Act 1 Scene 3: Shadow on the Sun [Alliance of the Renewal]

cyl

Creepy smile
After a week of sailing on the land, some of you still have had trouble with the concept, getting to know each other a bit more, you finally arrived near Provacour, a rather small city, more or less the size of Balsa, around ten thousands souls. Stone high walls, wood and stone building, paved streets, and roads, and obvious symbols of its solar influence.


You had to leave the ship and continue on foot or horse to get into the city, but as soon as you put a foot on the land, you saw a troup of twenty heavy armored knights carrying lances with pennants symbolizing a golden gryffon, lead by a man clad in red jade armor wearing a dragon head shaped golden helmet with a long white fur.


The knights stopped at charging distance and their commander spoke:


"I am Captain Bratax of the army of the Alliance, decline your identities and motives of your trip to our fine city of Provacour !"


***


just a reminder, the man you are looking for is called Vargas von Krauser.
 
White Lilly


Not wishing to wait for others, and with a strong desire to find out how to cleanse the Shadowland around Balsa, and hopefully further afield than that, White Lilly moves forward, holding Neg'thu in her arms, petting him.


"My name is White Lilly, and me and my companions have come to your fair city to see a man called Vargas von Krauser"


------------


She does suspect that the man in red jade armor might very well be a Dragon-Blooded, but after seeing her companions in action, she is well aware that if he is the only one, then she's likely got nothing to fear from him should he suspect or discover that they are Solars.


Just to be sure though, she will activate her
Hearing the Unspoken Words charm, which let's her discover all living creatures within 35 yards of her, so she cannot be ambushed, surprised, or have them hide from her, and reduced the difficulty for her to read motivation by one.


Edit: White Lilly will use 3 motes from Neg'thu's 5 mote mool to power this Charm, so not even her Caste mark is visible.
 
Miya had lounged against the side of the ship for most of the trip, happily talking with Arelean and the big bird or discussing her service with the Guild. That was when she wasn't drinking, chewing qat or making ribald comments to make the men blush.


When it came time to introduce herself, the lithe runner wandered over, seeming unimpressed with the knights as she said, "Hi, I'm Miya Fleetfoot, and what she said."
 
Jonas


Trundling up slowly atop Big Jonas' back. He simply nodded to the Captain, tipping his hat in the process with fingers to the brim. "My name is Jonas Windson. And in addition to meeting our ally here we are also looking to restock our supplies, relax a little, and then we should be on our way perhaps in a couple of days."
 
Captain Spider also approached, his sword no where in sight but tucked safely a thought away, he had spent the time meeting his new allies and getting better aquainted to his old ones. At night entertaining all with performances by his 'pet' an elven sort of monkey, with a remarkable singing voice. Occasionaly applying an air of humor to the routine when he joined in, only to be shooed off the stage by the perfectionist simian.


He gave Jonas a look as he spoke "I don't know about that, I'm rather eager to set sail once more.....I'm Captain Spider of the Web, Know that neither I nor my crew mean your city any harm, a visit and some supplies and we'll be on our way...." He says with a broad friendly smile that bore no lies.
 
Crimson Arroyo


Finally taking a break from the unceasing patrol she had been on during the journey, Crimson is resting below decks. A thin pretext for what is clearly an attempt to avoid arousing any suspicion or enmity from the town's protectors. Ensconced away from prying eyes and ears she mutters quietly...


"Not all cities are like Kirighast, Scorch, no sense causing trouble if we can just stay out of sight... Remember what happened in that village in the lowlands? You might enjoy that kind of thing but I would like to avoid it. Besides which we're trying to get help from someone here and burning the place down wouldn't exactly make the locals friendly now would it?"
 
Bratax smiled


"A lot of people come to see our Lord...


Most of them are either trying to get something from him or trying to kill him... some of you got the looks, but the others don't so I guess you're here for the first. Might as well tell me what it is you want
 
White Lilly


A bit taken aback by the bluntness of the man, White Lilly looks at the ground, trying to compose her emotions before replying.


"I believe your lord has some knowledge that might prove useful for myself and my companions, and I seek an audiance with him. I mean neither him nor his people any harm. I'm a healer by profession."
 
Bratax nodded in approbation at Miya's comment.


"Then you have come to the right place to seek the right man... please follow me."


He stepped down his horse, and continued escorting you on foot while his knights are now surrounding you, taking a protective posture as if you were important guests.


"My lord possesses indeed such knowledge, and if the cause is righteous he will not hesitate to help you honorable guests."


Moments after you passed the gates of Provacour, you can see the beauty of the city, boiling with activity, people, businesses, markets, and strangely... priests. There are many priests walking the streets and many small altars throughout the city. As you walked by the main square you couldn't avoid the sight of a magnificent golden statue of the sun god in all his glory. Hundreds of offerings, flowers, presents and the like surrounds the statue, and people coming close to the statue always stop to gently bow, make a little prayer and pay his respect to the Inconquered Sun.


Bratax talked a bit of the city:


"This city is the capital city of our growing alliance, both lord Vargas and King Filipo have been chosen by the Sun God to bring prosperity back to mankind, and many city states will join our cause soon. The city has been ruled by Filipo's family for countless generations, but now our King has become immortal, we will never need a better guide. From the moment Lord Vargas came, together they quickly conquered the surrounding cities like Puyo, and even if we are only miles away from the undead city of Thorns, we do not fear an invasion by the Slayer of Nations.


Lord Vargas has also brought with him a few of his brothers, and have gifted our alliance with many blessings..."


He slowly stopped to salute a man walking in the streets:


"Master Idawa, good to see you. These travellers have come to see lord Vargas."


***


Brickwall's up


note: post your background on your sheet :)
 
The man they run across doesn't look like someone to be saluting to. He's a young man dressed in very simple clothes, covered in splotches of paint, clay, and unidentifiable material, and his shaggy hair is an absolute mess. This may be why he looks a bit surprised at the knight's address. He shakes it off, though.


"Gracious welcome to you all," he says cheerfully. He waves, and a few papers fall out from his arms. He catches them with his other hand without blinking (quite clearly this happens a lot), but it's obvious that they're sketches of various subjects, most look like something from this city.


"Wherefore does this assembly draw itself together from the corners of life? Those who seek the aid of Lord Vargas seldom have the petty in mind." He stares at the crew very curiously for a brief moment. The curious look stays, but he stops staring, at least.


"Of course, it may be urgent. There shall be no delay in your petition. We go to see him now." With a summoning gesture (using the empty hand this time), he starts heading off in the right direction.


-----------------


Idawa activates All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight, as he does at even the slightest excuse. I assume that, between artifacts and active Charms, their nature as Exalted should be easy enough to determine.
 
"Well, if that ain't asking for a Wyld Hunt to come tracking your ass," Miya muttered under her breath as they walked through the very fancy city, "Then I dunno what is."


The lithe runner flipped back her red ponytail with a sardonic smile. "Lead the way then, good sir."
 
Bratax laughed at Miya's comment:


"Ha ha ha ha... I don't think the Wyld Hunt is ever coming back here after what happened last time..."


Then he seemed to come to his senses:


"Oh my... I didn't realize you were chosen too... pardon my previous arrogance masters... I am in charge of security here... I need to take some precautions.


Do not worry about the imperials, Provacour and the whole Alliance are the safer place for every chosen of the Sun god...


Once you've been introduced to our king and lord, your names will be registered, and you will always find help shelter and guidance here whenever you need it."
 
White Lilly


White Lilly is stunned to hear those words. A land where the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun are not hunted down? A place where she might be able to live her life in relative peace?


Overcome with emotion (and with a compassion 4), White Lilly starts bursting in tears. "I... oh my... " and other mumbles too wierd to understand.
 
Jonas


He audibly groaned as the man virtually genuflected to them. "I am nobody's Master and I ain't here for worship." His tone left no question as to how he felt about the situation.


-------------------


We still in the Season of Fire?
 
Hiraeth


The drunken monk, who prior to the fight and his exaltation spent his time drinking himself unconcious, was jovial and friendly during the journey. Often leading the crew of the ship in renditions of 'colourful' shanties and bawdy folk songs. His laugh is loud and infectious, and though his bottle and wine skin never seem to leave his side he never seems to overexcess like he did prevously. Whether this is because of his new exalted constitution or he is now moderating his drinking is not entirely clear.


He is quiet as they all arrive at the gates of the city. He wears his immaculate robes still, though they have been cleaned and extensively repaired, his ever present leather bound bottle is tucked into his belt on which hangs his wine skin.


He looks round the near by area taking occasional swings from his bottle before tucking it back into his belt.
 
Bratax smiled:


"I can assure you the title master is nothing but a polite acknowledgment of your status as celestial beings. Lord Vargas has made things clear here, only the the Sun god and his spiritual allies should be revered here, not him, not our King and not anyone made of flesh and bones... some have tried, but the King and the Lord have brought them to reason... or made them leave their lands."


***


yes we are in descending fire right now, and for now it's a no moon phase.
 
"Admirable" says the captain, true this city seemed a godsend, a place where the returning solars could come to live a life of relative peace away from wyld hunts and roving deathknights, but he had heard tales of paradises before few panned out to the myths. He walked along, quiet, willing to let others do the talkig for the time being....
 
"I hope you're on good terms with the Bull of the North then, because Greyfalls is up there and there's a whole buncha folks there who don't like the idea of Solars getting a foothold," Miya observed wryly. She was uncomfortable with the idea of Solars ruling anything.
 
Bratax rolled his eyes:


"No we share no sympathies with the Bull of the North, we had our share of bloodbaths in the past few years, cities to conquer to establish a safe haven for the people and the alliance, but our goal is not to rule the world, we just want to protect it from its many ennemies, humans or not...


Of course we have attracted the attention of a few imperials and they even have sent assassins over the last months, but they've been captured and sent back to their masters."


As you walked through the city, it became obvious that it had the potential for greatness in many aspects though it was still rather humble. There were several building being rennovated or built with modern design, and people were kind to each other, as if they knew they had nothing to fear from one another.


You finally arrived at the castle, a huge and ancient grey stone fortress, with a strange octogonal design, extremely large and five stories high. Considering the amount of moss eating the stone, rennovating the castle was not a priority for the rulers of the city.


"Here we are masters, I leave you in the hand of master Idawa, he will take you to our Lord. He must be with the King and his council at this hour of the day... and it seems you are pretty late young master.


I will wait for you outside the castle."
 
White Lilly


The things she learned were much to absorb, so she remained silent during the walk to the castle, though very much interested in the words her companions spoke, and in the sights to be seen of this city.


Edging close to Jonas, she asks him in a low voice "I understand your dislike for ruling, but wouldn't it be nice to live in a place like this where people have nothing to fear, and the Chosen of the Sun are not hunted down?"
 
Idawa


"Come in, everyone! It looks best to arrive with many guests at once!" Idawa does not hesitate to keep going, though he gives a wave to Bratax. None of the discussions along the way seem to have made him turn his head or interject.
 
Walking into the castle you could see a few dozen guards clad in dark red heavy armor wielding lances and swords. The castle was rather rough in its architecture, but the furniture, paintings and tapestries were of exquisite taste.


You walked through a maze of stairs and corridors to finally reach a grand hall, probably on top of the castle, opened to the sky, with a bright summer sun.


The room was filled with councillors, priests, architects, doctors, scientists and historians, but four characters could not be missed:


- a young man so fat, blond curly hair and blue eyes he could barely sit without sweating heavily, wearing expensive clothes and jewelry and a golden crown and eating roasted chicken.


- a young athletic woman, brown hair and green eyes wearing short yellow clothes as well as a bandana of the same color and a pair of reaper daiklaves


- an forty years old man man clad in a magnificent super heavy armor of orichalcum, with gryffon figures on the helmet and the shoulders. Above him was perched a magnificent and authentic gryffon, with brown and yellow feathers and a head as white as snow.


- a young man, dressed like a young hero, semi long blond hair, blue eyes, brown leather boots blue clothes, orichalcum breastplate, red cape and a huge daiklave composed of orichalcum with veins of moonsilver.


There were various empty seats in the council room, all talkings stopped once you all entered the room. All eyes turned to Yuriso Idawa...
 
"Great Shades of the Deliberative...." are the whispered words of the Solar Sailor, looking on at the gathered people. This was...more, to say the least,........than he had ever expected. He stood there in the doorway, perfectly willing to allow others to go first, this was a court and thus a job for diplomats and words, his talents lay in ships and swords....


Even so, the sheer level of potential power present was enough to make the Captain uneasy. This might well be the first gathering of so many chosen since the first age, a thought which carried promise as well as worried him as he remembered some of those things he very much preferred not to. Inherited memories were a double edged blade at times.

Yeah, this is something to give pause to the guy with past lifes 3
 

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