and Silent Ganan’ not ‘Bumbling Idiot Ganan’, okay?”
Ganan makes a throaty noise of rough assent, that brings a smile to Danireya’s face, and the trio make their way to the palace.
The Dynasts wait on the third level of the Tower, in the open audience room the king uses to receive foreign dignitaries. For Ganan, waiting is a strange sensation – well used to having the Dovaks receive them immediately and in their private chambers. Danireya, of course, has had a month to get used to this treatment, and Melody, as an outcast officer in the Imperial Legion, expects the wait.
Eventually the royal procession arrives, a herald dressed in the garb of the Dovaki Royal Guard announces: “Presenting King Darios, First of His Name, Dovak Resurgent, Envoy to Dragons, Blood of the Wind Gods, Iron-heart Fae Binder, Scourge of the Dead, Bear Slayer, Master of Air, Etcetera-Etcetera-Etcetera. And his true-born daughter, the Princess Tinkara Dovak.”
Flanked by guards, the Dovaks enter. More guards pour into the room, displacing what few courtiers were hiding in the corners of the room. Ganan looks dumbly round the room as the guards encircle them: Reya and Melody keep their eyes fixed dead forward. Ganan smiles and goes to crack a joke to Melody, but she very subtly shakes her head and he is dissuaded. Once a full talon of troops has taken position in the room, King Darios begins to speak. His voice is jovial, like Ganan he seems not to have quite grasped how the dynamic between the Realm and Dovak has shifted since Tinkara’s rape. Unlike Melody and Danireya, Tinkara is starting to show a bump as she enters her second trimester.
“Representatives of the Realm,” He begins, his language formal and cool but his eyes twinkling with easy delight, “I must say this recent development has taken all of us quite by surprise. Quite indeed.”
Tinkara’s normally icy demeanor breaks into a smirk.
“Your Highness,” Reya begins, “I believe I can explain, you see it was the Anathema Mishra Urza Arcus who unleashed the demon Sondok as part of her nefarious plan, but despite successfully faking her death once, we are confident that this time, the fatal blow being struck by the Dragon-Blooded-”
“Uh, Rey…” Melody tries to interrupt as she reads the look on the royal’s faces.
“By the Dragon-Blooded,” Reya continues, holding up a hand to silence Melody, “That Mishra is finally dead.”
“I don’t think that’s what they were talking about.” Melody hisses through her teeth.
Reya looks at the Dovaks: Darios has a look of petrified horror on his face and Tinkara looks apoplectic with rage.
“Do you mean to tell us,” Tinkara rages, “That the Anathema has been alive all this time!”
“Well, until three days ago.” Danireya smooths the front of her blouse, “Still that’s why it pays to befriend the Dragon-Blooded, King Darios. We have slain the beast.”
Tinkara scoffs, “You can’t possibly expect praise for doing something you claimed to have done two months ago!”
“Begging your Majesty's pardon,” Melody interrupts, “Which ‘surprising development’ are you referring to?”
King Darios regains his composure and laughs throatily, “The miracle, of course. The sign of the Dragon’s favor for the new Emperor.”
The king’s use of gendered terminology does not escape Danireya, “Which. Miracle.” She asks tersely.
King Darios, heedless in his laid-back mirth, chuckles again, “But surely you know?” He looks at the Dragon-Blooded: Melody is perfectly composed but completely silent, Ganan is still perplexed at why they won’t be congratulated for killing the Anathema, Danireya seems about to explode with rage. “You do know? This is a jest?”
Tinkara puts them out of their misery, “Cathak Cainan has been restored to the prime of youth. Peleps Aramida and Ragara Banoba, both, have made statements claiming this miracle demonstrates the ‘Will of the Dragons’.” She drinks in the look of horror on Danireya’s face and closes her eyes to savor the moment.
“Naturally, you’ll be returning to the Blessed Isle with the other Satraps and Dragons in the Threshold.” Darios waves, offhandedly, “You’ll be missed, of course, but one supposes that it can’t be helped.”
“No need to hurry back.” Tinkara teases.
“King Darios,” Melody says, stepping in again for Reya, “This is indeed surprising news. Have any of the other houses declared their support?”
“Not as yet,” Darios confirms, his tone congenial, “But I understand your Matriarch Mnemon has already returned to the Blessed Isle to confirm this miracle for herself.” He unfolds a letter and passes it to a guard who passes it to Danireya.
The wax seal, Mnemon purple, has already been broken. Danireya scans the letter quickly, it seems to confirm that house Mnemon’s scions are being recalled to the Isle and apologies for withdrawing Dovak’s Satrap.
“Did you not get a letter?” Tinkara asks innocently, “Perhaps it will be waiting for you when you return to your chambers.” She gives a mocking smile, “Sorry, former chambers. I imagine you’ll be leaving tonight.”
“Perhaps not tonight, Princess.” Melody speaks quickly, “There is the matter of defense of the city, and of Urza Arcus, we’ll have to hand-over a considerable-”
“Unfortunately there isn’t time for a full hand-over of military responsibility.” Danireya says abruptly. “Perhaps if there was a looming threat of civil war, we might remain here with a garrison in order to protect Dovak from opportunists. But Mnemon’s instructions clearly indicate that we are to return home, and we shall do so at the earliest opportunity… if his royal highness will forgive the imposition.”
“Of course, of course.” Darios exclaims, “The will of the Dragon’s made manifest does not happen every day!”
“Quite.” Danireya snaps, “If that’s all, we must make our preparations.”
“You are dismissed.” The King proclaims, and the soldiers part to allow the Dynasts to leave.
In the garden between the Tower of Air and the Wall of Stone, Danireya leans against a tree and starts to hyperventilate, “I can’t breathe!” She proclaims.
“Reya, we can’t just drop everything and go back to the Isle!” Melody snaps fiercely, “If this is a ruse, we’re leaving Dovak wide open. If it’s true… the Threshold will be the deciding factor in the war for the throne.”
Danireya rounds of Melody, “If this is a ruse, we’re not leaving! If it’s true, we need to get back to the Isle and we need to have been there yesterday!”
“Pull your head out of your ass, Satrap!” Melody barks, “This isn’t a problem you can curse your way out of!”
“Ladies.” Ganan’s voice cuts across them both, “We’re not going to decide anything like this. Let’s return to the Satrapal office and see if there is correspondence to investigate. Tinkara might have been right.”
Danireya takes a calming breath, “You’re right. This is not the place.” They return to Danireya’s office in the Wall. A rolled parchment sealed with Mnemon’s seal awaits them. “That insufferable bitch deliberately delayed our post!” Danireya accuses in a rage as she unfurls the message, confirming that they are to return to the Blessed Isle.
“Is this… what Jin was talking about?” Melody wonders aloud, then she recounts how Jinabar and Ganan were both sent a sorcerous message in Kirighast.
“Are you going?” Danireya asks Ganan directly.
“I’m going with you.” Ganan says flatly.
“Greyfalls is an important appendage of the Realm, if House Cynis is marshaling strength there-” Reya begins.
“I’m going with you, my Matriarch. Unless you order me otherwise.” Ganan says.
“Melody?” Danireya asks.
Melody nods grimly, “To be clear, my loyalty is to you, not to your crazed Grand Daimother. But I am loyal to you. I don’t mind if we-” She makes a zooming motion with her hand indicating travel by sorcery.
Reya gives her a short bow of respect, “Good. Ferad and Jorod can organize the retreat of our forces with Clapper. The three of us, Muli, Nula and Tepet Agoram will travel by Stormwind Rider back to Jiara and set sail back across the inland sea. We’re to rally north of the Palace Sublime with Mnemon, the House Troops and Ferad will join us when they join us.”
Melody takes a deep breath, “Time is of the essence. Can’t you… Stormwind us across the Inland Sea? I mean, stop and rest in Jiara but...”
“Traveling the Sea is a dangerous affair-” Danireya begins, but see reads the look on Melody’s face easily enough, “Still, the bulk of our luggage will be with the children… it’s… possible?” She looks at Ganan, “One freak wave would wipe us out.”
“I trust you.” Ganan says without hesitation. “Nanals should ride with us.” He adds after a moment’s thought.
Reya makes a noise of resigned frustration, but nods her assent.
The trio set their Voices on the Wind, to call out instructions to their servants and family members. Demons are instructed, Elementals are loaded, soldiers are ripped from their bunks, children and elders are gathered, supplies are unceremoniously looted from the Dovaki.
As Ferad and Jorod take control of the Realm evacuation of Dovak, Nula and Danireya prepare to summon their Stormwind Riders. Mnemon Nanals is surprisingly compliant, causing Melody to obnoxiously check her for bear ears.
“I’m with you.” Tepet Agoram says to Danireya, with Muli at his side, “No matter how the elders decide.”
Danireya regards them carefully and waves her daughter close, “The Hearth is shattered.” She says simply, “I am here for you, always,” She tells her children, “But you need to find your own way in Creation. Follow me and there will always be a place for you. I am your Matriarch if you will follow me, and I will always be your mother, but we are no longer a kinship.”
Tepet Agoram gives a salute, which Muli mimics. Nula nods quietly, thinking on the ramifications of her mother’s actions.
Melody looks around, “Where’s Ledaal Ludila?” She asks aloud.
“Our scouts… your scouts,” Agoram corrects, “Report they saw a Stormwind Rider head east early this morning – immediately after your Satrapal meeting?”
Melody sneers, “I guess that answer’s where House Ledaal’s loyalties lie.”
“We shall see.” Danireya says simply, as she motions for Nula to start casting.
Soon two Stormwind Riders bear the seven Dragon-Blooded aloft. Ganan doesn’t comment on how Nanals could have carried them all, and they set of at blazing speed heading for Jiara.
Nanals seems quite content to be chauffeured for once. Danireya and Nula concentrate intensely on not smacking their passengers into trees, or flying to close to one another. Like Nanals, both Agoram and Muli seem at ease. Melody is tense, wanting a mount she can control under her, not this sorcerous conjuring. Ganan’s eyes constantly flick across the path ahead.
“What did you learn?” Ganan says eventually. It’s not immediately obvious that he’s speaking to Nanals, even as he raises his voice above the wind.
“Is there supposed to be a great moral lesson about summoning demons here? Mister Agata-and-Neomah?” Nanals sneers.
“I meant in Malfeas.” Ganan clarifies, “I was there a much shorter time than you. I discovered Deathknights in the service of the Demon Lords.”
Nanals pauses a moment, “I learned only new forms of pain and deeper depravities of demon-kind.” She says in a tone that does not exactly invite further discussion.
“It must have been hard.” Melody says, eyeing the old woman suspiciously, “Ganan was half-dead when we pulled him free.”
“I am no Stranger to the ways of the Demon City.” Nanals responds, and she closes her eyes, clearly unwilling to speak any further on the topic.
Melody grimaces, remembering how Nanals stole her child away. How she unleashed Sondok on Creation. How she broke faith with the Immaculate Philosophy to cultivate her cult of feral beastmen in Urza Arcus, and how she cavorts with gods… not that Melody herself is any more pious on that very last charge. Her feelings of righteous anger seem doused by the god-blooded life growing inside her.
Within house they are speeding past fields of crops. Asparagus is grown in many fields, which are busy with workers. A Satrapy once devastated by war is now returned to prosperity – a testament to Mnemon’s success in Jiara and her worthiness for the throne. The Dynasts don’t stop as they whiz past farming villages and townships in a blur. The sorceresses feed their own energies into the Stormwinds, stopping the dust-devils from dissipating as they drive them on towards Jiara proper.
The city no longer smolders from war. Mnemon architects have restored most of the city, though even now some buildings remain half-built – their overseers no doubt recalled across the sea on Mnemon’s behest. As evening falls, the sorceresses touch down. Danireya hands her daughter two obels and instructs them to book passage on a ship, both for themselves as soon as possible and for the coming Alinos forces.
Nanals dusts herself off, “Mother will be waiting for us in Noble, Incas Province.”
“Half-way there.” Melody sighs as she stretches out, “Let’s get something to eat.”
Nanals waits until Reya’s back is turned as she scopes the harbor for somewhere to eat, then whips up her own Stormwind Rider and races out over the inland sea.
“Is there a reason you didn’t stop her Gan.” Reya asks exasperated.
“You-” Ganan begins.
“Don’t say we didn’t ask you to.” Melody shakes her head in warning.
Ganan closes his mouth.
“Lunch?” Melody asks again.
The trio duck into a waterside tavern serving chicken, asparagus and rough bread. They order food and dark brown beer, over pay and sit to rest for a bit. At this time of day, the tavern isn’t particularly busy, but they catch snippets of conversation, discussing the end of the war in Jiara – the death of the Anathema who pit themselves against the might of Mnemon. Ganan pulls out a hunk of wood and starts to whittle miniature firewand designs whilst they wait for their food (2SP). The fare is simple, but filling.
As the trio rest, two familiar faces enter the tavern, clearly looking for them. Ganan, facing the door, sees them first and gives an audible groan.
“There you are.” Ledaal Ludila announces as she flounces over to our heroes, “Have you met Aharon?”
“We keep meeting.” Melody says.
Aharon Saber Edge bows theatrically, “So it’s war then?” He announces, louder than Danireya would like.
“I’m still hoping that it won’t come to that.” Danireya states simply.
“House Ledaal thinks that Cathak Cainan’s miracle is bullshit.” Ludila says with uncharacteristic bluntness. “Conversely, what Mnemon has achieved here in Jiara is real. She risked her forces to fight the Anathema, rather than marshaling them to fight her sisters.”
“Are you saying House Ledaal officially backs Mnemon for the throne?” Ganan says with characteristic bluntness.
“Are you saying Mnemon has officially declared herself for the throne?” Aharon shoots back with a grin.
“And why are you here Aharon?” Danireya asks, pointedly.
“He’s a mercenary.” Melody answers, “He goes where the wars are.”
“Oh Melody, you wound me so. I happen to be a great admirer of...” Aharon falters.
“Mnemon.” Udi says under her breath.
“Mnemon. And I greatly admire her achievements in...”
“Jiara.”
“Jiara. Wait, really? Here? This? … We may need to renegotiate my fee.”
“Charming.” Danireya quips, “Is there something I can help you with Ludila?”
“We’re going to Stormwind across the sea, we’re going to rally with Ledaal forces in Noble. Safer with two: someone to rescue you. I assume you’re going in the same direction. Are you ready? Time and tide wait for no woman.”
Reya sighs, motions for the trio to wrap up and they all head for the dock. Reya and Ludila astound onlookers as they work their sorcery. And then… they’re off.
****
Ganan spends 5DX to train Craft: Weapons to 4. He gains 12SP for using three Crafts rated at 3+.
Danireya spends 16DX to train Manipulation 5, 8XP to train Voices on the Wind.
While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.
Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!
Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo