Trial By Fire - Exalted 2e IC Thread

[MasterDAF]

Viktor scratched the back of his head for a moment as he thought. The forge is locked and Sahlaynah should've left sometime this morning. Nothing else should need my immediate attention. He shook his head and gestured with a thumbs-up. "Nope. I'm ready to go when you are."

 

[Sherwood]

Time passes, and everyone is able to make their way out of the heart of the city to the meeting point just out in the edge of the desert. As you leave the city, rumors are already running rampant through the city of the events at the prison. Depending on what version you hear, it was a lone Anathama that went on a killing rampage, or it was a small army of Anathama that nearly destroyed the heart of the city. One thing is certain: When the Dynasts get in town tomorrow, they will have their hands full dealing with all of the rumors of possible Solars, and may be distracted enough to avoid chasing after you for some time. At least, one can hope.

At the rendezvous point, it is now well into the evening when everyone is finally able to arrive. When Aredin is able to examine the blade that he picked up from the fallen Dragon-Blooded, you can see that it is a Reaper Daiklave; one of the lighter weight weapons created for the Exalted that favor speed over striking power. Along with the extra sword, you have the Direlance, two suits of Lamallar armor and four sets of Soulsteel manacles that have not been claimed by one of your group.

Aysik rises up from the rock he was sitting on and says, "I would not suggest we stay here any longer than we have to. By now, the whole of the city guard has been called up for the job of hunting all of us down. Dunbar, can you help guide us to the cache you found in the dark? Or do we need to wait until morning?"

The older man scratches at his chin. "Well, we only have two horses, and no torches that I can see. So, unless the lovely lady here plans on glowing some more, we will need some light to be able to safely travel, even at a walk."

The Sidereal says, "If she does, it will be a beacon to any pursuers as to exactly where we are. Very well. Everyone, settle in for the night, and we shall leave at dawn."

 

[Rykon]

Aredin rode into the meeting place, managing to actually calm and stop his new steed. "You're alright Marco." He said with a light pat and a subtle pass of trail chew. "Alright ladies and felons, here's the debrief. Things went as planned until spotted. One enemy casualty. I'm not proud of it... and... Well, I don't want any of you to take it too hard. Each breath we take is one denied to our fallen friends, family, comrades... and enemies. We're out of the fire for the moment, but..." Aredin spoke as he slid his bracers off, tossing them to the sand. He sunk the Daiklave and Direlance from the armory blade first into the sand and then stripped off the reinforced breastplate. "I wanted us to recognize this loss and respect the lives we still have, even as fugitives by Exaltation. Let's challenge ourselves to do better next time, and avoid letting the world kill the heart that makes our circle turn. With that, I abdicate my claim to all save this..." Aredin lifts the Reaver Daiklave from the fallen officer. "I want to keep this close for a short time, so I won't forget my mistake." Unless there were objections, Aredin would take a seat to rest his back from mule-ing loot around.

 

[Psychie]

Darian gives her fellow Exalt a sympathetic smile. "You shouldn't feel badly. I was the one that stepped forward and took her life, not you. You were the one trying to talk our way out of a fight and I jumped in. But I understand what you are talking about. I have to live with the stain of taking a life, even one that would have worked to end our own. In fact, I need to have some time alone. If you would please excuse me . . . " She slowly rises and walks off into the darkness to sit by herself for a while, doing her best to keep the sounds of her crying from getting back to the others.

 

[Rykon]

Aredin watched grimly, 'Ah... I didn't mean to make things worse...' he thought to himself. He'd wait for a while, answering any questions the others may have. When he was relatively sure he'd given proper respect to her wish for a moment of solitude, he would approach and merely say. "Thank you for what you did. I'm sorry for my part in things." hoping he could be a friend in a time of pain.

 

[Psychie]

Wiping away her tears, Darian stands up and pulls Aredin into a hug with her face pressed against his chest. For a long moment, she says nothing. Finally, the young woman pulls back and lets him look into her face. "It is not an easy thing for me, but I am sure that with my friends giving me their support, I will be able to heal. Heh. Its not like we won't have other times where it will be required for us to take a life. When it gets easy for us, that's when we are the monsters that the Wyld Hunt names us to be." Darian slips her arm into Aredin's and holds it close. "Lets go back to the others and let them know that everything will be ok."

 

[Rykon]

Aredin smiles. He'd instinctively tries to nod but then remembers to respond verbally as they walk back, hand in hand. "Agreed." Upon returning to the group he'd sit in silence for a moment just enjoying the night air as the circle settled down from a stressful venture and prepared for the next.

 

[RettieSetGo]

Rashiid, arriving well behind everyone else, steps silently from the shadows. Upon hearing Aredin's words, he hides a smirk behind his hand with a cough, 'No freedom worth winning is won without bloodshed.' He lets his thoughts wander for a while after that, inspecting his bow with a careful eye and keeping watch for the camp. Taj lands on his shoulder after a while, looking around as well before taking off again to fly lazy circles in the night sky above their encampment.

 

[Psychie]

Now feeling somewhat composed, Darian settles down cross-legged in the dirt and folds her hands in her lap. "So, Dunbar, now that we have gotten you out of prison, what can you tell us about this mysterious cache of artifacts that we've heard about? Where is it, and what did you find inside it?"

 

[MasterDAF]

Though he feels bad for his comrades, Viktor's absence from the prison incident precludes him from offering words of solace during this somber set of moments. He silently watched Darian wander into the dark with pity in his eyes. We did not ask for this power, and yet we were blessed -- perhaps cursed -- with it all the same. Viktor gave Aredin a sympathetic look, then walked away in case the other man needed a moment of time to himself as well.

He steps over towards Aysik and Holst, looking around them at the barren desert and soft sand dune peaks rising out of the darkness. With the exception of the rock formations, the direction facing away from the city looked very much empty and devoid of life. What a place to be. He turns to Aysik. "If we're laying low until morning I suggest we keep a watch. You know, just in case the city guard works their way this direction searching for us." Unless someone tries to stop him Viktor takes a knee, places a hand on the jade reinforced breastplate and begins to attune his essence to it. Hand it to the Terrestrials, their armor is a lot less tiring to wear. This should do nicely.

"With my Sun-granted gifts for noticing essence activity and illusions as they appear around me, I am willing to stay up and keep watch first."

['Wrong-Type' Exalt Attunement Roll: 2 Wits + 4 Lore + 1WP = 4 Successes - 3 Difficulty = 1 Threshold Success]

 

[RettieSetGo]

Rashiid look over his shoulder to Viktor, "Get some rest. I'll need your eyes when things become to dark for me to see through. I still have enough light to keep an eye out for the moment."

 

[Sherwood]

Dunbar and Aysik are quiet and lost in their own thoughts as Darian goes off to have her moment alone. Then, when Viktor suggests keeping a watch, Aysik nods in agreement. "Excellent idea. I need little sleep, so I can take the second watch. Who would like to take the third?"

When Darian asks about the cache, Dunbar brightens up a bit. "Um, yes, the ruins. It is located four days ride due south from here, a whole complex of broken buildings and tombs of the ancient fallen. I only scratched the surface with my investigations, but I can tell you that there was a broken door made of a fortune in Jade. Inside that door I found many writings in Old Realm, dedicating the site to many of the Solar Exalted that had been buried there, along with a host of other Exalts of the Dragon-Blooded. I found one crypt with the remains of one such Exalt inside, complete with several items of power that you may find useful. There was a second door farther inside the complex that was still sealed, so I don't know exactly what lies behind it. It is an old lock design, requiring Essence to power it to open, and I obviously lack that power. It is probably the location of the Solars that rest there, hopefully in peace so that they have not risen as Hungry Ghosts. I look forward to seeing what lies past that second door."

Aysik looks over and says, "I can say with certainty that it will take us considerably less time to get there than four days, so don't worry about that."

 

[Sherwood]

On a side note, Viktor is able to successfully attune himself to the armor. Do you want to take the Jade Daiklave or the Direlance?

 

[Rykon]

Aredin snaps out of his daze for a moment. "...How are we going to get all of this stuff out, much less to market?"

 

[Psychie]

Darian smiles. "That is a good problem to have; too much good stuff to be able to take it all away. Once we take the pick of the lot for ourselves, there are enough of us with Guild connections and money in the bank to be able to afford a wagon, some guards, and workers to help dig out anything we need. Our only trouble will be the Jade weapons and other gear. There is a very limited market for such artifacts, and with as expensive as they are, it will take some time for even a few items to get sold at anywhere close to their real value."

 

[Rykon]

Aredin sighed, trying not to think of all the contacts he'd probably lost in the last few months. "Well, attuning all the stuff we found was tiresome, draining and left me feeling more vulnerable than it should have. I dunno if I'd really want much more than this Daiklave for now. Maybe we'll find something interesting though."

 

[Sherwood]

Aysik gives off a chuckle. "It is always easier to attune yourself to an item made of the correct material. You can use stuff made of Moonsilver or Soulsteel, but it will never resonate with you as well as Orichalcum does for a Solar. Just so you know." He looks around and stretches, then gives off a yawn. "Well, if I'm going to be up in the middle of the night, I'd better get some sleep now. Whichever one of you that ends up taking first watch, wake me in a few hours, ok?" With that, he lies back and closes his eyes to get some sleep.

The night passes by without incident with the morning sun just about to pop up over the horizon, leaving you all a bit sore from sleeping on the rough ground instead of a bedroll. After a few groans and stretching out a bit, you start to feel a little bit more human, but just barely. The good thing about having no camping gear to worry about is that it makes for a quick exit come travel time. Once everyone is up and ready to move, Aysik has you all gather around him and he works his Essence into a spell; Stormwind Rider. The resulting tornado gathers up the whole lot of you and whisks you away heading due south.

After several hours of travel, Dunbar starts to give some more specific directions other than 'go south'. It is when you are out in the middle of nowhere that he directs Aysik into a valley that is particularly well hidden, then he tells the Sidereal to stop. The older man waves towards the far end of the valley and says, "Here we are. You can barely see it from here, but believe me, its there, buried into the side of the valley. Lets go."

 

[MasterDAF]

Previous Night​

Viktor agreed to swap watch shifts with Rashiid, letting the tall wiry man take over first shift and Viktor moving back to third shift after Aysik. After this he unhooked the leather straps on his buff jacket and removed it, letting the cooler evening air brush his warm skin and raise goosebumps. Viktor took a moment to enjoy the refreshing feeling across his uncovered chest, then retrieved the reinforced breastplate. Now fully attuned to it, the jade armor was much lighter to lift and slid easily into place to cover his body. He fastened the straps on either side, and was amazed by just how unencumbering the armor felt.

"Well I'll be damned!" he stated in delight. "It's like I'm wearing a pillowcase. I could wear this all night, and I can't imagine I'd suffer so much as a neck cramp." He rapped his knuckles across the front, feeling the weight and durability of it under his fingers. "I guess the Gunzosha weren't exaggerating after all." Viktor pulled the jade daiklave out of the sand and minimally attuned to it before securing it to the back of his armor. Just in case.

Current Day
​

Viktor squints, looking around and covering his eyes against the sand glare with one hand. "Uh Holst, go where? I know you said ruins and a broken jade door, but is there anything else that would make it stand out from all..." he gestures to the endless sand, "...this?" Despite his pestering, he will follow as they work their way towards the location.

 

[RettieSetGo]

Rashiid chuckles, looking out over the dunes, saying, "I would not worry overmuch. While to you it may look like endless dunes, the desert rarely leaves one truly lost." The man fixes his turban as he watches the sea of sand unfold before him, remembering the weeks he spent crossing it on foot. As he walks, feeling the give of the sand under his feet again, he loses himself to those heady days that were not too long ago.

 

[Sherwood]

Dunbar gives off a wide smile as Aredin asks about where the door is. "That's how it's been undetected for so long. It is hidden away by magics that bend light away from it, making the entire complex unseen until you are nearly on top of it. I discovered it by accident myself. Come. I'll show you." With that, he sets off towards the end of the valley. After leading everyone for a short while, the older man suddenly vanishes in thin air! A few more steps and he can be seen once more, along with a busted up rock wall with a large door made of Jade in the middle of it.

"There. Just as promised. Welcome to the ruins."

 

[Psychie]

With the magic of the invisibility is lost on her, Darian carefully advances through the shifting sands until she is standing at Dunbar's side. "Describe it to me. I wish to see it as best as I can."

 

[Rykon]

In spite of the recent raid, Aredin slept soundly for once, not waking the group with screams of horror and drenched in cold sweat, definitely not... this time.

In the morning he bit into bacon from a stash of jerky he kept in a special satchel and hopped on the newly christened Marco to ensure he could keep the horses available if they needed them to carry a load back. As Dunbar explained the disguise of the place Aredin made sure the pace was slow and the horses near to keep them from fleeing if they got spooked from the reveal.

 

[MasterDAF]

He is tentative about following when Dunbar Holst vanishes in front of them. As they crossed the threshold of the illusion to bring the ruins and their guide back into view however, Viktor turns his head looking around in amazement. "I've never seen magics of this kind before! Truly a wonder!"

Like a kid at a candy shop, he rushes to the large door and fiddles with the pouch of alchemical touchstones at his side. "Jade you said? Let's see if they used anything else along with it." He begins rubbing each of the eight small ceramic shards against the door, and analyzing the smears left behind to discern whether any other special material was included.

[Thaumaturgy Roll: 4 Perception + 5 Occult + 1 Thaumaturgy = 8 Successes - 1 Difficulty = 7 Threshold Successes]
[Willpower Recovery: 3 Conviction = 1 Total Success...….definitely wishing those thaumaturgy successes didn't leave the party before I rolled for willpower!! XD]

 

[RettieSetGo]

Rashiid steps through the illusion with a fair amount of amazement, looking around and saying, "Now -this- is a great hideout."

 

[Rykon]

"For a time, sure. Though, I don't think Sol would appreciate us using his gifts to settle down as sand-hobos in a tomb for too long." Aredin added with a smile, reaching into what supplies they had for a map. "Anything useful nearby that you know of Holst?" He'd ask as he perused what had been charted for the area, attempting to recall what resources of note would be available if they chose to have a long-term presence here.