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Essence of Dynasty	By : JohnDoe Category: +A through F > Exalted RPG Views: 766 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chapter List
- 5
- 6
Session 5 – Brothers and Dragons – (Melody: M1/1/1 M2/2/2 P4/4/4 E4/3/3; Jin: M1/1/0 M2/2/2 P4/4/2 E4/3/3, 314: M1/1/1 M2/2/2 P4/4/4 E2/3/3)

As a new day dawns over Chiaroscuro, our heroes assemble on the docks. Melody is still wearing Saloy Hin’s Warstrider, the Breath of Fire.

Jin cocks an eyebrow at Melody, “You going to take that thing off, slugger?” She leans casually against the bulk of Melody’s Shieldback Lizard.

“NEVER!” Melody says, and she cackles with power, “Did you see what this thing can do!” She flexes the Warstrider’s giant hands.

314 nods pompously, “Very impressive. Now imagine what you could achieve with proper instruction! Warstriders are precision pieces of equipment: straighten your spine and bend your knees.”

Jin turns her raised eyebrow to 314, “I thought you’d never piloted one of these things?”

314 gives her a withering stare, “I read.” He takes an indignant sniff, “The two of you are certainly passable heroes. But you still have much to learn. Under my tutelage, we’ll soon have you fit to bear the title of ‘Champion’.”

“Is that so?” Jin folds her arms across her chest. The flames of her anima have died down, but still envelope her dangerously, giving her a menacing countenance as she narrows her eyes.

314 walks through the burning flames of her anima, kicks her legs apart to a wider stance, guides her to bend her neck and lean forward slightly. “There, much more intimidating!”

Melody isn’t paying attention, “Hey, who wants to see me bench-press a yeddim!” Not seeing a yeddim around, she lopes off to the pier looking for a suitably sized ship to lift instead.

314 and Jin run after her.

“When trying to lift a ship of this size-”

“Hoik it up by the keel!” Jin yells over the top of 314.

Melody grabs a scuttled merchant vessel by the keel and lifts the wreck clear of the waterline. The wreck falls apart in her hands.

“Think of what we could do with this kind of power…” Jin says, her eyes glazing over with a far-off look. She looks over to the partially demolished warehouse that the Salmalin were using to house Thamuz. The roof has been blown off, but the partially destroyed walls have been reinforced with volcanic rock. “Hey, Melody, tear down this wall!”

“On it!” Melody calls cheerfully as she starts ripping apart the solid stone wall with her bare hands.

314 calls out advice to Melody as to how best demolish a building partially encased in cooled lava. Jin watches the demolition whilst mentally preparing a list of enemies.

“Having fun?” Tinis asks. The elder Dynast has assembled their allies (Dansei, Klaw, and Ylva).

“It’s not fun, it’s important training!” 314 huffs indignantly.

“Oh, I promise you, it is fun!” Melody says, ripping down a section of wall and pretending to worry it with the Warstrider’s mouth, “Grrr rrr rrr!”

Dansei points an accusing finger at the Warstrider, “You have forgotten your oath! We have Anathema to hunt!”

“Lighten up, Dansei!” Melody says, tossing a bolder sized chunk of rubble at the Dragon-Blooded’s feet, “Aren’t you a god or whatever? Have a little fun!”

314 looks Dansei up and down carefully, “You’ve just been through a grueling battle. Perhaps you should take some time to rest. Drink a cup of tea. Do people still drink tea? Allow me to instruct you in the proper care and harvest of tea – a wonderful broth, with many medicinal properties-”

“I don’t want tea!” Dansei snaps, “I want vengeance!”

The word vengeance catches Jin’s attention, “Now you’re talking my language. Melody, what sounds more fun to you? Cleaning up the docks or squeezing an Anathema until they pop?”

Melody pouts, the expression does not translate whilst piloting a Warstrider, “Come on! I’m allowed a little time off!”

“No, you’re not!” Jin and 314 snap in unison. 314 extends an arm and bows slightly as he graciously cedes the floor to Jin.

Jin steps forward and gives a passionate speech about the need to confront the Anathema, generously peppered with terms like “the thrill of battle” and the “joys of victory”.

314 nods, “Very well said. Personally, I’d gesture less – stand still for most of the speech, then when you do gesture it will have more impact.”

Melody gives a deep sigh as she steers the Warstrider towards the part of the city that had been lit up by Solar anima during the night, “I don’t suppose anyone has got any of that ‘Bliss’ stuff?”

314 and Jin mount up and follow after Melody. None of them see Tinis’s facial expression.

****

Ylva hurries to catch up with our heroes, “What’s your plan?” She asks, trotting alongside Clapper.

Jin shrugs, “Melody fires giant bolts at the Solar until they’re a bloody pulp. 314 cuts their head off. I burn the corpse.”

“You can’t be serious!” Ylva says, shocked.

Jin leaps from the back of the giant dinosaur and wheels on the Sidereal. Her eyes are wide, “Listen lady, this is an Anathema we’re talking about! You want to sit around? Have a cup of tea? Read a book?” Jin spits dramatically on the ground, “We have to act! Here! Now! There isn’t time to ‘strategize’. Do you want to know what there is time for? Ramming a Warstrider-sized fist into a Solar asshole!”

“It’s fistin’ time!” Melody giggles.

Jin continues, wagging a finger in Ylva’s face, “I am so tired of you ivory tower types! In the Real World, we get our hands dirty. Here in the filth things don’t go according to plan! You have to seize the moment.” She spreads her arms wide and takes a couple of paces back, “This is the moment!”

“This is the time!” Melody sings out dramatically as she keeps the Warstrider on target, Clapper plods alongside and the others to run to catch up with her.

Only Ylva and Jin are left behind in the dust of the city.

“We’re doing this, Sidereal,” Jin says. She shakes her head and drops her arms to her sides, “You can either help us or piss-off. But you can’t stop us.”

Ylva can see that it’s pointless to argue with Jin whilst she’s acting like this, and reluctantly she breaks into a run to catch up with the others.

****

Our heroes stomp into the center of the city’s old district. Here the glass that makes up the city is a rich gold color, the towers are shattered and blasted, and golden glass rolls over the streets like mudflats. The glass reflects the morning sunlight, giving the district a blinding glare.

Tinis gestures to the molten glass, “The Field of Gold: by noon, the heat will be intense enough to cook us alive. This is the district where the Anathema was sighted. What now?”

314 starts barking out orders, “There are several fractured towers where we might meet our quarry. We need to split-up, but it is of paramount importance that we stay within effective combat range to support each other. The Warstrider has superior height and should be used to inspect the taller ruins whilst the rest of you enter the ruins on foot. I will stay here, mounted and ready to respond.”

A familiar voice calls out from the other side of the square, “I could save you some time there!”

Harmonious Jade walks out into the Field of Gold. Her orichalcum power bow drawn and trained on Tinis.

Jin detects immediate tension, “Harmonious Jade, good to see you again. Thank you for your assistance against Sondok’s cultists. This is Alinos Tinis.”

Harmonious Jade nods slowly, “General Tinis. Also known as the Reaver of Dragon-Mouth Bay. Also known as the Butcher of Mercy. He’s a war criminal.”

Tinis shrugs, “I prefer, ‘decorated officer of the Realm’.”

“Potato potato,” Melody giggles from inside the Warstrider, “Come on, we’re all on the same side here!”

Jade continues, “He’s a servant of Sondok.”

Jin casts a suspicious look at Tinis. The elder Dragon-Blooded is looking fixedly at Harmonious Jade as she approaches. He seems to consider for a moment, “You are a Solar Anathema. One of the Wretched.”

Jin looks back at Harmonious Jade. Melody stops giggling, but tellingly doesn’t immediately fall into a fighting position. Jin turns her attention to her Hearthmate, “Tell me you are as shocked by this baseless accusation as I am?”

Melody rubs the back of her neck – a comical expression whilst wearing a thirty-foot tall, humanoid war-machine, “Well, I mean… I’ve had a suspicion. Golden bow and all that…”

Harmonious Jade continues, “That man is evil. He ties non-combatants to cartwheels and forces captured soldiers to break their own loved ones on the wheel before he murders the prisoners of war by impaling them on spikes and leaving them to bleed out!”

Tinis is impassive, “An effective way of preventing future uprisings.”

Harmonious Jade, obviously incensed by Tinis’s blasé attitude, continues, “He shouted an entire fishing village into the sea!”

Tinis smiles at that one, “As In the Beginning.” He shrugs, “They were accused of harboring pirates.”

“He strapped children to the hull of his ship to discourage the enemy from firing on him! Before ramming the enemy ships!”

This one seems to get people’s attention, Melody rounds on him in the Warstrider, “Dude!”

Tinis looks offended, “In my defense… not human children. Beastfolk mutants. I’d never use human children as meat shields.”

(Melody bobs her head in a fifty-fifty gesture as she considers whether mutants deserve basic human rights.)

“He. Serves. Sondok.”

Jin studies Tinis closely, “Is she telling the truth?”

Tinis turns to face Jin, stone-faced, “A hypothetical. A wargame if you will. Let us say that she is telling the truth: I am akuma. A servant of Sondok. Let us assume also, that you kill me. I am here to help you hunt and kill Silken Claw: is Harmonious Jade here going to take my place and help you hunt down one of her own kind?”

Melody shrugs, “I mean, she helped us hunt down Sondok and Gifty…”

“I’m not going to help you murder Silk,” Harmonious Jade says flatly, “We’ve done a good thing here. We’ve dug out the Salmalin and we’ve crushed the dead. Heroes together against the forces of Malfeas and the Underworld. Chiaroscuro has a chance to rebuild now. We take out this last monster together and then we go our separate ways in peace.” She throws an imploring look up at Melody.

Melody shifts uncomfortably, “We… don’t know for sure that Jade is Anathema… so… how about this: you don’t murder my brother-in-law, we let you go, and whatever happens with Silken Claw… happens?”

Jin nods her assent.

An empty golden circle appears on Harmonious Jade’s forehead. Even with the glare of the sun reflected off the Field of Gold, there is no mistaking it as the Mark of the Wretched.

“Melody saw me when we first fought Sondok together!” Harmonious Jade challenges, “I am no demon! And even if I was, you should judge me by what I do not what I am! Silk was just trying to protect her home from Dragon-Blooded invaders. A home that man drove him out from!” She points an accusing finger at Ophris Dansei, “We fought together against real evil, the kind of evil Tinis champions! I’m not going to stand aside and let you murder an innocent man because you’re scared of his power! You can be better than that! You are better than that!”

Before our heroes can respond to Jades impassioned plea, a series of images flash in their minds. Three things are obvious: firstly, that these images are coming from an outside source, someone external is broadcasting directly into their brains; secondly, that the person sending these images has an obvious agenda, all the images have a strong emotional undercurrent of hatred for Harmonious Jade and Silken Claw, it is clear that whomever is sending the images wants our heroes to attack; and thirdly, that all the images are true, they are not fabrications, illusions, or the work of shapeshifters. Our heroes see Silken Claw lording over an army of slaves, carrying out cruel and bizarre experiments on mutated humans, treating with the demons of Malfeas, and brutally killing Ophris Dansei’s Hearth. They see Harmonious Jade killing people for money: Dynasts, merchants, unarmed people in their beds.

314 takes a moment to digest the stream of mental information and consider Harmonious Jade’s words. Jin starts to make a quip about how Harmonious Jade has a strange definition of innocent, but Melody cuts her off by ordering Clapper to attack as she opens fire on Harmonious Jade.

Harmonious Jade cartwheels backwards away from Melody’s sudden assault and fires on Tinis who snatches the arrow out of the air midflight and hurls it into the shadows of one of the broken towers. There’s an inhuman yell of pain as the arrow hits… something. Jade snaps off another shot, that misses Tinis by a hair’s breadth.

The “somethings” charge from the tower: it’s a squad of Blood Apes, indistinguishable from the Salmalin’s demonic foot-soldiers. They barrel directly into Klawthak and Ophris Dansei, bellowing their inhuman war-cry as lash out with their bloody clubs.

The shadows of the ruined tower start to glow. Silken Claw’s anima rises as he begins to work his magic from within. The entire Field of Gold seems to hum with sorcerous power as Silken Claw prepares his spell.

314 is carried on Clapper’s back toward Harmonious Jade. His instinct to sit and process all this new information is overridden by the urgency of the situation unfolding around him. Resolving that inaction would be a decision, he takes aim at the Solar and fires a barrage of shots.

Jin notices Ylva’s Absence as the battle unfolds around her. Silken Claw and his demons have hit them in the flank, but directly in front of them is a powerful and dangerous Solar assassin. For just a second she hesitates, thinking about her archons left behind on the docks and how quickly things have gone sideways since the morning. It is a sobering thought.

Tinis yells to her, “Take out the sorcerer! We’ve got the assassin!” He repositions himself, putting the Blood Apes between himself and Harmonious Jade.

For better or worse, her hand has been forced: inspired by Tinis’s instructions, Jin dashes around the Blood Apes and smashes her wrackstaff into Silken Claw’s face. The Mark of the Blasphemous – a brilliant golden circle, shining like the noon-day sun – blazes on the sorcerer’s forehead. He reels back from the blow with a snarl. A thick trickle of blood runs down from where Jin’s blow has connected.

“Your evil ends here, Blasphemer!” Jin yells, dropping into a defensive position.

“The truth is blasphemy only to a religion of lies!” Silken Claw retorts. Though blood is streaming from his face, he holds himself tall and starts to monolog. Bright white and majestic gold limes the sorcerer as he delivers a diatribe, condemning the Dragon-Blooded as Usurpers and their religion as falsehood. Mystic power backs his words as he continues to accumulate power towards his sorcerous spell. His speech tries to worm its way into Jin’s heart: even as she hardens her resolve against the Anathema, the words cause her to falter, just a little.

Harmonious Jade stops retreating and charges at Melody. She leaps into the air, landing on the Warstrider’s over-sized crossbow. She runs along the arm, balancing perfectly, and launches an arrow at point-blank range into the reloading mechanism. There’s a dull clunk as the Warstrider’s weapon jams and becomes unusable.

“DRAGON VORTEX ATTACK!” Tinis yells as chunks of rock are ripped from the fundament of Creation or appear out of the halo of his anima. The storm of rock blasts out from Tinis across the Blood Apes and the Warstrider. With uncanny precision, the terrestrial meteor storm only batters the Dragon-Blooded’s enemies – not a single rock touches Melody or the others as Jade and the demons are pelted. Harmonious Jade is forced to drop down off the Breath of Fire under the assault but is otherwise unharmed. The demons are not as agile, however, and are not only badly bludgeoned, but the earth itself opens beneath them, causing them to fall into a deep pit.

Klaw and Dansei smile at each other. Dansei extends a palm and sends bolts of burning fire smashing down into the pit. Klaw opens his maw and shouts blasts of flame down. The demons try to climb out of the pit under the deadly onslaught. The sheer sides of the pit are almost impossible to climb, but the demons are uncanny in their ability.

Melody lifts the Warstrider’s giant foot and brings it down heavily trying to crush Harmonious Jade like a bug, but the Anathema is quick as a shadow and evades the clumsy stomping.

“Use the sword!” 314 yells out as he lashes out with his own sword, slashing at Jade. She moves with Exalted speed, dodging the attack and wheeling away with the momentum of the dodge, crossing the field of gold and dashing for one of the broken towers.

Jin finds herself unable to attack her foe whilst he delivers his diatribe, she is forced to confront him with words instead, countering the arguments he makes with her own Essence-graced eloquence as she focus’s her power. She accuses Silken Claw of diabolism, enslaving the innocent, and growing mad with power. Her anima rises up hot around her as she speaks, flames starting to manifest as she draws on the power of the Dragons.

Silken Claw’s spell completes and Creation shifts before the Solar’s power. The Field of Gold cracks in two, shifts apart, and the middle of the ruined plaza starts to rise into the air. The shattered towers that surround the Field of Gold are split and torn from their foundations, toppling over. Gravity shifts unnaturally as space itself is warped like a piece of cloth lifted into the air: even though the “floor” is now at ninety-degrees to the ground, the combatants do not fall, but are instead also lifted into the air. The experience is disorientating – to everyone except the Blood Apes (who are used to the twisted environs of Malfeas) and Silken Claw himself.

Harmonious Jade, on the boarder of the spell, trips and falls, slipping outside of the spell’s unnatural gravity. The tower she was running for is also outside of the spell’s effect, standing parallel to the shimmering gold glass rising into the sky. She starts to climb the ruined tower, taking cover from the Terrestrials as she does.

The Blood Apes turn and stand on the wall of the pit, the wall that now runs parallel to the ground of Creation proper. Creation’s natural gravity takes hold, and they walk out of the pit rather than climb, before switching back to the sorcerous gravity when they reach the top. They blur forward with unnatural speed and attack Dansei and Klaw with renewed vigor.

Tinis, now trapped on the other side of this new plane, yells out “Get to the top!”

Dansei and Klaw disengage from their demonic foes and start to sprint to the top of the glass.

Melody staggers forward in the Warstrider. Up is now sideways, sideways is now down. Harmonious Jade is now inside the ruined building, climbing up to be level with Melody’s head… meaning she needs to look up to see her. She draws the Breath of Fire’s massive sword and swings it above her head, smashing it into the enchanted glass of the ruined tower, lashing out at Harmonious Jade.

Jin charges at Silken Claw. The Solar sorcerer slams his hands together, and tendrils of golden glass wrap around his body and suck him sideways into the plane of glass that was the floor and is now rising into the sky. He waves mockingly at Jin as her attack rebounds harmlessly off the glass, then starts to make arcane gestures. The glass beneath her feet starts to shift and change shape: from two flat planes of glass, tented up against each other, to form a round cylinder – a proper tower. The direction of gravity starts to alter – no longer pulling directly sideways, but now somewhat diagonal. Silken Claw twists in the glass, like an insect in amber, and reorientates himself: from Jin’s perspective he now seems to be lying down, as he realigns his body with the natural pull of Creation’s gravity.

“Oh shit-” Jin curses as she sprints toward the top of the plane of glass. The angle of gravity pulls back at her, so she half-runs, half-climbs the last few yards, hauling herself on to the top.

Clapper, carrying 314, is right behind her, scrambling up on to the top of the golden glass tower just as Creation’s gravity reasserts itself.

Tendrils of glass pull Claw’s Blood Apes inside the tower before they can fall, and the demonic bodyguards surround their master. They look up at the Dragon-Blooded standing on the roof of the tower and snarl menacingly.

The Breath of Fire, with Melody inside it, no longer clings to the wall of the tower and Melody falls face first to the ground. The weight of the Warstrider impacting the ground sends tremors up the tower.

“Ouch.”

She heaves herself upright. There’s no sign of Harmonious Jade. Silken Claw is safely ensconced thirty-feet in the air behind a foot of enchanted glass: standing tall, his feet are about level with the Warstrider’s head.

Silken Claw’s tower is perfectly smooth – there are no doors or windows. There is only one internal floor, a small ledge thirty-feet high where the Solar stands surrounded by his demonic bodyguards. The cylindrical tower rises another thirty feet before coming to a perfectly smooth roof, upon which the others stand.

Melody slams the Breath of Fire’s sword into the side of the golden pillar. The practically unbreakable Chiaroscuro glass fractures under the power of the Warstrider’s blow, but the tower still stands.

Jin probes the top of the tower with her wrackstaff, “Now what?” She asks.

314 shrugs.

From within the tower, Silken Claw casts a new spell. His body transmutes into a clanking metallic form of rust-streaked black iron, studded with rivets where segments of his metal skin meet. His right arm elongates into a wicked looking Grimcleaver in the shape of a bat’s wing.

Tinis stretches tall, limbers up, then curls into a ball.

“What are you doing?” 314 asks.

Tinis grins to himself, “First time?”

A storm of arrows fires up at 314 from a ruined tower on the edge of the Field of Gold. The angle is impossibly steep, but that doesn’t seem to be an obstacle for Harmonious Jade. 314 sweeps his sword through the air and batters away the arrows as they fall.

“We can’t effectively fight back from this position!” Dansei shouts.

“Yeah?” Jin says, looking at the perfectly smooth sides of the glass tower, “Well, I don’t feel like jumping.”

Tinis chuckles, “You’re not going to have to jump.”

314’s brow furrows, “What do mean?”

The ceiling melts like chocolate in the hot sun.

Klaw, Dansei, and 314 plummet to the ground. Dansei spits curses not befitting of a god as the fall shatters his ankles. Clapper absorbs the worst of the fall, leaving 314 rattled but not seriously harmed.

Tinis somersaults through the air, perfectly timing his fall to land on Silken Claw’s ledge. The sorcerer’s Blood Apes are ready for him and charge, trying to push him over the edge. They may as well be trying to move a mountain.

Jin extends her wrackstaff to its full length, well beyond the fighting length she usually keeps it. The ends of the pole wedge against the sides of the tower and stick there. Jin heaves herself up and with an acrobat’s grace, she balances on the pole. Extending her right arm, she points her palm at Silken Claw, bracing her elbow with the palm of her left hand.

“Eat shit!” She shouts as she blasts the sorcerer with bolts of fire.

From below her, 314 shoots her a quizzical glance as he raises his crossbow and joins the assault, “Did you just call the holy draconic power of Hesiesh ‘shit’?”

“It’s a figure of speech! Just kill the Anathema!”

From her vantage point in the Warstrider, Melody calls out to Jin and 314 on how best to coordinate their attacks to bring Silken Claw down.

The Solar sorcerer is not idle, however. With a wave of his hand, he melts away the walls of the tower, causing Jin to fall to the bottom with the others, before dissolving the ledge he’s standing on, sending Tinis and the Blood Apes falling as well.

Jin lands in a three-point crouch.

“Super-hero landing. Very tough on the knees,” 314 comments, “You should tuck and roll, like General Tinis.”

The walls of the tower, solid and proof against Melody’s attacks, yield like putty before Silken Claw, who slips out of the glass. With a gesture he makes a new roof over the top of the stubby prison sealing our heroes inside. He turns and starts to run away, stops, turns, creates a small window in the roof to allow Harmonious Jade to rain arrows down inside, then keeps running.

Melody hesitates for a moment, unsure whether to help her allies or chase Silken Claw.

“Get Silken Claw!” Jin and 314 yell out in unison.

With the Warstrider’s crossbow still damaged, Melody has no choice but to give chase. The long legs of the Warstrider quickly cross the Field of Gold, catching up with Silken Claw.

Striking from her hidden vantage point, Harmonious Jade fires arrows down through the sky-light, trying to take Jin down.

Jin’s anima rises up to its iconic form as a giant, flaming hound as she spins her wrackstaff like a propeller to knock away the arrows.

“Stop playing with the archer and take out the demons!” 314 admonishes.

With almost casual irritation, Jin lashes out at the deadly Blood Apes in between knocking Harmonious Jade’s arrows out of the sky. Each stroke breaks a skull, reducing the feared demons to a pile of battered corpses as she dispatches them with casual contempt.

314 doesn’t know much about animal husbandry, but he makes up for a lack of knowledge with pure, bloody-minded stubbornness, as he barks orders at Clapper, directing the Shieldback to swing its mighty tail at the same spot inside the tower as the place Melody attacked from the outside. The club of the giant dinosaur smashes through the “indestructible” glass, making a small hole, about the size of a child’s head, and sending more cracks throughout the walls of the structure.

Tinis pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, “I can’t fit through a hole that small!”

Harmonious Jade’s arrows rain from the sky, piercing Klaw in a dozen different places, driving the heavily armored Desert Strider to the ground. His breathing is ragged as his thick blood oozes from the wounds. Dansei drags his fallen comrade to the side of the prison and shelters him from further attack.

Silken Claw knows he has no chance to out-run a Warstrider. At least, not in a fair race. He dives between the Breath of Fire’s legs and swings his axe-arm at the war-machine’s ankle joint, hoping to hobble the device. The Solar moves with perfect human grace, his attack seems effortless, yet he moves in a blur, almost too fast to follow with the human eye. Almost. Melody surges her power through the Warstrider, putting her full Exalted might into dodging. Her movements are ungainly, and nearly cause her to topple over, but she jerks the Breath’s leg out of the way just in time and the blow misses her by a hair’s breadth. She staggers away from Claw, blocking his line of escape as she desperately wrestles the Breath of Fire back under her control and stops the giant war-machine from toppling over again.

Melody knows she has no hope of hitting a foe like Silken Claw with a clumsy swipe of the Warstrider’s oversized sword. She closes her eyes to center herself and whispers, “I’ve always wanted to try this… DRAGON VORTEX ATTACK!”

Melody’s attack is not as refined as Tinis’s, but it is no less deadly. Taking careful aim at Silken Claw, and lining up the building hiding Harmonious Jade, she unleashes the unbridled force of her draconic power shaking Creation to its foundations as she unleashes the primal wrath of her elemental power. A storm of crown of thorns blooms across the entire Field of Gold and well beyond, poison dripping from the briars of the deadly blossoms.

Silken Claw’s anima erupts into its iconic manifestation, a shifting tesseract of pure white lines and golden corners that seem to fleet away from the eye – impossible to take in all at once – as he dodges between the blooms. Despite avoiding the poisonous plants, his entire route of escape has turned from empty streets to thick jungle.

Jin becomes a thing of divine water as she slips out of the tiny hole made by Clapper. Moving with the grace of water and the fury of fire, she comes face-to-face with Silken Claw. Without missing a beat, she lashes out with her Wrackstaff, catching the sorcerer in the jaw. Flames leap up around the Anathema as the power of Jin’s anima ignites him. The Blasphemous spits out a blood covered tooth and steels himself for a fight on two fronts, seemingly undaunted by the fire.

“You’ve done well, noble steed, now it’s my turn,” 314 says dismounting.

Dansei hisses at him as he tries to stabilize Klawthak, “If that Shieldback couldn’t break through the glass what makes you think-”

314 winds back a fist and punches it straight through the magical glass. He rips a chunk out of the wall and continues demolishing it with his bare hands, until he’s carved out a hole large enough to walk through, then he runs over to join the battle against Silken Claw.

Tinis heaves Klawthak’s body over his shoulder and he and Dansei make a dash for cover at the edge of the Field of Gold. Melody’s plants shift out of their way as they move.

Melody catches sight of Harmonious Jade, no longer hidden within a ruined tower, but now standing proudly on top of it. She is limed in a pale gold, surrounded by a bonfire of luminous grey. She draws her Orichalcum bow, pulling the arrow back to its full length. The bow shines a ghostly white, accented in pale violet. She keeps pulling: the arrow seems to lengthen, shining as a ray of pure sunlight. She keeps drawing her bow: it bends impossibly, the super-strong metal bends as if time and space itself are bending, until its eaves almost touch. Despite the distance between them, Melody feels her eyes meet Jade’s. And then the Solar looses. A shooting star dances out of her anima, and barrels directly into Melody. Jade’s arrow pieces through the armored plates of the Warstrider and bullseye’s Melody, pinning her to the cockpit and leaving her unable to move. The golden light around the arrow fades, leaving only a mundane arrow of mortal creation wedged in Melody’s lung, an inch away from her heart. Melody roars in pain. She looks to the top of the building, but Jade’s anima display is gone, and so is the Solar.

“So, you like to play with fire?”

Emboldened by the incapacitation of the Warstrider, Silken Claw expends the last of his mystical energies, blasting Jin and 314 with a brilliant raptor of fire. Despite the protection of their power armor (and 314’s steadying presence), the Terrestrials are badly battered by the point-blank attack. The sorcerous attack ignites the vegetation conjured by Melody, sending up clouds of toxic smoke as the conflagration engulfs them. The power of the blast shatters the remains of the tower imprisoning Clapper.

Melody, unable to move or bring the might of the Warstrider to bare, calls out orders to her allies, directing them through the smoke and fire. The flames have yet to spread to her, but they edge closer.

Still flowing like water and burning like fire, Jin swings out again, driving her jade wrackstaff into the Anathema’s ribs. There’s a sickening crunch, followed by a wet sucking sound as she wrenches her weapon free. She stays one step ahead of the flames, dancing through the fire without harm.

Hot on her heels, 314 slashes out with the Justice Blade and claims the sorcerer’s head. Though the fire threatens to cook him inside his armor, he strides quickly to Melody’s side.

“Can you move?” He asks urgently.

Melody whistles and Clapper charges through the fire and thick vegetation to her side. Jin and 314 leaver the enormous Warstrider over the Shieldback Lizard’s back, and Clapper drags his mistress to safety.

The Field of Gold burns.

Tinis brings Dansei and Klawthak around the perimeter to rally with our heroes, who move a safe distance away.

“Any sign of Harmonious Jade?” Jin asks, perfunctionally.

Tinis shakes his head grimly, “The Wretched are craven. She’s either fled or withdrawn to kill us in our sleep. Either way, we will not see her again.”

Jin nods.

Tinis clears his throat, “Thank you. For taking my side, sisters.”

Jin fixes him with the steely gaze of an Imperial Magistrate, “Was what she said true? Do you work for Sondok?”

“No,” Tinis says firmly, “You never knew Peleps Lundaer, except maybe as an adversary. But she was my captain and my sworn sister: you could never meet a finer officer, dedicated to the Realm. She brought me here to root out the Salmalin corruption, not to spread it. She trusted me to stop Sondok. If you cannot trust me as your brother, then trust in the bonds of kinship – I could no more betray Lundaer’s mission than you could betray your own Hearth.”

“Then what was all that ‘hypothetical’ crap?” Melody asks as 314 helps her dismount from the Breath of Fire. There is a large hole in the torso of the priceless artifact, and in Melody’s chest.

“The Anathema, especially the Blasphemous, are skilled at weaving honied lies. They can make the truth sound like falsehood. I’m smooth, but I’m no Anathema. I needed more than just the truth, I needed you to know that even if you could believe the Anathema’s lies, you’d still be dead. To force you to accept that there was only one way forward. I very nearly failed.”

There’s a lull as our heroes contemplate how close they came to siding with Harmonious Jade.

Ophris Dansei breaks the silence, “Can any of you help Klawthak? He has lost a lot of blood.”

Melody gestures to the gaping wound in her own chest, as 314 fetches her Satchel of Resplendent Healing from Clapper.

“Why is it that our healer is always getting wounded?” Jin asks with a sigh.

Melody grins at her weakly and jerks a thumb over her shoulder at the Warstrider, “General Hin is going to be pissed.”

Ylva Wataru shrugs, “Ganan can fix it. Probably.”

“Where the fuck where you?” Jin asks, rounding on the Sidereal.

Ylva raises an eyebrow, “Fighting the Anathema by your side the whole time?” She responds, “Until I was trapped in that tower of gold.”

Ophris Dansei nods, “You handled yourself well.”

“Bull. Shit.” Jin calls, “One moment, you were standing next to us and Harmonious Jade was giving us her ‘We’re just innocent Anathema’ speech, then Melody went psycho, and you disappeared.”

Tinis looks confused, clearly not remembering Ylva in the fight, but otherwise willing to accept the Sidereal’s protests that she was there the whole time. Dansei is looking at Jin like she’s a madwoman.

314 nods, “She’s right. Your absence was conspicuously noted.”

“If it wasn’t for me,” Ylva says darkly, “You’d all be that Anathema’s slaves right now.” A palpable hatred emanates from her. Our heroes recognize it instantly as the exact emotion that underpinned the images of the Anathema’s heinous crimes that had been broadcast to them at the start of the fight.

“You’re the one who showed us the truth… thank you,” Melody says as she finishes bandaging her own wound and moves over to help Klawthak, “But in the future, stay out of my head.”

Ylva bows and turns to address Jin, “What will you do now?”

Jin takes a deep breath, “We need to get back to the docks. Rally with my archons, get the Breath of Fire shipped back to Paragon: maybe the warstrider bay in Dari could be used to repair it? Can you contact the Blessed Isle? Have them send Melody’s fleet to shore up the harbor? With the demons and the dead and the Anathema routed, we can reclaim the city: rebuild from the harbor down, use the Plaza as a base of operations.”

Ylva nods, “I can… do you want me to send an envoy to the nomadic Delzahn?”

“No, fuck-‘em,” Melody says as she shoots up with a lot more pain-killer than she needs, especially with a serious wound to her respiratory system.

314 notes her incapacitated state and gets to work treating Klaw’s wounds himself using Melody’s tools.

Jin nods, “Gotta agree with Melody on this one: the Tri-Khan allowed this to happen, he let the demon cultists flourish, didn’t protect against the shadowlands, Pasiap only knows how long the corruption of the Fire Fleet was allowed under his watch. The Perfect doesn’t allow hard drugs and the Salmalin found no foot-hold in Paragon – we should invite him to expand his empire.”

314 looks up from treating Klawthak, “I have only visited two cities in this strange time, but I must agree that I prefer Paragon to Chiaroscuro.”

Ylva pauses for a moment, “You know that the range of the Perfect’s staff is limited? He cannot control a city this far away.”

“Maybe not with a magic stick, no,” Jin concedes, “But you know as well as I do that his reach has always extended past the range of his staff. And with Danireya helping him, I’m sure he can control an empire the old-fashioned way. Plus it means more tribute for Great House Alinos.”

Tinis interjects, “If the Empress lets you keep the city. Traditionally it has always been a separate Satrapy.”

“Kirighast is in open rebellion and these fuckers,” Jin gestures at Ophris Dansei, “Are encroaching on Varang: whoever holds the city has to safeguard the Southern trade routes. It’s a natural fit for the Merchant Fleet to hold that responsibility, right Melody?”

Melody gives a drunken thumbs up, then passes out.

Ylva adds, “Plus the Empress is letting Great Houses keep Satrapies won by right of conquest – for now – as a way of encouraging expansion. I think your plan is sound.”

314 turns to Ophris Dansei, “And what will you do, Ophris Dansei?”

The ‘living god’ looks shell-shocked, “I will take those followers remaining to me and return home. My scribes will make note of your deeds performed this day, Alchemical Champion 314, Alinos, Magistrate Jinabar: whilst I still draw breath, you will all be welcome in the Empire of Prasad as my honored guests.”

Melody’s eyes flutter open, “If you’ll wait until the fleet arrives, I’m sure we can get you some new elephants. Won’t be as fancy as the ones you lost, but better than walking to Prasad.” Her speech is a little slurred, but perfectly intelligible.

Dansei nods, graciously accepting the offer.

314 gazes off into the distance, “What about the Locusts? With Saloy Hin moving his legion north and the Warstrider out of commission… don’t we need to stop them?”

“We will,” Jin reassures him, “But consider how a war is fought. Our supply lines are dangerously stretched. We need to rebuild Chiaroscuro. Explore Dari. Make good on our promises to the Jadeborn. Repair the Warstrider. These Locusts might be able to take out a few caravansaries, but if Saloy Hin can hold them off, the Realm can hold them off. We won’t lose any of our Satrapies in a defensive war. We just need to make sure we don’t over-extend. Once we are ready, we’ll push the Locusts back.”

314 nods slowly, “That is the reason for my entering hyper-sleep. It is unwise to strike at a foe before you are ready for battle… yet… I was not awakened for five thousand years. I waited too long. I hope we are not making the same mistake again.”

Ylva claps her hands together, “Well then, next stop, Paragon!”

****

Chiaroscuro’s refugees are worried that the dead might return. Ophris Dansei seems to forget his role as a god, detached from mortal concerns, and promises that he and Klawthak shall watch over them. Peleps marines rebuild the harbor defenses, and runners are sent to coordinate with the Plaza.

Melody is in too much of a stupor to care.

Jin turns to Ylva, “How likely is it? That the dead will return?”

Ylva shakes her head sadly, “A certainty. But we have reduced the zombie horde to mulch and defeated the most powerful Nephwrack. Containing a few hungry ghosts should not be a problem for the survivors. Saloy Hin will be arriving soon to reclaim his Warstrider – do you want me to divert him to Paragon?”

314 muses, “Would it be so terrible to let him come here? His command team are Exalted: having more Dragon-Blooded in the city come nightfall would help fend off the dead.”

Jin nods, “I like the way you think!”

****

Our heroes load the Breath of Fire aboard a blue water vessel, along with Clapper, Tinis, and Jin’s archons. By rights, even with favorable conditions, the sail should take all day and most of the night. With Melody at the helm and Ylva in the crows’ next, they arrive in Paragon as evening falls. By rights, the fully laden large ship shouldn’t be able to sail up the river delta to moor in Paragon proper, but the impossible has never stopped our heroes before.

They do not bother packing provisions and supplies, instead Melody causes the dead wood of the ship to bloom with edible fruits. Our heroes eat well, especially Clapper who gorges on fresh feed after being ridden hard for the past few days.

On the approach to Paragon, Melody connects her mind to her Hearthmates to bring them up to speed. Danireya, Ganan, and Ludila are awaiting them when they arrive at the docks, along with a scale of troops from the garrison. The Paragon based Dynasts are all wearing deep grey clothing, which immediately highlights the fact that our heroes are not dressed appropriately. Reya looks impassive: they await our heroes at the entrance to the harbor, standing by a large stone statue.

The archons moor the ship, and Melody, Jin, 314 and Tinis disembark and proceed to the welcoming party.

Melody wants to throw her arms around Reya and give her a big hug, but something in the Satrap’s demeanor stops her, instead, in a cheerful voice she announces, “Mission accomplished. And we brought back a sizable bonus.” She gestures to Tinis, who’s seven-foot-two frame is unmistakable.

Reya nods in greeting to her Sworn Kin, permitting herself a small smile of affection, before turning her attention to her eldest brother. Her expression immediately goes serious. “Alinos Tinis.”

Tinis nods slightly, “Good to see you, Dani.”

“That remains to be seen,” Reya answers coolly, “My understanding is that you died, a hero, defending the Imperial City. From forces aligned to with the Anathema. Now a man stands before me, without your armor, your Mon, your signet, claiming to be my brother returned from the dead. If you are really Tinis, then tell me: on my thirteenth name-day, when I left home to attend the Spiral Academy to prepare to become a Satrap, what gift did you, my brother Tinis, give me?”

Tinis, stiff and formal, permits himself a small sigh, “A trick question on three fronts. Firstly, Dynastic children leave home for secondary school on their fourteenth name-day. Secondly, you’ve never attended the Spiral Academy: all of our mother’s children worth their salt have followed in our parent’s footsteps, I attended the House of Bells like father, you followed mother by attending the Heptagram. You’ve never intended to become Satrap – you want more than running a backwater. Finally, I didn’t get you anything when you left home, or, rather, you said that my gift to you could be accepting this…” He plunges his hand into the stone statue and withdraws the enormous bronze axe he uses to fight with, “The first weapon you forged after taking your Second Breath. I’ve carried it with me ever since, though it has needed some maintenance over the decades.”

Reya smiles with unguarded affection at her brother, but keeps her pose stiff and formal, “It is fitting that analysis of the Immaculate Prayer Calendar suggests that it is proper to give thanks to Luranume this day. Once you have bathed and changed your attire, we shall feast.” Reya looks over to the ship, presumably about to make the magnanimous gesture of inviting the archons to join them, when she catches sight of something – or someone – aboard their ship and her expression immediately darkens. She gestures for the party to proceed to the Satrapal compound, but she and Ganan hang back.

314 strides off with Udi, the soldiers, Clapper and the Warstrider, but Jin and Melody drag their feet, and over-hear Reya’s hushed commands, “That one. The non-descript woman with green eyes. The one who clearly isn’t an archon.”

Ganan squints, “The… Varagian astrologer?”

“Kill her.”

Ganan nods, not questioning the order to kill a random stranger and makes for the ship.

Melody, feeling conflicted, says nothing, but Jin intervenes, dashing in front of Ganan to stop him.

“Whoa there, hold up, bro.”

Ganan looks down at Jin, plunges his hand into the same statue that Tinis used to withdraw his weapon, and pulls out Thunder’s Crash, “Move, or I’ll move you.”

Jin folds her arms, “I’m not going to just let you murder Ylva.”

“You know who she is?” Reya’s voice rings in Jin and Melody’s mind as they communicate wordlessly, “You remember who she is?”

“She’s a Sidereal,” Melody responds grudgingly, “She’s posing as an astrologer for both Saloy Hin and a Prasadi we met. She helped us bring down Gifty and an Anathema in the city.”

“So, you don’t remember who she is,” Reya confirms, “She’s Anathema. She has plagued me for two decades. She nearly killed us all in the Imperial Manse. We end her now.”

Jin broadcasts her confused thoughts, “We only just met her, and she definitely hates the Anathema.”

“I think I’d remember the name of the Sidereal who nearly killed us in the Imperial Manse!”

Ganan muses carefully, “Eldora Tawaru…”

“Ylva. Wataru.” Reya responds tersely.

“No, that doesn’t sound right…” Melody says slowly, “What kind of a name is ‘Ylva’? Sounds made-up.”

Jin takes a moment to realize that Melody isn’t joking, “Seriously, what’s the name of Dansei and Hin’s astrologer?”

“Ylva Wataru,” Melody responds automatically, “But that’s… wait… what? Who are we talking about? Wait…”

“Emma Hudson…” Ganan continues to muse to himself.

“Sweetie, shut up,” Reya says, tersely but not without affection.

“I know someone called Ylva Wataru…” Melody says straining her memory.

“Yes, it’s the Solar Anathema hunter who we’ve just spent the last day with!” Jin responds with frustration.

“Welcome to the hell that is my life,” Reya consoles Jin, “I’m just glad you almost remember her this time round.”

Melody’s mind ticks over slowly, “She… works for the Empress. Convener of Special Taskforces. She’s the one… who sent me to Dari… And before that…” Melody switches from mental communication to verbal, “She can turn into a dragon. We fought a goddamn Warstrider together. Are you crazy? Even if Ganan can take her, you’ll destroy the entire dock!”

Our heroes look over to the ship, Ylva Wataru is no-where to be seen. Reya fumes silently for a moment but realizes there’s nothing to be done.

“Come,” She says, “You must prepare for the feast. Please, Jin, invite your archons to the celebration.”

****

Our heroes return to the Satrapal compound, adjacent to the Perfect’s magnificent palace. There they wash and change into clothes of suitable Paragonese grey – Melody’s garments are loose fitting enough to be worn over the top of her enchanted armor, but Jin’s are not. Reya does, however, provide Jin with a finely wrought breastplate, of a design similar to that which she wore as an Imperial Magistrate, easily concealable beneath her clothing. 314 finds the garments strange, but not uncomfortable as he dresses – his outfit includes gloves and covers just about all of his body apart from his head. The servants are obviously ill at ease around 314, but as soon as he starts to speak, his gentle voice and easy mannerisms comfort them immediately. The compound is soon abuzz with rumors about the stranger.

The dining hall of the compound is not a grand affair by Dynastic standards, but still able to easily accommodate a hundred guests. Danireya, her advisors and garrison commander, sit on the top table, with our heroes and Tinis seated at the table immediately in front of her. Administrators in service to the Realm, marked on their hands as citizens of Paragon, and officers from the garrison (bearing no such marks) fill out most of the guests. A small delegation of Immaculate Monks sit at our heroes’ table, along with Ganan – Jin’s archons sit further down. The Satrap gives a short speech extoling the virtues of the distant Master of Fivefold Luck and Lord of Auspicious Surprises, gives thanks for the return of her brother, and delivers the standard immaculate caution about not relying upon the distant Celestial gods nor offering worship at inappropriate times.

A glance around the room quickly reveals that the monks appreciate the speech, and that everyone else just wants to get on and eat, having heard the standard platitudes many times. Food is brought out by servants and the guests help themselves. Our heroes pile their plates high, especially 314 who has had nothing but travel rations and fruit from the ship since being awoken from stasis.

“Two things bothering me,” Melody complains to Tinis with a mouth full of pork, “You got two things wrong.”

Tinis smiles at her and raises an eyebrow, “Did I?”

Ganan smirks to himself. Jin leans in, interested, and 314 looks hesitant, as if preparing for a fight.

“Firstly, you called Reya ‘Dani’,” Melody says, studying Tinis, “Still trying to work out why she didn’t call you a Lunar and break your legs.”

“Dani is what we called her before she Exalted. Like Freddy and Yeti.” Tinis says with an easy shrug.

“That tracks,” Jin says, “I don’t like it when people call me ‘Jinny’. But I guess if my big brother wasn’t an asshole, I wouldn’t mind so much coming from him.”

Ganan tosses her a casual salute.

“Oh, I am going to have a lot of fun with calling ‘Freddy’ by his baby name,” Melody grins devilishly to herself, “So, what did they call you before you Exalted?”

Tinis frowns and says with easy confidence, “Tin-tin.”

“Nope,” Ganan says, wagging a finger at him, “Try again.”

Tinis, dignified General of the Realm, glowers at him, “My parents called me Tin-tin before I Exalted.”

“I don’t know about that,” Ganan says, “But I know what Reya and Ferad used to call you when they were children.”

“Please don’t.”

Ganan smiles to himself and takes a drink of water.

“Hey, you can’t leave us in suspense like that!” Jin complains, needling her brother.

“If General Tin-tin would rather it not be known, then far be it from me to tarnish his good name.” Ganan makes a sign of zipping his lip.

Melody leans in and pitches her tone just right, “Go on.”

Tinis buries his face in his hands and looks like he’s going to die.

“Titties,” Ganan says, totally deadpan, “Apparently, young Tinis struggled saying Tin-tin, and so did his siblings, so… ‘Titties’.”

Jin guffaws, “Oh, well, that’s not… that’s not that bad.”

“Alright, alright, what about you?” He says wagging a finger between Ganan and Melody.

“Ganan.” Ganan says simply.

Jin nods in dry confirmation, “He’s always been dull.”

“It’s a simple name. It doesn’t need contracting.” Ganan shrugs, in a rare moment of insight, he steps in for Melody, “And Melody was born a peasant, so no cutesy Dynastic baby name for her.”

Alinos Gracious Pealing Melody, who was named ‘Peal’ before drawing the Second Breath, takes a sip of wine, grateful for the reprieve.

“What was the other mistake?” 314 says, not quite at ease from the Dynastic banter.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” Ganan says, answering for Tinis, “He was just being cruel.”

Tinis feigns offense, “I attended the House of Bells, as did Yotin. Reya went to the Heptagram.”

“Right,” Melody says, “But Ferad?”

Tinis cuts off a large chunk of beef and chews thoughtfully.

314 fixes Tinis with a hard stare, food forgotten as he prepares to draw his weapon. 314’s naked hostility is evidently read by Jin, who clutches Calumny in its collapsed form, ready to strike. Melody’s easy mood evaporates as her Circle prepares for battle.

Ganan softly clears his throat, “Jin, you have a photographic memory, what were Tinis’s exact words.”

Jin doesn’t even need to close her eyes to recall the conversation, “‘All of our mother’s children worth their salt have followed in our parent’s footsteps’.”

“And this statement isn’t true?” 314 says, looking to Melody for confirmation.

“Ferad didn’t attend the House of Bells. He ran away, pretended to be a Found Egg.” Melody says, “The real Tinis should have known that.”

Jin laughs to herself as the penny drops, “Damn, that’s cold,” Melody and 314 look at her, “He had a rider in that statement: ‘worth their salt’.”

314 is not amused, but is satisfied that the feast won’t turn into a fight to the death, “Do you truly think so little of your brother that you would risk us thinking you were an Anathema imposter just to insult him?”

Ganan shrugs and answers for Tinis, “Honestly? I’d be more worried if he didn’t take a shot at Ferad.”

314 shakes his head, “This era continues to befuddle me. In my time, humans valued their family: I would have thought that to the Dragon-Blooded, family would be a sacred thing.”

“Family is everything!” Tinis says, slamming his fist on the table in naked anger. The others raise an eyebrow at his shocking overreaction to 314’s statement. The elder Dragon-Blooded clears his throat, proceeding with a more congenial tone, “My brother brought shame on our family. But if there is redemption to be had, it lies with the fact that family is more than just the blood-ties we are born with. It is the family we make for ourselves through our oaths and alliances, Sworn Kinship and marriage. My brother’s shame is ameliorated by his wife’s glory,” He raises his glass to Melody, “Two successful Wyld Hunts against Solars. It is a boast few can make.”

Melody grimaces, but returns the gesture to Tinis, “It is a boast too many can make in this fallen age.”

Ganan, who has yet to successfully fight a Solar, being handily defeated the last time he encountered one in battle, busies himself with his food.

“Is that all you’re eating?” Melody asks, looking at Ganan’s plate. He has a large serving of chicken and lots of green vegetables, but no sauces, red meat, or grains. “You’ll offend the god of luck if you don’t properly celebrate his feasts.”

“I have enough food,” Ganan says, as he gestures to the Immaculate Monks, who like him, have not piled their plates, “And I don’t think I risk offending the gods.”

314 takes another huge slab of meat, “Well, just to be on the safe side!” He chuckles to himself, “You can’t fool me: you want to get to work on that Warstrider, that’s why you’re not eating – so you can excuse yourself!”

“Excess food blocks the flow of energy in the body,” Ganan says matter-of-factly, “But… there is truth to your words: I would like to make a start tonight.”

314 nods in understanding, “‘Warstriders’, it seems, have become much more common than in my time: Thamuz’s construction was a unique miracle. I am… awed that the Exalted have managed to create and maintain comparable devices. I should like to study the Breath further.”

Jin snorts, “You boys and your toys. How… has it been in Paragon, since you arrived, brother?”

Ganan responds with deliberate slowness, “Good. Reya and I have renewed our commitments to one another. The citizens of Paragon are… they… sleep well and are more pleased than ever with the Perfect’s rule. Garrison Commander Terel has been working closely with the Perfect’s generals to expand Paragons sphere of influence. Things are good.”

Jin nods, “I’m a little surprised that the Perfect isn’t here, with his new toy?”

Ganan smiles awkwardly, “It would seem that one can have too many toys. Reya’s looking after it for him.”

Melody raises an eyebrow, “That’s… bound to cause tension.”

Ganan bobs his head, “It’s Reya. She made it work. The initial results have been very promising.”

Tinis looks back and forth between our heroes, and throws 314 a questioning glance. The Alchemical just shrugs at him. “Fine, keep your secrets.”

“The important thing,” Jin insists, “Is whether Paragon is in a position to expand? Melody is redirecting elements of the Merchant Fleet to reclaim Chiaroscuro’s harbor for the Realm, but the city is a maze of minor Shadowlands, just waiting for a Deathknight to drag the entire city into the Underworld.”

“Or a Lunar,” Ganan adds, “The Dark Arts of Necromancy come easily to the cannibals that stalk in the moonlight.”

“Either way,” Jin continues, “We need living people in Chiaroscuro, putting up salt wards, living their lives, reclaiming the city for the living.”

“And you want the Perfect to provide them?” Ganan nods, “He is ambitious. Certainly, and the Chiaroscuro harbor was once the focal point of trade in the South: a strong Realm presence safeguards the coastal roads used by the Guild, and opens up a path to Varang and the Dreaming Sea beyond. It could be very lucrative to have the city under the Perfect’s control.”

“But it means a significant investment,” Melody clarifies, “House Alinos and the Merchant Fleet will not be paying to support the Perfect’s new colony. It’s at least a day by sea between the cities, and there are dozens of client states, townships, caravansaries, and nomad tribes between their and here over land. Paragon will have to push further East than it ever has, well beyond the range of the Perfect’s toy, into a land controlled by demon worshipers and hostile tribals. Towards a land in open revolt. Does the Perfect even trust anyone enough to run a city in his name? When it’s going to take a day to relay his commands and another day to get a response?”

Ganan exhales, “Are you asking me or telling me?”

Melody reaches across the table and punches him in the arm, “You’re married to his most trusted advisor!”

Ganan blinks slowly, “Do you imagine that Reya lets me anywhere near the Perfect?” He pauses, “And besides, his most trusted advisor is the Royal Consort and Minister of the Arts. Reya’s maybe a close second… but… what if it didn’t take a day to relay his commands? And what if we give him someone to run the city?”

“We give him…” Melody trails off. Ganan is a famously easy person to read: he’s staring directly at Jin.

Jin stops eating mid-bite and wonders why everyone is looking at her.

314 carries on eating, but between mouthfuls, nods his head, “Good plan. Jin already has a residence in the city, you five can communicate using the gifts of the Dragons over the vast distances. Even if the Perfect can’t trust her to run the city in his name, her family ties means she’ll never turn on Paragon.”

“And as a member of a Cadet House, it is, technically, legal.” Ganan finishes, finding himself irresistibly drawn into liking 314, despite his suspicion and initial hostility. “Not that we’d want to push that claim, mind, the Satrapy should belong to the Perfect and Paragon.”

“And you all expect me to be able to talk him into this?” Jin says, raising an eyebrow.

Melody gestures to the top table, “I mean, Reya and Udi will help, I guess, but… yeah? I mean, yeah? That’s kinda your entire thing, right?”

Jin throws her hands in the air, “I couldn’t even get a face-to-face meeting last time we were here!”

Ganan quickly counters this, “But you did stop Saloy Hin! Something the Deliberative and Regent Fokuf couldn’t do in five years. You brought a renegade general, his rogue legion, and his Warstrider to heel. Then you smashed the barbarians to the East. There isn’t a threat to Paragon within a thousand miles, because of you.”

Jin sighs, “I… trust myself not to fuck up this situation worse than it is. So, I will do my best to convince the Perfect to go along with this… scheme. Set up the meeting.”

Tinis clears his throat, “I might have been out of the game for a little while, but I know the Perfect. You are better off presenting this as a fait accompli: put the Merchant Fleet in place, set up trade arrangements with the Guild. Maybe see if you can convince Saloy Hin to give up his Locust Crusade and stick around in Chiaroscuro. Then you lay out your plan before the Perfect and say you were doing it for him all along.”

“I have fleet elements on route,” Melody shrugs, “Saloy Hin is currently in the city, and I don’t see him running off without his Warstrider. So, if we can get some fancy Guild contacts to visit the city… I think it is a fait accompli.”

“Do you have any Guild contacts?” 314 asks Ganan.

“The only Guild Merchant I know is Brightsky Vandertunt.” Ganan says with a shrug.

Melody gives a sigh, “Yes, but Brightsky is about three thousand miles away. Threef meant someone useful. In the city.”

“He’s over there,” Ganan says bluntly, pointing two tables over. Sure enough, Brightsky is a guest at the feast, drinking deeply and making merry.

Jin is at a loss for words, “I… well that’s… huh.”

“What?!” Melody splutters.

“Yes, that’s the word, ‘What?’” Jin rejoins.

“He’s a Merchant Prince,” Ganan explains, “His caravans run from Chiaroscuro to Nexus along well-established trade routes. You know this.”

Jin jabs a finger at her brother, “And you know that we’re about five-hundred miles from Chiaroscuro.”

Ganan nods, “Chiaroscuro, however, was until recently, a city overrun by the dead and ridden with demonic cultists. Not exactly a prime trading hub. With the uncertainty in the region, that Paragon is a far more logical place to do business. Plus, he knows the Satrap well enough to be invited to festivals at her residence.”

“There’s now an open warzone in Kirighast bang in the middle of that trade route,” Melody muses, “Why and how is he still making the trip?”

Ganan shrugs, “War is good for business?”

“Bliss,” Jin remembers, “Brightsky is a Bliss addict.”

Tinis visibly tenses at this revelation, “Then he cannot be trusted.”

Melody shrugs, “Maybe he’s kicked the habit?”

Tinis’s expression turns dark, “Bliss withdrawal is fatal. Even for Dragon-Blooded.”

314 makes a puzzled face, “Then how-” He begins, but the question of how Tinis was able to purge the Fire Fleet of its Bliss addicted officers dies in the Alchemical’s throat, as the only possible method of doing so occurs to him. “That’s… that’s rough buddy.”

“So, where in Malfeas’s name is he still getting Bliss?” Jin wonders, “I don’t see him risking his life against zombies and hungry ghosts to get his fix from the Salmalin in Chiaroscuro.”

314 makes an open-hand gesture, “Logically, if he is based in the city, he must have a supplier in the city.”

“Bliss is illegal in Paragon,” Jin recalls.

314 smiles condescendingly, “In my day, many substances were illegal. But, ingenious beings that humans are, and this may surprise you, people found a way to sell them anyway.”

Jin shakes her head, “Not in Paragon.” She points out the Perfect’s mark on the back of the citizen’s hands, “Those marks… stop citizens breaking the Perfect’s laws. It’s literally not possible to deal Bliss in the city.”

314 looks around, “But not everyone has the mark. Your kin, for example: Brightsky’s good friend, the Satrap.”

“Reya isn’t dealing Bliss!” Ganan’s voice is low and menacing.

314 and Ganan stare at each other for a beat.

“Threef isn’t suggesting that it’s Reya,” Melody says, evenhandedly, “He’s pointing out that there are people in Paragon not beholden to the Perfect’s laws. The Satrap. Her four advisors. You. The Garrison Commander. Visiting merchants. Tourists. These guys.” She tosses her head in the direction of the Immaculate Monks.

“You think Immaculate Monks are dealing narcotics?” Ganan asks incredulously.

“I wouldn’t have credited accusations against a Realm admiral, Civil War notwithstanding, nor would I have expected a demon cult to plunge an entire city into darkness. But it happened,” Melody says, “But someone in this city is dealing Bliss.”

Jin jerks a thumb over her shoulder at Brightsky, “We should just ask our friend.”

“Do not make a scene!” Ganan cautions.

Jin does a double-take at being lectured by her brother on making a scene.

314 stands, “We will be the very picture of discretion.” He reassures.

Udi gives our heroes a curious glance as they rise from their seats before the feast is over, but no-one pays them too much attention in the babble of the revelry as they make their way over to Brightsky. The Merchant Prince doesn’t notice them at first, but a gets the look of a terrified animal when he sees that Jin is right on top of him.

“M-magistrate!” Brightsky stammers, his speech slurring just a little, “I had no idea that you and your sister were in the city.” He casts a nervous look over 314, “And your… new…” He obviously has no idea how to address 314, so instead he just nods, “Very good.”

“I am Alchemical Champion Jade Caste Unit Three-Fourteen,” 314 extends a hand to shake, “Pleased to meet you.”

Brightsky looks awkwardly at the Alchemical’s outstretched hand, more used to saluting or bowing by way of greeting. He gingerly takes it, and 314 shakes firmly. Despite himself, Brightsky feels immediately at ease in 314’s presence.

That ease immediately evaporates as Jin starts talking, “Who supplies you with Bliss?”

(Melody gives Jin the side-eye, “Hesiesh! Aren’t you supposed to be trained in subtle information gathering or whatever?”

“I’m trained in direct interrogation,” Jin responds coolly, before turning back to Brightsky, “You really don’t want me to ask that question twice.”)

“It is illegal to dispense Bliss within the lands of the Perfect,” Brightsky replies evenly. His eyes flick back-and-forth over the room, clearly trying to size up escape routes and how any combat is likely to go.

“Not,” Jin leans over the table, “What I asked.”

At the top table, Reya raises a glass to her lips, hiding her mouth, and very quietly whispers, “What are you doing?” The words find their way over the noise of the feast to Jin’s ear. Jin quickly makes a signal to Melody for her to link the minds of their hearth together.

Melody gives Reya a very abridged summary of what’s going on.

Reya mumbles something else into her wine glass, and Tinis and Ganan stand up and excuse themselves from the dining hall. Ganan, being unsubtle and made of bronze, is somehow more conspicuous than the seven-foot stranger. Reya’s thoughts are made very clear to the rest of the Hearth. “Not here. Not now.”

“Think on my sister’s question, Brightsky,” Melody says, as she takes Jin by the shoulders and guides her away from the table, “We’ll talk more after the festivities.”

Our heroes excuse themselves and meet Ganan outside. Tinis has disappeared into the night.

“What part of ‘don’t make a scene’?” Ganan asks aloud.

“What part of fleet toppling, city destroying, demonic super-crack?” Jin fires back.

314 shrugs, “I mean, from the name, I’d say it’s probably more like an opiate than crack… I suppose we should have asked Tinis.”

“So not the point,” Jin says irritably, “He’s just a mortal, we need answers, not decorum.”

“We need,” Ganan reminds her, “A Guild contact who is going to bring trade to Chiaroscuro.”

“We don’t need a Guild contact who’s going to enslave Creation to demons!” Jin responds, “You weren’t there! You didn’t see it! You were too busy avoiding your responsibility to clean up your daughter’s mess.”

Ganan balls and unballs his fist. With great effort, he speaks slowly, “There is. Some truth. In that. But where. Do you think. The supplies to fix the Breath are coming from?”

“Whoa,” Melody chimes in, “Bad plan! You want to fix our warstrider with parts cursed by demons?”

314 nods, “Certainly, if this Brightsky is in service to Sondok, that could present the perfect opportunity for sabotage.”

“If you make a show of pushing around one Merchant Prince, the ones not in service to Sondok aren’t going to come clamoring to give us their business,” Ganan reprimands, “Brightsky is here as a guest, you can’t just-”

Someone cuts him off mid-sentence by clearing their throat. Our heroes turn and see that it is Brightsky. The Merchant Prince looks imploringly at 314. His appeal is simple and heart-felt, “Can you help me, Champion?”

314 nods, “I will try.”

****

Our heroes negotiate a deal with Brightsky: he will direct caravans to supply Chiaroscuro and give up the name of his contacts who supply him with Bliss, and in return our heroes will ensure that he receives enough Bliss to stay alive until they can work out how to safely wean him from the drug. Brightsky reassures our heroes that he has no orders to tamper with their Warstrider, and, though skeptical, our heroes believe him. Melody conducts a thorough exam of Brightsky to try and determine the effects that Bliss has on the human body. She makes a little progress, but will need to examine him again after he has missed a dose.

Our heroes set into motion plans to meet with the Perfect – after they have dealt with the Bliss problem.

****

Brightsky’s supplier, unsurprisingly is not a citizen of Paragon, but a foreign ambassador. Surprisingly, it is the ambassador sent from the Lap. As both the Lap and Paragon are loyal Realm Satrapies, and the Lap is several hundred miles away, our heroes find themselves questioning exactly why the Lap has an official ambassador to Paragon, but Brightsky explains that much trade is done between the cities, with the Lap exporting food stuffs to the many settlements between the cities and spending the coin on importing fine goods from Paragon. The Lapland ambassador is a cousin of the former king, coming up on his sixtieth year, by the name of Ketil. Brightsky does not know whether Ketil manufactures the Bliss in Paragon, or whether Laplanders smuggle it to him. He is able to confirm that Ketil has taken over the supply of Bliss to not only him, but to all the Southern Guild Factors since the fall of Chiaroscuro: whilst Bliss makes up only a tiny percentage of the Guild’s narcotic’s sales, this still means that vast amounts of the drug are coming out of Paragon.

****

Ambassador Ketil’s town house is in the same ambassadorial district as the Satrap’s residence, near the heart of the city, built close to the Perfect’s palace. After a short walk, our heroes show up unannounced.

“Right, I’m thinking Jin, you break in and snoop…” Melody begins as Jin walks straight past the ambassador’s guards and raps her knuckles on the door.

314 follows guilelessly behind Jin and offers the guards a friendly nod as he waits for the door to be opened. He turns and waves Melody to come over and stand with them. “She’s with us!” He says confidently.

An attendant opens the door as Melody approaches.

Jin smiles in greeting, “May the blessings of the Master of Fivefold Luck fall upon your master’s house. I am Cynis Jinabar, this is Alinos Melody, and our esteemed companion Three-Fourteen. We’re here to speak with Ambassador Ketil.”

The attendant looks uncertainly at our trio. 314 gives a broad grin and waves at her. She speaks slowly and uncertainly, “My master is not expecting any appointments, certainly the house is not… fit to receive such honored guests of your station on this holy day. But we would be glad to receive you in the morning.” The attendant bows deeply.

Jin brushes past her as she pushes her way into the building, “Nonsense, on this, the holy day of the Lord of Auspicious Surprises, you wouldn’t want to turn away two Dragon-Blooded who find their way to your door.”

The attendant, ushers Melody and 314 inside and closes the door quickly. “If you will come this way, I will bring Ambassador Ketil to you.” She shows them to a reception room.

Jin gives it a ten count before slipping out of the room. A pair of burly guards stand blocking the way.

“Please wait inside,” The guard says firmly in thickly accented High Realm.

Jin nods, turns, and without looking extends Calumny to its full length, striking both the unprepared mortals in the head and knocking them out. “Too easy,” she smirks to herself, turning back again and stepping over their unconscious forms.

314 points after her, “Do we follow her? Do we wait here?”

Melody shrugs, “Just… let her do her thing…” She closes her eyes and focuses on Jin and 314, linking them together with one mind.

Jin slinks her way through the town house and to the basement, reasoning that if there is a large supply of Bliss hidden here, that’s the most logical place. Her suspicious are confirmed as she hides from the door attendant hurrying back to the reception room. She makes her way into the dimly lit room, and telepathically tells the others that stealth is no longer required. Crates are stacked all around the room, quiet as a mouse Jin sneaks a peak at the closest one and finds it full of Bliss.

Melody and 314 draw their weapons and take aim at the doorway, expecting trouble to burst through at any moment.

A hooded man, presumably Ambassador Ketil, kneels prostrate in the middle of a four pointed star, lit by the low and smokey light of half-a-dozen candles. The flickering flames cast eerie shadows as the ambassador addresses an empty doorway, freestanding in the middle of the basement. The scent of blood is thick in the air. Jin walks in midway through the conversation.

“It will be done, my mistress, but…” Ketil hesitates, quelled by the ominous menace radiating from the doorway his speech trailing off to pathetic whimpering.

Jin slinks closer, trying to get a glimpse through the doorway, feeling an ice-cold lump in the pit of her stomach.

“The time is now, weakling fool. Cynis Jinabar stands behind you.”

Though Jin still can’t see the figure in the doorway, the voice of Sondok is unmistakable. Ketil rises, a curved sword suddenly in hand as a trio of blood apes materialize flanking him and between him and Jin, still half-hidden in the basement shadows.

At that moment, hooded Sondok cultists burst into the reception room where Melody and 314 are lying in wait for them. Arrows fly from the Freedom Bow and Summer Thunder, dropping the hapless mortals before they can bring their demonic weapons to bear. The demonic hellwands that belch forth purple flames clatter to the floor and Melody curses.

“Kill her! Kill her!” Ketil shouts, gesturing wildly into the darkness. Whilst the mortal ambassador can’t see Jin in the shadows, the blood apes sniff the air and converge on Jin who curses under her breath as the demons fall on her.

The demons swing their warclubs into Jin, who beleaguered from all sides struggles to fend them off as she laments the lack of her power-armor. A candle is jarred and falls from its place, rolling against the boxes stacked in the basement which start to smolder and catch, drastically increasing the amount of light in the basement.

Tendrils of darkness, like the tentacles of some eldritch pseudopod or the creeping vines of a forest destroying weed, snake forth from the empty doorway and scoop up the closest box of Bliss and drag it back to the doorway. As soon as it reaches the threshold, the crate disappears and the tendrils reach out again to grab another crate.

Jin lashes out at the blood apes, driving them back with a flurry of blows from her wrackstaff.

The demons grunt and the leader of the trio reaches out with a meaty paw, grabbing at Calumny. The demon yanks the wrackstaff with its inhuman strength. All 98-pounds of Jin just smiles back sweetly in the face of the overbearing, over-muscled, brute as the green jade refuses to budge from her grip, vines sprouting from her hands and fusing the weapon to her body. She raises an eyebrow at the blood ape, “Problem?”

314 and Melody race down the halls of the residence. They spin round a corner and 314 grabs a cultist by the head and smashes him through a wall. Melody drops to one knee and pumps a trio of arrows into the guts of charging enemies. A disturbing number of their assailants bear the mark of a closed eye on the back of their hands, marking them as citizens of Paragon condemned to death for committing a capital crime.

“In her glorious name!” Ketil shouts as he charges forward at Jin.

Jin jerks her wrackstaff from the blood ape’s grip and twirls it to block Ketil’s blow, the black blade skidding harmlessly from the jade weapon.

Jin ignores the ambassador with his cursed demon-blade and turns back to the demons. The vines binding her right hand to her weapon come free as she presents her palm to the lead demon. “Burn.” She says simply as a bolt of elemental power blasts from her outstretched hand and blasts a fist-sized hole through the chest of the lead demon. Flames explode outward, engulfing the demons in fire. Matted fur catches and the demons howl and beat at their breasts at the burning embers as they roar in pain and collapse on the ground.

The shadow tendrils scuffle away another crate. The flames spread as more Bliss catches fire, sending up plumes of vile smog.

314’s boot-like foot smashes the door of the basement. Ketil has enough time to turn in shock before Melody puts an arrow in his shoulder. Ketil drops his sword and falls to one knee.

Jin rushes over to the doorway. The shadow tendrils are gone: it’s just an empty wooden frame. The Bliss continues to burn. 314 grabs Ketil and Melody hauls a crate of Bliss up.

The fire in Ketil’s basement continues to rise and spread. Soon the entire residence is in flame.

314 stands with the bleeding Lapland ambassador slung over his shoulder. Melody is holding a giant case of illegal drugs. Jin gazes into the burning building and sighs.

(“We are going to take so much shit for this.”)

Being a neat and ordered city, cries of “fire” soon go out. Paragon’s uniformed fire department, an oddity in the Age of Sorrows, is soon on the scene. Melody stabilizes Ketil whilst 314 helps the fire fighters throw water onto the ever-increasing inferno. And there’s a gust of wind and a cloud of dust. A voice pierces the night with a kiai and a tidal-wave manifests from a solitary figure and washes over the residence: partially collapsing the building but dousing the flames before they can spread.

Ledaal Ludila, glowing a soft blue from the expenditure of essence, turns to her hearth, “What did you gremlins do now!”

****

Melody does not have an Exalt event.
Jin has an Exalt Event for passionately convincing Brightsky to turn on Sondok.
This triggers an Exalt Beat.
314 has an Exalt Event for overcoming an Anathema with nothing but sheer hard work.

Melody has a Personal Event for reuniting her brother-in-law with her family.
Jin has a Personal Event for pursing her vendetta against Sondok and cutting off the supply of Bliss to the South.
314 has a Personal Event for becoming Brightsky’s friend.
This triggers a Personal Group Beat.

The group hits a Minor Beat for the successful Wyld Hunt of Silken Claw.

Melody spends a Minor Milestone to buy Ranged Combat 5.
Melody spends an Exalt Milestone to buy the Ranged Combat charm Elemental Burst Attack.

Jin spends a minor Milestone to buy the Embassy charm Deft Official’s Way.
She spends an Exalt Milestone to buy the Embassy charm Wind-Carried Words Technique.

314 spends a Personal Milestone to buy Ox-Body Technique x5
314 spends an Exalt Milestone to buy the Force charm Priority-Discerning Protocol.
314 spends an Exalt Milestone to buy the Close Combat charm Excellent Strike.
- 5
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Essence of Dynasty