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Dynasty of Dovak	By : JohnDoe Category: +A through F > Exalted RPG Views: 4982 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: White Wolf, Exalted and Exalted 3rd Edition are all trademarks of White Wolf Publishing AB, and official characters, names, places and text are copyrighted by White Wolf. I do not own Exalted and I'm not making money from this fiction.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Chapter 1 - Preamble

This is not a complete story! Despite its length, Dynasty of Dovak, is not a complete story. It is an ongoing write up of a weekly Exalted game in which the Dragon-Blooded Dynasts of House Mnemon brave the dangers of the Threshold. All Chapters are subject to rewrites, and the story is on-going.

*SMUT* chapters marked as *SMUT*. Ctrl+F for *SMUT* as the sex scenes are usually mid-chapter.

NB: There are some rules errors in Story 1, particularly around Essence expenditure (you have to pay the whole cost of each Charm from one pool, and Peripheral always regenerates first) and Anima Flux (in Session 7, which is supposed to happen at the end of the round).
Trigger Warning: This is a summary of an X-rated play which deals with mature themes that some may find distressing. Violence, sex, and discrimination are central themes: if you think you might be distressed by this story then I urge you to read no further.

Introduction

An Age ago in the long forgotten past, the Five Elemental Dragons bestowed a tiny fraction of their infinite elemental power upon Humanity: Exalting their favored champions and creating the race of Dragon-Blooded. By the Dragons, the Dragon-Blooded ruled for thousands of years as the Princes of the Earth: they have fought the enemies of the gods, cast down the demonic Anathema and ruled over Creation, passing on the Blood of the Dragons to their descendants to build great dynasties of inherited mystical power. The Blessed Isle at the heart of Creation is the seat of Dragon-Blooded power: here the Dragon-Blooded rule and work their miracles. Beyond the Inland Sea lies the Threshold where barbarian kingdoms grow like weeds: the wise offer tribute the Dragon-Blooded Realm, trading mystic jade and silver coin for the protection of Realm armies and the wisdom of their Satrap viziers; whilst the foolish defy the Dragon's Chosen to truck with forbidden spirits and demon-spawn to make war on the Princes of the Earth.

It is the 768th year of the Scarlet Empire. No-one has seen the Scarlet Empress for five years. Her eldest daughter, Mnemon, prepares to take the throne but finds claim thwarted by demonic Anathema who have stolen the Threshold Kingdom of Jiara from her. As Mnemon makes war to retake Jiara, she has dispatched her granddaughter, Mnemon Alinos, to fortify the neighbouring kingdom of Dovak.

Our story follows Alinos's daughter: Mnemon Alinos Danireya (Reya - a scholar and a powerful sorceress Aspected to the Element of Air) and her husband Cynis Ganan (Ganan - a beautiful, yet brutish warrior of Earth). Reya and Ganan are exceptionally beautiful, even by the standards of the Exalted. In their journey to Dovak, Reya has fallen for Princess Tinkara Dovak -- heiress to the throne of Dovak. Tinkara does not carry the blood of the Dragons, but rather is the inauspicious offspring of an elemental Thunderbird and a human, and her heritage grants her great power as a warrior. Her beauty is obvious and outstanding, whilst her looks would put her at ease among the Dragon-Blooded, or the royalty of any threshold kingdom, they pale in comparison to those of our heroes.

Synopsis
The Eastern Satrapy of Dovak is a small kingdom nestled at the foot of the mountain range east of Jiara beset by terrible beastmen hordes. In this time of tumult, one of the major bloodlines of House Mnemon has sallied forth from their stronghold on the Blessed Isle to secure Dovak, but all is not as it seems. Our ambitious Princes of the Earth plot and scheme even as their elders spin wheels-within-wheels in their bid for the vacant Scarlet Throne, and older, stranger things stalk the night dreaming of the day that they will slake their thirst for the blood of man… with the blood of Dragons.

Dramatis Personae

House Mnemon Alinos
Cynis Ganan – A hero
Husband of Mnemon Alinos Danireya, a practitioner of the Earth Dragon Style of martial arts and a sorcerer. Ganan studied at the Heptagram but completed his training at the Valkhawsen Sorcery Academy where he met the infamous Amilar Shavok, who "helped" him forge Thunder's Crash as part of the Shavok Incident. Ganan holds no grudge against Lookshy (and indeed values their take on the Immaculate Faith), but remains haunted by the possibility that Shavok survived...

Something of a blunt instrument, Ganan is ill-suited for Dynastic politics – straight-forward and direct, in his 63 years of life he has yet to find a problem he can’t club to death. He has traveled to Dovak on his wife’s behest to act as… I don’t want to say “her muscular slave”… actually… I kinda do. Ganan sees this venture as a chance to smash an uncivilized beastman horde, and perhaps even stave in the skull of an Anathema. Those who don’t know him well might assume that this is but a carefully crafted façade to hide his true ambitions, but rare for a Dynast and rarer for a Cynis, he really does want nothing more than to prove his might.

Cynis Ganan
Earth Aspect
Righteous Warrior
Heptagram

Strength 5
Dexterity 5
Stamina 1

Charisma 1
Manipulation 1
Appearance 5

Perception 1
Intelligence 5
Wits 3

Earth Aspect Abilities (and Specialities) (6 BP)

Awareness 5 (Join Battle)
Craft: Architecture 3 (Masonry)
Integrity 4
Resistance 3
War 0

Favored Abilities (9 BP)

Athletics 5 (Rushes)
Brawl 1
Earth Dragon Style 5 (Tetsubo)
Lore: Heptagram education 5 (The Shogunate)
Occult 5
Performance 3

Other Abilities

Linguistics 1
Melee 3

Merits (Native Language: High Realm) (3BP)

Artifact 3 (Thunder’s Crash Tetsubo (Fist of Titans))
Martial Artist 4
Pain Tolerance 4
Well Bred 2
(3 BP) Manse 3 (Stone of the Ram's Horn)
(Dynastic Freebie) Resources 3
(Dynastic Freebie) Language (Riverspeak)
(Dynastic Freebie) Language (Old Realm)

Free Excellencies

1. Athletics: Effortlessly Rising Flame
2. Awareness: Precision Awareness Method
3. Brawl/Martial Arts: Become the Hammer
4. Integrity: Granite Curtain of Serenity
5. Performance: Audience Enthusing Display

Charms

1. Melee: Elemental Sheath
2. Melee: Dragon Graced Weapon
3. Earth Dragon Style: Stone Dragon Skin
4. Earth Dragon Style: Force of the Mountain
5. Earth Dragon Style: Stillness of Stone Artemi
6. Earth Dragon Style: Unmoving Mountain Stance
7. Earth Dragon Style: Earth Dragon Form
8. Occult: Spirit Detecting Mirror
9. Occult: Spirit Grounding Shout
10. Occult: Secret Wind Revelation
11. Occult: Fivefold Resonance Stance
12. Occult: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
--. Control Spell: Invulnerable Skin of Bronze
--. Shaping Ritual: Sevenfold Art Invocation
13. Resistance: Ox-body Technique

Evocations

Free. Fist of Titans: Chambered Fist Charge
14. Fist of Titans: Mammoth Slam Quake
15. Fist of Titans: Unstoppable Hammering Blow

Intimacies
Defining Principle: The Dragon-Blooded are born to rule.
Major Principle: The Immaculate Philosophy (Devout Belief)
Major Principle: I am the mountain, strong and stable – I do not flee and I am unmoved by tears
Minor Principle: Duty before pleasure
Minor Principle: “I like creating and repairing things.”
Minor Principle: The children are the foundation of the future
Major Tie: Anathema (Loathing)
Major Tie: Mnemon Alinos Danireya (Love)
Major Tie: My Wife's House (Loyalty)
Minor Tie: My children (Familial love)
Minor Tie: Ragara Bhagwei (Respect)
Minor Tie: House Cynis (Familial duty)
Minor Tie: Amilar Shavok ("I want to be sure he is dead")

Evasion 3
Parry 6 (+3, 6m)(With tetsubo or Invulnerable Skin of Bronze, else 5; +2, 4m)

Soak 9 Hardness 8 (Invulnerable Skin of Bronze)
(+5/0, Earth Dragon Form)
(+3/+1, 5m/turn or Bonfire)

Mobility Penalty -0
Resist Poison: 4 dice

Fist of Titans Smash Attacks (Earth Dragon Form): Accuracy 16 (14 Decisive)(+3, reroll 6s on damage, 3m), Damage 19 (+1/scene, 3m on summon; +5, 3m) (Overwhelming 5, 6 for 2m), Bashing, Smashing (-1i, no Defence penalty), Reaching, Two handed

Javelin: Accuracy 9/8/7 (5 Decisive), Damage 14 (OVR 1), Lethal, Melee (Parry 5), Thrown (Medium)

Join Battle 9 (+3 to result)(+3 successes, 6m)
Rush 11 (+3 successes, 10s explode, 6m)
Disengage 5

Overwhelming Performance: 8 dice, +1 success and ignore multiple character penalty for 2m

Resolve 4 (+2, ignore -1 from wounds, deprivation or poison, 4m)
Guile 1

Willpower 5
Essence 2

Personal motes 13
Peripheral motes 31 (26, 5 committed)

Health Track (3m/tick, ignore one point of penalties)
-0 x1
-1 x2
-1 x4
-3 x1
Incap
https://ibb.co/PrpgHwC

Mnemon Alinos Danireya – A hero
Reya is the eldest (surviving) daughter of Mnemon Alinos and her heir apparent. Wife of Cynis Ganan, Reya has designs somewhat more… complex than those of her husband. Her mother suspects that Reya wishes to usurp her as head of their household, but in truth Reya’s ambitions grander than that – she wishes to be recognized not as the matriarch of a major bloodline, but rather as the founder of her own Great House. Alinos expected great resistance from her daughter when she informed her of this mission to the Threshold, expecting her to want to stay behind on the Blessed Isle to conspire with her aunts, but Reya sees opportunity in this venture beyond the mandate of securing some provincial backwater… opportunity, perhaps, to influence who will sit on the Scarlet Throne. Dovak is the foundation upon which Reya will build her Great House.

Reya spent more time than is generally thought proper personally raising her children, and reaps the reward of their ongoing personal loyalty.

Mnemon Alinos Danireya
Air Aspect
Heptagram
Aspiring Matriarch

Attributes

Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Stamina 2

Charisma 2
Manipulation 4
Appearance 5

Perception 3
Intelligence 3
Wits 3

Air Aspect Abilities (and Specialities) (6 BP)

Linguistics 5
Lore: Heptagram education 5 (Mathematics)
Occult 5 (The Burning Name)
Stealth 0
Thrown 0

Favored Abilities (7BP)

Craft: Weapons 1 (Axes)
Integrity 5
Performace 3 (Singing)
Presence 5
Socialize 5 (High Society)

Other Abilities
Awareness 1
Dodge 1
Melee 3
Resistance 1
War 1

Merits (Native Language: High Realm) (5 BP)
Allies 1 (Tinkara Dovak, Godblooded princess)
Allies 3 (Mnemon Nula, Dragon-Blooded Sorcerer)
Backing (Mnemon Business Interests) 3
Influence (Satrap Advisor) 2
Mentor (Mnemon Alinos) 3
Old Realm 1
Selective Conception 1
The Burning Name 2
Well Bred 2
(Dynastic Freebie) Allies 3 (Mnemon Muli, Dragon-Blooded warrior)
(Dynastic Freebie) Resources 2 (Over-extended Dynast)

Free Excellencies

1. Integrity: Granite Curtain of Serenity
2. Lore: Harmonious Academic Methodology
3. Occult: Hidden Secrets Whispered
4. Presence: Glowing Coal Radiance
5. Socialize: Loquacious Courtier’s Technique

Starting Charms

1: Integrity: Heart Hardening Meditation
2. Integrity: Inviolate Dragon Spirit
3. Linguistics: Wind Carried Words Technique
4. Performance: Audience Enthusing Display
5. Performance: Lightning Declamation Style
6. Presence: Eternally Argumentative Flame
7. Presence: Warm Faced Seduction Style
8. Presence: Hot-Blooded Ardor
9. Resistance: Ox-body Technique
10. Occult: Spirit Detecting Mirror
11. Occult: Spirit Grounding Strike
12. Occult: Soul Fire Cremation Technique
13. Occult: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
--. Control Spell: Corrupted Words
--. Shaping Ritual: Sevenfold Art Invocation
14. Summon Elemental
15. Storm Wind Rider

Intimacies

Defining Principle: “I will raise my lineage to new heights”
Major Principle: “With power comes the duty to use that power responsibly”
Minor Principle: The Immaculate Faith
Minor Principle: "I like creating and repairing things"
Defining Tie: My children (Familial love)
Major Tie: Cynis Ganan (Love)
Major Tie: Mnemon Alinos (Ambivalent Love/Resentment)
Major Tie: Anathema (Righteous Contempt)
Minor Tie: Tinkara Dovak (Friends-with-benefits)
Minor Tie: House Mnemon (Familial Duty)
Minor Tie: House Ragara (Bitter Animosity)
Minor Tie: Ragara Bhagwei (Respect)

Evasion 2
Parry 4
Soak 5 (Exceptional ironwood chain shirt) Hardness 0
Mobility Penalty -0
Resist Poison: 3 dice

The Burning Name: Accuracy 13/11 (8 Decisive), 9 Damage (OVR 1), Lethal, Thrown (Short), mounted

Exceptional Axe: 8 (6 Decisive), 11 Damage (OVR 1), Lethal, Chopping, Thrown (Short: Accuracy 7/6, 3 Decisive)

Join Battle: 4 (+3 to result as normal)
Rush: 3
Disengage: 4

Resolve 4 (+2, ignore -1 from wounds, deprivation or poison, 4m)
Guile 5 (+2, 4m; +3 in high society, 6m)

Willpower 5
Essence 2
Personal motes 13
Peripheral motes 31

Health Track
-0 x1
-1 x2
-2 x4
-4 x1
Incap
https://ibb.co/HHYyk1X

Mnemon Alinos – A Mentor
Mother of Mnemon Alinos Danireya, daughter of Mnemon Nanals, grand-daughter of Mnemon herself. Alinos rallied her numerous sisters, crafted alliances through-out House Mnemon and beyond, birthed a minor host of children and raised her own personal potency to the point where her bloodline had to be recognized as one of the major houses of the Great House of Mnemon. Acting on the personal orders of her grandmother, she has commanded that the beating heart of her house be up-wrenched from their comfortable quarters within the Blessed Isle to march on the threshold province of Dovak. A graduate of the Heptagram, and a powerful Air Aspected Sorceress of 280 years – if her minions wonder the reasons why they have been ordered to this Dragon-forsaken land, they wonder quietly. And if they wonder if Alinos herself knows Mnemon’s true reasons for dispatching them, they wonder with their throats slit.

Mnemon Alinos Nula – An Ally
Daughter of Reya and Ganan, twin-sister of Muli, an Air Aspected Sorcerer fresh from the Heptagram; Nula found herself home from secondary school for a matter of days before shipping out to the Threshold with her mother and grandmother. A wilful child pursuing her own agenda, Nula none-the-less finds her goals aligned with those of her mother. Nula has lofty ambitions and a very specific vision for the future of the Realm. Nula’s goals in Dovak include amassing a personal fortune by stripping the Satrapy of its vast wealth and increasing her own sorcerous power. Nula has no personal vendetta against her father, but, well he is a man. She cares deeply for her brother, and would like to see him married to his lover.

Mnemon Alinos Muli – An Ally
Son of Reya and Ganan, twin-brother of Nula, Fire Aspected graduate of the House of Bells. Muli lived his life with the threat of being a left-over child, a stigma that haunted him until the moment of his Exaltation. Dotingly loyal by nature, Muli never once hesitated to follow his mother’s commands… until the Battle of Futile Blood. The aftermath of the decimation of the Tepet Legions has seen Muli conflicted between his loyalty to his mother’s house, and his love of Tepet Agoram. As young, male, Terrestrial who graduated the House of Bells to find the Imperial Legions are no more and his only path to advancement lies with his family, Muli finds his options in life are somewhat limited. He’d dearly like to be anywhere but Dovak, in the arms of his lover… but he has no-where else to go. Though he alternates between headstrong impertinence and sulking inaction, Muli never-the-less finds his best ally in his mother. Muli is infuriated by his father’s blunt insistence that Tepet is a fallen house and that Agoram should be returned to the Blessed Isle. Muli is a poet who composes works in Dragon-tongue, with an affectionate nature. He fights with a Longfang and knows some battlefield medicine.

Mnemon (Alinos) Nanals – A Wise Elder
Mother of Mnemon Alinos, daughter of Mnemon, and grand-daughter of the Scarlet Empress. Nanals was in the first class of the Heptagram. Despite birthing many daughters, Nanals lacked the political will to be recognized as matriarch of a major house and (seemingly) the acumen to succeed at Dynastic politics. She has, however, built up an extensive web of contacts, from Greyfalls and the Hundred Kingdoms, to Lookshy, to Prasad – and perhaps even beyond that. Earth Aspect.

Mnemon Alinos Bekara – The Satrap
Sister of Mnemon Alinos, a graduate of the Spiral Academy and Earth aspect, Bekara is the long-suffering Satrap of Dovak. Consigned to what she sees as a provincial backwater under constant siege by filthy barbarian subhumans, Bekara would dearly love to hand the reigns of the Satrapy over to her young niece and sail back to civilization. But the economy of Dovak is complex, and her sister depends on the income its mines and mills bring in. Since the Empress’s disappearance, Bekara has filled the ranks of her chief advisors with her sister, mother, and niece (alongside her mortal daughter Sahar who is as thoroughly disillusioned with Dovak as Bekara is). Garrison commander Ragara Haseti remains a stubborn thorn in her side – with the war in Jiara, it seems unlike that an Itinerant Advisory Committee will visit Dovak any time soon, making Haseti the last vestige of Imperial control over the Satrap.

Mnemon (Alinos) Johon – The Old Bear
An Earth Aspected grandson of Mnemon Rulinsei, husband of Mnemon Alinos, and a renowned artificer. Mnemon Alinos (née Rulinsei) Johon, a graduate of the House of Bells, retired some fourteen years ago, after a distinguished career in the legions. The Old Bear’s physical strength is legendary and he has a reputation for his sound tactical mind. A founding member of his wife's major house, Mnemon Johon typically introduces himself by his wife's family name rather than his grandmothers.

Mnemon Alinos Ferad – The Dutiful Son
Fire Aspected, son of Mnemon Alinos, older brother to Reya. Whilst Reya attended the Heptagram and their other siblings all graduated from the House of Bells, Ferad as an incorrigible child failed to get into the House of Bells and seemed destined for the House of Ancient Stone. Desperate for any chance of redemption, Ferad hatched a plan to attend Pasaip’s Stair – the military school for Outcastes, where he graduated and entered the Legions, meeting his future wife before being forcibly discharged before the end of his term when the Great Houses took control of the Imperial Legions. Ferad sees the venture to Dovak as a proving ground to test his skills leading Mnemon troops before the looming civil war breaks loose.

Mnemon Alinos Gracious Pealing Melody – The Outcaste Sister
Wood Aspected wife of Mnemon Alinos Ferad, Melody is an Outcaste archer who took the Coin. Less than twenty years into her career in the Legions, the Empress’s disappearance saw her washed out of her commission. This did, however, afford her the chance to marry the father of her child and love of her life, Mnemon Alinos Ferad – entering the Dynasty.
Session 15 Statline
Mnemon Alinos Gracious Pealing Melody
Wood Aspect
Pasiap's Stair
The Adopted Archer

Strength 2
Dexterity 5
Stamina 2

Charisma 5
Manipulation 4
Appearance 2

Perception 3
Intelligence 1
Wits 3

Wood Aspect Abilities (and Specialities) (9 BP)

Archery 5 (Shortbow)
Medicine 5 (15DX)
Performance 5
Ride 5 (Giant Lizards)
Survival 5

Favored Abilities (9 BP)

Athletics 2 (1DX)
Awareness 5
Dodge 5 (Mounted)
Integrity 5 (15DX)
War 2 (Mounted Combat) (1DX)

Other Abilities

Linguistics 1
Presence 3
Resistance 3 (In the Saddle)
Socialize 3

Merits (Native Language: Low Realm)

Artifact 3 (Summer Thunder, Short Powerbow)
Artifact 4 (Spider Silk Shirt, Light Armor)
Familiar 3 (Clapper, A Shieldback Lizard) (Trained in Distract Gambit, 3XP)
(Dynastic Freebie) Allies 3 (Mnemon Ferad, Husband)
(Dynastic Freebie) Language (Riverspeak)
(Dynastic Freebie) Language (High Realm)

Free Excellencies

1. Archery: Unobstructed Hunter's Aim
2. Awareness: Precision Awareness Method
3. Dodge: Threshold Warding Stance
4. Integrity: Granite Curtain of Serenity
5. Ride: Scattered Hoof Falls

Charms

8XP: Archery: Harvest of the Hunter
8XP: Archery: Arrow Thorn Technique
1. Medicine: Master Healer Meditation
2. Medicine: Wound-Closing Technique
3. Performance: Talented Improvisation
4. Performance: Soul-Stirring Performance
5. Performance: Heart-Strengthening Defense
6. Performance: Harmonious Life-Affirming Song
7. Ride: Heaven (G)Racing Leap
11XP: Ride: Tread Rooted in Life (Wood and Earth)
8. Resistance: Ox-Body Technique
9. Resistance: Ox-Body Technique x2
10. Survival: Ration Enhancing Method
11. Survival: Beast Taming Aspect
8XP: Survival: Mother of Beast's Mastery

Evocations

12. Summer Thunder: Hooves Like Sunlight
13. Summer Thunder: Nook-and-Cranny Unity
14. Summer Thunder: Laughing Stallion Escape
15. Summer Thunder: Skirmisher's Piercing Deliverance

Intimacies
Defining Tie: Clapper (Motherly Love)
Major Tie: Mnemon Ferad (Husband)
Major Tie: Mnemon Jorod (Secret son)
Major Tie: Mnemon Danireya (Sister)
Minor Tie: Slavers (Disgust)
Minor Tie: The Undead (Hatred)
Defining Principle: I am an Upright Soldier
Major Principle: The Immaculate Philosophy

Combat
Evasion 6+1
Parry 3

Soak 7 Hardness 4
Mobility Penalty -0

Resist Poison: 5(+1) dice

Summer Thunder: Accuracy 10/16/14/12/- (11 Decisive)(+6, 6m); Damage 12 (3 OVR; +1, 3m); Archery (Long), Mounted, Lethal

Rush: 6 (12 Mounted, +3 successes 6m)
Disengage: 10 (12 Mounted, +3 successes 6m)

Join Battle: 8 dice

Command Mounted Troops: 9 dice

Social
Charismatic Performance 10 dice

Resolve 4 (+2, ignore -1 from wounds, deprivation or poison, 4m)
Guile 3

Willpower 5
Essence 2

Personal motes 13
Peripheral motes 31 (22, 9 committed)

Health Track
-0 x1
-1 x2
-2 x6
-4 x1
Incap

Mnemon Alinos Jorod – The Pillow Son
Born of Gracious Pealing Melody and Mnemon Alinos Ferad when the former was only in her second year of service in the Legions, Jorod was quietly removed from the legions and given to the care of Mnemon Alinos Bekara to be raised as a member of the Dynasty. A contemporary of Muli, Jorod has recently graduated from the House of Bells and finds himself united with his birth parents and adopted mother in Dovak. A Water Aspected master of naval combat, Jorod finds the mountains and forests of Dovak do not compliment his skills as well as they could, and he chafes at not being on the open sea.

Tepet Agoram – The Runaway
Agoram met Muli at the House of Bells during a mock battle, and the two became fast friends, then more than that. When Agoram graduated, it was to a promising career in the Tepet Legions with a promise to come back for Muli once he had graduated and Agoram had made a name for himself, such that their families could not possibly object to their match. Agoram was given a spectacular chance to distinguish himself as part of the reinforcements sent to his grandfather’s campaign against the Bull of the North. Agoram joined the campaign as the other houses withdrew their support, in time to fight and bleed in the Battle of Futile Blood. The experience of the campaign broke Agoram’s spirit, and after limping back to the Blessed Isle, Agoram ran away. Refusing to answer the calls of his mother’s house, or accept marriage to a promising Outcaste girl to rebuild the Tepet numbers, he’s run to his lover Mnemon Alinos Muli. This has caused a degree of friction among the Mnemon house: Alinos, Melody, Ganan and Ferad see little value in a Tepet match, and would rather see Muli take an advantageous wife; Reya sees value in keeping her son in her own house, and bringing the Air aspected Tepet’s sword to her banner; Nula and Jorod just want to see Muli happy, Nula even offering to summon a Neomah or even marry Agoram herself to help assuage the house’s elders (though, thus far her mother has dissuaded her from doing anything rash); Nanals and Johon keep their own counsel, but have both pointed out that without a marriage it looks very much like Mnemon has taken a precious Tepet scion hostage. Agoram is in Dovak only because that is where Muli is (and where the Bull of the North isn’t).

Dynastic Rivals
Ragara Haseti – The Jade Fist
Appointed as commander of Dovak’s garrison by the Empress before her disappearance, Haseti has kept order in Dovak for the better part of a decade, fending off constant attacks by the wild beastfolk of the forest. Though remote, until recently Dovak could always rely on support from Jiara and Thorns being only a few months away. But since the Anathema’s revolt in Jiara and Thorns falling to the forces of death, defending Dovak seemed an untenable position until the arrival of Mnemon Alinos and the dragon’s share of her household. Eleven more Princes of the Earth and their retinues have bolstered the defenses of Dovak greatly, but the quiet removal of the Chief Advisors appointed by the Empress does not bode well. Earth Aspected Haseti wields the Ragara heirloom, Perdurant Vault, and its Evocations have served him well. Known as the Jade Fist, Haseti keeps the Mnemon family and Dovak Royals honest in their tribute as well as safe from barbarians.

Ragara Bhagwei – The Healer
The headmaster of the Heptagram and a renowned healer. Former teacher and employer of Nanals, Alinos, and Ganan (and teacher of Reya). Studied at the Versino. Wood Aspect. Presently half-way across the world on the Isle of Voices.

Mnemon – The Heir Apparent
Daughter of the Scarlet Empress, Earth Aspect, student of the Versino, mother of Mnemon Nanals. Currently a few hundred miles West in Jiara fighting a campaign against the Anathema there.

The Scarlet Empress – The Savior of Creation
The rightful ruler of Creation, mother of Mnemon, Ragara, Cynis, and Rulinsei. Currently missing.

Rawar – Deceased
Husband of the Scarlet Empress. Father of Mnemon and Ragara. Deceased.
Tepet Fokuf – The Regent
Mortal scion of House Tepet, nominally ruling the Realm in the Empress’s absence. Considered ineffectual, weak and personally disgusting.

Cynis Jinabar – A Magistrate
A magistrate. Daughter of Cynis Lorana. Wood Aspect. Graduate of the House of Bells. Whereabouts unknown.

Cynis Lorana – A Madame
Mistress of a renowned (read: infamous) salon on the Blessed Isle. Wood Aspect. Graduate of the Cloister of Wisdom. Mother of Jinabar and Ganan. Presently in Greyfalls.

Cynis Lenoni – A devout mother
Mother of Cynis Lorana. Presently ministering correct Immaculate Philosophy to the lost souls of Prasad. Wood Aspect. Graduate of the Cloister of Wisdom.

Ledaal Vidad – A Lay Monk
Graduate of the Cloister of Wisdom. Air Aspect. Father of Cynis Jinabar and Ganan. Marriage to Cynis Lorana annulled on grounds of infertility. Presently on the Caul.

Dovak Royal Family
King Darios Dovak – The Thinblooded
King Darios, First of His Name, Dovak Resurgent, Envoy to Dragons, Blood of the Wind Gods. The Dovak royal family claims descent from the Shogunate, the Khidaran royal family, the Autocrat of Thorns, and Tomonas The Divine – an elemental god of the winds, amongst other even less credible claims. Darios is seen as a weak king by his people, and an inauspicious barbarian by the Realm. Middle-aged, balding, indecisive and increasingly over-weight. Dovak’s only real redeeming feature was that he was on good terms with the Khidaran’s before their rebellion – a quality which is clearly no longer of use. Only Immaculate priests, Dynasts and the Dovak royal family are allowed to treat with Tomonas, the Thunderbird guardian of Dovak who makes his home in the mountainside overlooking the palace. Darios’s wife died giving birth to Tinkara.

Tomonas – A Thunderbird
The warlike guardian of the land presently inhabited by the Kingdom of Dovak. An elemental spirit of air, Tomonas has interbred with the royal family of Dovak, passing on some of his power into the bloodline. No fool, Tomonas carefully sculpted his cult to mirror Immaculate beliefs and to encourage the ruling class to submit to the Realm on favorable terms. Tomonas now reaps more worship as a reward for not interfering in mortal affairs than he ever did actively trying to rule the warlike clan which predated the kingdom. Though he considers himself refined and patient, Tomonas is as hot-blooded and rash as the average Thunderbird and he chafes at not being able to lead hordes of loyal worshippers into glorious battle.

Tinkara Dovak – The Warlike Princess, An Ally
Daughter of Darios Dovak, and the heir apparent. Tinkara has one (surviving) older sibling, who hasn’t been seen since he left the kingdom seventeen years ago. Unlike her father, Tinkara is obviously a powerful God-Blooded, clearly carrying the elemental power of Tomonas. Tinkara is an influential stateswoman, and a firm ally of Mnemon Alinos Danireya: Reya has shown a genuine interest in the kingdom of Dovak, and whilst their goals are clearly not entirely aligned they have more in common than dividing them. The other Mnemon seem more interested in strip-mining her kingdom, whilst Cynis Ganan openly views her as a walking blasphemy; Ragara Haseti is a more complex case – he’s done an admirable job defending the nation, but is a man without vision who seems content to watch the borders of Dovak slowly shrink (and its economy dry up, so long as he can continue to wring tribute from it). Decisive, fiercely intelligent with a naturally regal bearing, and ever armed with a war-club forged in the heart of a lightning strike.
Tinkara Dovak
God-Blooded
Warlike Princess

Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Stamina 2

Charisma 3
Manipulation 3
Appearance 3

Perception 2
Intelligence 2
Wits 2

Athletics 2
Awareness 2 (Join Battle)
Brawl 1
Bureaucracy 2
Integrity 2
Investigation 1
Linguistics 1
Lore: Dovaki education 1
Melee 3 (Warclub)
Occult 1 (Tomonas)
Performance 2
Presence 3
Resistance 2
Socailize 2
Stealth 1
Survival 1
War 1 (Dovaki Military)

Merits (Native Language: Riverspeak)

Exalted Healing
Resources 3
Influence (Dovaki Princess) 4
Artifact (Warclub) 3
High Realm
Low Realm
Forest-tongue
Tribal Language: Dovaki
Contacts 1 (Local Guild Merchants)
Followers 1 (Personally loyal bureaucrats)
Followers 1 (Handmaidens)

Join Battle: 5
Resist Poison/Disease: 4
Parry: 4
Evasion: 2
Soak: 5 (Buff Jacket)
Rush: 5
Disengage: 3

Warclub: Accuracy 9 (7 Decisive), Damage 14 (OVR 4), Bashing, Smashing, Melee

Social: 6
Read Intentions: 4
Guile: 3
Resolve: 2

Yochanan Davok - The Prince In Exile
Tinkara's older brother, a god-blooded with the power of Tomonas. Powerful warrior and practised statesman, Yochanan left the kingdom in disgrace over his refusal to accept the Immaculate Philosophy. He has not been seen in seventeen years.

The Peasantry
Brightsky Vandertunt – A Merchant Prince
A wealthy Guild Merchant, Brightsky is one of the most important trade links for Dovak. The small kingdom did a brisk trade with Jiara and Thorns before their relative misfortunes, and rely heavily on the Jiaran ports for trade with the Realm. Brightsky’s caravans (and… various… "trading partners") stop in Dovak, and range as far north as Lookshy and Nexus and as far South as the Dreaming Sea, providing a vital trade artery for the small kingdom.

Ratel – A porter
A royal attaché to Princess Tinkara, Ratel and Tinkara escorted the Mnemon Alinos contingent from Jiara to Dovak.

Billowing Willow Smoke – The guard captain
Chief of Dovak’s auxiliary force. Notionally reports to Ragara Haseti and King Dovak.
Anathema
Amilar Shavok - The Mad Sorcerer
Shavok of Gens Amilar was a Fire Aspected Dragon-Blooded sorcerer at the Valkhawsen Sorcery Academy. Disgraced for his mad theories on the nature of Exaltation and all but disowned for his unorthodox approaches to First Age Artifice, Shavok assembled a small cadre of four other misfits and Outcasts and led them to a long forgotten manse (a relic of the Realm before) in order to prove Shavok's theories of artifice. In the resulting "Shavok Incident", all Shavok's followers bar one were killed in spectacularly gruesome ways and the manse imploded. Only Cynis Ganan, an impressionable exchange student from the Realm, survived. Although Ganan did emerge from the wrecked manse carrying a potent artifact, the local dragon-lines lay twisted and rent (damage which persists to this day, over forty years later), and three of the Exalted had died horrific deaths -- Lookshy did not consider Shavok's theories to be vindicated, and grudgingly turned over the duped Dynast to the Realm. Shavok himself had disappeared without a trace. Whether he is dead, escaped, or suffering a stranger fate is presently unknown -- but Lookshy maintains standing orders for a Wyld Hunt to bring Shavok to justice.

Eletha The Beautiful - A Fae Cataphract
Golden-haired and adorned with five golden torcs, Eletha is the picture of inhuman beauty... and the soul of inhuman appetite. Eletha rules a haunted woodland, a day's ride to the northeast of Dovak. Those who enter Eletha's domain are invariably found days or weeks later, ravaged body and soul -- reduced to burnt-out shuffling husks. Eletha commands a small army of nightmarish, fanged Yōkai -- these lesser hobgoblins don't dare attack Dovak directly, but menace any foolish enough to approach Eletha's domain. Eletha's fae magics are powerful and strange, the people of Dovak believe Eletha can control dreams and nightmares, as well as cursing its enemies to eternal sleep. Folklore holds that iron nails help ward one from its powers and its minions and that Eletha can be beguiled by showing it its own reflection.

Alinos Fashions
Alinos dresses in practical linens, typically white and accented in Mnemon purple.
Reya dresses similarly, but typically her outfits are overwhelmingly purple with white accents, with a few outfits matching her mother's style. Notably, every outfit includes a pair of highly polished mirrored bracers to allow her to see into the spirit world and a concealed chain shirt made with links of iron wood.
Nula and Muli follow their mother's fashions, but wear their armor openly.
Nanals follows no discernible pattern in her dress, from rough spun undyed wool to fine silk kimonos.
Ganan wears sleeveless vests and baggy trousers in Mnemon purple but accented with gold and green. Like his wife, he wears highly polished bracers.
Johon, Ferad and Melody dress as though they were still in the legions.
Bekara has adopted local fashions in an effort to irritate her sister.
Jarod dresses in white with blue accents

Language and Dovak
The principal language spoken in Dovak is Riverspeak. Old Realm is spoken by priests (Immaculate and converts from The Old Faith). The well to do also learn High Realm. The Dovaki have a native language: a grotesquely simplified Forest-tongue dialect which has largely been abandoned due to needing literally dozens of Riverspeak loan-words in order to do business with the Realm. A few stubborn patriots (and remote homesteads) cling to this native tongue, which is taught to the royal family as a matter of course. Anyone familiar with Forest-tongue can puzzle out Dovaki with little difficulty.

It is widely, and erroneously, believed that the bear-folk communicate in the language of bears. In truth they are quite familiar with native Dovaki, being its primary speakers in the Second Age. The great simplicity of the language lends itself to verbal ciphers consisting of grunts and growls - which the bear-folk use as a kind of battle-cant to stop the Dovaki understanding their battle plans. It would take a careful ear and a good working knowledge of Dovaki to translate the bear-folk war-cant.

Slavery in Dovak
Like many kingdoms in Creation, Dovak practices raid slavery: enemy warriors and defeated peoples are ransomed and held in bondage until a ransom is paid. Dovaki slaves hold some rights: a slave’s bondholder must relinquish the slave on payment of the ransom price, and the ransom price may not be set higher than a talent of silver (though in practice only renowned warriors and legendary chieftains are ever ransomed for as much as a single dirham – one dinar being a standard ransom); Dovaki slaves may not own land, but may own personal possessions (though they may not own slaves) and accumulate currency (though, of course, not jade) – their bondholder is under no obligation to pay them, or even to allow them opportunity to work beyond their duties, but cannot demand a slave relinquish their property; and finally a bond-holder may not inflict crippling damage upon their slaves. The bond-holder may beat their slaves, and assign any task they should choose and the slave has no recourse under Dovaki law: however, this right applies only to the bond-holder and their agents, a criminal who assaults a slave is prosecuted as harshly as if they had assaulted a citizen. The Dovaki see slavery as a misfortune that befalls a person (like illness, or a bad crop) – they do not view slaves as being less-than-human or as any kind of moral failing. This is cold comfort for the slaves.

Several emancipation options also exist: any child taken as a slave is freed once they come of age; a slave who marries a Dovaki citizen is automatically freed (though a slave may only marry with permission of their bond-holder); a slave who births a Dovaki citizen is automatically freed; a bond-holder may free one of their slaves on the first day of every season (Dovaki royals and Dragon-Blooded may free as many slaves as they care to, on any day of the year); the king of Dovak may free a slave (even one he does not own) for exceptional service to the kingdom; a slave dealt crippling harm by their master is freed; a slave who draws the Second Breath and Exalts as a Dragon-Blooded is freed; and, of course, a slave is freed once their people pay the ransom (a slave who somehow collects enough money may pay their own ransom). No child born in Dovak may be born into slavery: even the child of two slaves is born free. Dovaki citizens may not be taken as slaves unless they raise arms against the kingdom. Dragon-Blooded warriors may be ransomed on their defeat, but not forced to work as slaves. Dovaki who take slaves may trade in bonds, transferring ownership of their slaves, but remains responsible for any mistreatment the slave may suffer – thus the Dovaki trade slaves only amongst themselves, with few willing to gamble their life that a guild merchant will not abuse the slaves sold to her.

Dovaki slave law is applied to all slaves held within the kingdom (though in reality, powerful Guild slavers may flaunt the law with impunity) and to all slaves taken by the Dovaki, even when they leave the kingdom (a law only ever observed in breach, as Dovak lacks the power to project its law beyond its borders).

Dovak’s Immaculates teach that slavery is a sin for mortals – a stain on their souls which endangers their enlightenment and inhibits reincarnation. This has done little to change Dovaki attitudes.

Strangers and Citizens
Citizenship of Dovak is granted to any born of a mother who is a citizen, once they come of age. If the mother is not a citizen, but is married to a citizen and the child is born within the borders of Dovak, the child is a citizen. If the mother is a Dovaki slave, but the father is a citizen, the issue is a citizen (and the mother is freed upon the child’s birth). A child adopted by a married couple who are both citizens also becomes a citizen. Any born in Dovak who receive the blessings of the Dragons becomes a citizen. All others, from freed slaves to the Satrap herself, are “strangers” under Dovaki law.

Strangers have similar rights to slaves (they may own possessions, but not land), but of course, have no master. Dragon-Blooded are afforded some additional rights, not by Dovaki law per se, but by the word of the king’s ad-hoc proclamations and the Satrap’s subtle challenges to the courts. Dynasts in Dovak do not expect to be able to own land (they are here as advisors, housed for free at the expense of the king and can’t own land in their own nation, after all). Likewise, traveling Guild merchants aren’t troubled by taking citizens as business partners when required, and wouldn’t wish to own land. Other strangers couldn’t afford to buy deeds even if they wanted it.

Dovaki children likewise have rights similar to slaves, with their parents as bond-holders. Children come of age once they have served a year with the Dovaki Army, then they are counted as full citizens. The army has many needs, and this raw militia of young adults is used to dig trenches and clear brush more than it is used for actual combat. Those who show promise are offered positions in the standing army – the Royal Guard.

In addition to the right to own land and slaves (Dovaki law neither expressly permits nor forbids strangers from owning slaves), citizens have a right to Voice. Not precisely a right to free speech, nor quite a right to representation, Voice permits a citizen the legal right to petition the king (and by extension, the agents of the king). Dovak has a system of punitive, retributive justice (Dovaki nobles hand out sentences lex talionis), but Voice guarantees that a citizen has the right to make their case (even if the judge ignores it) and cannot be punished simply for asking that a case be judged (slaves and strangers have no such protection, but the Dovaki nobility is not so corrupt as to refuse to hear cases which have merit… usually). Citizens may use the right to Voice to gather and express unpopular ideas – but Voice is a right to speak, not to be heard, nor to be protected from the consequences of speech (a citizen is allowed to speak against the government… and the government is allowed to put that citizen to death for treason). Strangers have no legal right to petition the king, but a powerful stranger (such as the Satrap) is far more likely to have their audience granted than a peasant citizen.

Dovaki nobles have the same rights as citizens. However, Dovak is an absolute monarchy, and those close to the king can win concessions based on the king’s whims and biddability. Chief amongst these, the king delegates the authority to enforce Dovaki law to relatives and powerful leaders of influential families.

The laws of Dovak are recorded in the great Tome of Tomonas, in Old Realm glyphs. Two copies are kept in the Tower of Air (in the king's quarters and in the court), a third in the Temple and forth in Tomonas’ lair. Subtle differences exist between the four tomes, and the law is further complicated by the declarations of the king (which may or may not be recorded in scrolls of addendums recorded in Dovaki or Riverspeak).

The Kingdom of Dovak
A Realm Satrapy for the past forty years, Dovak sits in the forests of the Near East, south of Nexus and East of Jiara at the base of a mountain range. The mountains are rich with sulphide deposits, and Dovak’s mines produce large amounts of copper, alongside sizable deposits of silver and other metals. The fertile soils grow a variety of useful plants, and the forests are the home of a number of animals that can be tamed for profit.

The nation’s remote location has allowed it to remain independent of the Realm for some time, but it has enjoyed (relatively) peaceful trade (and the attentions of Immaculate missionaries) for the past two centuries.

At the heart of the kingdom, is the Palace of Air and Stone. The central keep, the Tower of Air, is a seven-story structure that houses Dovak’s royal family. According to legend, the tower was raised at the height of the Realm Before by the most brilliant artisans of the Shogunate. Though the azure stone has been likened to a fool’s jade, the tower has no magical properties: certainly, however, it is an impressive feat of engineering. The utmost level of the tower is given over entirely to King Darios as his living space, and has an impressive balcony for welcoming aerial visitors: principally, Tomonas the Thunderbird (though there are fanciful tales of receiving Green Frowning Bear, the Eastern Windmaster; Mela, the Immaculate Dragon; Cloud People; and various Celestial gods). Beneath the king’s private rooms are several chambers for the royal family and their most important courtiers and servants, then the courtroom. The floors are numbered from the top down: the king lives on the first, or Principal, level; the royal family on the second; and the court is held on the third. The fourth level is an elaborate guardhouse, the royal garrison is stationed here whilst on duty. The fifth is referred to as the Royal Market: it serves the function of a literal market, allowing the royals to have goods brought to them that they need not leave the tower, but is primarily used to make trade deals and decisions of “low policy” which concern only the peasantry. The sixth level is known as the Reception of Power: it is a mix of reception rooms, servant’s quarters and storage. The entry-level, much like the forth, is again an elaborate guardhouse, screening those who would enter the tower: a posting to the entry-way is far less prestigious than a posting on the Forth, and the entryway also serves as a market and meeting place for the common servants.

The tower is surrounded by a beautifully manicured garden. Every plant grown has some practical use: sunflowers (which grow in every season bar Air) yield edible seeds, Love-Lies-Bleeding, nasturtiums, and lilacs likewise produce beautiful blooms whilst being edible; medicinal herbs and cultivated peach trees are also grown.

The garden is then ringed by the Wall of Stone. An impressive and well-fortified structure: though it only has two levels, the impressively high ceilings mean this outer wall stands half as tall as the central tower. The wall serves as the nation’s main garrison and barracks: here is where the nation’s soldiers train, sleep and sally forth from. Furnishings are Spartan, and the décor is aiconic, but there are a number of spacious and comfortable rooms: traditionally used to house visiting diplomats of great power and providence such as Khidaran nobility or wealthy Guild officials, these rooms are now used to hold the Satrap and her family.

Beyond the wall, Dovak degenerates into a series of tenements and marketplaces, farmhouses and charcoal fuelled furnaces which belch steady pillars of black smoke into the air. Bronze axes are swung from dawn to dusk, felling trees for charcoal and grazing land, and copper runs like a river from the hills and cliffs overlooking the city – each tiny, family-owned mine acting as a tributary stream.

Wildcats are a constant danger, both in the mountains and the forests – but bears are considered to be the most inauspicious danger, due in no small part to the preponderance of bear-folk who constantly harry logging operations and raid trade caravans. Forty years ago, a bear-folk army made it as far as the Wall of Stone before being repelled by Immaculates – cementing the king’s decision to bring Dovak into the providence of the Realm. When in their cups, the most superstitious and foolish speak of goat-men and the legendary devil-creature Ma-Ha-Sachi. The ancient anathema is a powerful taboo in the city, whilst mothers will comfortably threaten to leave out unruly children for the bear-men to devour, to speak of Ma-Ha-Sachi is like unto an act of treason mingled with evoking a death curse which endangers one’s own soul.
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Dynasty of Dovak