Need help with a new plot

crashmurdoch

crashmurdoch

New Member
Here's the situation:


I have an Exalted game on hiatus right now for a couple of reasons.  The primary one is that I was running it and a D&D game and I was suffering from major burn out.  Now that I have one over with, I can concetrate on the Exalted game a little more.


My original plot was to have a Deathknight who had learned of the trapped essence of a fallen deathlord.  She planned to find the Essence and absorb it, becoming a deathlord herself.  The essence was trapped in a Manse and releasing it would cause all sorts of mayhem in the city where the manse lay.  


Unfortunately my D&D game had a similar plot (the Lich Queen of the Githyanki attempting to achieve godhood by retrieving a divine spark from a dead god).  So now I'm looking to revamp the plot abit using these existing elements.


- A Circle of Deathknights opposed to the PCs


- A amulet made of the five forms of Jade, broken and hidden around Creation (key to the manse)


- A city in the North (I was planning to use Whitewall) which the Circle is destined to rule.


Anyone care to brainstorm a little?  I'm having some serious writers block!
 
Well, Bastions of the North actually has a spooky frozen village you can use if you have the book.  


Maybe instead of Godhood, maybe these keys eventually unlock a  Behemoth.  And with the keys joined you can control the Behemoth.
 
A Circle of five Solars, inseparable companions to the end, could not even be laid to rest in individual tombs.  The Sidereal instigators of the Usurpation, therefore, laid five connected tombs in a little-known part of the far North.  They created a key to the tomb, knowing that all things must have a weakness and choosing to control which weakness the tomb's defenses had for themselves.  And they split that key among the chief lieutenants of the Solars themselves, telling these Terrestrials to scatter to the corners of the globe.  These men and women passed down their jade tokens as family heirlooms, and forgot the significance of what they had.


Now, the five corrupted sparks of those Solars have been resurrected as members of the Deathknight cadre.  The Deathlord's Essence is now bound in the Manse adjoining the tombs, which had supplied power to the tomb's defenses.  They learn of the existence of the key and its fragments, and of the potential power that the key can unlock.  Will this lead them to a discovery of their true nature?
 
Maybe instead of Godhood, maybe these keys eventually unlock a  Behemoth.  And with the keys joined you can control the Behemoth.
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Or a Hecatontyre. Might be more in theme and easier for them to control.
 
Well, although I haven't read through it all yet, I know there's a sample Hekatonkhire in the Black Treatise. Also, there's bound to be more stuff about them in the Abyssals book. And possible the Book of Bone and Ebony as well.


Behemoths.... dunno. The Fair Folk fatsplat?
 
The amulets should be individually useful artifacts, to the point that people might not even notice that they fit together. When they are put together, the assemblage becomes a powerful artifact in its own right.


There may be those (perhaps terrestrials, perhaps a group that has one or two of the pieces) that know of the pieces and that they can be assembled into something more powerful, but have no idea the result is also a key. They are bent on gathering the pieces as well, and make be allies or enemies of the group (or, better, both).
 
You'll find lots of sample Behemoths in the Creatures of the Wyld book, as well as finding them strewn throughout the books. In short, a behemoth is a wierdass creature that doesn't obey the normal exalted rules, an excuse to inject wildcards into the setting. They are generally leftovers from Primordial experimentation before the First Age and the great war, but the Fair Folk play around with smaller behemoths all the time, shaping them from the wyld.


Some behemoths are also creations of First Age solars, such as the Beast of Deadly Toxins.


As to Hekatonkhires, they're basically dead Behemoths. The mistaken poster-boy is Juggernought, but he's not actually dead. Vodak the Destroyer is the only example of an important (read: ever turns up in the setting) Hekatonkhire, he's bound in the shadowlands beneath Gethamane, and approaches a third-circle demon in power.


Edit: Removed a retarded typo
 
Samiel said:
As to Hekatonkhires, they're basically dead Primordials. The mistaken poster-boy is Juggernought, but he's not actually dead. Vodak the Destroyer is the only example of an important (read: ever turns up in the setting) Hekatonkhire, he's bound in the shadowlands beneath Gethamane, and approaches a third-circle demon in power.
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Where did you get that crock idea?
 
If it was to be a hekatonkhire that is eventually to be released, it would have to be a BIG one.  One that's rightfully frightening.  Afterall, if anyone REALLY wants to find a hekatonkhire to release upon creation... they only need to spend some time in the Labyrinth, and take a few wrong turns.  Of course, finding one is the easy part... getting it out of the Labyrinth, the Underworld, and eventually into Creation is the hard part.  


Perhaps it could be one of collossal proportions, used by the Primordials in their ancient war against the Exalted before it was slain.  What's worse... perhaps it recognizes the players as being the reincarnations of the very exalted that slayed it?  :twisted:
 
Sounds like Vodak, all right. Give him a new name and you've got your Hekatonkhire. Vodak is too pulp-scifi-villian for a cthonic horror.


Basically he's sealed under Gethamane by the Mountain Folk, at great expense to themselves, because if he were free he'd slither up under towns all around creation and eat them.


He takes the form of a great lake of mercuryish stuff, and desires only to consume things. And of course, as Flyck pointed out, he's in the Underworld because he's dead, so getting him up and around outside the shadowlands would be difficult.


Hey, maybe releasing him would actually be a net gain for Creation, as he'd primarily do his soul-eating in the Deathlord's gardens, and he's practically immune to reason. It's not as if the Deathlords couldn't have summoned him anyway, so they gain nothing from having him free.
 
Indeed. Take Zeruel, undead him, send into Creation. Massive pain ensues.
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motivator2672490.jpg
 
Sounds interesting, it kinda reminds me of Final Fantasy VII when Sephiroth unleashes the "Weapons" to wreak havoc on the world!


My original thought was that when the chamber was opened a magic fog/cloud would issue forth throughout the city cause anyone with even a small amount of darkness in their heart to instantly transform into a undead monsters, kinda like in Prince of Persia 1 & 3 when the Sands of Time are released.  A good portion of the people are still alive and normal and will be preyed upon by the undead (zombies and other such horrors).


Maybe I'll combine some of these ideas.
 
Of course, anyone who's totally evil would not just turn into a monster, but gain mad superpowers and retain total control as they watch the world turn into their own idea of perfection.
 
That was kind of what I had in mind.  I suppose if I wanna think on a big scale the key could unlock an underground complex where both the Behemoth and the bodies of their former Solar selves are locked away.  


The Cloud of Essence could easily be a result of the undead Behemoth being trapped in an enclosed space for such a long time.  Perhaps it can turn people who get to close to it into undead due to some aura or spore cloud or something like that.  It just built up in the tomb over thousands of years like bad air and was released upon opening.


It could also play havoc on the PC in my group who has four points in Dark Fate.
 
The Cloud of Essence could easily be a result of the undead Behemoth being trapped in an enclosed space for such a long time.  Perhaps it can turn people who get to close to it into undead due to some aura or spore cloud or something like that.  It just built up in the tomb over thousands of years like bad air and was released upon opening.
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It could just as easily be one of the beasty's tricks. These things can be as powerful as third circle demons. That's pretty damn powerful. If one of his powers corrupts the hearts of men and creates a plague of death, it makes him a very serious threat in creation. Something for everyone to be afraid of. That's a good way to get your players motivated.

It could also play havoc on the PC in my group who has four points in Dark Fate
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Harsh.

Of course, anyone who's totally evil would not just turn into a monster, but gain mad superpowers and retain total control as they watch the world turn into their own idea of perfection.
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This is definitely a good idea as it would provide you with someone to grandstand with. It's hard to develop any kind of empathy for a building sized corpse-mech.
 
And perhaps the only way to kill it is with the weapons of the orignal circle of Solars who slew it in the first place! (and who are now a circle of Death Knights!)
 
Jack said:
It could also play havoc on the PC in my group who has four points in Dark Fate
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Harsh.
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But fair!


The only person I've ever suggested buy Dark Fate in aon chur was Rob, AKA Charlie Haughey, because his characters invariably end up horribly dead anyway.


Not recently though.. Maybe he's recovering.
 
Give him time. You're about to get everyone killed in my game so I'm sure he'll have a new epitaph to add to his mausoleum.
 
You worry too much. I'm the soul of discretion and thoughtful planning, nothing will go wrong.


Unless I try that "Exalt Nuke" idea. That has potential.
 
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