Exalted 3rd: To Wound the Autumnal City

Yugo





"Where did it all start?" Asked Yugo. He knew he had been away from he Hundred Kingdoms for a time, but he didn't think he had been gone long enough for a plague to take hold. "And what response has there been from the holymen of the land, the Immaculates and the like?"
 
@JayTee





"For now, it seems to be of and only within the Relinquished Marshes here. Some say we are especially damned, because it has yet to spread beyond this area. North of here, whole villages are gone." He sighs. "Emptied by the invisible hand of the plague. The Golgi shall provide a bulwark for the rest of the Hundred Kingdoms, I believe, and the other nations in this region have all but cut us off. Only the foothills, off toward the Golgi, seem even remotely open to taking us in.


"If this were happening to the City-worshipers, I imagine the Immaculates would hail it good justice from the Dragons themselves. Though, if I'm not mistaken, there is a wandering troop of monks going from town to town trying their best to provide for the sick."
 
Radiant Shine





Shine's smile is as a fading ghost.


"But men, indeed. But you have a god to thank," he says, turning to the room, to Whisper and Tsi Chi. "His name is The Unconquered Sun, and with his light the darkness behind this plague will be scoured from Creation." He bows.


"I am but a humble servant."
 
Last Whisper


The strangled sound of Whisper biting back 'The Will of the City--!'


Once she collects herself... "Shall we got investigate this business, Shine?"
 
Yugo





"interesting that it would only stay in one area." To Yugo, that spoke of something unlike an ordinary plague, which normally went anywhere and everywhere unless guarded against. "I wish you luck, friend. I am going to see to these Immaculates. Perhaps they might have some insight." That, and where there was an Immaculate Monk, there was also likely trouble.


Thanking the man for his time, Yugo continued on down the road, towards the center of the Relinquished Marshes.
 
Echo's Lament





Once more, Echo's Lament relays the information provided by Elegant Shroud. When he finishes, he speaks to Samesh directly. "It seems there is some sort of deliberation in the act, though what that information could be is unknown at this time. It would seem we have business with this other who is coming to Manua who might be able to give us insight, as he has apparently seen the destiny of the taken corpse." Now the Eclipse turns to Elegant Shroud. "I thank you, Elegant Shroud, for your assistance here. If there is anything I can do to help your journey - if there is something you need assistance with, or a body that needs to be burned - you need but ask.


"There is one further question I have, however. This other you speak of, who is coming to the village - do you have a name? If not a name then, perhaps, a description? There are many who travel this road and it might prove tedious to question every traveler we encounter. If we have something else with which to identify him, it would make our path that much simpler. You have been too kind thus far. I ask for a touch more before we make our departure."
 
Samesh:


"Huh. This makes little sense, at least right now. Digging up bodies of plague victims to burn them I can understand, it might slow the spread of disease. But in the dead of night, like thieves? And if they'd done it with permission, those children would have known about it."


Samesh stood up and wiped the dirt off his hands, musing aloud as much to himself as anyone else. "Still, if the body was burned then the won't be a hungry ghost to worry about. Perhaps someone in the town has a name for the grave's former owner, And this newcomer you mentioned might shed some more light on what happened after the digging..."
 
Echo's Lament





"As you say," says Echo's Lament, "it makes little sense. Let us not forget that this is unlikely a step taken to prevent hungry ghosts. According to Elegant Shroud, the burning may be a way to spread the disease. Not sure how this is done. Perhaps the disease is spread through the smoke? Or perhaps it's a ritual that's being performed to spread the disease. As you say, this newcomer may be able to shed light on such questions."


Turning to Elegant Shroud, Echo's Lament gives a nod. "Again, Elegant Shroud, I thank you for what you have told us. Regarding this newcomer, can you give us something by which to identify this person? A name, ideally, a description if there is no name. Anything you can give us that will allow us to contact this individual will aid us in our cause."
 
@Vanman @Sarky


"You will know him by the hawk upon his shoulder. He is regal, though treads earth with troubles behind him." No sooner is the message relayed than you a see a solitary figure coming around the bend, near the shrines and the reaching limbs of the willow. A hawk upon his shoulder.


@JayTee


Manua grows with each step. You see children frolicking in the sunken square's knee-deep water, sloshing glinting beads of water at one another. Life, it seems, is not so subdued here. Refugees huddle close to ancient roadside shrines or in the shade of a lone willow tree, ancient and bent, letting the day's heat buzz away. Reeds and elephant grass whisper to one another in the first breeze of the day. Shadows grow long, but you've managed to arrive. Before the village, along the road, you see two men observing something curious in the ditch there.
 
Echo's Lament





A fortuitous augur, thinks Echo's Lament. I am not sure if this is a beneficent portent or an maleficent one, but if this person can aid us, then I will engage him to our purpose. At least until we figure out what assistance he can provide.





"Samesh," Echo's Lament says softly, "this gentleman with the hawk is the personage mentioned by Elegant Shade as having knowledge of what happened to the body. It is my plan to speak wit this gentleman so as to learn the disposition of the body. I would be honored were you to join me."


When the hawk-bearing traveler approaches the ditch, Echo's Lament speaks in his broken, raspy voice. "Greetings, good sir. My name is Echo's Lament, and I was wondering if I might have a moment of your time with which to make an inquiry. Can you spare that time?"
 
Yugo





Yugo blinked in surprise as the stranger approached him out of the blue, but found nothing foul in his manner, so he remained polite. "Of course, I have some time to spare. What can I help you with?" He asked.
 
Samesh:


Samesh nodded amiably at the stranger, content to let Echo's Lament do the talking. He stroked his beard absent-mindedly, considering the situation. Years of policing had left him wary of coincidences, especially when spirits and the like were involved. Hopefully this new face could provide another piece of the puzzle.
 
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Radiant Shine





"The very same," he said, standing, stretching his arms with a crack and pop.


"I will heal these people. Whisper, will you find out what became of Chol that I might join and assist you when my task is done? Or stay here awhile, that we might discuss the time between meetings and proceed together."
 
Whisper


"I will check on this Chol fellow. This is a matter of urgency." Whisper turned on her heel and left. She admired the doctor for this: his commitment to his work. So many people outside of the Priory became lost in such silly niceties. She'll stop on the way to ask directions, then set out for Chol's home, wherever that might be.
 
Echo's Lament





"I thank you for your willingness to hear me out," Echo's Lament says with his grating croak, bowing his head in appreciation. "As you might be able to see, there is a grave here whose occupant has recently gone missing. Before alarm is raised, it did not rise of its own accord but, rather, was appropriated from said grave by men of seeming ill intent. Having said all of this, I have two questions. My first query is this: have you encountered anything that may speak to either the disposition of the body contained herein or the blackguards who executed such a foul egression? My second question is of a more personal nature - by what name shall I address you? Unless, of course, you are accepting of 'Man' or 'Person'." The good natured grin that follows takes out any sting the words may have and reinforce the humor inherent in the man.
 
@Skrakes





The village is abuzz. Children dash by giggling and playing on the wooden walkways, perfectly balancing with the marsh sway. "Strangers!" They chant, laughing all the way. The town seems livelier, curious faces leaning out of unshuttered windows or pausing between the day's chores to look roadward. You catch a glimpse of three gentlemen talking by the roadside, one with a powerful looking hunting hawk upon his shoulder, another slim figure with a sanxian strapped across his back, and the third with the honking great sword on his back. The refugee traffic upon the road has cleared up, so late in the day. It seems some time passed in your time with Shine.
 
Whisper


Whisper drifts by them without comment, glancing at Samesh's daiklave as she passed. Perhaps a wandering Godblood, or a dynast; if the latter, she had best keep her head down. The Immaculate's heresy was a hazard to her health. As she walked by, she checked her Blade-Lash at her hip, flashing the cold starmetal blade in its sword form. A friend in troubled times, as it were. To Chol's house.
 
@Skrakes


Through the wider village and along the floating sidewalks among the whispering grass. The sunken square, crumbling, and yet still opulent and imperial, sprawls over an area twice the size of Manua. Defaced columns sit crooked and sunken in the murk. Rough, regular lines in the grass and mud suggest old foundations of buildings just as grand. The walkway carries you around. The children from earlier are gone, safely home in the village. Above the wild grasses you see the peaks of a cluster of boathouses and huts--the fisherman's clutch.


You see several of these men sitting on those curious seated fishing stands in the shallows so common to riverfolk throughout the East. One hikes a leg to break wind and all the fishermen overflow with riotous laughter. The fishwives on the docks turn their eyes skyward and go about their duties.
 
Whisper


Given the stench, perhaps it is better to approach the wives. Whisper draws up on them with her customary quiet.


"Excuse me, ma'am, but I am looking for the residence of a man named Chol. Could you point me to it?"
 
@Skrakes





"Well, his house is the one closest to the water, right around this corner. They've sealed themselves off from the rest of us. They's plague among them. We leave baskets of food and linen outside their hovel. The dock to the house has been pried up. So you'll have to shout 'em out for a word. Chol's harder than a coffin nail, so he gets about easily."
 
Whisper


"My thanks." Whisper sets off around the corner to Chol's home.


She stands outside the hovel. After a moment, she raps on the door. "Chol, sir! May I have a word?"
 
@Skrakes





A muffled sound of shifting bodies. Someone beyond the door is weeping in harsh, hitching sobs. A roughly hewn viewport opens in the door, the cover pulled back with a harsh rasp. A fetid, warm gust of air crawls out before the haggard eyes of a man look out at you. "Is the stew ready? The boys are getting better, but my wife..."
 
Whisper


Whisper steps back, taken aback by the smell. "No, sir. I have been sent by a doctor who has come to town, Radiant Shine. He asked me to visit you, to see how you were... if your wife is unwell, I could fetch him immediately."
 
@Skrakes


"If you would, she's become so sensitive to the light. Causes her pain. She's passed the mania. She's tired. I believe I am recovering as well, but this whole hut will have to burn when that comes."
 
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