Prologue - Veil [Heaven's Descent into Darkness]

Preus Kai

Junior Member
22 Descending Fire, Yu-Shan


As Veil sat on the bow of a grand sky yacht fluting a solemn dirge for the forgotten gods that fell during the Primordial Wars at the behest of one her divine superiors and it's guests, Luna's half-hidden face fell away from the darkened tapestry of night revealing the House of Secret's burning bright across the Sky Dome of Yu-Shan. The gods in attendance were so overwhelmed by the sorrow of her playing and the sight of Jupiter gaining dominance in the Games of Divinity that none could be bothered to notice the winged, prismatic being that materialized behind the small frame of Veil. The Infallible Messenger, also known as a cherub, leaned gently towards the young woman, whispering into her ear. A voice she recognized as Shadows Fall's crept from the cherub's lips, and she listened intently while still playing her mournful melody, never missing a beat.


"Veil, I hope that this message reaches you in time. The city of Shanarinara has been transformed into a twisted image of it's former self. The people and animals here are all sickly and lethargic, and the land is a dark and loathsome place filled with danger. I've spoken with a number of the residents, and all information I've gathered indicates that the rulers of the city swore fealty to a Deathlord. This place has become a massive shadowland, and I intend to right that particular problem. If you don't hear from me in one week's time, assume I have failed."


With that, the Infallible Messanger dissipates into a multi-colored swirl of Essence.
 
Her performance done, farewells made, alms humbly accepted, Veil made her unhurried way alongside a canal, earthbound once more, still playing her bamboo flute, and all who heard it heard the song of their soul. A God-Blooded child, skipping along in the charge of a wizened, bark-skinned nurse, heard a children's song; a god of love, smoldering and dark-browed, heard a love song; a ancient goddess in Luna's service, spinning threads of silver and deep blue, heard a sacred song. Work songs, harvest songs -- a water goddess heard a healing song; a god of paper and brushes a teaching song. All heard the memory and mythology of their innermost natures.


She came to the path that led to the Whispering Woods, and following it came soon into the dark shadows of the trees. The trunks of some were vast, like immemorial towers, gray with countless years; their roots were like the roots of the mountains. Yet many of these ancient ones were scant of leaf, with branches that had died. Though they grew in the city of the gods, they were not immortal. Among the giants were saplings, tall and vigorous with bright crowns of foilage, and seedlings, slight leafy wands shorter than she was. The ground beneath the trees was soft, rich with the decaying leaves of a thousand years. Ferns and small woodland plants sprang up from it, and under the shade of the branches the air smelled earthy and fresh, with a taste in the mouth like mountain water.


At last she came to a grassy glade, where a mighty tree's fall had left it open to the sky. A brook ran along one side of it, willows and alders lining its course. Here stood a house that looked to be built of stone and timber...but the logs were alive and sprouted green leaves that fluttered gently in the night breeze, and the stone sparkled with crystal and threads of silver ore.


No manse had Veil in the Celestial City, and her vows precluded living in a stately home like many of her fellows. But she needed a place to rest and meditate, when her duties called her here, and so she had caused this hermitage to be built, in a quiet forest that overlapped the districts ruled by Luna and the Maidens.


Within, the house had but one long room and a small sleeping alcove. But it was large and airy with wide boards and beams, a gleaming floor, and a stone fireplace. Over the fireplace hung another flute, not of bamboo but of bone. Veil lifted this down reverently, and sinking cross-legged beside the hearth began to play once more, a gentle tune that evoked the vanished past, as she recalled her first meeting with Shadows Fall.


Overhead, Jupiter slowly dimmed, and Saturn grew brighter...
 
Months ago, Temple of the Violet Lotus


Veil stood before Crow Caller with her head bowed, her sifu's stern posture telling her that he was not happy with her progress. He had been drilling her since dawn in Ebon Shadow Style, and the Unconquered Sun now rested high in the sky.


"You lack commitment, young one. You will never understand the underlying principles of Ebon Shadow Style if you do not open your heart to it's teachings. You're Essence is strong, but you are without discipline!"


Crow Caller went to strike Veil in the chest with his Paralyzing Touch Attack, but her supernatural reflexes responded to the attack before her mind could make sense of it all, and she found her sifu laying upon his back when her senses had returned to her. She was hovering over the older warrior, her center of gravity low and the Essence of shadow coursing through her body.


Crow Caller let out a barking laugh as he picked himself up from the ground, meeting Veil's eyes as he approached her.


"Well done, pupil. Now you understand the Ebon Shadow Form." He turned his back to her and began walking towards the temple proper. "Come, there is someone whom you must meet."
 
Veil bowed acknowledgement before reaching for her chihaya where it hung on the wall and quickly slipping into the thigh-length jacket. She settled the bone mask securely on her face -- the ancient Reckoner insisted that no-one could study a martial art who showed anything but a true face to her sifu, regardless of how she might appear outside the dojo.


Straightening her sash, she hurried to catch up with Crow Caller, hoping the guest hadn't tried to leave the entrance hall by himself. It took hours to find someone once he got lost in the labyrinthine Temple...


Crossing the cloister, Veil heard the soothing and familiar sound of mantras from her meditating brothers and sisters:


"May good befall all,


May there be peace for all



May all be fit for perfection,



May all experience that which is auspicious."



Miko.png
 
Crow Caller speaks to his pupil as they ascend the stairway that leads to the main hall of the temple. "Late last night, a young man came to the temple to pray at the shrine of Saturn. He was brought before me and we spoke for many hours about many things. His name is Shadow's Fall and he is a Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, but this is not what intrigues me most about him, nor will it you when you meet him..."


Entering the main hall of the Temple of the Violet Lotus, Veil lays eyes upon a Southerner meditating at the base of the alter of the Maiden of Endings. He has an olive complexion and his sandy-blonde hair lays roguishly across his face, and he wears a thread-bare cotton shirt and a pair of tanned leather breeches and boots.


Veil's sifu whispers as to not interrupt the young man's meditation, "I have known him, in another time. His Exaltation is familiar to me. Familiar to both of us." Crow Caller looks hard into his student's eyes. "What is the history of the Ebon Shadow Style?"


<<Intelligence + Martial Arts, please. And go ahead and check out the backstory of ESS if it's not fresh in your mind =] >>
 
Veil folds her hands behind her back like a child reciting a lesson.


"Ebon Shadow Style was introduced during the Ochre Fountain Era by a famous Night Caste known as Ebon Shadow's Graceful Daughter. Her sifu was not a Sidereal, but a god called Five Days' Darkness. What chiminage she paid to him in exchange is unknown. She trained several other Celestial Exalted in this style at her sifu's request. Ebon Shadow's Graceful Daughter was killed in the line of duty while seeking to apprehend an Exalted criminal near the end of the Era of Dreams, and her inheritor was murdered during the Usurp--" she stops, her eyes growing round.


"Is that who this is, sifu?"


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Results for 7 dice: 4 successes [ 5 4 9 8 0 5 3 ] (TN: 7)
 
Nodding sagely during his pupil's recital of her Style's history and welcoming her brief pause, he continued his conversation.


"Yes, Veil. This is the most recent incarnation of Shadow's Grace. The stars are aligned so that his identity is undeniable. And unbeknownst to him he has come to rekindle his connection with us both... but I feel that you are the anchor between our lives. Go to him."


<<Any roll you'd like to make before you speak with Shadow's Fall, please do so now>>
 
Veil glanced cautiously at the young Solar.


"Sifu...does he know what this place is yet? What we are?"
 
"No, he is ignorant. He claims he came upon this place by happenstance, and he is not clever enough to deceive me. But he was drawn here by forces beyond his own comprehension. I believe he has come as a portent of things to come."
 
Obedient to her sifu's words, Veil approached the meditating Solar, and offered him a slight bow made with her hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, in front of her breast. She addressed him in Old Realm:


"The light within me honors the light within you, guest of the Temple."
 
The Southerner raised his head slowly as he was addressed and he took a moment to take in Veil's visage. In one fluid motion he rose to his feet from the lotus position and bowed to the young woman.


"You see light where I cannot, honored host," he replies in Old Realm. "I am Shadow's Fall..." a sly grin played across his handsome face, "but I have the feeling you already knew that."


He looked to the four-armed statue of Saturn, then returned his eyes to Veil. "I felt like I knew you'd be here, which is odd because I have no idea where 'here' is," he said with a roguish chuckle. He ran his eyes across Veil once more, seeing in her a kindred spirit and feeling an old connection between them. "I have questions, and I believe you have answers." He returned to his lotus position before the statue with the same fluid grace he had performed earlier, his movements inviting Veil to join him.
 
"Though some souls blaze with a greater radiance than others, the light is within us all."


Veil sank smoothly down next to him in the same position, folding her hands in her lap.


"I would be honored to answer your questions, Shadow's Fall. 'Here' is the Temple of the Violet Lotus, consecrated to the Maiden of Endings." She bowed her head towards the statue.
 
"The Maiden of Endings? When I..." his voice faltered for a moment, "when I became Anathema, I saw something. A figure with four arms, black as pitch without features, and it spoke of a boon that I owed." His manner became more accusatory as he spoke. "Was this Maiden of Endings the spirit that took my soul in exchange for power I never asked for?"
 
"Not necessarily," said Veil, trying to hide her shock. He certainly wasted no time! she thought.


"The gods are often shown with four arms, or even ten arms, especially the Unconquered Sun." She nodded to the walls of the alcove where the statue stood -- paintings showed Saturn accompanied by her four sisters, Gaia, Luna and Sol.


"Why do you say this figure took your soul? Is it missing?" There was no trace of mockery in her words
 

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