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

White Lilly


Darting her gaze between the assemblage, and her companions, White Lilly felt humbled to be a witness to a gathering of Solars the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Usurption, luckily for her, she retained little memories from that time, at least so far as she could tell.


Silently she picked up Neg'thu to hold in her arms, suddenly feeling more alone, despite the presence of other Solars. Forgetting for a while her desire to find a way to restore shadowlands, she is overcome by her shyness and attempts to hide amongst the others, even though her strange looks have probably marked her as different already.
 
Hiraeth


"Wotcha!"


The fat monk dusts off his immaculate robes and wanders over to the table, he smiles to each in turn that sits around the table.


"Sew wull eys mess cunfess ups untell lust munff eys wud bes rennen us fust us mes lil lugs wud curry mes en da uppusete durecktun yullin fur da hent, wull uf eys wus subur enuff te stund dat es. Ow fings chenge"


<So well I must confess up until last month I would be running as fast as my little legs would carry me in the opposite direction yelling for the Hunt, well if I was sober enough to stand that is. How things change>


"Cull mes Hiraeth."


<Call me Hiraeth>
 
The man in the golden armor laughed hard:


"Yuriso, you always make the best entrance even when late !"


Then he turned to you:


"Welcome my brothers and sisters, my name is Vargas von Krauser, I am the high councillor of his majesty King Filipo" he said presenting his hungry solar mate who waved a hand with a chicken leg in it before putting it back into his mouth "And I am the spiritual guide of this Alliance" he added before taking his helmet.


Under the helmet you could see a man with a chocolate skin, typical of an southeasterner, with white short hair and a well cared moustache, and a face marked by experience, probably war, and a few other things... he bears battle scars on the neck, the face and his skull (the hair didn't grow back at some places and the scars looked just like an axe or a sword slash), and he has lost his right eye after something or someone clawed his face as you can guess from the three lined scar that went from the top of his head to the end of his throat (a miracle he was still alive after such a scar).


The man lightened his caste mark and you could see he was from the Zenith Caste.


"I am one of the founders of this Alliance, and am in charge of the war department and spiritual affairs and here are my comrades."


"Filipo, our King !" the fat young man vaguely nodded exposing the symbol of the Eclipse


"Shauni" the young woman bowed in respect and raised her head with a shining dawn caste mark "in charge of internal security."


"And Renfyn, our chief of military operations." the young man gave a friendly sleight of hand saluting everyone, while his dawn caste mark appeared.


"The Sun god has blessed us with more companions this day, let's be thankful and give him a ceremony in his honor later in the day." he proudly announced. The councillors agreed quickly.


Vargas sat back in his chair. And the gryffon shook his feathers nervously.


"Oh I am terribly sorry, this is Modjorak, my protector. Now, tell me brothers and sisters, what brought you here ? Did you came here searching a shelter from the Hunt ? If so you have come to the right place !"
 
White Lilly


with her shynes and desire to learn more about this alliance warring between them, the idea of being able to learn how to deal with the Shadowland that is now Balsa crushes all other thought, cauing White lilly to staighten her back and come forward.


"Hello brothers and sister, my name is White Lilly, a wandering healer, and these are my companions." she points at the rest of the group "But I'll let them introduce themselves. We have traveled here to seek knowledge you possess. About a week ago my companions and I came across the city of Balsa, and discovered that all of it's citizens have been murdered and raised as undead, and apparently those responsible have taken over two of the corpses and attacked my companions. They were defeated, though not completely. A man by the name of Lonely Crane told that you know of a way to cleanse the shadowland that formed around Balsa. If possible I would like to learn how to do that so I can free Creation from the blight."


Suddenly concsious of the many eyes looking at her she retreats a bit and bows her hed down.
 
Vargas seemd angry for a second, his eyes widened, he suddenly stood up and... growled, his moustache shaking:


"HMMMMMMM... so Balsa fell to the realm of the dead... hmmm... do you have any clue as to the identity of the being responsible for this blasphemous and treacherous slaughter White Lilly ?"


Filipo spoke, his mouth full of food:


"It doech chound like the Machk, but he woulg hav claimg the city... Mwalker would have too..."
 
White Lilly


"I have no idea, I arrived late at the scene, and was only there when our friend here" she points at Captain spider "had suffered wounds which he couldn't heal, and I was called upon to tend to him."
 
Jonas Windson


"Jonas Windson", He said as he lit up his own caste mark in response to the others, "protector of the land and it's people."


"I know next to nothing about politics, but I know what we fought and it was definitely of the dead. Lightning bolts were thrown at us from one of them and the other one took a long while to hurt as big as he was." He shrugged. "All I know is the land there needs healing and I would like to avoid a shadowland as best as possible."
 
Idawa


Noticing the forthcoming pattern of events, Idawa quickly glances around the room. Without warning, he starts giving people slight nudges in seemingly random directions. Then, he lights up his own Caste Mark, that of the Twilight.


"I'm Idawa. And if you look on the ceiling, the light of our Caste marks creates a half sunburst now."


Surely enough, it does seem to resemble one, if only roughly.
 
Hiraeth


The fat monk looks around at the light show as the caste marks light up around him. He lets loose a large belch followed in quick succession by a rip-snorting fart.


"Ahh dats gud, buttur oot dan en."


<ahh thats good, better out than in.>


He wanders over to the concil table and plonks himself into an empty chair


"Sew ow dud yon futty becum keng?"


<so how did that fatty become King?>
 
Shauni smirked:


"That fatty is the last of his bloodline and was blessed twice with a kingdom when his father died and the attention of the Sun god. Pay him some respect old man, before I make you."


"Easy now Shauni" said Vargas "Please brother" he added adressing to Hiraeth "Keep that kind of distateful comments to yourself, it is no way to speak to the master of the house you're invited in."


He sat down too and twisted his moustache a bit.


"Hmmmmm... I will help you purify the land of the corruption the dead have laid on it...


But since its people have died, our Alliance will claim the land and the city, we will repopulate it and make it a healthy city within a few years."


King Filipo added "Since you seem to care about the land, if you are willling to join our cause, we will consent to let you administrate the town..."
 
Hiraeth


"HAW HAW HAW!"


Hiraeth lets out a large belly laugh at the respective replies.


"Nuce te sees yous gut sum bete ere us wull us sum wun us wull bult us mes. Bat ruspuct es urnt, und us shur us Iato und Angawdd es bys mes sede ees nut da unlee ruyal en ere."


<Nice to see you've got some bite here as well as some one as well built as me. But respect is earnt and as sure as Iata and Angawdd is by my side he's not the only royal in here.>


Hiraeth slaps his chest and slams his bottle down on the table.


"Hexultashun es geven te dem werffy enuff en da eys uf da Sun. Nuw eys durnt no weys ee chuse mes, und uld drenk oos lust es kengdum yurs ego, bat ee ded und wun ee ded eys kleened mesulf ups, twas da unlee fing prupper te du. Und eys sturted te trein egin gut red uf mes gut bes ah buttur pursun. Nut teak et upun mesulf te steff mesulf untel eys cun ney lunger wulk."


<Exaltation is given to those worthly enough in the eyes of the Sun. Now I don't know why he chose me, a old drunk who's lost his kingdom years ago, but he did and when he did I cleaned myself up, it was the only proper thing to do. And I've started to train again and get rid of my gut, be a better person. Not take it upon myself to stuff myself until I can no longer walk.>


"Eys a prest uf da Sun und eys seys et leke eys sees et. Keng ee meybes, bat ees ah desgrese te Sulurs. Wes da hexumpells und chumpions uf da murtulls nut peepul oo jest du fings cus dey wunt tu. Wes da servunts uf da murtuls und uf da Sun nut da udder wey rund. Wes durnt speke wid ees vuce, wes durnt rede ufur uddurs cus wes cun und wes durnt set un ur usses stuffun ur feces ah desgrece tu henny wun und ull da mure sew te Chusun uf da Sun."


I'm a priest of the Sun and I say it like I see it. King maybe, but a disgrace to Solars. We are the examples and champions of the Mortals not people who just do things because they want to. We are the servants of the mortals and of the Sun not the other way round. We don't speak with his voice, we don't ride over others because we can and we don't sit on our asses stuffing our faces a disgrace to anyone and all the more to Chosen of the Sun.>
 
Shauni lost her nerve and approached Hiraeth with the firm intention of silencing him but Filipo shouted:


"Stop... he... is right... after Father died... my only comfort in this world was food. I let you all down as I have been happy to rely on you being the examplary ones..."


"It's not your fault my king" replied Shauni, "You have been throwned into a world of responsabilities long before you could assume them..."


"Yes it is, yes it is..." he replied "My heart ached when I heard those words, and I am ashamed to have let myself become seen like this. You speak the truth Hiraeth... and I thank you for that even if this hurts ! Starting today I am going to train as hard as I can to become an example for my people as you all are !


I would be honored if you accepted to help me rebuild my body into a better shape... once we have dealt with this situation."


In his chair Vargas gave you a small nod with a strange smile of satisfaction, as if you had accomplished something he could not.
 
Hiraeth


"Dats da sperit lad."


<That's the spirit lad>


Hiraeth smiles broadly at Filipo.


"Wull eys wud luv ah treinen purtnur, eys stull ned te luss elut uf weit."


<Well I would love a training partner, I still need to lose a lot of weight.>


Hiraeth grabs at his own sizable girth, gurning as he does.
 
The captain places a hand to his forehead, sighing and thanking the heavens that the round solar seemed to find a kindred spirit in the king.


"Well, since it seems we're doing introductions......." He pauses smiling to all present as he stands a little straighter. "I'm Pelep Spiga, a year ago of the realm's Navy. These days they call me Captain Spider of the Web, the finest ship to sail the roads of the east." As he says 'captain' his caste mark glows as well and an oddly well timed breeze comes up, blowing his cape behind him...."And it is always grand to find a port of safe haven....Or a friendly fleet when on the way to one's foes...." He adds....
 
The slender redhead watched the others introduce themselves while chewing the pale green wad of qat leaves in her mouth. Sun-bright metal gleamed at the edges of her leather jerkin as she shifted on her soft-soled leather boots, a black, intricately folded silk headband keeping her hair out of her eyes. "I guess you've figured that I'm the Nightbringer," she observed bluntly after spitting the wad of qat into her hand and tucking it into the pouch at her side.


"I'm Miya Fleetfoot, and so help me fucking Sol Invictus, you reveal my Exalted status outside of this room I'm going to hunt you down, kill you, and skin you for the Directorate seat I'm gunning for in the Guild. Is that clear?"


She visibly tensed as she prepared to run. "My first allegiance is to the Guild. I'm with you because it's bad for business to have new shadowlands popping up."


OOC: I should tell you that you'll be dealing with both a Motivation and Intimacy here if you initiate Social Combat.
 
The captain bit his lip in a pained wince. Remembering Lonely Crane's words he wished he'd thought ahead to keep this from coming up in some way on the way here. /Nothing for it, but to fill your sails with the breeze your given/ he thinks stoicly, waiting to see how great Vargas's dislike of the guild truly was......
 
Hiraeth


Hiraeth turns to Miya


"Luss da guld es nurlee us bud us da rellm. Yous trede en hoomun leves? Da guld dus, sleves-tredurs meaks mes sek. Nut da surt uf fing ah Solar prutuctur uf creashun shuld bes duin ur haspiren te, durnt yous fink?"


<Lass the Guild is nearly as bad as the realm. You trade in human lives? The Guild does, slave traders make me sick. Not the sort of thing a Solar protector of creation should be doing or aspiring to, don't you think?>
 
White Lilly


"Excuse me, but this is not the time or place to discuss these things, we have come to gain important knowledge from these folk, and maybe we can find mutual benefits here, or an alliance with this nation. Let us get back to the matter at hand, and we'll deal with our differences in opinions on other matters in a different time and place."


White Lilly clearly doesn't like the attention that comes from speaking up, and has always been concious that her looks alone gain her attention, but her desire to learn how to erase shadowlands is enough for her to speak up.
 
Vargas growled and his right armored fist hit his chair with the sound of thunder.


"Of course it is the time and place, we cannot simply bandage the wounds of Creation hoping they heal on their own !" said Vargas, while the other solars and councillors looked at Vargas anxiously as if they already knew the storm was coming.


But instead of a display of lack of self control, the man clad in golden armor spoke quietly.


"My dear sister, you cannot imagine how shocked I am to hear a newly reborn like you has chosen the path of selfishness and profit while the world is on the brink of total anihilation, and how sad I feel to realize you have lost your ability to trust your own kind."


His voice raised a bit


"For far too long the powerful of this world have been preying on human misery, exploiting the mortal fragile minds and bodies, using their weaknesses to lead them to the path of sloth, selfishness, misery, slavery, drug addictions and countless other vices I dare not think about !


These men are as responsible for the actual decay of this world as we were once when Sol Invictus turned his back on us out of shame for our deeds... "


His voice raised high and it could be heard in all the castle now and he stood up a fist raised in the air:


"...but HE, in his wisdom has changed his mind !


HE has seen that this world is crawling to its inevitable doom !


HE has seen the injustice, the suffering, the vice, the corruption, the gates of the dead realms opened and vomiting armies of monstruosities... and HE brought us back to the world to enact his will !


We cannot let our world perish, we cannot just stood by and indulge ourselves in the pursuit of personal interests while Creation is being slowly eaten away by the Wyld and the Underworld and while demonic cults gain new followers every day !


It is because we cannot let this gangrene spread further that we have gathered here, and we hope many others will come and join us in our crusade to make the world a safer place for everyone !


A land of freedom, justice, righteousness, virtue and enlightenment !"


He sat down on his chair and looked at Miya with a concerned look.


"Tell me sister, are you going to let this world rot when you have a god given power to make a difference ?


Where lies your true alliegeance ? to Creation and its people and your god chosen brothers and sisters, or to an organization which has fed this world up with vice and corruption and continuously deals with Deathlords Fair Folk and Demons ?!"
 
Miya's eyes flashed as she automatically fell into a martial arts stance. "You speak of justice and redemption and cleansing - why not the Guild? Especially the Guild. Oh, I know full well the sins of the Directorate - but in some places, the Guild's the only thing which keeps the Wyld away. I remember something about trade being used to keep the raksha back at the edge of the world in the First Age. If I had one good, discreet Eclipse to aid me - " Her eyes flickered to Arelean. " - I could remake the Guild in the image of what it should be, not what it is."


The redhead met the king's eyes. "The shadowlands are terrible, yes, and so are the fae. But the average person won't give a shit about them so long as they're not affected. Remove the Guild, you cripple the world's trade - and that'll affect them. Give me a good alternative, oh great Quicksilver Falcon, give me an alternative organisation we can shape into something like the Order Conferring Trade Pattern, and I'll help you dismantle the Guild myself. Until then, DO NOT TELL ME HOW I SHOULD SERVE CREATION!"
 
Vargas and Filipo blinked and looked at each other and laughed joyfully.


"It would be a true honor for us to help you in this project. Our nation has only a few years, but we have grown exponentially since its founding. Once we have lead several on going projects to their term we will be able to have a seat in the Confederation and from there everything will change until one day, the Scavenger Lands are no more, and the River Province rises again !" said Filipo.


"Vargas does have a hard time understanding how the Guild can be used, part of his divine heritage I guess, and really likes to preach.


If you are willing to work with us in this direction, in only a few years, the Guild could disappear from the face of these lands and soon from the face of Creation." he added.


"You have my sincere apologies sister, your previous allegations and their form lead me to think you have strayed from your duties." humbly said Vargas "As you have noticed I admire and share your passion." he added with a smile.
 
Arelean Kethesar


Having been content with quietly observing until now, Arelean returned Miya's glance before stepping forward. With a flash, the caste mark of an Eclipse instantly lit up on his forehead. As he spoke, he suddenly seemed more princely and handsome than ever before, if only for the fleeting moment.


"That would be my cue," he adds with a wink back to the Night. "Lady and Gentlemen, I am Arelean Kethesar, Crowned Sun, and Emissary of Mount Metagalapa. Though I served as sentinel on this caravan, I'm truly on official business from my home. The High Council seeks trade partners. They had wished for one with the the Guild, which is why I have arrived where I am now. Surely though, they would be interested for an alliance with Provacour as well."


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


Spending 1m Peripheral to activate Mastery of Small Matters


So now, what's everyone have for basic motivations? Obviously you don't have to tell me about PCs, seeing as I can just look at their sheets :P .


Note: I am not entering Social combat. MoSM is just active for this moment of talking, or perhaps longer if I decide to spend motes on it in my next post.
 
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