Some artwork:

PCs

Tepet Illystra

and In the River (NSFW) (both by Terra)

Cathak Perius

(both by Terra)

Cynis Magel

Line art by Terra, coloring by Gregor. I'm jealous of her drawing!

The above is a modified (work-safe?) version. Here is the definitely not-so-safe version.

Note: I should probably point out that, as these are not my work, I cannot put them under the usual Creative Commons license on this campaign page.

Here's a list of the recent additions to the Dramatis Personae:

Player Characters

• Cathak Perius - Chris R. dropped Sen’rei several sessions ago in favor of his new Water-aspected Spymaster/Inquisitor. Sen'rei is still around, but off in the background.

NPCs

• The Lantern on Dark Water with Salt in Her Hair (Deathlord) - Met in Session 3

• The Lone Drum Requiem for Blooded Blade (Deathknight) - aka General Bladesong. One of the Songs of the Son of All Sorrows

• Aria For Ivory Blossom in Repose (Deathknight) - aka the Everbloom. Another Song. Bladesong thought that she was with us, as did Tears of the Bloodflower. Apparently, she is in possession of a “key to a key” (i.e., the bracelet we were searching for in Nexus), and somehow tied to Nyax.

• Mysterious White-haired Punching Bag in Armor of Many Punctures, Riding Horse of Ebon (not his real name) - The unknown Deathknight leading part of Bloodflower's undead army.

Other NPCs (not new)

Cathak Bertram

In the wall of his office, among décor of exotic weaponry, is a carefully preserved, framed personal letter from the Empress sent many years ago. That speaks volumes of Cathak Bertram. He is a brilliant tactician and military leader, known to go all out in battle (as evidenced by a missing arm) and enjoy leading his men to victory, though he is never wasteful of his troops. Off the field, however, he’s not the best at politicking and has little patience for the schemes of his peers, but his reputation keeps him in the highest circles. This Wood aspect is not one many care to anger…especially since he has a nearly full legion behind him (the Eleventh). There was, some years ago, some nastiness involving his first wife, Tepet Tulia, who’s regarded by even her own house as a greedy, ambitious, but stupid cow. No one is certain of the extent of her 'crimes', but Bertram managed to come out smelling like a rose after her untimely death. He was, of course, no where near the location at the time… He is now pleasantly married to the much younger Ledaal Layli, who seems to be a very good match for him. They have one child, Dailan, a precocious toddler. With the disappearance of the Empress, Bertram’s love for the Empire has not waned, and he hates what it is becoming. He thinks that unless something is done about the Abyssals and other Anathema, there will soon be nothing left.

He is a handsome man of average height, lean muscled like a young sapling. Black hair is twinged with green and eyes are brown as tree bark. Bertram tends to dress simply, but finely, and rarely takes any pains to hide the stump of his right arm (which, if anyone looks closely enough, seems to sport growth rings like a cut tree limb). It’s said his first wife forced him to wear a gaudy fake arm of silver and jade in public, and he hated it. It is, to him, a badge of the sacrifices he’s made for the Empire.

He’s known to have soft spots for his children, his children’s children, mistreated slaves, valiant but overlooked soldiers, and the handicapped.

See also: In the Shadows of Dragons

Ledaal Layli

Those that enter the Heptagram never leave the same, and its secrets are kept within all its graduates. It took young Ledaal Layli and spun her into a woman of velvet and steel wrapped in mystery with a veneer of enigma. At least that’s the face she presents to the world. An Air aspect of great refinement and practiced grace, she is known to be a frightfully competent sorceress and a subtle but strong in politicking, making her an excellent match for her husband. She happens to agree strongly with Bertram about what needs to be done.

She is best described as a chill beauty, not because of her attitude, but because her being calls to mind icy winds. Her skin is a snowy alabaster and hair a pale blue. Her eyes are stormy gray and lips blue twinged, often fixed together in a look that says she knows something you don’t. Most often, she is dressed in understated elegance in shades of blue. It is curious then that she’s almost always seen wearing a bracelet of red jade that clashes with her usual clothing, and she never really explains its significance.

Though she doesn’t reveal much, she does appear to be genuinely fond of her husband and their household (though she finds that her child, Dailan, is not yet old enough to be interesting). However, those with long memories and love of gossip will say that Bertram is not her real love in that household, but his mortal son, Nishal. They were lovers in primary school and known to have kept in touch, and some suggest that she pressed for the match with Bertram in order to be with Nishal for the rest of his life. The cruelest gossip from enemies suggests that Dailan is not a product of the proper marriage, but most do not take that seriously. She’s considered far too discreet for that.

In surprise to some, she left Bertram’s household mostly intact when she entered the marriage, only making cosmetic changes and some staff. The only person she brought with her is the odd advisor, Piodyan Nuwar.

See also: In the Shadows of Dragons

Piodyan Nuwar - Advisor to Layli

A short, almost stocky bald man, Nuwar is not much to look at. He tends to dress black and gray and would not be notable except for the fact that even the strongest of Dragon Blooded have found his presence and dark gaze somehow discomfiting. Luckily it passes as soon as the man does. After all, he’s nothing but an advisor to the lady Layli, right?

…didn’t her grandmother have an advisor at one point in time? Couldn’t be the same person…nah.

Nellens Larian

Nellens Larian, unlike most Dynasts, knows he was a child born of a great love affair. By all accounts, many were baffled by the paring of the devastatingly beautiful and passionate Dragon Blooded Nellens Selaya and the obstinately temperate, monkish, slave born mortal soldier Cathak Kotari (son of Bertram). Perhaps because of that, and the regret that Selaya has openly expressed that her last words to her husband were in anger, Larian has what most deem an unhealthy obsession and regard for the father that died when the boy was an infant. As of yet, no one has managed to get him to grow out of it.

And as such, Larian wanted to be a soldier too. As much as he regards his mother with great respect, he decided very early on that her job of administrating fisheries was not for him. Though he barely knows his father’s family, their presence has been undeniable in his choice of profession. His grandfather Bertram gave the nudges that got Larian into the best primary schools, got the best soldier tutors, and though Larian would’ve been accepted to the House of Bells on his own merits, Bertram’s backing certainly didn’t hurt. But Larian has met the double edge of this, too, as accusations flew at school that he was nothing but a low born Nellens upstart riding Cathak coattails (though he had equal numbers of friends, including Terra’s Tepet Illystra). He also got into some trouble with instructors by being a strong advocate of learning cavalry tactics first hand (he is an accomplished rider himself), even if Exalts cannot ride into battle themselves. And now that he’s graduated, he’s decided to pay his grandfather back by joining the Eleventh. Not only that, but Larian was given position in the same section that his father made famous in some parts of Creation, the Stone Horse.

He is taller than average in the Isle, a bit broad in the shoulder (indicators of the 'barbarian blood' from his slave grandmother, his enemies say), but otherwise has his mother’s fiery beauty. As a lateish bloomer, Larian is not strongly showing his Fire aspect yet, save for the orange glints in his long auburn hair. His eyes are an emerald green. Though he is as passionate as any Fire, it tends to be more focused. He is slow to anger and tends more toward a laid back mischievous air…until one hits on the right topics. He tries to stay detached from most political maneuvering, having discovered very early on that he will be finding no great marriage offers anytime soon…or any lesser favors either, and his breeding keeps him out of high circles. Most women view him as 'good to bed, but poison to wed', which has soured him on the party scene. It’s no fun to try to figure if someone is being sincerely interested.

He owns a spectacular set of red jade fighting armor with an opal inset of the raring horse, a gift from his mother, and has recently come into an equally spectacular daiklaive that appears to have living flame in it’s hilt. He carries with him a set of beat up old journals and worn, very simple 'dress armor' that might have been in fashion forty years ago.

He is known to be fond of the memory of his father, his mother, and his six Southern Teradhi bred horses.

Just for handiness, since it goes here as well as it does anywhere, I'm also including this link to the Exalted name generator

Here is the game thus far (since I've not been keeping up with it very well)…

This story is taking polace concurrent with the end of the first run of Obsidian Requiem.

Session 0 (09/16/2005) - Preludes, pretty much. PCs are invited to join unofficial Wyld Hunt, meet some of the folks.

Session 1 (09/30/2005) - Dinner Party. Wyld Hunt departs in ships. We question Poni. See my previous entry for details.

Session 2 (10/14/2005) - On the High Seas. The fleet is attacked by a large multiheaded dragon.

Session 3 (11/11/2005?) - On the High Seas. After coming across a pirate ship, the Exalts encounter a Deathlord, The Lantern on Dark Water with Salt in Her Hair. Arrived in Nexus. Don't recall much beyond Perius arranging to help with crimes. This may have actually been the same session as #3.

Session 4 (12/9/2005) - In Nexus. Met up with Guild representative, got info on stolen bracelet. While investigating, the group begins to suspect that their enemies are near, and the object they are looking for is more powerful than it might seem. Explore catacombs. Moved by a dream, Nyax suddenly sets sail for Seven Willows in the middle of the night, leaving everyone along with him to wonder what's going on. Discovered Seven Willows refugee camp.

Session 5 (12/23/2005) - Last night's session, to be summarized later (hopefully)

(I'm not sure whether Session 4 was in late October or early November, and it may in fact have been two sessions. The above is my best guess.)

This is what I would have on a soundtrack for this game. Obviously, since I know Magel best, she's somewhat over-represented

01 - Never Die (Jade Rhapsody OP Theme). Slayers Gorgeous. Hayashibara Megumi.

02 - Mask (Magel の Theme/Alternate OP Theme); Bakuretsu Hunters. Matsumura Kasumi, Masami Okui

03 - Ice Blue Eyes (Magel の Image); Rurouni Kenshin. Sakurai Tomo.

04 - Within Unlimited Desires (Cynis Girl の Theme); Slayers Special. Hayashibara Megumi.

05 - Izayoi (Magel の Daydream); Saber Marionette J. Hayashibara Megumi.

06 - Gentou Chouga Juuroku-seiki (Battle Theme 1); Utena. J. A. Ceasar

07 - Tainai Tokei Toshi Orrery (Battle Theme 2); Utena. J. A. Ceasar

08 - Negai (Jade Rhapsody ED Theme). Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. Nemoto Miho.

09 - You Get To Burning (Obsidian Requiem OP Theme/Illystra の theme); Martian Successor Nadeisico. Matsuzawa Yumi.

10 - Gaia's Theme (Nyax の Theme); Battle Arena Toshinden.

11 - Blaze (Abyssal の Theme); Escaflowne

Bonus - Touch My Heart (Magel の Image); Devil Hunter Yohko. Hisakawa Aya.

Haven't decided on themes for the other characters yet…

** An image song is a song that conveys some aspect of a character's personality or story. It is, basically, inspiration for that character.

Just one quote, paraphrased…

T: “I was thinking I could ignite my anima to burn stuff”

J: “I'd ignite my anima but … it just makes me drip.” smacks head

CR: “So, no different from normal?”

J: “… well, I could have said 'it makes me wet'.”

CR: “That's the same thing”

J: “… I was trying to find a better synonym.”

Exalted presents a calendar of its own, and I've made certain changes to it to suit my own sensibilities. But I've failed to nail down these changes in a handy location for reference, so they keep mutating when my back is turned. This is an attempt to settle the system that I'm using, once and for all.

I also elaborate a bit on the practices and traditions relating to the calendar, and detail the Underworld's calendar a bit.

Revised Imperial Calendar

The Imperial Calendar is a true Lunar calendar … that is, the months match the lunar cycle of 25 days (five weeks with five days each). There are fifteen months in the year, divided into five seasons. There is also a five-day Calibration period which is not part of any month.

Thus, the year is 380 days long. To turn an Earth age into the equivalent in Exalted years, multiply by 0.96. (To do the same for the canon Exalted calendar, which is 425 days long, multiply by 0.86)

It may help the following explanation to look at the final result

Days

Days and Nights (except during Calibration) are always the same, equal length.

The five days of the week are named for their associations with the Five Maidens (though not in the usual order), and each day has a particular favored activity:

Mercurysday - Best day to start a journey (physical or metaphorical). Sometimes shortened to “Mercsday”
Jupiterday - Best day to take care of private business. Sometimes shortened to “Juday”
Marsday - Best day to fight a battle
Saturnday - Best day for funerals and memorials, best day to end tasks. Sometimes read “Saturday”
Venusday - Best day for a festival or wedding. Sometimes shortened to “Vensday”

The typical workweek consists of Mercuryday through Saturnday, with Saturnday marking the death of the workweek as befits the maiden of endings. Venusday is thus a day of rest.

The Five Seasons

There are five seasons, named after the elements they are tied to: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Air (in that order). Roughly, these equate to: The rainy/storm season, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

(Note that the elemental associations are modified from the canon calendar. This is because the Elemental Pole of Air — not Water — seems most clearly associated with cold and ice, the Element of Water suits rain, and the element of Earth is associated with farming and harvests … and thus, autumn, plus barrenness.)

Each season contains three months, which serve as the phase of the season. These are called Ascending (when the element is gaining strength), Resplendent (when the element is at its peak), and Descending (when the element is losing strength).

Thus, Resplendent Air is the coldest month, Resplendent Water is the rainiest month, Resplendent Wood is the most verdant month, Resplendent Fire is the hottest month, and Resplendent Earth is the height of Autumn.

Dates are written with the number first, e.g., 18 Resplendent Fire.

The Lunar Cycle and Eclipses

There are 5 regular phases of the moon. They occur as follows:

1st to 3rd - Waxing Crescent Moon
4th to 5th - Half Moon
6th to 7th - Waxing Gibbous Moon
8th to 13th - Full Moon
14th to 15th - Disseminating (Waning Gibbous) Moon
16th to 17th - Half Moon
18th to 20th - Balsamic (Waning Crescent) Moon
21st to 25th - No Moon

Taken together, the Waxing, Waning, and Half moon phases are called the Changing Moon (thus the Lunar caste).

Eclipses, special conjunctions of the Unconquered Sun and Luna together (thus considered phases of both), occur regularly only during Calibration.

Calibration

Calibration is the five-day period that falls between Descending Earth and Ascending Air, and is roughly analogous to Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Mexico's Día de los Muertos, all at the same time (the emphasis varies from region to region, however).

There will always be at least one eclipse during Calibration. Calibration eclipses are always total eclipses, and usually occur near the start or the end of the five days (but can occur any time during). They can last anywhere from a handful of minutes up through the entire five-day period. The length of an eclipse is tied to its rarity (in other words, five day eclipses are far less common than 7 minute eclipses). Longer eclipses are also seen as stronger omens. There is no moon at night during Calibration.

The Calibration of Realm Year 763 (the year the Scarlet Empress disappeared and the Solar Anathema began returning) was a three-day-long eclipse. The Calibration of Realm Year 768 (which coincided with the fall of Seven Willows) had an eclipse only a day long, but it was also marked with an unusual arrangement of the five maidens (in a circle surrounding the eclipse) and a number of other portents. Other lengthy eclipses presaged the Fall of the Solar Deliberative and the coronation of the Scarlet Empress

Other odd astronomical events can also occur during Calibrations: the sun refusing to rise or set, or hovering just at the horizon, variations in the normally regular length of day or night, meteor showers, false sunsets, etc.

Many Moons

Aside from Calibration, brief eclipses (usually only a few minutes in duration) typically occur up to twice a year, at some point during the week of the new moon, but predicting these events is best left to astrologers. These eclipses can be partial or total eclipses.

The full moon of each month has a name. From the beginning:

Water: The Glittering Moon, The Silver Moon, The Mud Moon
Wood: The Planting Moon, The Green Moon, The Flowering Moon
Fire: The Hare Moon, The Flame Moon, The Wolves' Moon
Earth: The Fey Moon, The Harvest Moon, The Darking Moon
CALIBRATION
Air: The Snow Moon, The Ice Moon, The Shimmering Moon

Several of these tend to somewhat resemble their names (i.e., the Green Moon has a slight greenish tinge, the Shimmering Moon seems ephemeral and dreamlike, etc.)

Another special lunar event that can occur occasionally through the year is the Bloody Moon (not to be confused with the Bloodmoon). It is also known as Moonshadow. This is when the usual moon turns blood red for a period of time (no more than an hour). This most frequently occurs during the Full Moon, but can actually occur during any phase (except No Moon). This is said to be Luna remembering her actions in the Gods' War, the color alternately said to be in honor of Umbra, a curse laid by him, or simple guilt and embarassment.

The Wheel Turns

The months, days, weeks, and seasons of a single year are typically marked on a wheel-shaped calendar, which can be wall-mounted or placed flat like a table, free-turning or fixed in place. This wheel can be constructed of stone, metal, wood, or even paper, according to the wishes and resources of the owner.

Calibration is not marked on most calendars. Instead, the wheel is usually covered in velvet or silk (usually black) for the duration, or even (in more superstitious/ritualized households) broken or burnt at the start of Calibration, and replaced with a new one after its end. When Calibration is marked, each of the five days are almost invariably isolated from the others by placing it between two of the seasons, metaphorically spreading out the burden of ill omens and weighty destiny through the year. It is considered foolhardy and unlucky in the extreme to tempt fate by placing all five days of Calibration together on a calendar, thereby disturbing the symmetry of the year.

Calendar Wheel design can be either excessively baroque, or rather minimalistic. Both styles are well-represented at all levels of society, both in the threshold and in the realm.

Calendar Wheels are frequently incorporated into Manse design in Creation, as all Manses inherently have some relationship with time and cyclic patterns.

In households on the Threshold, it is not uncommon to see temporary markers or even permanent design elements representing various days holy to the small gods (as part of the Small Gods Heresy). Dates important to the family are also so marked (birthdays and such), and both types of markers are often unlabelled, so this is circumstantial evidence of heresy at best.

The Stygian Calendar

The calendar used in the underworld is very similar to the Imperial Calendar, though the Stygian Calendar is not based on Lunar phases directly (since the moon of the underworld doesn't have them). Rather, it is tied to the Calendar of Setesh (a device), which in turn follows the yearly cycle in Creation. There are a few superficial changes:

The year numbering is different, as it doesn't use the Empress' Ascension as a starting point, but rather the start of the Calendar of Setesh. Realm Year 768 is 4910 on the Calendar of Setesh.

The Seasons of the Stygian Calendar are: Blood, Jade, Pyre, Bone, and Prayer.

The three phases of each season (equivalent to Ascending, Resplendent, and Descending) are: Inexorable, Indolent, and Ebbing. Thus, Resplendent Wood in Creation is the same as Indolent Jade in the Underworld.

The Stygian Calendar refers to Calibration as “Veneration”. It falls between Ebbing Bone and Inexorable Prayer, the same time as in Creation.

The denizens of the Underworld are just as interested in time and the cycle of the year as the Living, if for no other reason than the fact that these things are handy reminders of the past, and thus, the dead.

This is the Stygian Calendar

Per my previous post, I've revised the calendar somewhat from what it was when I ran Obsidian Requiem. This changed the dates of some events in the campaign (but not by much). This post details the changes, and also gives dates for events in Jade Rhapsody.

Obsidian Requiem Sessions

01: 5 Calibration - 1 Ascending Air (Fall of Seven Willows. Exalted.)
02: 4 Ascending Air - 9 Ascending Air (Escaped Seven Willows. Encountered Stick People.)
03: 13 Ascending Air (Arrival in Ti'i Wa'a Wai. Encounter Night-forged.)
04/Interlude 1: N/A (First Age session)
05: 14 Ascending Air (Fought a Night-forged Sorceror)
06: 20 Ascending Air - 21 Ascending Air (Develan's Manse)
07: 22 Ascending Air - 24 Ascending Air (Spotted Airship)
08: 9 Resplendent Air - 10 Respendent Air (On the road, travelling more rapidly. Arrival in Hallia … deserted town)
09: 10 Resplendent Air (Raven's Jetty … shadowland of Ebony Waves Kiss)
10: 10 Resplendent Air (Trussed up by militia; Battled Dragon-blooded)
11: 10 Resplendent Air (Develan ambushed by Night-forged, Poni taken by Dragon-blooded)
12: 16 Resplendent Air - 17 Resplendent Air (arrival in Creus)
Interlude 2: ???
13: 17 Resplendent Air (In Nathir, First key used)
14: 3 Descending Air (arrival in Great Forks)
15: 4 Descending Air - 8 Descending Air
16: 8 Descending Air (depart Great Forks)
Interlude 3: 11 Descending Air (Side Session)
17: 19 Descending Air (Arrival in Sijan)
18: 19 Descending Air (Battle in Sijan)
19: 19 Descending Air - 20 Descending Air (Battle Greuber, heading for Rathess)

Jade Rhapsody Sessions:

Poni arrives on Blessed Isle - 24 Resplendent Air

00: 8 Descending Air (Arrive at Bertram's)
01: 9 Descending Air (Dinner Party, Depart Blessed Isle)
02: 12 Descending Air (Fight Sea Serpent)
03: 18 Descending Air - 19 Descending Air (Encounter Deathlord. Arrival in Nexus.)
04: 20 Descending Air (Depart Nexus, find refugee camp)
05: 23 Descending Air (Evacuate refugees, Battle Tears' army)

23 Descending Air, Realm Year 768

It has been four weeks since this journey began. I thought that, nearing the end of the year as we are, this might be a good time to recount my experiences thus far.

_Ø-(. . ) <— This is me writing! Not a very good representation, I think!

Anyway, it is, of course, no big secret that I was not born to my House. When I was adopted into Cynis after the blood showed itself, my ties to my birth-family were legally and officially severed. In theory, I am the equal of a Dynastic-born Dragon-blood, and I cannot honestly say that I am treated otherwise by most. At least, not since I've been out of school.

Still, it has long been clear that my House hopes for a good return on their investment. As I am clearly no soldier, nor a bureaucrat, nor sorceror, nor monk, none of the traditional secondary schools seemed a useful path to lead me to excel. And, in truth, I would not be content with such a … narrow education anyway. I have studied the teachings of great warriors, magicians, legalists, and priests, and taken what I have found useful there, but these are tools, not a goal in themselves. I long ago decided to forge my own path … which is fine, but does not help one to find where to begin.

I was keeping my eyes open for opportunities.

One recently revealed itself, cloaked in the form of an invitation to visit the household of Cathak Bertram, the famous hero, of whom I was aware even before being touched by the Dragons. I did not know what the purpose of the invitation was beyond the nebulous details in the invitation, but it is not every day that I receive invitations from such as he.

Upon arrival, I met the heads of the house and my belongings were taken to my room. I had a brief interview with Bertram himself … I was somewhat in awe of such a reknowned personage, but of course it was not meet to show it too readily. He wished to know my feelings on the current state of the Realm, and invited me to join an expedition to the Threshold to inquire into some reports of ill omen. A sort of unofficial Wyld Hunt.

Of course, I accepted. Ganbare ne, Magel? Tatakae!** (*^_^*)

I was offered free run of the house aside from a few areas reserved for the family … and, of course, the Manse proper. I encountered a strange old man in the Library, apparently an advisor of some sort. I was not really certain what to make of him. Later, we had a small gathering at dinner for those who had arrived already. Naturally, it was quite different from what I was used to. Among the people I met there were:

Ledaal Sen'rei - A boy, apparently a savant of some sort. He had an odd mechanical contrivance in the form of a pet. Sen'rei could stand to have a few years education, perhaps with Cynis … the boy was almost completely oblivious to the social niceties.

Tepet Ilyra - A warrior, child of the Fire Dragon. I believe she belongs to the Rocky Equine legion or something of that sort. Apparently she was involved in that big battle that Tepets are always mumbling about in their sleep.

Mnemon Nyax - Water aspected like myself. He captains the vessel that is to serve as our flagship. His teeth are rather sharp looking … Interesting!

Tepet Cayhar - Ilyra's superior, I believe? Wears an eye patch.

Nellens Larian - Tall! And soooo pretty! More of him later…

Some of the expedition still had yet to arrive, so I didn't meet them until later. At first I thought that the list mistakenly had a duplicate entry … it said “Tepet Illystra & Co.”. But no. It turns out that there are actually two Tepet Fire-aspected soldiers who were in that battle in the north, who happen to have similar names. It could've been extremely confusing, but Ilyra keeps to herself for the most part.

If there had been two or three more Magels I think we could've simply stayed where we were and let our foes in the Threshold give themselves up! Luckily for them, there's only one me! Ha! (^____^)

At any rate, after dinner we retired for the evening. I wonder how many people lost money betting that I'd invite half the serving staff to my bed…

Preparations had been going on for some time, so we were ready to embark the next day. Illystra & Co. would catch up with us en route. I won't go into many details of the voyage … it isn't all that entertaining or eventful a story. But there are a few tidbits.

For example, Nyax's ship is very interesting! The hull is made of a very old, strong material. I'm sure some of the Dynasts are glad for that! The colors they turned once we hit deep water were rather interesting. ( ~ . ^ )

Once underway, we discovered that we had a passenger. A girl from the Threshold named Nikene Poni, apparently a survivor of an attack by Anathema on some place called Seven Willows, our destination. Horrible! I thought about comforting the poor thing, but then I remembered Sen'rei's near total lack of social ability. Chance!

I encouraged the two of them to spend time together. I'm not sure if it helped, but he hasn't been underfoot since then, so that's something.

Oh, we learned a bit from Poni about Seven Willows. It was apparently attacked by a Deathlord or Deathknight or Deathcatapult or Deathrabbit or some such. Seriously though, it sounded like dangerous stuff to mess around with. But that's why they pay me the big Talens.

Wait … I AM getting paid for this, right? Right?!

…

Sigh.

At any rate, Illystra and Co. finally caught up with us. When I first saw her, I just sort of stared at her for awhile … her skin nearly glows! OK, not literally, but … I was a bit trembly in the knees for a bit there. She is an old friend of Larian's apparently… hm, which gives me an id… no, I'm definitely NOT committing that to paper. Illystra'd kill me! (*^.^*)

They arrived just as we managed to hit stormy weather. Poor Illystra! Once I re-engaged my brain, I wandered over and taught her how to move with the ship, and that seemed to help her. She's so warm!

Now, the “& Co.” section of the party is a real barrel of laughs, let me tell you. Cathak Perius, the fun-loving! Cathak Perius the outgoing and friendly! Cathak Perius the utterly trustworthy and loyal comrade! Ha!

( ^_^ )Y <— This is me waving at Perius in case he happens to be reading this. Hi, Perius! Mind your own business and stop reading my journal! Kisses! Signed, Magel!

He's an inquisitor, or so he claims. His self-appointed duty is to wander around spying on people, endlessly asking blunt questions regarding their loyalty to the Realm, agenda, character, level of education, geneaology, financial standing, upbringing, and for all I know, personal hygiene. I swear he has less grasp of subtlety and etiquette than Sen'rei did. Mind you, this was merely my first impression of him…

My second, third, fourth … and in fact every subsequent impression haven't done much to change my opinion, however. Especially recently. But I'm getting ahead of myself…

The storms were hardly over when we were attacked by a beast from the depths, some sort of two-headed serpent. That was, I think, the 12th. Illystra killed the creature, beating me to it, so I rescued our young passenger from a rather waterlogged demise. I took her belowdecks to get her out of her wet clothes. She'll please someone rather well in a few years … you read it here first!

Fast as she changed, I think she thought I was about to go for her throat! Sigh…

Oh, Illystra can fly! She has these big firey wings, from some sort of artifact I assume. It's amazing!

Took us only two weeks to reach the Threshold, all told … mostly because the late winter storms were helping us, I assume. Before we got there, though, there was this incident with a pirate ship and a woman calling herself Lantern on Dark Waters with Salt in Her Hair and Some Sleepwalking Guys Hanging Around and Probably Some More Words Here That I'm Forgetting. Ha!

OK, serious time…

She was apparently a Deathlord. Mostly, I think she was warning us. Something about our enemies wanting to release something into Creation. Then we … accidentally sailed into the Underworld. At least, that's what it looked like to me, based on some things I've heard. At first it was kind of overcast and grey. Then the clouds started breaking up. The water turned black, silent, and still. The flapping of the sails grew muted. Then we heard a clanking echoing off in the distance…

Finally, we saw it: The moon, high above the landscape. It glowed red as blood, pulsing to blackness like a slow heartbeat. It was tethered to the ground, with several of these HUGE chains which stretched from horizon to horizon. But it still shifted around slightly, causing the clanking. Then, before our very eyes, it flared brightly and struggled violently against its bonds.

Once, back when I was newly adopted, one of my cousins took me on a hunting trip. Of course, he didn't actually want to catch animals (though I'm not sure which of us ultimately turned out to be the prey…), but before, we did go hunt a few for appearance's sake. One of these was some sort of large cat … it had been wounded and turned to face the hunters. It was in pain, it was cornered and dying … and it wasn't afraid. It was angry. It HATED. I could feel it, almost physically.

That's what the Underworld's moon reminded me of. Somehow, it was aware. It was active. And it hated. A thousand times as strongly as that cat, it hated. It hated enough to reduce me and everyone around me to ash, if hatred could kill and it could get free for just one instant…

And that's the thing that our foes wish to unleash upon our world.

Luckily, I remembered some things that I'd overheard about Shadowlands, and we managed to sail back to where we were supposed to be~~~

Oops. Someone's cold hands are getting a bit adventuresome! I'm going to~~ close this entry for now. I'll pick~~ up … gah, men! … the story later~ wi~~ _{th our arr}~ival in Nexus.

Ja ne!**

Notes

Ganbare ne - Stand your ground, OK?
Tatakae - Keep fighting!
Ja ne - Until next time!

The Obsidian Requiem Logs have now (finally) been converted to the weblog.

In the process a few glitches were discovered in the recently posted chronology (such as an entire missing session, conflicting information on in-world dates, etc).

All of that should be fixed in the new logs, the chronology post was altered to suit, and a little more detail was added to the summaries here and there. The new logs are split into Act I and Act II categories (see the sidebar to the right) to cut the category archive's file size down a bit and make them easier to read.

24 Descending Air, Realm Year 768

As I write, it is after midnight. The air is cool on my skin, but the coldest point of winter is long past, so I am not uncomfortable. Larian lies sleeping once again, and I will rejoin him when I have finished my task here.

Where did I leave off?

Oh yes, Nexus. We arrived in port on 19 Descending Air for resupply and such. This was not long after meeting the mysterious woman on the sea. Then we met with Guild representatives to assure them we weren't here to interfere. Illystra went to go beat up some people in the arena, I think. I believe Perius went to the local constabulatorianationism and, near as I can tell, basically told them to give him an unsolved crime to investigate.

Thus, we met with Sesus Lisori, a mortal Dynast who had recently had an odd ring-bracelet piece stolen from her. As it was not obviously valuable and many of her more valuable-looking items were untouched, it was clear that the thief knew what they were after. Mysterious!

Perius suggested (in his ever-so lovable way) that I convince one of the Guild members to help us. What am I, bait for low-life scum? I was so embarrassed! (>_<)

But he did have a point … nobody can resist my charms for long! Ha! (^_~)

Anyway, the guy eventually came back and told us some stuff about the bracelet, where some of the other stolen items were sold, etc. Perius was suspicious (is he ever not?) and somehow learned that the man had been forced not to reveal some other things he knew.

There was this knife made of black glassy material and bone… I only saw it after the fact, but someone threw it at Illystra, I believe. Grr!

So, we decided to go into the sewers for some reason (probably Perius's idea, but I don't really remember now)… (^_^’) There was all sorts of stumbling about behavior, and it turned out that we had actually entered a set of catacombs. We recovered a paper written by the architect of some tomb. Possibly even one of the Tombs of the Anathema in Nexus. And there were apparently people down there when we were exploring! We found another of those knives, but never found the owner, because…

… suddenly, Perius (after dragging us all down there) announces that he no longer cares about solving this mystery after all, and that he was leaving. And so he did. No, that didn't look strange at all, why do you ask? (¬_¬)

The others went back to the inn they were staying at. I went back to the ship. Apparently, in the middle of the night, Nyax sent a messenger to everyone at the inn and told them to get back to the ship because he was leaving for Seven Willows in five minutes. Of course, the ship going up and down on the waves isn't enough to wake me up … we were already well down the river by the time I got up.

Well, whatever. I never cared much for Nexus anyway.

Yesterday, we spotted an encampment on the banks of the river, as if an entire town had been forced into the wilderness. Nyax decided to stop there, acting on some hunch, I assume. It turned out to be refugees from Seven Willows. Lucky!

We met up with the leader of the refugees, who was skittish of us at first. Apparently, she she had had an encounter with a different group of Dragon-blooded after her people fled Seven Willows, possibly an official Wyld Hunt, wherein the refugees' food and other supplies were taken to replenish the Exalt's stores. Obviously the straits of the Dynasts must have been dire indeed to prevent such transcendent ilk from drawing on their decades-honed survival skills, thus placing them in the … unfortunate … position of having to deprive displaced farmers and homeless peasants of their meager scraps in the midst of winter… I can't personally concieve of such a circumstance, nor how one might cope with the resulting stain to one's honor, but then, I guess that's why I'm not in the official Wyld Hunt…

But enough about actions that stain one's honor…

We encountered an Anathema yesterday as well, or so the others said. He had beautiful white skin and was dressed in somewhat morbid looking garb … the quality of the cloth looked excellent, and the outfit seemed well constructed. I'm sure the quality of the bone was equally high. Anyway, he rode up to our camp on his black horse and said his name was Lone Drum Requiem for Blooded Blade. He was here to look for his “sister” and thought she might be with Nyax for some reason. Around this time, there was a storm brewing on the horizon, clearly no natural phenomenon (coming as it did toward the winds).

As he appeared to have information on this storm, Illystra allowed him into our camp to talk under truce, so long as he went unarmed. He abided by these terms. He told us that the storm was the doing of the Deathlord in Seven Willows, because she thought we had the stolen item from Nexus, which was a key to a key, or some such. In other words, we probably should've stuck around Nexus, since the stolen item seems to be related to dragging this moon out of the Underworld. Before he could tell us much else, however, Perius and Ilyra suddenly attacked.

It was a brilliant tactic! Get a solitary foe to think we are trustworthy, remove his weapon, surround him with four or five Exalts and a dozen or more imperial troops, and then attempt to slaughter him. Such courage! I think those two would do even better in the official Wyld Hunt than in our little information gathering mission!

Sadly, it did not have the expected results. The pale man escaped.

Then I had to go to tend to an approaching Guild slaveship, who apparently thought that the refugees would be their next product. I suggested to the captain that neither interfering in an Imperial investigation nor sailing towards a clearly unnatural storm would bring them much profit.

(I don't think that Larian would have forgiven me if I'd let the slavers have their way. I get the sense that something about these refugees and our destination is important to him.)

We then proceeded to load up the refugees to evacuate them, because it was becoming clear that this storm was going to land right in their laps, and it soon became clear thanks to Illystra's kakui wings that the storm actually concealed an army of the undead. We also began making plans to fight.

Perius was suggesting orders for Larian to give for some reason, as if Larian were suddenly in command during this battle. (Despite the fact that Larian had a superior officer standing not five feet away.) No, that didn't look strange at all, either, why? (¬_¬)

Flame being the most likely weapon that would hurt the creatures heading our way, I suggested that we catch them in a crossfire … go around the main force and set a forest fire behind them to block their retreat (trees are dry and leafless right now), while the ships in the river pelted them with more fire.

Everybody sort of stared at me… I guess they thought I was going to suggest breeding them to (a more permanent) death or something.

Sigh. As if the undead are that cute… (9_9)

But that's what we wound up doing, more or less (the crossfire thing, not the breeding thing!)… and it worked! We inflicted severe losses on the enemy! Perius even helped out when I arrived in the midst of the foe by catapult! And then I fought my first Anathema (I assume that's what he was; he was dressed sort of like the first one. A lot more scruffy though, and someone should really teach him how to care for that linen. Nice hair, though) with Illystra's help.

There I was, facing down a charging Deathknight on a nightmare steed, his blade screaming… Cresting Wave held before me, its curves glittering in the light of the sun and flames… steam rising from my body as the flames at my back impinged on my anima; Illystra a glowing meteor, like the breath of the Fire Dragon from the heavens above…

Ooooooo SUGOI!

Ah, sorry. He also got away, though. (T_T)

OK, enough about the smelly army of doom. I skipped over something earlier because I didn't want to end this entry talking about beating up on the bodies of people who aren't people anymore. It happened back before the first pale-skinned man came to our camp…

Apparently, something about the refugees was bothering Larian. Illystra and I were chatting with him for a bit, then he went for a walk. Illystra went with him to talk, and I decided to keep an eye on them in case they were, um, suddenly attacked by, err, giant exalted ferrets. I've heard those are troublesome in this part of the world…

Anyway, eventually Illystra had relieved as much of his tension as she could by talking. So it was my turn… there are ways of speaking to the heart that might invoke the lips but do not require words. (*^_^*)

He made it clear that he's not really interested, outside the bed. “You know I'm using you, right?” is the first thing he asked me (thus, when Perius started playing at whatever he's doing, I put on my most sensual voice and sweetly whispered in his ear that I apparently wasn't the only one being used… the expression he gave was priceless.)

I'm a bit sad, actually. Maybe I'm not really a person to him. That's hardly unusual, but you'd think he'd be a bit different, given his situation. I know that he's not regarded as a prize match in the Realm. He's got an arranged marriage awaiting him to a cousin in the South, but he's not exactly enthusiastic about it.

Ah well. At least he's up front about it, which is more than most. And, well … let's just say that his larger-than-average height is not an isolated characteristic… (^_~)

Hm. It's nearly Years End. I guess we'll miss the usual festivities. Maybe we can have our own. Nani o kite ikou kana?

It's getting pretty late, though, and I'm sure that the next few days are going to be just as exciting. (Especially for Larian, heh, heh, heh. He'll have learned a thing or two by the time he gets around to whatshername…) I'd better get some sleep. Tsukarechatta. (-_-)

Ja ne…

Notes

Kakui - Cool
Sugoi - Awesome, amazing
Nani o kite ikou kana - What shall I wear?
Tsukarechatta - I'm tired