Rein me in, here. I went mad a while back.

[Hanat-Osul]

Began developing, some time ago, a story idea that would pretty much rape a number of canoncial conceits.  So take a look at this rough skeleton of a plot and let me know what you think.


--An apocryphal (or at least lesser-known) Deathlord, the Black Seneschal of the Secrets of Catastrophe, has learned, or at least intimated, the secret plan of the Mask of Winters: to raise an army in Creation for use against his fellow Deathlords.  Not one to be outdone by such a crass upstart, the Seneschal prepares his deathknights for a plan that will both repudiate his young rival and make him the envy of the other Deathlords.  He will infiltrate Yu-Shan with powerful magic and hack the pattern spiders, usurping control of the Loom of Fate.


His scheme is bold, but his allies are many.  Several demons of the Second Circle bow to his will, including Ykorthil, Scourge of the South and the Slayer of Harrow, and the expressive soul of the Prince Upon the Tower, a chittering monstrosity with a name unpronounceable by human throats.  Ykorthil controls, through his daughter Sil-Amanu Hoka Hes, the Scorched Gate, a portal to Creation in the midst of the Southern desert.  The other demon has knowledge of Autocthon, given him by his parent-soul, and is gifted with the ability to swim the Void and find the sleeping Machine God.  This demon will carve a hole in Autocthon's hide just large enough for a man to slip through: the Seneschal's Day Caste deathknight, armed with a potent artifact that will allow him to control the gremlins (and possibly Soulsteel Caste Alchemicals).  He will infiltrate the brain and bowels of Claslat, where rests in nigh-impenetrable vaults of the Theomachracy a copy of the original schematics of the pattern spiders.


Meanwhile, the Seneschal's Dawn Caste, Left Hand of Sorrow, raises an army, seemingly with intent to level Chiaroscuro.  But his master's true plan is revealed when he turns west of the city and attacks a confederation of desert tribes recently unified under Kalima Sunspear, descendant of the great prophet Harrow who once led the peoples of the waste between Chiaroscuro and Gem.  Though he butchers her people, he will not kill the Sunspear, as her life is chip with which the Seneschal will bargain for the support of an Infernal sorceror who knows the secret of summoning the Calibration Gate.


Under his direction, the necrosavant Stalwart Smith of Doom's Iron refurbishes soulsteel warstriders, and constructs smaller construct-horrors that will assault the gates of Heaven and the celestial lions who guard them.


When all is prepared, the Infernal will summon the Calibration Gate.  Essence-dampening automata will overwhelm the celestial lions and breach the gate.  An army of the Underworld, led by nemissary-piloted warstriders and monolithic war machines, will attack in every direction, slaying or capturing every god and Exalt they can.  This army is doomed to destruction, but stands a very good chance of fulfilling its purpose: distracting the forces of Yu-Shan long enough for the Seneschal's favored deathknight to unleash the fell magic stolen from the depths of Autocthon and usurp control of the pattern spiders.


This is my idea for an advanced, high-powered Sidereal game (with a possible side-story for Alchemicals or Solars).  The characters - ideally, a perfect Circle - all study under the same Sifu, Kinsu No Gan, the Vigilant Sage of a Thousand Disasters.  He is politically unaffiliated and spends far more time hunting demons than an Exalt of his age and station should.  He has trained his pupils well and keeps them close, for the moment he knows will arrive.  This is it.


Your thoughts?

 

[Guest]

Wow.


Couple questions:


1) In what sense is this Deathlord apocryphal? I mean, is he just an elaborate ruse, an invented catspaw of some -other- Deathlord looking to cover his tracks and avoid retaliation in case the plan fails and Heaven really drops the hammer?


2) Will the PCs have any chance whatsoever to thwart this plan before it goes into effect? While it's quite cool and enormous and epic and such like, players may get frustrated when Yu-Shan gets ravaged by dead things and demons that they couldn't have kept out anyway.


3) How many aspirin/horse tranquilizers do you plan to have on hand to deal with the kind of mass combat clusterfuck that Deathlords invading Yu-Shan entails? Or is that just going to be happening in the background while the Circle ninja's its way around trying to keep the Pattern Spiders safe?

 

[Flagg]

So take a look at this rough skeleton of a plot and let me know what you think.

You broke my canon, you bastard!


-S

 

[Hanat-Osul]

1) In what sense is this Deathlord apocryphal? I mean, is he just an elaborate ruse, an invented catspaw of some -other- Deathlord looking to cover his tracks and avoid retaliation in case the plan fails and Heaven really drops the hammer?

I meant "apocryphal" as "relatively obscure even to the other Deathlords."  He's a bide-my-time, perfect-opportunity sort of guy, the Seneschal... and he doesn't want anyone to understand the full extent or implications of his master stroke until it's too late for them to do anything about it.  But of course, once you start involving Malfeas, Autocthon, and Creation, everything gets more complicated...

2) Will the PCs have any chance whatsoever to thwart this plan before it goes into effect? While it's quite cool and enormous and epic and such like, players may get frustrated when Yu-Shan gets ravaged by dead things and demons that they couldn't have kept out anyway.

Absolutely.  Of course.  At several critical junctures along the way.  As to what and when these are... that's one of those areas where I'd like some help.  The Seneschal's plan is full of holes - he's banking on his own anonymity to be able to pull it off - and few are better suited to taking advantage of a weakness in the enemy's strategy than the Sidereals.

3) How many aspirin/horse tranquilizers do you plan to have on hand to deal with the kind of mass combat clusterfuck that Deathlords invading Yu-Shan entails? Or is that just going to be happening in the background while the Circle ninja's its way around trying to keep the Pattern Spiders safe?

Hopefully, the latter.  I have no interest in sitting around rolling dice for 6 hours.  "Okay, turn 2.  Initiative, everyone."  "Dude, FUCK you, I'm out."  Not my idea of a fun session...

 

[Hanat-Osul]

So take a look at this rough skeleton of a plot and let me know what you think.

You broke my canon, you bastard!


-S

I've been known to do that.  On the old EC, I posted the Alluring Defiler Charms and some kid was like, "You can't do that, shapeshifting is a CANONICAL ability for the Lunars, not Abyssals."


To which I replied:  "Bless your little heart, sweetness, you tried.  But I'm the STORYTELLER.  I do what I want."

 

[Flagg]

In all seriousness, it's a cool idea.


-S

 

[Hanat-Osul]

In all seriousness, it's a cool idea.
-S

It's secretly an excuse for me to:


-feature a favorite NPC villain (Left Hand of Sorrow) pulling off a stunt I consider intensely evil;


-see what it takes to bring down a celestial lion in a fair (here meaning, "not grossly manipulated by the ST for plot reasons") fight;


-field a mixed Sidereal/ Alchemical Circle inside Autocthonia.


But what's weak?  What needs work?  What would YOU do with it, if you were running it?  From what angle would you approach it?


I've got a time-frame in mind that slowly builds from relative inertia at the beginning to hectic shitstorm at the end.  And I've got a couple ideas for subplots (what if the MoW found out about this? and offered to help the PCs in order to thwart the Seneschal? et cetera).  But it's so big, I'm not sure where to start.

 

[Flagg]

What would YOU do with it' date=' if you were running it?[/quote']
I'd model the Abyssal who infiltrates Autocthonia after that montrously insane bounty hunter from one of the later episodes of Firefly. I love that guy, and I've been looking for an excuse to import him into an Exalted game.


-S

 

[Silence In Daylight]

Regarding the Autochthonian link, is the song-and-dance about the demon with ancient knowledge really necessary?


 I've found it rather odd that there hasn't been an occasional shadowland in Autochthonia by now, what with the followers of the Void and all. Have one of Seneschal's minions find a Labyrinth link, and infiltrate through there. Alternatively, have a corrupted Alchemical emerge and approachSeneschal personally.


 On the flip side, let one of the cities discover a shadowland...and realize some of the potential consequences. A circle of Alchemicals is sent through...and runs into a Sidereal group. The PCs could come from either.

 

[Flagg]

I've found it rather odd that there hasn't been an occasional shadowland in Autochthonia by now' date=' what with the followers of the Void and all.[/quote']
Shadowlands are a fusion of the Underworld and Creation. Autocthonia touches neither of those realms.


-S

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Well, in the back of the Autocthonians book, it suggests that as parts of Autocthon succumb to the Void and "die," they become linked to the Labyrinth... and as a stern applicant of Occam's Razor, Silence, I'm inclined to agree with you.  That's less complicated than coming up with a 2nd or 3rd-circle demon that can burrow through Autocthon's hide (an idea that I like but acknowledge as flawed).


As for having a corrupted Alchemical work WITH the Seneschal, voluntarily... damn, the more I think about that the more I like it.  Believe I'll take that angle and run with it.  Thanks.

 

[Elcief]

Hanat-Osul, I think that's a great idea.


And as for the canon thing, what I've always liked about Exalted was the lack of a metaplot.


Also, I'm getting REALLY sick of players who WANT a ST to respect canon and try to figure out everything.


Btw, I was about to post a LONG story about a canon-breaking idea I had a couple of weeks ago, but I don't wanna spam your thread... so I'll open a new one when I have free time.


Sorry about my crappy English  :wink:

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Hanat-Osul, I think that's a great idea.
Btw, I was about to post a LONG story about a canon-breaking idea I had a couple of weeks ago, but I don't wanna spam your thread... so I'll open a new one when I have free time.


Sorry about my crappy English  :wink:

Seems fine to me.


Glad you like the idea, and I'm looking forward to reading yours.

 

[Jakk Bey]

The biggest thing that I see missing, is the opportunity for betrayal by the Yozis' servants.


Are the Yozi going to sit back, and allow their servants to assist their rivals in taking over the Loom of Fate?   Or, will they lull this bastard into doing their dirty work for them?  


The DeathLord makes his play to storm the Gates of Heaven, brings the Yozis' servants with him, and then finds out that he's handed his Masters' greatest rivals the keys to the Loom.


This might be the key for the characters to bust this plot wide open--the reliance on Demons to get this done, instead of the Malfeans' servants.  The biggest hole is that the DL can be betrayed and usurped from his own plan--and if I were the Yozi, I'd be planting a servant, Akuma or Infernal, into the DL's camp, and let him sit and wait, and then at the right moment, hijack the plan for his own fell masters...


It's in this moment of confusion, that the PC's might be able to derail the carefully laid plans.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

The biggest thing that I see missing, is the opportunity for betrayal by the Yozis' servants.
Are the Yozi going to sit back, and allow their servants to assist their rivals in taking over the Loom of Fate?   Or, will they lull this bastard into doing their dirty work for them?  


The DeathLord makes his play to storm the Gates of Heaven, brings the Yozis' servants with him, and then finds out that he's handed his Masters' greatest rivals the keys to the Loom.


This might be the key for the characters to bust this plot wide open--the reliance on Demons to get this done, instead of the Malfeans' servants.  The biggest hole is that the DL can be betrayed and usurped from his own plan--and if I were the Yozi, I'd be planting a servant, Akuma or Infernal, into the DL's camp, and let him sit and wait, and then at the right moment, hijack the plan for his own fell masters...


It's in this moment of confusion, that the PC's might be able to derail the carefully laid plans.

Aha!  There it is.  KNEW there was something big I'd neglected.


You're absolutely right, of course... and in keeping with the time-honored theme of fantasy stories: "The Forces of Evil are bigger and scarier than the Forces of Good, and they will knock you down and laugh at you while kicking out your teeth, but the only thing they hate worse than you is each other, and therefore they will lose."

 

[Dereis]

Another question:  What implications would this have?  If someone sensed, and I imagine that they might, that the pattern spiders had gone awry, wouldn't that just force the Maidens back into their traditional role of weaving Fate by hand?


Another possibility would be that the Day Caste could outright attack the spiders, or the Loom itself, in a bid to destroy either or both in a surprise attack.  This would seem to be more in keeping with the ethic of the Malfeans, who wish to destroy Creation rather than rule it.  If they were interested in hijacking the spiders, how much control over reality would that garner?  Could they then recreate themselves anew in Creation and lose their Malfean nature, destroying the Underworld in the process?  Could they twist the fates of the Gods themselves?  And how would the "Hack" work?  Would an Abyssal have enough time to lounge around the Loom taking apart and reconstructing pre-first age automata?  Some kind of magical hack could maybe be devised


It seems like the Yozis would be more inclined to hijack the Loom of Fate.  It seems that if an Exalted could be taken to Malfeas and coerced or convinced into summoning a heavenly portal, then perhaps Yozi agents or the Yozis themselves could pass through into Yu-Shan?  Are the Yozis technically bound within Malfeas or barred from Creation?


I suppose the same could be done in the Underworld, for that matter.


I like the story though, it has ALOT of potential, and it is epic on a scale worthy of a Sidereal game.

 

[wordman]

A possible sideplot/complication. Suppose a small group of sidereals discovers the plot somehow, maybe by astrology (while most of the principals are outside fate, some of their lackies and victims are not, so this might be possible) or just from observing the events around Chiaroscuro. Anyway, they somehow guess the plan.


They then launch a scheme of their own such that, in the end, they control the pattern spiders directly. Are their motives fair or foul? Who knows, but if they succeed, they will have, in some ways, usurped their creators. And probably taken over the sidereals (since prayers to alter fate now basically go through them).


They would have a fair chance of succeeding, actually, since they don't have to worry about the most difficult part of the deathlord's plan: they already have access to heaven.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

A possible sideplot/complication. Suppose a small group of sidereals discovers the plot somehow, maybe by astrology (while most of the principals are outside fate, some of their lackies and victims are not, so this might be possible) or just from observing the events around Chiaroscuro. Anyway, they somehow guess the plan.
They then launch a scheme of their own such that, in the end, they control the pattern spiders directly. Are their motives fair or foul? Who knows, but if they succeed, they will have, in some ways, usurped their creators. And probably taken over the sidereals (since prayers to alter fate now basically go through them).


They would have a fair chance of succeeding, actually, since they don't have to worry about the most difficult part of the deathlord's plan: they already have access to heaven.

Damn.


DAMN.


That's... that's fucking awesome, Wordman.  Wow.  Hadn't even thought of that, when it should've been one of the first nasty things to come to mind.


Thanks to all of you for the great suggestions.  Glad y'all like the idea enough to keep this thread going.

 

[Persell]

Yeh I agree, the idea is pretty cool!

 

[Samiel]

If I was running this scenario (Which I like, by the way), I'd separate it into different groups and run it thus:


-A Solar/DB/Sidereal game wherein they may learn of his plan, guided by hints or rumours, or even another deathlord, or Yozis etc.


-An alchemical game, where a group of them are called upon to attend to a shadowland (if we're doing it that way) and remove it.


Initially they simply have to aid a god-machine-protocols weaver to the site, whereupon he will use the "Crystalline Matrix" protocol, or whatever it's called, that minces shadowlands. However, once they reach the site, there is evidence of a breach; something managed to get in.


They have to track this being down and stop it however possible. For the abyssal's part, all he has to do it attack a tag to the plans, and they will teleport to the deathlord.


-Back to the Solars or Siderials. Perhaps the tag teleports the Abyssal and Alchemicals back separately, or otherwise the Alchemicals manage to worm a message across.


Alternatively, their continued investigation unearths yet more of the plans. If they are smart, they might piece together what's about to happen, but fortune will place them near the gate or in Yu-Shan at the correct time to perhaps avert the oncoming horde.


(^ needs fixing and streamlining. It's late over here so don't expect miracles from me)


I think, according to the Canon (which we are mercilessly stamping around anyway), you implement that Autocthon-Labyrinth widget only after the Seal of Eight Divinities is broken. Before that, the corruption of the void is the problem. After that, a whole lot of nasty things that the Autocthonians had forgotten about become possible again.


But, shaft that. Labyrinth allows more interaction.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Began developing, some time ago, a story idea that would pretty much rape a number of canoncial conceits.  So take a look at this rough skeleton of a plot and let me know what you think.
--An apocryphal (or at least lesser-known) Deathlord, the Black Seneschal of the Secrets of Catastrophe, has learned, or at least intimated, the secret plan of the Mask of Winters: to raise an army in Creation for use against his fellow Deathlords.  Not one to be outdone by such a crass upstart, the Seneschal prepares his deathknights for a plan that will both repudiate his young rival and make him the envy of the other Deathlords.  He will infiltrate Yu-Shan with powerful magic and hack the pattern spiders, usurping control of the Loom of Fate.


His scheme is bold, but his allies are many.  Several demons of the Second Circle bow to his will, including Ykorthil, Scourge of the South and the Slayer of Harrow, and the expressive soul of the Prince Upon the Tower, a chittering monstrosity with a name unpronounceable by human throats.  Ykorthil controls, through his daughter Sil-Amanu Hoka Hes, the Scorched Gate, a portal to Creation in the midst of the Southern desert.  The other demon has knowledge of Autocthon, given him by his parent-soul, and is gifted with the ability to swim the Void and find the sleeping Machine God.  This demon will carve a hole in Autocthon's hide just large enough for a man to slip through: the Seneschal's Day Caste deathknight, armed with a potent artifact that will allow him to control the gremlins (and possibly Soulsteel Caste Alchemicals).  He will infiltrate the brain and bowels of Claslat, where rests in nigh-impenetrable vaults of the Theomachracy a copy of the original schematics of the pattern spiders.


Meanwhile, the Seneschal's Dawn Caste, Left Hand of Sorrow, raises an army, seemingly with intent to level Chiaroscuro.  But his master's true plan is revealed when he turns west of the city and attacks a confederation of desert tribes recently unified under Kalima Sunspear, descendant of the great prophet Harrow who once led the peoples of the waste between Chiaroscuro and Gem.  Though he butchers her people, he will not kill the Sunspear, as her life is chip with which the Seneschal will bargain for the support of an Infernal sorceror who knows the secret of summoning the Calibration Gate.


Under his direction, the necrosavant Stalwart Smith of Doom's Iron refurbishes soulsteel warstriders, and constructs smaller construct-horrors that will assault the gates of Heaven and the celestial lions who guard them.


When all is prepared, the Infernal will summon the Calibration Gate.  Essence-dampening automata will overwhelm the celestial lions and breach the gate.  An army of the Underworld, led by nemissary-piloted warstriders and monolithic war machines, will attack in every direction, slaying or capturing every god and Exalt they can.  This army is doomed to destruction, but stands a very good chance of fulfilling its purpose: distracting the forces of Yu-Shan long enough for the Seneschal's favored deathknight to unleash the fell magic stolen from the depths of Autocthon and usurp control of the pattern spiders.


This is my idea for an advanced, high-powered Sidereal game (with a possible side-story for Alchemicals or Solars).  The characters - ideally, a perfect Circle - all study under the same Sifu, Kinsu No Gan, the Vigilant Sage of a Thousand Disasters.  He is politically unaffiliated and spends far more time hunting demons than an Exalt of his age and station should.  He has trained his pupils well and keeps them close, for the moment he knows will arrive.  This is it.


Your thoughts?

*promptly shats himself*  :shock:  *ahem* I love it. Period.

 

[Balathustrius]

How many aspirin/horse tranquilizers do you plan to have on hand to deal with the kind of mass combat clusterfuck that Deathlords invading Yu-Shan entails? quote]


That question makes me smile.


-----------


Could the Sidereal advisors of the Real DBs catch onto this plan as well?  What would the Realm do?  Access to the Loom could allow a savant to determine the whereabouts of the Scarlett Empress, enable them to hunt down Anathema much more ruthlessly, and ensure the survival of the Realm.


Frankly, there's no faction that wouldn't be interested in this plan.  There are many that would be perfectly fine with helping a lesser-known DL achieve his goals if they were promised control over creation.  As an alternate method of getting the characters involved, the DL could even make such a proposition to them.

 

[Solfi]

... this actually sounds like a lot of fun. And from a player perspective, Sidereals are my least favourite Exalt-type.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

How many aspirin/horse tranquilizers do you plan to have on hand to deal with the kind of mass combat clusterfuck that Deathlords invading Yu-Shan entails? quote]


That question makes me smile.


-----------


Could the Sidereal advisors of the Real DBs catch onto this plan as well?  What would the Realm do?  Access to the Loom could allow a savant to determine the whereabouts of the Scarlett Empress, enable them to hunt down Anathema much more ruthlessly, and ensure the survival of the Realm.


Frankly, there's no faction that wouldn't be interested in this plan.  There are many that would be perfectly fine with helping a lesser-known DL achieve his goals if they were promised control over creation.  As an alternate method of getting the characters involved, the DL could even make such a proposition to them.

Actually, on the Scarlet Empress note, they wouldn't be able to find her. She's outside of Fate and in the arms of Ebon Dragon. No way they'd find her

 

[Persell]

What CW is right and as far as I am aware the bronze faction is actually using the loom to determine where the hunt has to strike again. They are just a little short on personnel and ressources...


right now the big problem of the hunt is that they are not used to fighting solars who had a year or more of time to prepare and learn about their powers and so they most of the time send a hunt which is too small. a well prepared wyld hunt (elite cadre etc.) is probably still a match for most solars in the age of sorrows (lets say in the essence 2-4 or even 2-5 region).