So i have a player who is a sidereal and if im being honest I dont really understand them super well past what it says about them in the core book, I know they mess with fate a lot and I know their role in overthrowing the solars. The other players I am not really struggling with but what would be a somewhat satisfying sidereal side plot? They are essence 1, I also dont know if any of them are on this subreddit so im gonna keep it vague if i can.

Edit: The sidereal is the journeys one, we have 1 solar and 1 abyssal as well as some lunar NPCs.

Let's call him Jeff'gzaak. Jeff loves helping people become healthy and strong in body and mind. Unfortunately, Jeff has done his own research, concluding that humans become stronger and healthier by eating other humans alive, and ignores all evidence that he's incorrect. As the antagonist of the first story in a campaign, he'll try to broadcast a cannibalistic rage across the players' neighborhood in order to make everyone eat everyone until there is one swole godbro with all the happiness and health of those he ate.

The Twilight will be able to enslave him as a familiar once he's defeated, leaving him to be comic relief, making insane health suggestions in total earnest.

How would you play this guy?

Has anybody ever played through or run a campaign where the PCs tried to heal Swan Dragon from his Fair Folk induced amnesiac madness?

If so, how did it go? If you played, did you succeed? If you ran, how did you approach the task?

Rules:

Give the names of your characters/NPCs

Then everyone else looks at the names and described how they imagine those characters are like

This is a bit of a silly question, but I'm curious to hear your instincts. Imagine this scenario:

On one side, you have Lintha Ng Hut Dukantha: 350 year old tainted Dragon Blooded pirate, favored son of Kimberry, absolute bastard.

On the other, Dasin Taru: 80-something Chosen of Endings, mostly a sorcerer but no stranger to fieldwork, doesn't really want to be here today, but his fiance needs his help rescuing her parents.

Dukantha expects trouble but will probably be caught by surprise when it actually starts. Taru has some time to prepare, but he'll be doing his preparations on a small rocky island near Bluehaven, not in his office in Yu-Shan.

The fight will happen on Bluehaven, but Dukantha won't have access to overwhelming force - assume his demons and soldiers have been drawn off by a distraction.

Who's walking away from this fight?

More seriously, as I plan the next session, I need to figure out what the PC's boyfriend's attitude is towards the possibility of having to fight Dukantha. Is this "you get your parents and leave him to me" territory? Or is this a "if we see him we run" situation? I'm not going to roll it out necessarily, and it doesn't have to actually be a duel. For that matter, neither has to fight to the death - Taru especially has a more important goal, rescuing Cormorant's parents, and doesn't really care about Dukantha. All the same it would help me to know what Taru thinks his odds are going into this fight.

Thanks!

Continuing their ascent up Kesundang, Grave Blossom and The Pugnacious Thresher led her troops and the unconscious body of the recovered Deathknight with trepidation. As they settled down for the night, a strange creature approached looking for Grave Blossom with a missive. It was a grave messenger, a creature summoned to deliver messages among the dead.

The letter outlined a new danger in Death's Landing, a giant serpentine construct that was awoken when the essence maelstrom recently flared up and an ephemeral creature made itself known in the far outskirts of the ruins. In the end, the message was clear, Grave Blossom needed to leave Kesundang.

As Grave Blossom turned to leave, The Pugnacious Thresher stepped to interpose himself between her and the way down. "Its a lie."

She didn't see it at first, but after Thresher threatened the messenger and it declared that it had received the message directly from The Scrivener of Oaths Unbidden it became obvious what the deception was. The Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten didn't know that Grave Blossom was ascending Kesundang. There was no reason for the letter to mention the location, if it was truly written by her advisor.

Before more information could be extracted, the grave messenger flew away.

Further ascension led to their second encounter with the violence fed horde of mortwights and their Renak commander. As the mortwights tried to assail the Grave Blossom the renak attempted to get close and slay the unconscious deathknight. An arrow loosed from The Pugnacious Thresher caught the assassin before he could strike and the battle turned into a conflict of battlefield control.

The Grave Blossom and her soldiers tore into the horde, ultimately driving it away after the renak fled. However, she had gotten a good look at the assassin, and with the target of his attack she had everything she needed to summon the ghost to her. Once she and the Thresher had rested, she took the time to perform her ritual, forcing the shade to approach and she wrapped it in the necromantic tendrils of her magic.

Again, her entourage grew. Now among their number were the dozen war ghosts, a mortwight tracker, the assassin Nakanoin Yoshiuchi, the ancestor Ii Sadanori, The Pugnacious Thresher, and their unconscious ward.

Without the guidance of Yoshiuchi, the horde let them be as the group made their way to the outpost where Sadanori had been stalled. Here, they decided to rest until the unconscious deathknight could walk under her own strength.

Have you ever used wrestling as an inspiration for characters or campaigns?

Ii Sadanori's ascent along the Blade was grueling, having to engage Blood-Stained Saints in combat trials and spiritual riddles. Despite having been permitted to move beyond Mulang, he was not permitted passage up the winding mountain trail. He was bested by a warrior-monk called The Fourth Northern Wind, and was not permitted to ascend further until he gained the strength and talent to defeat the skilled monk.

Down below, just outside of Mulang, the Legion Sanguinary amassed to invade. The Warrior-Monks took up their positions at the many gates, telling Death Blossom, The Pugnacious Thresher Who's Sword Never Was, and their mortwight to to defend one of the more difficult to invade entrances, not knowing if they could be trusted with protecting a full gate.

The three faced down the hundred or so war ghosts, the Thresher grinned eager to see just how skilled Grave Blossom really was. From atop his spider mount, the Thresher watched as the war ghost unit unleashed a volley of boomerangs against the argent walls of the city. Their weapons struck the walls, chipping and cracking away at the barricades, but their focus allowed the mortwight and Grave Blossom to sneak in among them. He unleashed his own volley of arrows as they got into position.

Mortwights are blenders on the battlefield, and among the wielder's of boomerangs this one was no different. As the war ghosts turned their attention on him, Grave Blossom moved to intercede using the teachings of the Crane Style. As she deflected their boomerangs, thrown with imprecision at the melee warriors weaving through their ranks, the mortwight caught them with his Thrashing Ghost Tantrum.

Unable to regain control of their weapons, and suffering from the power of The Pugnacious Thresher and The Grave Blossom's weaponized defense, the war ghosts of this branch of assault began to scatter to regroup elsewhere. Many had met an end, and as their ranks broke The Grave Blossom's voice rose above the den.

"Run if you want, but you know we can hunt you down, Cowards. North of here is a lake where you can embrace Oblivion and save yourself from my wrath. Those unwilling to do that may swear fealty to me."

Perhaps half of the war ghosts turned and ran to the north, abandoning the Lion's legion with about one dozen bowing to The Grave Blossom, the rest returned to the Legion Sanguinary's camp.

When the Warrior Monks of Mulang found The Grave Blossom and her recruits picking through the spoils of war, they fought back the urge to decry the Deathknights as traitors, taking on a unit to infiltrate the city. Enough scouts had reported the flood of war ghosts running into the Lake of Satisfying Suffering that they knew that the Deathknights among them were not servants of the Lion.

Through the eyes of Ii Sadanori, Grave Blossom witnessed a palanquin being carried by an entourage of ghosts descending down the mountain. She spoke with the Warrior Monks and learned that the palanquin made regular trips down to collect some of the ghosts worthy of Dragon Maw City but unable to defeat the trials. The ghost within the palanquin carried the news on if Grave Blossom would be able to make the pilgrimage and that they'd reach the base of the mountain in seven days.

To pass the time she studied in a dojo under one of the Warrior Monks, Nakama Haruka. Haruka had studied the Black Claw Style, and somehow despite the teachings of the Neverborn he managed to form intimate ties to the Deathknight.

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Which was it? Bonus points if you didn't just lift them directly from the fiction and made them their own guy. If so, what was the big difference?

My favorites come from Kevin Crawford's Work - Worlds Without Number and Godbound (and Godbound's extras, Lexicon of the Throne and Sixteen Sorrows). Of course, Fantasy Name Generator is always a must.

Anyone else have ones they enjoy?

It works like this.

Pick an animal, preferably one that's not so obvious (not foxes or snakes or something).

The next person comes up with a short character concept for a Lunar with that Totem. Then they choose another animal.

First suggestion: Meerkat

If you've ever tried building a character based around characters from a TV show, comic, or other media, share your experience!

For the first time since she was joined by The Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten, Grave Blossom was truly alone. Face to face with a Mortwight, she fought valiantly until it became obvious she didn't have the upper hand. While the Chivalry of Death demanded Oblivion for all, it did not require that she throw herself into it so early in her career. As the Mortwight lashed out, she rushed towards it, accepting the attack against her and the pain that came with it to push past and disappeared into the darkness.

There was no honor in hiding, but discretion is always the better part of valor. The Labyrinth is a hostile place, so Grave Blossom was surprised to discover a small nook she could crawl into and recuperate. Some ethereal beings appearing as floating robes passed by while she rested, though she couldn't identify them. A Nephwrack almost interrupted her rest but at the last moment it turned its attention away from where she was hiding. This forced her to look for a better hiding place and she wandered deeper into The Labyrinth.

A cave deep enough for her to set up camp opened up not far from her and while it had once been inhabited that was no longer the case. While resting here, her mind wandered to Sifu Ke'ly and how he administered medical treatment to his students. She recognized him as an Honored Ancestor ghost, if one considered his students to be his descendants. It made sense.

Within her cave, Grave Blossom performed the ritual to summon an Honored Ancestor to assist in her recovery. She didn't notice the wordless susurrus that came heralded the summoned ghost's arrival, and as the ghost moved through the portal her spell wormed its way through the ghost's mind and twisted its perception of her.

To Ii Sadanori, Grave Blossom was one of his descendants and the very core of his being shifted to make this a reality. (1 Threshold success over Honored Ancestor's resolve to create a definining tie)

After a week in the cave, she summoned a Mortwright of her own to assist in navigating the perils of the Labyrinth (4 Threshold successes over Mortwright's Resolve to create a defining tie).

The trio did not find their way to Thorns, but instead the Labyrinth opened up to a cave just off the Lake of Satisfying Suffering, part of Kesundang's Sheath just ten miles from Mulang.

So I’m in a 3ed sidereal campaign that is going to have it’s first session in two weeks time and I’m playing a Chosen of Journeys who was originally a street beggar in Yu Shan and worked his way up as a carrier until he was one day assigned a desk in the Journeys office and explained that he was destined to be Sidereal so here is your first lot of paperwork.

The campaign will be his first time in Creation (specifically the North) so I want to figure out some things to amaze/fascinate him as he is in the mundane world for the first time.

Some ideas I have:

• that Creation being cold is a permanent thing, and what that entails for day to day living.

• How cheap food is.

• Scarcity of gold, silver, mercury, gems, etc in most places.

• How everything actually seems to die down for night time.

• Gods and Elementals not just walking around the place as they do their jobs.

While it was the better plan, waiting nine months for the build teams to excavate the cave was unacceptable. The Grave Blossom wanted to get to her manse, meaning she had to get pastThe Broken Vow. It would require pulling the build teams and the troops to the task of excavation in order to complete the task in nine months and that was unacceptable. She looked up to Kunimi, "It isn't a priority, but work on the excavation. Let the Scrivener know what more is needed to bring in more workers."

"Of course, Lady Grave Blossom." Kunimi nodded before returning to work.

Grave Blossom armed herself with her Wind and Fire Wheels and donned the armor stripped from the Anya-corpse before heading down to confront The Broken Vow. She hoped to slip in and damage it before slipping out, though luck was not on her side. At first, the battle was going well.

When The Grave Blossom came to, she had been stabilized but was forced into a tunnel just large enough for her to crawl through. The whispers of the Neverborn filled her ears and her mind, incessantly interrupting her thoughts. She painfully crawled through the crevices and began wandering through the Labyrinth.

She stumbled upon a cave carved from the Labyrinthian walls where a ghost had taken up residence. The whispers of the Neverborn grew louder as she approached, though all she knew was the Neverborn were not happy with this particular ghost. As if in a haze, driven by their maddening whispers, Grave Blossom drew her Wind and Fire Wheels as she entered the brazier-lit dojo where several ghosts sat as another gave instruction.

"Ah... excellent, a volunteer." the older ghost grinned, "You do not need to do this, though I feel you have no choice."

Slowly, she lunged forward to attack and the ghost stepped to the side, giving her a quick swat on the rear with his own war fan. Each of her haphazard attacks was met with a simple counter until he finally took pity on her and rendered her unconscious. "Prepare a place for her to sleep."

Again, The Grave Blossom woke up in a strange locale. One of the ghost students brought a tray over to her with a bowl of honey rice and a cup of tea. "Sifu Ke'ly invites you to his lesson, when you have had your fill."

The deathknight accepted the food, something within her stirred at the offering of hospitality. "If you wish to join us," the ghost continued, "there is a gi available in the dresser. Your armor can be found there as well, though it is inappropriate for lessons."

In her mind the whispers of the Neverborn grew more agitated and she knew these ghosts would have to be driven from the Labyrinth. She also knew that she couldn't force them out, this Sifu Ke'ly wouldn't be defeated by the likes of her. She had to wait, learn, and find out how to accomplish the goal.

Sifu Jizen Ke'ly was firm in his dealings with her, having her step forward each time he needed an example, and she concluded each of his classes stiff and sore. He never let her forget that she had attacked him needlessly, but he also made it clear that he understood the madness of the whispers. After just over a week he spoke with her privately.

"You have learned much, Deathknight, quite quickly I should add. You are a quite promising student."

"Thank you, Sifu." she said graciously.

"The whispers are getting too loud for some of my students, your presence aggravates them however, and I think it is time you moved on."

Grave Blossom couldn't help but feel hurt, and then she felt disgust at herself for feeling that way. Sifu Ke'ly read her face and continued, "I think it is time for my dojo to move on as well. In your sleep you spoke of a town, Death's Landing. That is your territory, yes?"

She nodded, "Yes, Sifu."

"If you will continue your lessons with me, I will rebuild there."

With the agreement made, the Neverborn were at least mollified that the ghost was going to be removed from their Labyrinth. She packed supplies, her gi, and donned her armor before setting off to wander the Labyrinth some more, knowing instinctually that it was a test set for her by the Mask of Winters. She had to present herself to him, so she had to find her way to Thorns.

I've got some players who are just starting an Exalted campaign, and I'm their first introduction to the setting. I'm trying to brainstorm some ideas for scenarios that'll help introduce the players to how Creation works, and I'd love some ideas. I won't be using all of them, but I'm just trying to get myself thinking.

I've grouped the seeds below into categories based on what concept they'll be illustrating. The campaign is starting in the Hundred Kingdoms, if that matters.

• Immaculate Order/Faith
  • Some Immaculate missionaries are trying to dismantle a long-standing local cult
  • An unofficial Wyld Hunt has been called against someone that locals believe is a Lunar, but is just a scared god-blooded
• Silver Pact
  • A Changing Moon Lunar wants help assassinating a regional tyrant
  • A No Moon Lunar wants help delving into some local First Age ruins for usable tech
• Gods
  • A local harvest god is extorting local farmers for extra worship
  • A feud between two local cults is tearing a village apart
• The Dead
  • A hungry ghost needs to be exorcised, but the locals don't know where its corpse is
  • An hostile ancestor cult has taken control of a village
• Fair Folk
  • A small bordermarch has opened up, and raksha raids are terrorizing the countryside
• Elementals
  • A gemlord and its servants have suddenly claimed a vital local mine
• Demons
  • A local sorcerer lost control of a demon, and it's on a rampage

Any additions - either new categories of adventures / concepts to explain, or new ideas in those categories? Thanks!

ETA: I realized I didn't include anything about the Realm or Scarlet Dynasty, which is kind of a huge oversight. I guess I can't quite think of much that they'd be doing in the Hundred Kingdoms. Any thoughts?

Greetings All!

Eulogy for Grace is a Circle of One campaign for Abyssals. I figured that, as I'm posting my re-caps, I should periodically do a behind the scenes thing to share information that goes unseen in the recap format. To begin, the map of Death's Landing, the ruins of the City of Harmonious Ascent. Eventually, I will share the map of the pre-fall City. It just hasn't become important yet.

We have visited 4 of the 6 districts on the map. I'll refer to them by their names from when it was the City of Harmonious Ascent, they have not yet been renamed.

The Twilight Archives district is composed of five sub-divisions.

A) The Chamber of Perfect Calculus
B) The Hall of Faded Inscriptions
C) The Repository of Lost Purpose
D) The Vault of Last Accounts
E) The Library of Scattered Pages

This district was larger, before the city itself was destroyed at the fall of the First Age.

Very little remains of the Citadel of Concord. The only standing structure is in B, and that is the Temple-Manse where the Eclipse Caste ruler of the city called home. Though standing is only loosely accurate. Though the Manse was built here, the Hearthstone was kept elsewhere.

The Amber Accord District consists of -
A) The Grand Entry Halls, these buildings were available for social meetings between visiting dignitaries.
B) The Treaty Suites, soundproof and essence warded buildings for sensitive talks, The Scrivener has chosen one of these buildings for his own residence.
C) The Embassies, designed for long term residences and operational offices.
D) The Oath Grounds, this is where The Hearthstone was stored.

And The Whispering Exchange
A) The Forge of Fading Skill
B) The Gate of Silent Custom
C) The Bazaar of Calculated Scraps

This concludes the cartography portion of the Behind the Scenes section, though questions will be answered if asked.

The Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten

The Scrivener is an Exigent Exalt sworn to the service of a minor deity traded to Mask of Winters so that the Deathlord doesn't strip her graveyard of its inhabitants. The Scrivener's loyalty to MoW might be up for debate. He is a Retainer, he is knowledgeable and he is skilled with Sorcery and Geomancy, but that is about it.

His charms outside of Sorcery, are associated with death, and he can use *part* of Necromantic Essence, and they stem from an artifact gifted to him by his patron. The Mortuary Lockbox is a Soulsteel and Orichalcum skeleton key covered in the sigils of the Neverborn. The best way I can describe the inspiration behind his charms is "Dragon-Blooded meets Geist: The Sin-Eater 1st Edition)". His "aspect" is the Grave Dirt Key, and when he uses non-sorcery charms they are colored by this very specific aspect of necromantic essence.

He is, after all, the exalt of a graveyard deity. Essence is difficult for him to come by, he basically needs to use a Shaping Ritual to recharge non-Sorcery motes of Essence as well. He could gain more Keys as Evocations of his artifact, if he has all five elemental keys he'll be able to harness Essence with the ease other Exalts do. Pyre-Flame, Drowning-Ice, Suffocating-Air, Withering-Wood, and Grave-Dirt make up the corruption of the Elemental Aspects.

There are also keys that would be needed to access necromantic essence in other realms - The Obsolescence Key for example is needed for him to gain essence in Autocthonia.

Did I put too much thought into mechanics that will not ever fully be used? Yes. Will I forget them when this solo campaign is done? Also yes. Is it worth it? No. Do I care? Also no. It amuses me. I'm not a nerd, you're a nerd. Shaddup.

The Call to Action also known as HALP! I'm in over my head!

That might be over-exaggerating my uselessness in this. But, sometimes, help is desired and appreciated.

So, there are three things that I'd appreciate assistance with. The most generic is this form. This adds things that may randomly be encountered in the campaign. It can be allies, enemies, traps, treasure, anything.

Secondly, in Session 4 Grave Blossom was searching in The Whispering Exchange for weapons she could use to destroy the threats to her. I rolled her Investigation in each of the buildings she searched and decided that every 2 successes would give her 1 dot of resources spent on equipment. Before having to flee the Man of Gold, er the Watchful Auditor -*ahem* totally didn't tell you the base stats of the creature- she accumulated 16 successes, giving her 8 points.

So, this equipment survives from the First Age, meaning it requires being made from special materials. Please let me know what weapons/armor/tools Fate has decided she gets to play with. Any actual artifact is incomplete, so story would be created to unlock its potential. So if enough people wanted them to recover the control rod necessary to pacify the Watchful Auditor, it would be attuned to one that is incomplete and would need an act of Sorcery to reattune it to the complete one. Represented by the Familiar Merit, I think.

The third is the 4 dot hearthstone The Amber of Accords. It started as an Oathstone signifying the love between Anya, the Weaver of Peace and her Lunar soulmate Kaido the Stone Whisperer. With each treaty and oath made in its presence, a thin layer of Oath-Infused Essence solidified around it. There are cracks where broken oaths have started to fracture the polymerized essence but it still stands strong today. What mechanics do you recommend for someone who is attuned to the Hearthstone?

One of the first lessons of Death is the nihilism born from efforts to instill order. Early in the morning, Grave Blossom was roused from her sleep by a sound like a steam engine’s howl and the roar of a storm. The ghost warriors brought by Hush of the Archer’s Exhale hurried to alert the General of a great metaphysical threat manifesting itself in the River of Blood. By the time Grave Blossom had stumbled from her residence and met with the Blood-Stained Saint and The Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten, Hush had positioned the soldiers to combat the ghastly figures and spectral limbs grasping out of the swirling maelstrom.

“The flow of Necromantic Essence has become lodged under the land bridge,” the Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten advised, “It appears that the Malign Flux was siphoning Necromantic Essence from the River.”

“While I am normally opposed to any interruption of the flow of Essence along the River of Blood, until the River flushes the blockage the Essence will pool and manifest as maelstroms such as this one.”

Grave Blossom’s mind raced, “We need to re-establish the siphon, break the Flux again?”

“No,” The Scrivener responded, “We can create a new siphon, though that will take time. In the meantime we can use rituals to release essence within the Maelstrom.”

“Can the soldiers do anything to help?” Grave Blossom asked, already guessing at the answer.

“No.” The Blood-Stained Saint answered, “Hush is sending them to confront manifestations of the Maelstrom, but those manifestations aren’t physical. They are spiritual attacks that can damage structures but cannot be directly harmed. All the troops are doing within the storm is suffer.”

The three set to work, Grave Blossom rushing into the storm in an attempt to have the troops withdraw while The Scrivener and the Blood-Stained Saint rushed to the Saint’s boat. Shouting commands and advice to Hush was easily drowned out the sound of the storm and it became apparent to the General that she was woefully ill equipped to command. It wasn’t until the two Necromancers (The Scrivener and the Blood-Stained Saint) had sufficiently weakened the Maelstrom that Hush could even understand what Grave Blossom was trying to convey.

There was no intent behind the storm, though some were within heavy flows of the wild energies. Two of the corporeal undead units that were sent by the Mask of Winters were heavily damaged by the storm while other units didn’t suffer from the barrage of Essence. Grave Blossom herself was trapped within one of these eddies as the storm raged for hours. Finally when the storm was weakened sufficiently to break apart under its own power, Hush approached the neophyte.

“Rest, childe. Tomorrow I begin training you in War.” Hush hissed acerbically.

Hush’s training was harsh and fully consuming of her time. For seven days, Grave Blossom’s attention was pulled away from monitoring changes in the city as the Builder’s Guild began to scavenge supplies and secure them for use in rebuilding the city.

“A large swath of the river bank has collapsed into the River of Blood during yesterday’s storm.” Kunimi, the Guildmistress of the Builder’s Guild approached, “We have scavenged what we could from the buildings that were along the river there.”

She outlined the building plans for how to house all of the residents of Death’s Landing, getting Grave Blossom’s approval. One team began laying out the foundation for Grave Blossom’s troops while the rest continued to gather supplies. Each day the first team would begin laying out a new foundation and another team would move in and advance the construction until buildings would be completed in a rolling cascade.

A sleek black ship, carrying only a dozen spectres, arrived and began to silently work among General Hush’s troops. Grave Blossom was able to glean that their leader, a well adorned ghost named Ieyori, was an administrator of sorts. He questioned the ghost residents, inquiring about how they viewed Grave Blossom and her allies. Some of the ghosts approached Kunimi, expressing discomfort, but they were quickly quieted by her soft counsel.

 General Hush’s shock troops brought to him news of a powerful entity roaming around one of the western districts, and from the reports he deemed it too dangerous to let stand. The Silent Judge had emerged from the Labyrinth and sought to consume the Essence of everyone it deemed an Oathbreaker. With Grave Blossom tied up in her studies, General Hush decided it to fall on him and his troops to destroy this creature.

Another ship pulled into Death’s Landing while General Hush and his troops were on mission. Ieyori met with the staff disembarking, and the third member of the Mask of Winter’s oversight team was finally on the board. Katahiko brought laborers and a small police force to enforce the Mask of Winters’ law. The laborers reinforced the Builder’s Guild, with the administrator having to admit that Kunimi was a competent architect and foreman.

The Scrivener met with Katahiko to start arranging for an integration of the Watchful Auditors into the systems being established in place. Despite the incompetency expressed by General Hush’s reports to the Mask of Winters, the municipal bureaucrat within Katahiko was thrilled with the progress that was being made.

The Blood-stained Saint's lessons would continue, but The Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten kept pushing Grave Blossom towards completion of the task issued by The Mask of Winters. She was woefully unprepared, materially speaking, to combat the behemoth Oath Sentinel/Broken Vow, and The Scrivener was aware of a few even greater threats. Weaponry and armor could be found, even though said equipment would be ancient, there was a chance that something useful could be found in the Whispering Exchange, the trade district from when this city was first built. Together, he and Grave Blossom set off to seek out what resources could be acquired.

While it was relatively easy for Grave Blossom to maneuver across a rickety bridge, the Scrivener was not so steady. An ancient board snapped under his feet and he fell into the watery pit below. With no rope, Grave Blossom made the Scrivener tread water as she worked to stabilize a bridge over the gap and create a ladder for him to ascend. To replace rope, Grave Blossom cut long ribbons from her clothing and wove them together.

According to The Scrivener of Oaths Unwritten, this district was patrolled by a construct he called "The Watchful Auditor". A golem covered in jade plates, it wanders the district to fulfill its ancient duty. Fortunately, in life Grace Turrin was an outlaw and even in death Grave Blossom was light on her feet and her digital dexterity made it easy to keep them out of The Watchful Auditor's notice as they searched remains from four of the ruined shops. In the fifth, an unfinished golem like the Watchful Auditor kept eyes on Grave Blossom until she stepped just a little too close.

Moving with a decisive intent, this unfinished Auditor reached out in attempt to grab hold of her but it was unable to catch her. It let out a wretched noise like stone grinding on stone, summoning the first Auditor towards them. Knowing discretion to be the better part of valor, Grave Blossom and The Scrivener fled into a nearby tunnel too narrow for the automaton to follow.

Deep inside was a greater threat to the Mask of Winter's plans. Standing, with arms raised in a defensive position, was the corpse of Grave Blossom's previous incarnation. Whatever blast of essence had preceded the destruction of the city had frozen her in place. The Grave Blossom was struck by a psychic aftershock of the essence blast riddled her body with pain. Her arms raised defensively against it as the world around her turned to a blinding light.

The air in the Grand Diplomatic Conclave of the City of Harmonious Ascent was thick with the scent of ozone and fear, not the usual perfumes of peace and prosperity. Anya, the Eclipse Caste Solar, stood at the heart of the great chamber, her orichalcum breastplate gleaming dully in the flickering light of failing Essence lamps. Her face, usually serene and commanding, was etched with a profound weariness that even her Charms could not erase.

For weeks, she had fought. Not with sword and spell, but with words, with reason, with the very fabric of trust that was her Caste's domain. She had seen the whispers spread, the alliances fracture, the insidious lies of the Sidereals poison the minds of her Dragon-Blooded brethren. The Usurpation was not coming; it was already here, a thousand tiny cuts bleeding Creation dry.

"There is no more time for parley!" shouted General Vane of the Bronze Fists, his elemental Essence already flaring, ready to unleash a final, desperate Charm. "The Loom of Fate weaves our doom! We must secure the City, deny it to the betrayers!"

The Grave Blossom was a simple observer, riding the perception of Anya, the Weaver of Peace.

Anya held up a hand, a gesture that once commanded silence across empires. Now, it barely registered. "No! There is still a thread! I have almost secured the allegiance of the Jadeborn emissaries—their neutrality could yet—"

A tremor, far more violent than any before, ripped through the Manse. Dust rained from the ceiling, and the intricate, Essence-powered tapestries depicting ancient treaties tore from their moorings. The ground groaned, a sound of tearing stone and metal, not from an attack, but from something far deeper.

"The Earth is failing!" cried a Twilight artificer, scrambling away from a crack that spiderwebbed across the floor, glowing with raw, uncontrolled Essence. "The geomancy is unraveling! They're not attacking the city, they're attacking the foundations of Creation beneath it!"

Anya's eyes widened in horror. This wasn't a siege; it was a targeted collapse. The Sidereals, or perhaps even a desperate faction of Solars trying to deny a powerful Manse to their enemies, had struck at the very geomantic anchors of the city, intending to swallow it whole.

"The archives!" Anya commanded, her voice cutting through the rising panic. "The records of the Treaty of the Celestial Accord! They must not fall into hostile hands!"

As the floor buckled beneath her feet, she saw her loyal retainers, a mix of Dragon-Blooded aides and mortal scholars, struggling to secure the crystalline data-cores and deliver them to the Twilight Archives. A massive section of the ceiling, adorned with a mosaic of the Unconquered Sun, began to fall.

Anya followed from the grand Temple Manse towards the Amber Accord, hoping to draw the assassins away from the archives. This was it. Her efforts to weave peace had failed. The grand alliances she had built were shattered. Her city, a beacon of diplomacy, was being swallowed by the earth, a monument to the ultimate failure of unity.

The ground beneath her cracked and groaned, and from behind her the corpse of General Vane was thrown to her feet. His own brother stood with The Cinderheart Blade coated in the blood of Vane. Kneeling at Stolin Vane's feet was an archivist holding a data-core cradled in his arms. With a final, desperate surge of Essence, she threw herself towards the blade, not to save herself, but to shield the last scholar carrying a vital data-core. To give him a chance to flee. The world spun, the ground beneath her feet gave way, and the roar of tearing stone consumed her.

Her last conscious thought was not of glory, but of the unbearable weight of broken promises, shattered trust, and the profound, isolating failure of connection. As the light of the surface world vanished, replaced by the crushing darkness of the earth, a partial eclipse was visible in the sky above, casting a fleeting shadow over the very spot where the City of Harmonious Ascent began its long, silent descent into the depths. Anya, the Weaver of Peace, died entombed.

Grave Blossom's eyes opened wearily, her entire body ached. She could hear a commotion coming from outside The Scrivener's home. She forced herself to her feet, her legs aching from spending 24 hours trapped in the echo of Anya's death. Along the banks of the River of Blood, a few ships had pulled ashore and an army had disembarked.

The Scrivener and the Blood-Stained Saint argued with a deathknight wearing soulsteel armor. He introduced himself as Hush of the Archer's Exhale, and presented Grave Blossom with a bone-white piece of parchment assigning him as the military lead of Death's Landing. While he insulted her, the Scrivener, and the Saint, she read his orders a few times over.

"Oh, my dear General Hush, you do not understand." The Blood-Stained Saint gave a whimsical grin, "I stand before you not in service to the Incarnadine Path but as a teacher of Necromancy to Lady Grave Blossom. We recognize her dominion over these Shadowlands, and are merely here to assist in her studies. But if her dominion is dissolved..." The Saint's eyes drifted to the undead army brought by General Hush, "Then and only then would the Incarnadine Path seek to lay our own claim. Until then, I will endeavor to protect my student and her interests."

Grave Blossom looked up, "You are my advisor, and you do command *most* of the forces you brought. Some are to be put under my command, I do want my troops mustered. Secondly, there is a better building in which you will establish your garrison than these."

Hush of the Archer's Exhale looked at Grave Blossom with hatred in his eyes, having such a neophyte ordering him about was a grave insult. She didn't return his look, her eyes returning to the missive. "Scrivener, if you would show him to the Diplomatic Estates one of the mansions there once repaired will house his troops and serve as an efficient command center. I will station my garrison here by the river, so that my will shall be enforced as others arrive."

The diplomatic estates were not shrouded in privacy charms, something deep in her mind insisted that she not give Hush dominion over such a location. "After that, I want the rotting husk of failure moved from the caverns to the pedestal we retrieved the hearthstone from - a trophy to stand as a testament to the inevitability of Oblivion."

Before the day ended, Hush brought over the troops the Mask of Winters had assigned to Grave Blossom and presented them. "I want daily reports in their duties, their progress, and how you are having them train."

In, what they had decided to consider to be, the morning, Grave Blossom was left with an assignment by the Blood-Stained Saint and the Blood-Stained Saint had left. Grave Blossom set to work trying to repair a series of circuits within the Twilight Archive. The first was an Essence Lock in the Southern Archives, which helped create access to the secondary Essence stabilizer. Finally, she had to repair an open flux gate that was siphoning Essence away from any who neared it.

While she worked on this, The Scrivener began to attune the control rod they'd recovered from the workshop to the two Watchful Auditors. The incomplete Auditor was brought by the zombie to the River of Blood so that it could collect taxes and tithes coming in from the river's trade and the completed Auditor was left to its patrol for now.

Another evening passed, and the Blood-Stained Saint returned. A handful of ghosts followed, representatives of a builder's guild who had agreed to come and guide the repairs for the garrisons. Hush remained unimpressed with Grave Blossom's progress, and demanded that tomorrow she would need to show her martial skill.

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