Plot from song title relay

[wordman]

This is a game. (About a game.) It is a relay, somewhat like Another Stupid Game. The rules are:

1. The first post (that is, this one) mentions a song title.
   
2. The next post contains a rough concept for an Exalted story (using the game's concept of "story") based solely on that title.
   
3. Any images, concepts, etc. from the song itself are completely ignored.
   
4. The poster ends his entry with the title of another song, and the next poster uses that.
   
5. Entries can be any length, but must fit into a single post.
   
6. Due to timing snafus, cases may arise when more than one entry is provided for a given title. In such cases, the next poster may use any of the previously suggested titles, so long as no answer was given for them. This may occasionally result in "branches", but this is OK.
   
7. Each post should begin with a line indicating which song title is being explored. This will often be redundant, but sometimes will not be.

The first title is Behind the Wall of Sleep, by Black Sabbath.

 

[Persell]

The first title is Behind the Wall of Sleep, by Black Sabbath.

In a moderately sized city, perhaps the hometown of the Exalts in question, people are dying in their sleep during the night after reporting strange, disturbing, prophetic dreams every night for the previous week.  The circle/brotherhood must investigate this series of events on behalf of the city-father, and their investigations will need to use certain rare artifacts to take them into the dreamscapes of the next possible victims in order to solve the problem and earn the reward the city-father promises.


The next title is "Sons of Plunder" by Disturbed.

 

[Smeggedoff]

The next title is "Sons of Plunder" by Disturbed.

A coastal town is under seige by pirates claiming the land is rightfullt theirs, the twist is..it is, they are the descendants of the men and women driven from the land by actual pirates whose descendants now inhabit the town.


the Next title is "Devils Never Cry" from the DMC soundtrack

 

[Solfi]

the Next title is "Devils Never Cry" from the DMC soundtrack

A string of small Shadowlands have been cropping up without appparent cause and disturbingly close to human settlement. A renegade Abyssal, filled with remorse and disgust at her own (lack of?) fate has been trying to make amends by solving the problem with the Shadowlands. In so doing, she has been racking up Limit and spreading Black Miracles around in droves.


The players, who are also engaged to stop the crisis catch wind of the Abyssal, and believes her to be source of the problem. Ironically, she may be closer to a solution than any of them (even her) might guess, but will she be given a chance to affect any sort of positive change? Will the players see past their own misgivings about her nature and give her a chance to explain herself? Or will her Dark Fate taint any chance of success and ultimately lead to more suffering for those around her?


The next title is "City of Delusion" by Muse.

 

[Thenlar]

The next title is "City of Delusion" by Muse.

The PCs arrive in a city to discover that it's a happy, perfect place. The citizens are cheerful, friendly, and helpful. They don't mind that they're Anathema. The streets are clean, and there's no crime. It seems perfect.


And of course it does. It's a glamour. All of it. The entire city is crafted from illusion, over the ruins of an ancient city, powered by the energy of a nearby Demesne.


Will the players discover the reality before it's too late? Or will they happily live their lives in fake splendor, while their souls quietly drain away into the night?


Next song: "Heaven Can Wait" by Iron Maiden

 

[Persell]

Next song: "Heaven Can Wait" by Iron Maiden

Not every Sidereal is happy to learn that he has a place in Heaven's design.  Sometimes, they become ronin, shunning the Bureaucracy in favor of doing things their own way.   One such ronin has told Heaven in no uncertain terms that it can wait; she has things to do.  Do the PCs help her, or try to bring her to heel?


The next title is "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" by Good Charlotte.

 

[Arthur]

Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous, Good Charlote


Enough is enough.


The poorest population layers in Nexus have suffered for almost one millennium under the rule of The Council, an organization that favors progress over life quality. The only choice they are given is whether they choke from the toxic smoke or they drown from the floods. But in the last month, a Solar called Scarlet Tempest managed to enter and tame one of the Solar toms of the city, and now is calling the people to help him to take control of Nexus with the weapons he retrieved from there, promising a better life for all of them. The Emissary hasn't yet taken any role in the matter, but it seems a civil war is about to erupt. When the storm begins, which side will the PCs take?


The next song is The Scream of the Butterfly, from Acid Bath.

 

[Persell]

The next song is The Scream of the Butterfly, from Acid Bath.

The god of fire butterflies has always enjoyed a close relationship with the Court of Orderly Flame.  But since last Calibration, he has been in incredible pain from some disease and no one is quite sure why.  Yu-Shan's files on the topic are sealed, missing or destroyed, but it's clear that the butterfly god is only the first god of the South to fall to this wracking disease.  Now, it's up to the PCs to discover why this happened, who (if any) is responsible for the ailment, and how to stop it before it decimates the Court of Orderly Flame beyond recovery.


The next song is "Straight to Video" by Mindless Self Indulgence.

 

[Jakk Bey]

The next song is "Straight to Video" by Mindless Self Indulgence.

An Autocthonian machine spirit has wandered far and wide from the confines of old Autocthonia. in an attempt to drum up more souls for their God King's continued existence. Rather than sacrifice souls to their Well, the wiley machine spirit has decided to simply steal the souls from the Creation, and return them in a convenient and portable form.


Tall, made seemingly of stone, with great metal and obsidian wings, the machine spirit was supposed to be symbol of hope to the citizens of the great cities, with huge lamps for eyes, it stalks the Creation now, the eerie gaze from those great lantern eyes now ripping the souls from Mortals--and even Heroic Mortals with a good sized contested roll, or on the event of their death and capturing it on the "film" that the machine spirit stores the souls on. Its mission is to capture a thousand souls on great reels of Jade and Moonsilver, strapped to its back. Each soul, a single frame on the film, and when run through the projector in its head, it can transfer those souls directly into the Well of Souls, to give Autocthon a chance for renewed life...


The question is: will a team of Alchemicals be sent to bring the machine spirit back, or to protect its holy mission?


The Old Main Drag by the Pogues for nexties?

 

[TheReagent]

The Old Main Drag by the Pogues for nexties?

Centuries of leadership and wyld abuse have made the elder mad with power or The steward of Silver winter is thinking. he does not want to aknoledge the return of the solar as the opportunity i't is with their power the could take control of the Blessed Isle we just need to guide them carefully and if they refuse to be controled well... We can make sure their exaltation reach a more understanding    host. Will the player let themselve be used by the lunar or will they use them? Is the lunar elder right to take the return of the solar with moderation or is he letting this golden opportunity go?


Next up is Bitter Creek by the Eagle.

 

[Persell]

Next up is Bitter Creek by the Eagle.

A verdant valley in the Hundred Kingdoms is fed by a deep, clear river and is slowly being poisoned.  Further investigations reveal the river water to be the cause, having suddenly turned from freshwater to salt water.  But where is it coming from? Who's responsible, the river god or another more sinister being?  And more importantly, why?


Next selection: "Summertime in the Void" by I Mother Earth.

 

[Quchu]

Next selection: "Summertime in the Void" by I Mother Earth.

A pair of jesters seek to topple the Mask of Winters' tyranny over Thorns with plays satirically glorifying the boundless might of the Void and the justice of its Deathlord servants. Surely, it's just plays and nothing more... However it seems that they have employed heinous magics to overcome the Deathlord's propaganda. Destroying them outright would be easy, but he would like to know if there is any outside power associated with this incident. No motal can bring a laughter to a dead man's face, after all.


Next up: The Venerable Ancient Battlefield by ZUN.

 

[Arthur]

The Venerable Ancient Battlefield by ZUN.

In the North, a couple thousand miles east of White Wall, there is a battlefield where Solars and DBs fought a great battle during Usurpation. Due to its distance to anywhere civilized and to the fact that the barbarians avoid the place, it hadn't been visited since the early Shogunate. Recently, though, The Bishop of Chalcedony Thurrible and a small groups of his cultists managed to find the place, and he developed an artifact capable of calling up the lower souls of anyone who has never been buried (or sanctified, or burned, etc.). If he is not stopped, he will soon have an army composed by ghosts of hundreds of Exalted.


The players have to uncover and neutralize whatever device the Bishop will use to bring back these souls.


The next song is Every Body's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey, by Beatles (for better humored campaigns).

 

[Flagg]

The characters find themselves amidst deadly Haltan court intrigue, trying to stay alive long enough to figure out who murdered a prominent nobleman. The only one they can trust is an orangutan san-beast who is sworn to serve them.


Everything Right is Wrong Again by They Might Be Giants

 

[Jack1]

Everything Right is Wrong Again by They Might Be Giants

A circle of Solars find themselves trapped in the domain of Kant, The Most Rational Prince of Morality a Raksha noble. Within his realm all sense of right and wrong is lost and only through rigidly sticking to an elusive and ephemeral code of ethics can they hope to escape his elaborate tests.


Foux Du Fa Fa - Flight of the Conchords.

 

[magnificentmomo]

Foux Du Fa Fa - Flight of the Conchords.

Trapped in the middle of the blessed isle, the party must try to play themselves off as locals with the only knowledge they have of High Realm language and culture coming from popular culture.


Holy Thunderforce by Rhapsody

 

[Ledaal Kajiri]

The Martial Weather has been called out, due to a massive Fair Folk invasion. The PCs are caught in the crossfire, as is the town they are currently protecting...do they support the army of Thunderbirds and so forth against the Fair Folk, hoping for a quick victory? Do they try to protect the town from both sides? Do they laugh maniacally and join up with the Fair Folk horde?


The Next Contestant by Nickelback

 

[Quchu]

The Next Contestant by Nickelback

The Second Age has come to an end. The Realm Civil War has ended with a circle of Lawgivers with the aid of their Lunar mates overtaking the empire's control, the forces of the dead have been pushed away into the Shadowlands by the efforts of the heroes of new Creation, and peace and reason triumph across the battlefields of all five directions. The sudden return of the Machine God highlighted the end of the Time of Tumult, but even this otherworldly invasion could stop the glory of Exalted genius.


However, as the Solars and Lunars attempt to rebuild Creation and bring the radiant First Age back to humanity, they find themselves facing against a foe far stranger than anything they have faced. The Darkbroods have attempted to break through, but not out of spite but terror. The miraculously eternal Jadeborn, caged within the earth, are nowhere to be found, as if they have been taken somewhere. Incomprehensible as they are, the deluded murmurings of the sanest Darkbrood horrors hint at something... greater.


The Dragon-Blooded empire has been toppled, the dead have been pushed back, and the Locusts have been pacified. The Exalted attempt to rebuild Creation from the chaos of the Second Age, but it appears that something new is seeking to unmake all that is... What could this new, next contestant of Creation be? Can the PCs do something to preserve Creation's well-being?


Next up: Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura Purin Purin Boron Nururu Rero Rero by Maximum the Hormone

 

[Chaka]

You, sir, are a I'm uncultured.

 

[Quchu]

I'm only a I'm uncultured if you aren't creative enough to do that. >:[

 

[Chaka]

Fine.


A group of strangers, wandering musicians, walk into a sleepy village in the Threshold. Their music is the finest anyone has ever heard, the grace of their dancers are like none other. Almost... inhuman. As they spread their glamour and influence over the town, a group of immaculate monks who had been resting in the area realise they are dealing with the Fair Folk. Will their martial prowess and faith in the Dragons be enough to free the townsfolk and defeat the soulless Raksha? Or will they too dance eternally to the alien music?


Next one up is Tusk by Fleetwood Mac.

 

[Persell]

Next one up is Tusk by Fleetwood Mac.

Something or someone is hunting both the elephants of the south and the mammoths of the north for the prized ivory in their tusks.  This has been done for generations by the various barbarian tribes and travelling big game hunters for centuries, and normally wouldn't be a problem.  Unless you figure in the fact that entire herds are being wiped out with only the ivory taken and the meat, bones and skin left behind to rot.  Wild herds are not the only ones being hit either; domesticated herds have been found slaughtered in their pasturelands as well.  Individual investigations by the Bureau of Nature in Yu-Shan have revealled that the threat to both elephants and mammoths come from the same source, but Heaven's eye cannot focus on that source.  Can the Chosen of the Maidens succeed in discovering the source before the elephant and mammoth races become extinct?


Next title is "Deify" by Disturbed.

 

[TheReagent]

Next title is "Deify" by Disturbed.

Recently i't would seem that god of minor town and city are disapearing in alarming number, when the chosen of the maiden investigate i't would seem the town are not only getting destroyed but erased, leving baren behind. As they inspect the loom of fate they will come to the starteling revelation that the thread of these town are being removed or at least directed somewhere else. Where are these thread going? How were they minipulated? WHO Has the power to do such a thing? Can the fivescore fellowship save the day?


Next one is Big Bar Fight from the firefly soundtrack.

 

[Smeggedoff]

Next one is Big Bar Fight from the firefly soundtrack.

The players are invited by a mysterious benefactor the the largest, grandest bar in nexus on its opening night.


They discover too late that the bar is an intelligent manse that's designed to keep them there and drain their powers.


but dare they use theire solar gifts to attempt to break out? after all they aren't the only ones trapped, gods and other exalts besides, including a lot of dragonblooded...some of which the players may have met before...


the next title is Acre of Razorblades by the Scotch Greens

 

[Jack1]

Acre of Razorblades by the Scotch Greens

It's the most fiendish trap ever devised. On an adventure into a First Age tomb, the party becomes trapped in a pocket dimension. They stand on an endless plain, where the long grass cuts deeper than any mortal sword.


Schadenfreude - Avenue Q