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Dynasty of Dovak	By : JohnDoe Category: +A through F > Exalted RPG Views: 4983 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Session 55 – Ghosts of the Past – Reya (155XP 124DX, 151/114 spent; 9GP 11SP), Melody (155XP 124DX, 155/120 spent), and Ganan (155XP 124DX, 148XP/119DX spent; 2WhP 46GP 30SP)

Two hours out of Juche, and the north sky is lit by a gigantic column of essence lighting up the night sky. A full fifteen minutes later, the low rumble of a distant and massive explosion can be heard. The origin of the blast is on the other side of the mountains, but whatever caused it must be truly catastrophic.

“That has to have come from the Valley of the Ancients.” Ganan says, with a hint of worry. “Reya, we have to check that out.”

“The Valley of the Ancients is two hundred miles north of here.” Danireya counters, “The Cathak army is a day and half away. We need to get Berit back to organize the defense of the Imperial City.”

Melody points to the north, “Uh… does Berit know that?”

Berit is steering her Stormwind Rider directly for the explosion at the Valley of the Ancients.

Danireya curses under her breath and instructs Ludila to follow Berit.

****

It takes two hours to reach the Valley. The moon is full, and casts a silver light, all but obscured by the untapped radiance of what was once an ornate tomb with a stately home perched atop it. The giant plume of essence has subsided, but the whole area still glows with mystic energy.

Several figures work swiftly, their movements confusing but not confused.

The Dragons immediately spot Ragara hauling a palette of earth towards a half-formed mound. The rest of his entourage is also here, and it looks like they are trying to contain the energies spilling out from the tomb. So are a number of other Exalts our heroes do not recognize: one of them is drawing a white jade bow across a staff, and the surrounding hills are reshaping themselves to her music, another is shaping the mound of earth into a giant dragon, a third has attached great iron chains to the tomb-manse and appears to be painstakingly dragging the entire seven story building step by step to a new position. And a wing of infantry, led by what looks like a walking snow-storm, is locked in battle with an army of war ghosts, spilling from the tomb.

Berit sights the battle with the ghosts and leads her troops in without pause.

Danireya grits her teeth and brings them in closer to Ragara in order to offer to help. The thought of offering her services to Ragara rankles, but once they’re within talking distance it becomes apparent that Ragara is not in charge here – he is taking direction from a familiar figure.

“Father, bring Goseki another load of earth! Goseki, if you don’t form that Dragon soon, the other ward will fall apart, I can already see cracks starting to appear!”

Ragara Bhagwei casts a quick look in the direction of our heroes, and his eyes widen in surprise for just a moment, but he quickly regains his composure.

“Pasiap be praised.” Bhagwei points at a fifteen foot dragon statue some twenty yards away, a lone figure is scrambling round it trying to fill cracks as they appear, “Cynis Ganan, that ward is starting to crack under the strain of the Essence bearing down on it. Ventis has some plaster we prepared but it’s breaking faster than he can repair it.”

Ganan runs over to the statue to help without another word. Rather than immediately dive in, he stops in front of it to study it intensely.

“What happened and what can we do to help?” Danireya says, pretending not to be irked by her husband running off.

Bhagwei stops bellowing instructions to the others for a moment and turns to Danireya, Melody and Ludila, “Have you or Miss Ludila been studying geomancy or engineering since leaving the Heptagram?”

Melody swipes a hand across her chest in a no-way gesture, “We’re really good at killing stuff.”

Bhagwei eyes Melody, a stranger to him, and responds dryly, “The problem with ghosts is that they’re already dead.”

“The problem with ghosts,” Melody rejoins, “Is that when you fire arrows at them, they go straight through them.”

Seemingly from nowhere, Ylva Wataru, is suddenly at Bhagwei’s side. For many years, Danireya has struggled to remember the face of the Anathema who ruined her dreams and cast her from the Heptagram, but been unable to recall her in all but the vaguest terms. But with her standing right in front of her, she can suddenly remember every detail. The Sidereal does not seem to have aged a day. Far from “nondescript” she seems quite striking: a waspish face, blonde hair swept back in a tight bun (not dissimilar from Reya’s own) and a distinctive facial scar over her left eye.

Ylva plucks a hair from her head and passes it to Melody, “Tie this into your bow.”

Melody diligently obeys and as she’s opening her mouth to say “Okay, but why?” Ylva’s body distends and stretches, taking the form of a sinuous dragon, she scoops Melody up onto her back and speeds towards the site of the battle with the ghosts.

“Yeaaaah!” Melody screams punching the air.

Ragara senior passes by, “You could help an old man haul dirt. We need to shape that mound into something that looks like that dragon.” He gestures then resumes pulling pallets of dirt over to the mound.

Cynis Ganan sees every flaw in the breaking statue. He takes up the plaster and a trowel and hawk and gets to work, repairing every crack as they appear (9GP, 6SP). Ventis looks at Ganan agog as he works, clearly impressed.

Melody rains arrows down on the war ghosts, green Essence trailing in the wake of each shot, leaving tracers of light from Melody’s bow to holes blown wide open through the war ghosts. Berit and the other Dragon-Blooded are engaging the ghosts on the ground, pushing them back to the tomb’s entrance.

Danireya reaches the pile of earth Ragara is dragging palettes from. She and Ludila both start casting Stormwind Rider.

His work on the statue done, Ganan sprints over to the pile of dirt Reya and Ludila are shifting, in time for their Stormwind Riders to pick him up with the dirt and carry it over to Goseki of the Earthen Fists.

Goseki nods at the dirt and asks the Dynasts to shovel it onto the mound. Ragara and Ganan get to work, falling into a sort of competition to see who can move the dirt the fastest. Goseki starts to shape the mound into the shape of a dragon as Ganan starts to pull ahead in the dirt shoveling.

“Ganan, jump on.” Reya says, flying up to Ganan, who seems reluctant to abandon his advantage, “I’ve always wondered if you could take one of the ghosts of the ancients.”

Ganan needs no further prompting his eyes going wide as he leaps onto the Stormwind.

“Wait-” Ragara warns as they speed away for the tomb.

Melody sees them approach and they fly together over the heads of the war ghosts into the broken open manse.

“That’s Aunt Ibelin!” Ganan calls as they fly over the living snowstorm that is the Heptagram’s instructor in demonic banishment. Ledaal Ibelin does not acknowledge them as they fly overhead.

Raw power still radiates from the manse as a seemingly endless supply of the dead spill up from the crypt’s depths. Molten gold runs in rivulets down the cavernous expanse that was once a maze of corridors, oubliettes and antechambers.

“What the hell happened here?” Melody wonders out loud.

The Dragons hear Ylva’s voice in their minds, “Ragara Banoba believed his allies in House Cathak needed additional support to breach the Imperial City before Berit could arrive to organize the defenses. House Ragara has a tomb robbing expedition planned, it was believed this tomb held a Warstrider. They rushed it, botched it, blew away half the mountain.”

“Unleashed a ghost of the ancients.” Ganan adds.

Ylva’s disembodied voice snorts, “That’s the least of it. Fortunately Ragara and Bhagwei already suspected Banoba might order something foolish like this. The destruction of this tomb threatens a chain reaction – it could destroy the entire valley, with catastrophic effect on the Realm Defense Grid. That’s why we’re desperately trying to alter the geomancy out there.”

Danireya grits her teeth, “Tell me that Warstrider was destroyed in the initial explosion.”

They fly into a wide expanse, not a destroyed wreck like the husk of the building, but a deliberate cavern built to house a Warstrider and a full army on parade.

“Actually,” Ylva admits reluctantly, “The Warstrider caused the explosion.”

Before them is a behemoth of orichalcum: a mammoth, thirty-foot high boxy frame, bristling with armaments. Eight wing-like blades form a halo around the Warstrider’s back, its right forearm is a massive Implosion Bow, twin Lightning Ballistae grace its shoulders, and the left arm is a massive Fire Cannon.

“Whose tomb is this?” Ganan asks reluctantly.

“Ebonheart the Lightbringer. And this is his master-work: the Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation.” Comes Ylva’s grim reply.

“Great.” Ganan responds, feeling the power grow in his tetsubo as he takes careful aim.

Melody yells, “Split up!” as she banks Ylva hard to the right, as she circles in on the Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation. She fires a quick shot into the Warstrider, striking it’s orichalcum frame dead-on with a perfect shot. Her arrow shatters against the machine’s hull, and Ebonheart turns it slowly to register this new threat.

Reya aims her Stormwind Rider directly for the Warstrider, racing forward and lower to the ground even as she speaks the Burning Name. An armored panel slides back from behind the Implosion Bow, revealing a deadly rack of flechettes. Reya blasts a path of fire clear through the flechettes, striking the same point on the machine as Melody, but Ebonheart is undaunted, the power of the Warstrider keeping him safe from harm. Ganan twists his tetsubo taking the Earth Dragon Form even as the flechettes bite into his invulnerable skin, drawing blood as his anima flares totemic.

Melody shouts to Ganan, “Take the right leg!” She fires a shot at the Warstrider’s left knee, her own anima erupting to its full glory. The arrow smashes into the joint, disabling the leg. For a moment it seems the Warstrider might topple over, but Ebonheart simply flexes the remaining leg, and shifts to take aim at Melody and her dragon.

Ganan leaps from the Stormwind, howling and bellowing at the top of his lungs. Ebonheart, looks down at the new distraction as Ganan’s anima roars up in challenge, and awkwardly shifts his Warstrider on its remaining leg to defend against an attack that never comes, at least… not from Ganan.

Reya arcs her Stormwind Rider round to attack from a different angle. Fire smashes into the Warstrider’s ankle joint, and the Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation topples over supine.

The Lightning Ballistae on the Warstrider’s shoulders flip and arc, shooting blasts of lightning at all the Dragon-Blooded. Melody twists impossibly, turning Ylva faster than lightning, and the shot goes wide. Reya is not so preternaturally skilled, and through she throws her Stormwind aside hard, the lightning bolt still scorches her as it passes. Though her ironwood armor attenuates the blast meant to level city walls, the near-miss still winds her. Ganan twirls his tetsubo, aiming to channel the blast into the ground, but the lightning cannot be turned and the blast hits him head on. Ganan tastes ozone as the lightning rings his bronze skin.

Melody rains arrows on the downed Warstrider. They cling off the armored shell like rain.

The Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation gives a groan as secondary systems whirl to life. It’s arm bends at the Implosion Bow and the Warstrider turns prone then rises from the ground with a heaving of joints and clanging of metal.

Ganan grimaces as the Warstrider rises, and forces his power into his stolen belt. His form dissolves into immaterial shadow.

Reya hurls more flame at the rising behemoth of enchanted gold, but all her efforts cannot stop the implacable war-machine from standing.

Melody takes a calming breath, and holds Ylva level, tuning her mount’s breathing and movements with her own shot. Her arrow strikes between the Cathedral’s overlapping plates and explodes into a mass of thorns. The Warstrider groans under the assault as the arrow damages the frame.

Reya again fires on the Warstrider, but the armored plates turn the flame aside.

With a shout that rends the fabric of the material and immaterial world, the living shadow that was once Cynis Ganan hammers into the side of the Warstrider, his ethereal tetsubo hammering with unstoppable force. Ganan smashes into the back of the Warstrider’s knee, driving it momentarily to the ground with a display of unearthly power. Even the Warstrider’s mighty systems are not proof against a blow that could topple a Tyrant Lizard.

Off-guard, Ebonheart screams into the cockpit of the Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation. It’s a piercing shriek that rends the tomb as the ancient ghost unleashes its madness. The walls of the tomb crawl with nightmares coaxed from oblivion and into terrifying reality.

Ganan invokes the serenity of granite, blocking out the terrifying hallucinations assailing him from the ancient’s broken mind. He drains the last of his spiritual reserves to unleash a titanic blow with his tetsubo. Again the Warstrider is driven momentarily to its knees. Again, it rises, but this time with a sickening grinding sound as it’s moonsilver joints strain against the punishing damage inflicted upon its frame.

Like her husband, Reya’s will cannot be brought low by the madness of death. With the Warstrider damaged and its rider off-balance, Reya spins her Stormwind to strike at a vital component. Fires burn and sparks fly as the Warstrider is further damaged.

Ebonheart forsakes the terrifying weaponry of the Cathedral to unleash the Mists of Eventide. As the Mists pour out from the Warstrider, Ganan immediately holds his breath, trusting his invulnerable skin as proof against the mystical poison. The mists roll out over Reya, who draws on the power of her shield to protect her, but even so the mists afflict her and cloud her mind, her Stormwind bucks wildly under her for a moment before she drops out of the sky unconscious. Melody and Ylva breathe the Mists: Melody’s natural resistance to natural venom powerless against the sorcery, but her dose is only mild.

Melody bucks Ylva back out of the mists, clinging to the edges of the tomb as she tries unsuccessfully to block out the nightmares assailing her mind. She shakes off the last of the poison, and peering into that black void of death instantly aims at Ebonheart and loses an arrow at the Warstrider. It’s an easy target, but Melody hasn’t got a lot of power left to back her shot. The arrow rings against the armor with a dull ‘thunk’, but seems to slow the implacable war-machine little.

Ganan crosses over to Reya and picks her up to carry her out of the mists: his shadowy hands finding purchase on Reya’s solid form. Nightmarish horrors claw at his mind, but he focuses on his task.

Reya’s eyes flick immediately open as her husband grabs hold of her, but she does not wake. Instead Ebonheart puppets her actions like a crude marionette. She thrashes against Ganan, but his shadowy grip on her is too tight to break.

Ebonheart takes aim at Melody and Ylva, the Cathedral’s arcane targeting systems whirling and configuring as he raises the firedust cannon mounted on the Warstrider’s left arm.

“It can’t possibly hit us with that from here!” Melody breathes under her breath as she sees the short-ranged canon being brought to bear against her. She reasserts supranatural control over her mental state, bringing on the serenity of granite once more.

“I wouldn’t bet our lives on that.” Ylva chides telepathically, “The Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation is a wonder of the First Age. Its weapon systems are far superior to modern armaments. You fought well, it’s time to flee.”

Melody smiles to herself, “The mountain doesn’t flee. And neither does the wood.” She takes aim at the Warstrider.

Ebonheart fires on Melody. Flame fills the room as the massive weapon discharges a great gout of fire. Melody looses as the dragonfly finds its mate: her arrow cuts the army engulfing pillar of fire in half, shattering the attack with her own unearthly skill. Her anima rises in full bloom around her, the scent of it overpowering even the charred smell of the firedust as she looks down on her target from the back of a dragon in proud condescension.

Ganan drags the kicking and bucking Reya out of the Mists, blocking out the ancient’s dread hallucinations, as he looks up in horror at the fearsome weaponry being brought to bear against Melody, then with awe as she smashes the attack aside.

Reya struggles and breaks free of Ganan’s grip, and turns to face her husband, her will still suborned by Ebonheart’s spell.

Melody shuts her mind to the ancient ghost’s dark terrors and fires again. Her shot strikes true, Ebonheart still reeling from his last failed attack, but the might of the Warstrider prevents her from gaining a decisive advantage.

Ebonheart takes aim at Melody once more, this time raising its dread Implosion Bow.

Ganan twists his shadowy hands in the mudras of distortion and warping as he circles Danireya. Her body twists to follow his movements, but her eyes are fixed ahead of her, blank and unconscious. Ganan grips the invisible threads of Essence that hold the unfamiliar spell together and pulls – ripping it from his beloved in a single gesture, and Reya wakes, freed from the grasp of the ghost. Ganan immediately closes in on the Warstrider, running straight back into the fray.

Reya’s first instinct is to draw a deep breath (fortunate then that she’s now out of the Mists, which have dissipated). They are backed up against the wall of the tomb now. She exercises stony control of her thoughts, and knows they cannot run: Berit and the others might be able to hold off an endless army of the dead, but allowing this Warstrider to join the fray could mean the death of their general, to say nothing of the damage it could cause to Bhagwei’s geomantic defenses. She starts to cast another Stormwind Rider.

Melody kicks Ylva forward in a dive. She fires another thorny arrow as they close the distance, tearing open another panel. The Warstrider seems seriously damaged now.

Ganan closes with the Warstrider and swings his tetsubo, becoming momentarily solid again to strike. The blow leaves the Warstrider reeling: it’s mighty Implosion Bow collapses in on itself, folding back into the arm and leaving a fearsome looking, though much less deadly, over-sized crossbow.

The Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation fires a javelin sized crossbow bolt at Melody, but she turns Ylva gracefully in the sky and the bolt goes wide.

Reya continues casting her spell, pulling the energies of the world together to give her the protection and mobility of the winds.

Ganan blocks out all distractions. The world of the living and the shadow world both fall away as he swings his tetsubo up and over his head, then for a moment all things become one – the living shadow, the jade tetsubo, the orichalcum frame of The Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation’s groin. There’s an all consuming crunch as the Warstrider topples over, disabled.

Melody aims at the cockpit of the fallen Warstrider, ready to strike the emerging ghost. She feels Ylva empowering her with the ability to strike at immaterial spirits, the edges of the spirit world blurring into her vision.

Reya’s spell comes together and she rises two feet into the air as winds buffet her. The dust devil grants her a measure of cover against attacks. She edges forwards towards the downed Warstrider, ready to rush at its pilot if he goes to flee.

Ebonheart the Lightbringer, ancient of the valley, rises immaterial from the downed cockpit of the Cathedral of Annihilation. His eyes blaze with an unholy light as he turns on Ganan’s shadowy form. Ebonheart waves a hand in the air, and reality itself bends to his will. Where once there was empty air, there is now a spirit sword made of solid light. The ancient swings at Ganan’s shadow form: light and darkness meet as Ganan interposes his tetsubo. Light dispels shadow and Ebonheart’s blade strikes true, but Ganan’s skin is no less invulnerable made of shadow than flesh. The blow still sends Ganan reeling with the might of the ancients.

Melody fires on the ancient, Ylva’s green tinged Essence empowering the arrow. Ebonheart doesn’t look armored, but the arrow impacts with a ringing like steel striking steel. Ebonheart sags forward, clearly irritated, and casts a baleful stare at Melody.

Ganan barrels his tetsubo forwards into Ebonheart’s chest. Ebonheart grabs the leading edge of the tetsubo as it impacts into him and gives a grunt of annoyance.

Reya levels her shield, sighting the reflection of the immaterial spirits in her bracers, and she charges forward on the wind. She smashes into the ancient ghost, who makes inchoate sounds of rage.

Ebonheart smashes a blow down on Reya, which she turns aside on her shield. There’s a ringing of weapons meeting, and even as Reya turns the blow, the ancient delivers a second cut aimed at Ganan. Again the blade of light slips past Ganan’s guard and batters his body.

Melody fires a decisive shot into Ebonheart’s knee. He dips slightly, the arrow dissolving into solid green light.

Ganan follows up with an equally decisive overhead smash, driving the ghost into the ground. It seems unwounded by the blow, but stares up at the Dragon’s viciously.

Danireya speaks the burning name, enjoining it with a spirit grounding shout. Her mystic flames burn the downed ancient. She backs up out of sword range, keeping the downed ghost’s reflection in sight.

Ebonheart rises from the ground, striking out at Ganan again, but he easily steps over the sweeping blow.

Even though they don’t know it, the Dragons reenact the circumstances of Ebonheart’s first death. A dozen weaker attacks from the Dragon-Blooded leading to death by a thousand cuts.

Ylva deposits Melody on the ground as Berit signals down that the army of ghosts has abated.

“He’ll reform.” Ylva notes dourly, “I had expected you would both have developed your abilities further by now. Calculations will have to be corrected.” She tisks to herself.

“You know this magic dragon lady?” Melody asks, impressed.

Danireya holds up a hand, “Not the time. Jump on we need to get back to the others.”

Danireya flies them all back to the entrance of the manse. Bhagwei and his team seem to have stabilized the essence flows, and Berit and her troops have ranked up with Ledaal Ludila. Ledaal Ibelin is with them, deep in conversation with Ludila.

“Seriously,” Melody presses, “This lady can turn into a dragon… can we… can we do that? Teach me how to do that!”

“No, we can’t do that.” Ganan says definitively, crushing Melody’s enthusiasm. She looks at him imploringly, “Ylva Wataru works at the Heptagram.”

“And all of a sudden I’m interested in all your booga-booga mumbo-jumbo!” She pokes Ganan in the invulnerable ribs, “Teach me.”

Ylva cuts in firmly, “It’s not a skill you can learn.” She looks over to Ragara Bhagwei and raises an eyebrow, Bhagwei nods, and Ylva produces a rolled scroll and hands it over to Melody.

Melody unrolls it, and runs her eyes over the Old Realm runes written there. She hands it to Danireya, “Translate?”

Danireya flicks her eyes over the text, “It’s… part of the Immaculate Texts.”

Ganan’s eyes go wide, “It’s Stream’s Testament.” He turns to Ragara Bhagwei, “Dominie, is this wise?”

Bhagwei gestures to Ylva in deference as Danireya translates:

The Testament of Little Stream Carves the Mountains, Ardent of He Who Illuminates Both Worlds with Majesty and Power

The Blood of Dragons,
Creation’s Princes of Earth,
Rule all they survey.
Fate doth guard the Dragon’s Get,
Perfected hierarchy.

Chosen of Heaven,
Guard Creation’s Fate with Bronze.
By starlight weaving,
In Yu-Shan; Sidereal.
Perfected hierarchy.

But Anathema,
Perfected hierarchy,
Rent and tear astray.
Fate may fall – Anathema,
Golden enemy to all.

Melody pulls a face, “Exalted, and Anathema, in the Heavenly City?”

Ragara Bhagwei ignores her to address Cynis Ganan, Mnemon Danireya and Ledaal Ludila, “My brother has embroiled himself in a foolish war. It’s rare that I agree with my father, but I want no part of it. I am sealing the Isle of Voices against intrusion. Our allies will help relocate the Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation. Come with us. Do not throw your lives away on petty squabbles for an absent throne. You are sorcerers, educated to the highest standards of the Realm. Protect what really matters – our link to the glories of the First Age. Turn away from this war… and come home.”

Ganan’s mouth works up and down for a beat in silence, then before he knows what he’s saying, he’s saying “No. No. Dominie, I agree with you: the Heptagram must be protected above all else, and nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to return with you. But I have a duty.”

“We all, have a duty.” Danireya says firmly, and she curtsies, “It is gracious of you to offer, but if the immediate crisis is averted here, we must proceed to the Imperial City with Berit… unless she’s chooses to go with you.”

Bhagwei shakes his head, “She has already rebuffed my offer. As has my father, who still seeks to end this war through political means. If you will not come back with me, then at least remind your Matriarch that whilst my brother may have caused this disaster, it was the Heptagram that righted it. I think her efforts are doomed to failure, but should she become the new Empress, she will need my school: I entrust you with ensuring she place the future of the Realm above our petty rivalry.”

Danireya bows low, “I will, Dominie.”

Danireya turns away and makes for Berit, but Melody cuts her off. “Wait, we’re just going to let… Heaven’s Exalted make off with our Warstrider?”

Danireya raises an eyebrow, “Our Warstrider?”

Melody shrugs, “We killed it. You keep what you kill. Are you saying it wouldn’t be useful to have that thing on our side? The other Houses don’t have anything like this!”

Ganan shakes his head, “Are you saying you know how to repair it? Because I don’t. Ragara Bhagwei will repair it for the good of the Realm, no matter who sits on the throne.”

“Or the Heavenly Exalted will spirit it up above the clouds and we’ll never see it again!” Melody protests as Celestial Sorcerers retrieve the downed Warstrider on a Cloud Trapeze, “Seriously, look at them, they’re doing it right now!”

“We need to get to the Imperial City.” Ganan says simply, “You can try and steal one of the Empress’s Warstriders if it means that much to you.”

Melody holds up a hand, “Wait a minute, we just discover that there’s a bunch of dragon-transforming Exalted living in heaven and fighting Anathema, and we’re not even going to discuss this, because?” She pauses, “You already knew. All three of you.” She pulls a face. “This isn’t a Dynast/Lost Egg thing. They would tell us about something like this.”

Berit approaches, “The Sidereal Exalted aren’t Exigents. They work in the shadows, and that work is easier when they can work in secret. A rare few monks, the most gifted products of the Heptagram, and a handful of the Empress’s most gifted children discover them. But otherwise the whole of Creation is ignorant of them. It makes one wonder why they tipped their hand to you?”

Danireya shakes her head, “We’re wasting time on this, Cathak Cainan is marching on the Imperial City and we have about a day to organize the defense.”

“If these Sidereal Exalted ‘guard our fate’ and have chosen to reveal themselves to me, then it’s probably for a good reason. What are the Anathema of heaven called?” Melody asks.

Danireya looks to Ganan and points at the scroll, “This word is difficult to translate. I rendered it as ‘Anathema’ like the old form for Solar Anathema.”

Ganan glances at the scroll, “Celestial. Pertaining to the Heavens. Exalted.”

“Solar Anathema, Lunar Anathema and Celestial Anathema?” Melody asks.

Berit takes the scroll from Ganan, “Solar Exalted, Lunar Exalted and Sidereal Exalted. The sun, the moon and stars – Celestial, pertaining to the heavens. Sidereal Anathema.”

“That’s not possible.” Ganan says firmly, “It’s just a difficult translation.” Ludila nods mutely, supporting Ganan’s willful ignorance.

Danireya shakes her head, “It’s not so far-fetched. The Ten-Thousand Dragons aren’t exactly united in one cause. If Cainan takes the throne, what stops him declaring all of us Anathema? There’s no reason the Exalted can’t be divided.”

“A civil war in heaven?” Berit muses, “Now that might be the greatest proving ground of all. But one thing at a time, what does this have to do with us. With Melody.”

Melody thinks, “Well… what’s in heaven?”

“Gods.” Danireya replies curtly.

Ganan adds, “And their armies. The Aerial Legion of Yu-Shan that once marched beside the Dragon-Blooded in the Dawn Wars against the Enemies of the Gods. Legends tell that it matched our ancestors in it’s might.”

Melody looks at the sky pedantically, “I don’t see an army of gods descending from the heavens.”

“It’s not exactly famed Sidereal subtly.” Berit agrees.

“Subtle. Something small. Something innocuous that has far reaching consequences.” Danireya pieces what they know together.

Ganan shakes his head in denial, “They wouldn’t. There are rules, laws. I don’t think they could.”

“Could what?” Melody says, whipping her head between Ganan and Danireya.

“‘If you see weakness in the Realm, blame your Empress not us.’ Who is more likely to temper the weakness from the Realm, Cainan or Mnemon?” Danireya accuses.

“Could what?!” Melody insists.

Danireya sighs, “Peaches.”

Ganan clears his throat, “In many myths of the heavenly city, the gods possess a grove of peaches, and it is said that eating one of these Peaches of Immortality returns you to the peak of youth.”

Melody looks worried, “Immortality?”

Reya puts an arm on her sister’s shoulder, “Just youth. He’ll still die from a sword through the chest.”

“Well, this is good, right? I mean, the Mouth of Peace was right: it’s not a miracle from the Dragons.” Melody beams at the others.

“It could still be seen as a blessing from heaven.” Ganan says, shaking his head, “And it would be hard to explain.”

Melody points a finger at Ganan, “Or it could be seen as the dark intervention of the Anathema. No explanation required. We don’t even have to use the word ‘Sidereal’: Anathema is fine.”

Reya nods carefully, “That… could work.”

Berit salutes and begins summoning a Stormwind Rider, Ludila and Reya follow suit and they set off into the night for the Imperial City.

****

Reya spends 8XP to train Enticing Paramour Passion.
Melody spends 8XP to train Grasping Vine Shot, and 12DX to innovate a new Evocation for her Powerbow, Summer Thunder.
Ganan spends 1DX to train Craft: Artifact 2.

Custom Evocation: Phantom Steed
Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One day
Prerequisites: Squadron-Inspiring Flare, Scattered Hoof Falls

With her mind opened to the ghostly Essence of the Ancients, Melody has learned to overcome the limitations of her Creation, and draw forth the reflection of perfection from her Orichalcum Powerbow.

At her command, the Essence of Summer Thunder opens to release a ghostly echo of the horse god Hiparkes into her custody. This mount’s coat is as black as coal, but its eyes burn with the light of twin suns, tinted by the colors of Melody’s anima. The phantom steed has no mane, the hair clipped close to the neck.

This Charm creates an exceptional war horse (p. 567) that never tires, hungers, or thirsts, and need not sleep. This horse cannot be intimidated, nor can its loyalty be shaken. Its existence is an extension of Summer Thunder.

(In all respects other than the appearance of the steed and the prerequisites, this Evocation functions as the Solar Ride Charm of the same name.)
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Dynasty of Dovak