Arynne
Salmon of Doubt
History: At the end of a Solar's life, the shard of divinity than empowers her separates from her mortal soul and returns to Heaven, where Lytek, the god of Exaltation, cleanses it of stains and scars before releasing it to find a new host. Usually, this is a swift process, with the Loom of Fate and gods loyal to the Unconquered Sun guiding the Exaltation to a worthy hero. With the Sun's blessing, mortal and divine meet and join, becoming Exalted.
Sometimes, though, for reasons unknown, it takes its time.
When Red Sky in the Morning (b. 2103, Exalted 2132, d. 3493) fell in battle with an eldritch monstrosity during operation Wyldhand, his peers confidently expected his reincarnation within weeks or months at most. Instead, his Exaltation seemed to vanish from Creation after leaving Lytek's hands. Decades passed with no sign of him. Almost as troubling, expeditions sent to bring his remains back to Meru for honorable burial (and recover his Sun Hawk-class warstrider and hearthstone) returned empty-handed. Attempts to contact his ghost failed. It was as though he no longer existed...
...until a young girl in a remote Northeastern mining town tumbled down a crevice in the earth and found herself in a bat-infested cavern. At the far end, encased in roots, rock and mud, lay a titanic armored figure. Too curious to be really afraid, the girl, whose name was Ash, approached the immobile form and climbed into the hollow space in its chest. Inside lay the brittle bones of a man, which crumbled at her touch -- as an apparition appeared before her, a youth who appeared to be made of liquid gold, pleading in an unknown tongue.
Ash returned to the "metal man" many times over the months and years to come, eventually learning his language. She brought him the tools and supplies he asked for, even though she often had to steal them. She cut away the roots and dug away the mud from his limbs, and, at his insistence, burned what was left of the skeleton. Through all this, Ash never told a soul about her discovery. Even when a mysterious sickness struck her people and representatives of the local Terrestrial prefect descended upon them to investigate, she hugged her secret to herself and said nothing, never dreaming the two might be related.
The day after her sixteenth birthday, the town was attacked by raksha. The Dragon-Blooded officers attempted to rally the people, but they were no match for the horde of grotesque goblins and cold-eyed faerie nobles that seemed to come out of nowhere, and Celestial aid was taking too long to arrive. Ash ran to the forest to the cavern where her "friend" lay hidden. "Help US now," she demanded.
The golden man gazed at her -- fondly, she thought. "Yes," he said. "It is time."
He looked into her eyes. "Return," he said. And Ash found herself engulfed in golden light.
When she came back to herself she was already strapped into Spring Thunder's fuselage; they tore their way free of the cave, reborn again, together.
Thunder's delicate Essence weapons had deteriorated into scrap during his long years underground, but he still had his mighty orichalcum fists and his deadly Charms. The unprepared Fair Folk were like butterflies caught in a rockslide.In an exultant haze of victory she heard the Dragon-Blooded addressing her respectfully (and warily) as "Excellency", saw the shock and awe on the faces of people she had known all her life.
It was only when she saw her eldest sister's features twisted with anger, resentment and a terrible jealousy that Ash began to understand she was now separated irrevocably from all she had once loved.
Description: Sixteen-year-old Ash is at a state of physical perfection seldom attained at any age. She is not very tall and slender almost to skinniness, with big honey-brown eyes and an extraordinary mop of hair so red it is remarkable in itself. It is neither auburn nor carroty but a blazing, flaming and yet subtle color which is as rare as it is beautiful. She still wears her old brown jersey and skirt, which have shrunk with much washing until they cling to her like a second skin. A red-and-yellow kerchief is knotted around her neck.
Sometimes, though, for reasons unknown, it takes its time.
When Red Sky in the Morning (b. 2103, Exalted 2132, d. 3493) fell in battle with an eldritch monstrosity during operation Wyldhand, his peers confidently expected his reincarnation within weeks or months at most. Instead, his Exaltation seemed to vanish from Creation after leaving Lytek's hands. Decades passed with no sign of him. Almost as troubling, expeditions sent to bring his remains back to Meru for honorable burial (and recover his Sun Hawk-class warstrider and hearthstone) returned empty-handed. Attempts to contact his ghost failed. It was as though he no longer existed...
...until a young girl in a remote Northeastern mining town tumbled down a crevice in the earth and found herself in a bat-infested cavern. At the far end, encased in roots, rock and mud, lay a titanic armored figure. Too curious to be really afraid, the girl, whose name was Ash, approached the immobile form and climbed into the hollow space in its chest. Inside lay the brittle bones of a man, which crumbled at her touch -- as an apparition appeared before her, a youth who appeared to be made of liquid gold, pleading in an unknown tongue.
Ash returned to the "metal man" many times over the months and years to come, eventually learning his language. She brought him the tools and supplies he asked for, even though she often had to steal them. She cut away the roots and dug away the mud from his limbs, and, at his insistence, burned what was left of the skeleton. Through all this, Ash never told a soul about her discovery. Even when a mysterious sickness struck her people and representatives of the local Terrestrial prefect descended upon them to investigate, she hugged her secret to herself and said nothing, never dreaming the two might be related.
The day after her sixteenth birthday, the town was attacked by raksha. The Dragon-Blooded officers attempted to rally the people, but they were no match for the horde of grotesque goblins and cold-eyed faerie nobles that seemed to come out of nowhere, and Celestial aid was taking too long to arrive. Ash ran to the forest to the cavern where her "friend" lay hidden. "Help US now," she demanded.
The golden man gazed at her -- fondly, she thought. "Yes," he said. "It is time."
He looked into her eyes. "Return," he said. And Ash found herself engulfed in golden light.
When she came back to herself she was already strapped into Spring Thunder's fuselage; they tore their way free of the cave, reborn again, together.
Thunder's delicate Essence weapons had deteriorated into scrap during his long years underground, but he still had his mighty orichalcum fists and his deadly Charms. The unprepared Fair Folk were like butterflies caught in a rockslide.In an exultant haze of victory she heard the Dragon-Blooded addressing her respectfully (and warily) as "Excellency", saw the shock and awe on the faces of people she had known all her life.
It was only when she saw her eldest sister's features twisted with anger, resentment and a terrible jealousy that Ash began to understand she was now separated irrevocably from all she had once loved.
Description: Sixteen-year-old Ash is at a state of physical perfection seldom attained at any age. She is not very tall and slender almost to skinniness, with big honey-brown eyes and an extraordinary mop of hair so red it is remarkable in itself. It is neither auburn nor carroty but a blazing, flaming and yet subtle color which is as rare as it is beautiful. She still wears her old brown jersey and skirt, which have shrunk with much washing until they cling to her like a second skin. A red-and-yellow kerchief is knotted around her neck.